“No,” Elysian answered, sighing at the thought of the obnoxious creature. “The b*stard doesn’t like me. Well, I’ll rephrase that: the b*stard hates me. It doesn’t stop belittling and insulting me to the point that I sometimes want to pull my hair out,” he remarked, releasing his frustration about his relationship with the colossal eye. After blowing off some steam, he added, “After thousands of years in slumber, the first thing it saw was a master who was lacking compared to the previous one. Well, I really couldn’t blame it. As I told you earlier, I just gained ownership of it by mistake. The artifact should have been given as repayment for my blood debt, but as you can see, it now serves me.”

“Serve you?” BloodShade asked, her eyes narrowed. “I think you’ve reached the wrong conclusion.”

“Wrong conclusion?” the young noble asked, looking carefully at the woman, confused by her words. “What do you mean? If you’re talking about Eye not doing its duty but instead mentally abusing me, then I agree; the b*stard is not serving me,” he muttered before gritting his teeth. “Sometimes Eye can be really infuriating. It’s not as if I wanted that b*stard to be under me. I think fate just saw it as entertainment, so she allowed it to happen. Two idiots joined together in constant bickering. Isn’t that fun?”

“That’s not what I mean,” BloodShade stated, shaking her head. “What I’m talking about is that the Eye of Sacraeon doesn’t have the same relationship as we do. It doesn’t serve you, and you don’t have ownership of it. Sure, you have possession of the artifact, but that doesn't mean it recognizes you as its owner.”

‘Hmm… Now it's starting to make sense. Is that why it is always acting disrespectful to me, or is it that b*stard’s personality to begin with?

Wait, didn’t Eye call me master before?’

“If I recall correctly, Eye called me master before. Well, it was still quite disrespectful; it said that it’s shameful to have me as its master,” Elysian remarked, pondering more about the information disclosed by the woman. “It’s clear it doesn’t see me as one.”

“It doesn’t matter if it sees you as one or not,” BloodShade responded. “What matters is that the artifact isn’t connected to your soul. I should know because I’m connected to you. Currently, I’m the only soulforged you own.”

‘Interesting, it seems we are really deeply connected to each other. If what she said is true, is there any danger brought by this connection?’

After BloodShade noticed the slight hesitation of the boy, which instantly faded followed by a deep contemplation, she smiled and said, “I’m not the one who you should worry about, master; it’s the other one. We are now so deeply connected that we might as well be considered as one entity. I can’t cause any harm to befall you because it’s like I’m harming myself. Also, I accepted and decided to serve you as my master with my own free will. I don’t have any reason to betray you.”

“Don’t worry, I trust you,” Elysian responded, smiling at the woman. “However, in the case of Eye, do you think it's dangerous?”

“Of course, it’s dangerous,” BloodShade confirmed, chuckling when she saw the worried eyes of the boy. “You already know that you are the first one I served as my master, but that doesn’t mean you are the first one to take possession of me. Do you know what happened to those foolish humans?”

‘Yup, I’m in a precarious situation.

Well, it's not like I didn’t expect this. With how Eye has been treating me, I already know that I’m walking on eggshells. Beings like the Eye of Sacraeon, you can’t really be too sure, but from the way it's threatening me now, it can be irritating sometimes, I admit, but it could be worse. Also, now that I learned that it’s not obligated to serve me but still helps me when I’m in dire need of it and calls me master, though begrudgingly, I think our relationship is not so bad.’

“You killed them,” Elysian responded, staring the creature straight in the eye. She only grinned, showing her sharp fangs. “Though a possibility, I don’t think Eye would harm me.”

“I’m not saying it would. We are different breeds of creatures after all; I’m malevolent and love to kill people, while that terrifying, massive eyeball is an inquisitive type who likes to watch and observe things happen,” BloodShade said before suddenly turning serious. “Even though that creature isn’t the murderous type like me, don’t try to anger it.”

“Hey, when did I ever do that?!” Elysian retorted, scowling at the woman. When she gave him a deathly stare, he sighed and added, “Okay, okay, I understand what you mean.”

“Be sure that you do,” BloodShade stated, narrowing her eyes when she saw the boy wasn’t taking her warning seriously.

“Do you know how I could make Eye serve me like you do?” Elysian asked, trying to change the topic. “If it can harm me, why not make it truly mine? Doesn’t that solve the problem and also make me stronger?”

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“I don’t. I’m not an expert on these things. In my case, the only requirement is that you are not a man,” BloodShade answered, chuckling when she saw the boy's reaction. “Hey, you’re the one who said I’m not a man but a boy, so don’t blame me.”

“Does this mean that when I grow up and become a man, you won’t be mine?” Elysian asked, nervously awaiting her response.

BloodShade chuckled and replied, “Don’t worry about it, boy. I’ve already chosen you as my master; it won’t change even if you become an adult.” When she saw the relief on his face, she asked, “Why don’t you ask the Eye of Sacraeon? Maybe it would tell you what it needs.”

“I’ll try, but I doubt it,” Elysian said, snorting at the suggestion. “Did you hear that, Eye? What do you want me to do for you to serve me?” he shouted and then waited for a moment. As expected, his question was met with silence. “Look, it just ignores me.”

BloodShade just stared at the boy, sighing in exasperation. “You just won’t listen,” he muttered, shaking her head. “Well, whatever, do whatever you want. You seem to know that creature best. When it gets angry at you, don’t come to me for help.”

“Why aren’t we on the same side?”

“Brat, that creature is a lot stronger than me. Even if I’m at my full strength, it would just shrug off my attack, as you saw previously,” BloodShade stated, gritting her teeth in frustration.

‘As expected, even though BloodShade is strong, Eye is a lot higher in the food chain.’

“What do you mean at full strength? Is there a problem?” Elysian inquired, glancing back at her when he noticed a deeper meaning behind her words.

“I’m glad that you asked. Since you are now the owner, you need to know important information about soulforged artifacts,” BloodShade remarked, arching her brow to make a point. “This is to prevent you from thinking that you can just beat anyone because you have me as your weapon.”

‘I’m arrogant and sometimes a fool, but I’m not that dumb. I know I won’t be invincible just by being the owner of some absurdly powerful artifact.

However, this might answer a lot of questions I have about living weapons. They were quite a mystery in my past life. This will certainly be interesting.’

“Okay, go on,” the noble said, anticipation in his eyes.

Seeing the interest in the boy’s eyes, the woman nodded and said, “As I told you earlier, the moment I accepted you as my lord, my soul became connected to yours. This has many advantages for you. For example, you can use some of my powers.”

“Only some, not all?”

“Yes, only some of my powers, not all,” the woman confirmed. “We might be connected, but we are not the same being; we are different. This means that the areas where our souls are connected will determine which of my powers you can gain access to.”

“Did I just hear that right?” Elysian asked, frowning at the revelation. “I can’t choose which of your powers I can use?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“If that’s the case, can I instead choose which part of our souls is connected?” the noble asked, hoping that he could pick the areas that were most useful to him.

“I’m sorry, but no. Our souls connected the moment you emerged from the vision. It is permanent and completely random. I can’t control or select which areas of our souls have joined together.”

‘Damn, that would be a problem. Hopefully, the power I get is something useful and compatible with my fighting style, or else it would just be a waste.’

When the boy sighed, BloodShade immediately studied his reaction. She grinned when she saw the dismay in his eyes. “I can see that you are disappointed. Well, I don’t blame you. I would be too if I were told that a soulforged would only amount to giving some random abilities that you aren’t even sure would be useful. Wouldn’t a lower-quality weapon be better since you can choose what ability you get when you commission its creation?”

“From the way you’re smiling, it seems that isn’t the case,” Elysian inquired, raising a brow. “Certainly, something as highly treasured and veiled in secrecy as a soulforged shouldn’t be just a shabby artifact that some random blacksmith’s creation can easily best, right?”

“Of course, why else would people kill or wage war for something useless? That’s also why you must never talk to anyone about me, even to those closest to you, no matter how much you trust them, or else you will be heading to a tragic end,” BloodShade warned. When she saw the boy nod, she paused for a moment as a thought crept into her mind. “I already know how arrogant you are, so I need to warn you in advance: soulforged artifacts aren’t all-powerful that you can just wave them and, swish, you destroy a city,” she said before frowning. “Wait, that might be a bad example. Hmm… some soulforged artifact might actually be able to do that; I’m not sure,” she muttered, sighing. “What I’m trying to point out is that having me doesn’t make you invincible. You certainly gain an advantage, but you can also die like everyone else.”

“You don’t need to worry,” Elysian responded in exasperation. “I already know that. Do you think I’m a fool?”

“Yes, you’re arrogant and a fool,” BloodShade retorted, shaking her head at the grinning face of the boy. “As I was saying before, there’s a reason why soulforged artifacts are greatly prized in history. Let me ask you this: as someone who has been a cultivator for decades in your previous life, what do you think is the most important for a cultivator in a fight?”

“For a cultivator, there are many skills, their level of cultivation…” Elysian muttered, listing all he thought was important before his eyes suddenly widened. “Are you talking about aura?”

“Yes,” BloodShade responded, nodding. “As you know, for a cultivator, the amount of aura a person has will largely determine the outcome of a fight. Sure, a higher-level cultivator will likely win against a lower one, but remember, even someone who has reached the apex of cultivation will lose to a brat who has just entered cultivation,” she said as a smile suddenly appeared on her lips. “I’m sure you know this already, since this is the reason why you easily won against Grimscar. If you confronted him head-on, I’m not so confident you would survive the confrontation against him.”

‘Aura Exhaustion, the bane of all cultivators.’

“Does this mean that it will increase or somehow boost the aura of its user?” Elysian asked before his eyes suddenly widened. “I think I’ve got it. It seems the answer has been in front of me all along. I’ve been calling soulforged living artifacts before, meaning they are alive. If I’m not wrong, they are like me—a cultivator, isn’t that right?”