For an entire week he pushed the team harder and harder, only when he was confident that they could hold their own individually did he let them start fighting as a team. He was actually impressed with how well they worked together, Eli was a natural leader in this regard but even than Shaun spent time pointing out weaknesses and flaws in the way they operated.
They had visited each of the pseudo treasures and he instructed them to keep doing so until they found one that they felt more connected to than any other and then focus on that one each afternoon.
After the week was over he was happy with the overall progress and he gave them permission to run the dungeon themselves, it would be up to them how far they went, they needed to figure out their limits. He did give them a number of health potions in case of emergencies as well as a few metal balls that he had made that could be thrown out as a last resort and would unleash a burst of static that would incapacitate, but not kill, anything in the radius of the blast. It was a last resort in case they got in over their heads.
He also had them all promise that they were not to upgrade their classes until every single one of their skills were at max. He also pushed them all to work on their profession in their downtime as the stats and levels would contribute to their overall ability to fight.
During that week he had also given permission for Viv to access the E grade Settlement Crystal in a limited capacity that allowed her to communicate with other settlements. He had also casted the votes on the event, all of which went to The War.
In his view, all his responsibilities in regards to preparing for the event were finished, he now only needed to focus on himself. He had been testing out his Creators Domain skill over the pats week and he was loving it, for the most part.
As it was such a low level at the moment it wouldn’t fully allow him to see the outcome of some creations as they were too either too advanced for the skill to fully see what was created or something else was interfering with the final creations.
His current project was making a new sword. After getting rid of his gauntlet he needed to replace it with a blade that was more powerful and more related to his class. The sword he had planned out was made using the best metals he had purchased from the tutorial. The metal in question was jet black and called Stygian Steel. The reasoning behind using it was after a lot of testing it bonded with the death element he had taken from the natural treasure the most.
The design of the sword was more interesting. He had tested out a few basic design but none seemed to feel right. What he ended up with was a slightly curved blade that ended in a wickedly sharp point and was of medium to short length. But rather than an average handle he also had another, shorted blade come out the other side which also curved in the opposite angle to the larger blade.
He had made test blades in this design and after a lot of changes had come to really enjoy the versatility it offered. In the middle of the two blades he also planned to add a large black gem that would link both blades together through the runes he planned on putting in the blade.
The rune work he had planned was not linked to any of the spells he usually used. His plan for this one was that when he killed with the blade that the runes would suction out some of his opponents mana and then store that in the gem for him to then use to empower the sword and use his own skills.
When he had attempted to see the outcome of all of this in his domain he got the feeling that it would work but it failed to provide him with an exact outcome. Still, he committed the design to an orb using his plan skill after much consideration and tweaking.
Sitting alone in his house he started to physically make his new sword. The metal was resistant to him the entire time and he felt like he was battling it with his skills throughout the process. What he thought would only took an hour ended up taking the better part of a day just to get the shape right.
Inserting the gem took almost just as long, the metal didn’t wish to combine with any other material and he ended up having to spend a lot of his mana and time just forcing the connection. He had never used this steel before but he had not expected it to be so difficult. He was warned when he bought it that it was rarely, if ever, used by anyone outside of those from the Death faction, and even then, it was rare they would waste the time or effort to use it.
He ended up taking a break after this, mostly to get some fresh air and something to eat, but he also needed time to consider his next steps. Originally, he planned to put the runes on the blade and power it all up with the death element that he had taken from the treasure, but now he considered whether it was better to first imbue the metal and gem with the death energy and then carve in the runes.
After hours of walking around trying to convince himself one way or the other he decided to just get on with it and figured there was no harm in really pushing the death energy into the sword before he engraved it.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
After an hour of pushing the death attunement into the sword he ended up slipping into a trance and having to pull more of the death element out of the treasure just to feed it into the sword. It was taking on more than he had expected and he was feeling the attunement being drained from the treasure and into the sword at a rate that shocked him.
By the time he finished he felt as if he had drained half of the energy from the treasure, at this point he didn’t know if there would even be enough to power his runes with it. Still he would do what he could, he wasn’t about to give up now.
Placing the runes on the sword was a tedious process, it was even harder to do now after he had imbued the sword than when he was shaping it. He was also much more cautious, fixing I mistake would be difficult as the metal did not like to be controlled, he doubted he would be able to perfectly fix a mistake without a lot of time and energy.
It took over a day to get the runes right, and the complexity of the design just added to the pressure of getting it right. He had to check the design over and over to make sure he didn’t make any mistakes and he still hadn’t powered up the runic system yet.
He had put a lot of work into the sword, and now that he was at the last step he really hoped he hadn’t wasted his time and valuable resources into making it. The treasure was not something he could replace, either was the gem or metal.
Going all in he started draining the death energy from the treasure and started pushing it into the gem and then into the runes. The gem took it in hungrily but pushing it out into the runes took much more effort. His mind strained with the effort and using so many skills at the same time would eventually wear him down, but he didn’t stop.
Time passed quickly and he was thankfully not interrupted during the process. If someone had come to his door and looked for him he wouldn’t have known anyway. His full focus was on the sword.
When the natural treasure was fully drained it crumbled to dust in his hand, the gem was full of the energy but the runes were not yet saturated. Now that he was able to forget one thing and move his mind to just pushing the death mana from the gem and into the runes the process sped up, but not by much.
Just as the gem was nearing empty he felt the runes fully power, it had been close, but there was just enough energy left to push it over the edge and fully activate the sword. With the sword finally complete he became much more aware of his surroundings. He felt the feeling of death in the air, similar to how his armour felt when he wasn’t holding it back from emitting its aura but on a whole new level.
**Successful New Creation – Bonus Experience provided**
**[Epic] Death’s Kiss – A sword made and imbued with nothing but death. Death’s Kiss has the ability to absorb the life force off any living being it kills to further enhance its own power. A cut from this blade will infect a being with deaths curse. Death’s Curse: A curse that will slowly sap away the life of a living being. Bonded to Shaun Clermont. Growth Item.**
**Profession: Elemental Creator has levelled up by 5 levels. [Advanced] Elemental Creator has reached Level 107. +25 Int, +10 Wil, +15 Per, +25 Soul**
**Race: Human has levelled up by +2 levels. Human (E) has reached Level 106. +32 Ap gained**
A bonded sword and a growth item. This was now the second time he had created a growth item, and this time it was something he could actually use. Death’s Kiss. You are one scary sword.
The moment he picked up the blade he felt the connection between them. It was an extension of him, linked to him in a way that he couldn’t even describe. It was a sword that would grow with him, the more he used it the more powerful it would become. If this is what it can do now, he had no idea what it would evolve into.
Before he had a chance to really take in his new creation he heard banging on the door and using his echo he felt Eric there. He stood up and decided to meet him outside where the feeling of death wouldn’t effect him as much. Although when he opened the door Eric looked no less effected. He was deathly pale and looked furious.
“Do you have any idea what you have done? For days we have had to deal with the feeling like we are all going to die! For days we have had people running scared. No one could even get close to this house without passing out! This is a school Shaun!”
“Sorry, really I am. I had no idea that would happen. I was just crafting a sword. Its over now. Wont happen again.” He really had no idea that using so much death energy would make it spread out. He had assumed he had it fully contained, but clearly not.
“A sword. Jesus Shaun, what kind of sword did you make that I would cause that kind of feeling?” Shaun lifted up his new weapon and showed it to Eric. It took some time for him to be able to even look at it, but when he finally pushed through and managed to identify it he just looked confused. “It just says that it’s bonded to you. No description.” Isn’t that interesting.
“It is called Death’s Kiss.” He couldn’t help the smile from spreading across his face. He wanted to use it, now.
“Just, put it away, please. Its worse than your armour. Try not to scare everyone you come across, please?” Rather than argue he put the sword in his inventory. He was starving and wanted to get some food before he went to a dungeon to get some work in with his new sword. “How long was I in there?”
“Over a week. The feeling of dying only started 2 days ago though.” Eric walked with him as he moved to the kitchens. “I am going to leave you, I need to let everyone know its over and its safe to come back.” Eric walked off to do what he needed to do while he went to the kitchens and grabbed as much food as he could eat.
As he ate as he used his echo and found people moving back in to the area. He did feel bad about the whole people feeling like they were dying thing and if he had known what was going to happen he would have went somewhere secluded. But still, he couldn’t help the joy he felt at what he had created. Soon he would see what it did in a fight. Soon he could unleash Death’s Kiss.