Shadow Author

Chapter 43 23. Sword

?Before I was able to learn anything more about the new aspects that appeared before me I was interrupted by the steps of Miss Smith.

Knowing that my time was up I closed my status panel and lowered my arm waiting in anticipation for the training I would soon be receiving.

Once Miss Smith finally made it over to me she handed me a sword.

I grabbed hold of the sword haphazardly not paying any attention to it as my focus was still split on Aether and needing to get stronger.

But then I heard Miss Smith scoff and I focused my full attention on her.

When she saw my confused face she simply pointed at the sword which was still in my hand.

Following her line of sight, I looked down at the blade and when I realized how magnificent it was my mouth dropped open in shock.

"What is this?"

Now that I actually showed some interest in the sword Miss Smith began explaining herself.

"Well if I'm going to have a disciple they might as well have a good sword."

I couldn't help but agree more with Miss Smith. She was completely right, I needed a sword, and a good one at that.

As I inspected the blade a few things stood out to me.

First, it was a pure black blade as dark as the night sky.

It was apparent that the sword was crafted from a mysterious black metal that seemed to absorb all light that touched it.

In addition, the hilt was intricately carved, with two sharp points extending out from either side, giving it a wicked appearance.

However, the most surprising part was that there was a round ball at the bottom of the sword.

Where the pommel was located on the sword was a sphere that remained firm as it was held in place by the grip which came out under the ball.

The design was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Never once did I mention in the novel that Miss Smith was in possession of such an exquisite weapon.

This whole time I was obsessing over the sword Miss Smith remained silent to allow me to look it over.

Now that I finished I had many questions to ask.

"Where did you get something like this?"

Miss Smith didn't show any reaction when I asked but she quickly changed the subject.

"Is it really all that important where I got it? What matters now is that it's in your hands."

"That's true."

Although I wanted to know more and I was intrigued as to the history behind the blade I wasn't going to bite the hand that fed me. Therefore I dropped the topic and began asking questions about the blade specifically.

"Can you tell me a bit about it? Like why it's all black and what this ball is at the end?"

Miss Smith who was more than happy to share the power behind the sword began to explain some of its abilities.

"Of course I can, you see this sword was crafted to be a weapon of great beauty and deadly efficiency. In terms of its abilities, this sword could be capable of slicing through nearly any material with ease, the reason being that it's imbued with enchantments."

'Enchantments? If what she is saying is true then that means this sword is no less than C rank!'

Now that things are starting to get interesting and the fact that the sword might be even greater than I first thought I need to know more about it.

"Is it true that it's enchanted?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like this."

To prove her point Miss Smith took the sword back from me and ran two of her fingers up the blade.

The moment she released some mana when doing so the blade lit up and all kinds of encrypted ruins appeared.

Stunned by what I saw, Miss Smith explained what each rune did. In total there were six ruins however only four of them glowed when Miss Smith was using them.

"Before I share what each one does I should first mention that you most likely wouldn't be able to use even one."

Hearing these words I thought there might be some conditions needed such as being worthy or something cringe.

"Why's that?"

"Well, you need to be at least E rank to use the first one."

"Oh."

'I was wrong, it's just that I'm too weak.'

"But there is no need to be sad because with me as your teacher you will E rank in no time."

Appreciating Miss Smith's attempt to cheer me up I smiled and agreed with her because it would only be a matter of time before I unlocked the power to wield the weapon.

But then I started thinking about it and when I recalled that there were six runes and only four lit up for her I had a hypothesis.

"Miss Smith, could it be that each rank starting at E and going up to S is equivalent to unlocking a rune?"

She nodded.

"That's correct, I'm surprised you figured it out so fast, the sword is extremely powerful and if its wielder isn't strong enough to pull out its full potential it will block you until you can."

Learning that bit of information was extremely helpful because it meant that I could continue to use the blade up until I became S-ranked. Therefore I wouldn't have to go out and buy a new sword every time I ranked up.

With these thoughts in mind, I realized just how much of a blessing it was and Miss Smith wasn't even finished explaining all that it can do!

"So what does each rune do?"

"Right, the first is a sharpness feature which increases cutting easily. It allows them to cut something or someone quicker many times over."

Hearing the description of the first rune I didn't think it was all that impressive. Sure the ability would be of great help but I figured there would be better things out there. Thankfully there were more runes.

"The second is a weight manipulation rune. So long as you infuse mana into the sword you can increase its weight and strike someone with hundreds if not thousands of kilograms. In addition, you can also release the pent-up mana and make the sword weigh less than a feather!"

'Now this is what you call an enchantment!'

"The third rune is an aura rune! This means that even if someone isn't at the rank of sword master they can still use aura! The best part about this rune is that no matter what, it won't cost the user any mana to supply the sword with aura, it generates its own on its own!"

'Holy shit is that overpowered!'

"Unfortunately it's not as strong as you might be thinking. Although the sword supplies itself with Aura that also means that the aura cannot leave the sword. This means you would have to use your aura to cast out long-range attacks as Willow did. Yet up close it's the perfect weapon!"

Knowing that there was a restriction saddened me but if it was how I originally thought the sword wouldn't even be fair.

"The fourth rune allows the user to change the form of the weapon. Although it must stand to its roots. That means it can't change into something like a bow or scythe. However, it can become longer like a spear or shorter like a dagger which allows it to be flexible in all kinds of situations."

This was another great addition to the weapon and I was more than satisfied with it.

"The fifth rune allows the sword to be controlled by one's will. That means that so long as you have the mana to support it you'd never have to wield the weapon again."

Now that was one hell of an enchantment.

If what I was understanding was correct then I could have the sword levitate and attack from all angles while I either stay safe in the back far from the battle or distract and have the sword come in for a sneak attack.

As many possibilities appeared when I allowed this rune I couldn't help but wait to hear what the last one did. I mean it had to be something special since only an S ranker could use it and it was the last of many great enchants.

"As for the sixth and final rune, I have no idea what it does."