Chapter 272: Chapter 272- Acrypha’s Truth (Part 1)
Chapter 272: Chapter 272- Acrypha’s Truth (Part 1)
Hearing that question, Merit closed his eyes for a moment as he thought of something. "Well, a spear like that, with the knowledge I have of it… It can be either priceless or simply a bag of trash, no in-betweens." He replied.
"A bag of trash? Why? It's really good, though." Talon said as he gripped it even harder. He still didn't check its description yet but he was certain this spear was perfect for him. Even if it was considerably weaker than the other ones, he would still choose it purely for the chemistry.
"Yeah, that thing doesn't work. Look at those runes on the side. Those are supposed to be activated for the spear to reach its true potential. But, I have never met a single soul that can actually make this thing work." Merit explained.
Across his journey, he had met countless people on his way, some took interest in that spear all the same. After all, this one looked the most 'normal' within Merit's arsenal and sometimes, the most normal-looking things hide the deepest secrets. Especially when you put it in the context of the owner of this spear… Merit himself.
He was a collector of all special items and a master at choosing what to keep and what to throw. If he kept something as normal as this spear, then that means it isn't normal anymore.
"Well, how about we make a bet?" The entity said with a smile as he thought of an idea.
"A bet? About what?"
"Simple, I want you to try and activate this spear. If you can do that, then it's yours for free. On the other hand, if you can't activate it and it remains the same, you can still take it if you want. But, you will have to pay a price for it. What do you think?"
Hearing that, Talon pursed his lips and went silent. The bet seemed rather safe. There weren't that many big stakes to lose on this which made Talon's decision rather quick.
"Sure, why not?" Extending his hand, he shook merit's to seal the deal.
"Ok, try it now." Merit said as he took a step back with a curious look on his face. He hadn't felt this anticipation of something happening in a very long while. Something within him told him that this spear might've finally found its worthy owner.
Yet, at the same time, he still can't believe that someone would be able to activate this spear so easily.
"Mmm, should I go outside or…?" Looking around him, Talon could only hesitate. The shop was rather small and he didn't know whether it could even be safe if something went completely wrong in the process.
"Don't worry. This place had bore the test of time, it will be fine." Merit said.
"Uh, ok…" Rubbing the back of his head, the young man finally focused on the spear in his hand. Feeling its cold metal on his skin made him submerge his mind into it even further. Before doing anything, he wanted to feel the spear and communicate with it.
It wasn't something necessary to do as this was still just a piece of metal. But, Talon wanted to do that because he saw it as a potential companion and what do you do when you meet a new person? You introduce yourself.
After a minute or so, he finally opened his mouth and lifted the spear up so that he could take a closer look at the runes on its side. "Ok, here goes nothing…" Saying that, he started channeling his Aetheris into the spear.
Slowly, the vibrant energy flowed into his hand and through to the spear. But, that's when Talon noticed something. Stay connected with m-vl_em|p,yr
'Where is my energy going?' He raised an eyebrow.
The moment his Aetheris seeped into the spear, it vanished completely and not even in a normal manner. It was as if the spear swallowed it whole and left nothing behind. That was a first for him. But, he didn't let it stop him and he continued pumping it with Aetheris while the spear consumed it all instantly like a hungry beast that came across a hearty meal.
Seconds turned into minutes and the spear didn't seem to have any signs of stopping. That made Talon frown as he didn't have an infinite pool of Aetheris and it could run out quicker than the spear could grow satisfied. Even more than that, he feared that this spear didn't accept and was simply using him as a source of energy for itself.
As the time went by, his pessimism grew and he started feeling that this wasn't going to work. On the other hand, Acrypha and Merit watched with deep curiosity. They also noticed the lack of reaction from the spear but didn't say a word.
At the 20-minute mark, Talon's Aetheris started entering critical stages. In these short 20 minutes, he had used almost 80% of his Aetheris at an extremely rapid pace. Eventually, when things seemed to be failing, he stopped the supply and sighed.
"It's not working. The spear is just consuming my Aetheris. The runes didn't activate as you said." He uttered with a disappointed tone. Even if he wasn't expecting the spear to activate as he was simply satisfied with its material and other characteristics, he still wished he could activate it and see what power it was capable of.
"Oh my, I guess there is nothing to do about it. This thing is tough to satisfy." Merit laughed. Meanwhile, Acrypha floated toward Talon and tapped his shoulder.
"It's fine. There is no shortage of strong spears in this world. You will find other better ones in the future."
"Yeah, I know…" Nodding his head with a small smile, he simply shook those thoughts off and decided to focus on the bright side. He acquired a sturdy spear to use in the future. That was more than good news as he was in urgent need of one.
"Well, I lost the bet, I guess. How much for the sp-" At that moment, when Talon was about to admit defeat, he suddenly felt something vibrate in his hand. Immediately, he looked down, only to be shocked by what he saw.
The spear which was motionless this entire time, had suddenly started moving. No, even more than that, the spear's grey, bland color had suddenly shifted. Instead, a bright, blueish hue covered its frame.
Then, one of the runes at the bottom of the spear suddenly started shining with a sky-blue color. Talon felt immense energy moving through the spear, traveling from the rune up to the blade.
When it reached it, the tip of the blade suddenly formed a ball of blue energy.
"Wha-" Before Talon could even do anything, the ball of energy suddenly launched forward and its target was…
"Move, Merit!!" Talon yelled as he saw the energy ball reach him in a split second. However, the boy didn't even seem to be bothered as he simply extended his hand forward.
The chaotic sphere clashed with his hand and stopped completely. Then, a strong gush of wind exploded everywhere, sending Talon stumbling back a few steps. The entire shop shook violently as if it were hit by a storm.
Covering his face so as not to get hit by something, Talon waited for the wind to subside before he finally peeked through his arm. There, he saw the sphere of energy still in Merit's hand.
"... Interesting…" The latter said as he looked at the spear with a hint of fascination in his eyes. "This is amazing… A perfect ball of Aetheris… So this is what that spear can do?"
'To be honest, I expected many things. This isn't certainly one of those things.' Rubbing his chin, he examined the sphere further. Not only was it a perfectly compact ball filled with energy. Its destructive power was fascinating. So much so that Merit was certain if he didn't stop it, this entire shop would've been blasted into pieces.
No, even more than that, it could've easily destroyed the neighboring buildings too.
A ball, smaller than his hand, capable of a destructive power of that caliber.
"What the hell was that? Why did it suddenly do that?" Staring at the spear in his hand, Talon noticed that the blue color had vanished completely and the rune went back to its former colorless nature.
He didn't understand why the spear reacted that way after an entire minute passed.
"It seems we were wrong. The spear had never done this before. Usually, it consumes the user's Aetheris and never does anything else. You are quite different." Merit said as he grew a toothy grin. "It seems the spear had accepted you as its new master."
Talon blinked silently before he looked at the spear again. This time, he noticed something else. The weapon's connection with him had deepened significantly. It was a subtle sensation at first but only grew more and more prominent the more he looked at it.
He didn't even need proof from Merit to realize that indeed, the spear had accepted him and it was more than willing to let him use it.
Acrypha stared at Talon from the side with a hint of relief. She didn't want to see him dissatisfied with his new weapon even if it was a little bit.
'There couldn't be any better user for that spear. If it refused him, I would be damned.' She thought to herself.
(I uploaded a new book to my account. It won't be the main one, but it's an interesting idea I had for a while now. The name is 'Rise Of The Greatest Blade Arcane'. Do search it up and add it to your collection if you are interested.)