"What am I even doing!!!!'' It had been 6 months since I was in this training hell. I know that I was here to get stronger but it felt like I was training in vain! In these 6 months, I was able to do many things. My fighting technique was polished quite well. Since I could use spirit energy, the strength of the body had really changed from the time I was in the edge of the world after all, and back there I used more technique then raw power, so after this long, I was able to change quite a bit of my combat style
techniques that used raw power to bring out more critical attacks were certainly destructive enough. but I understood that even raw power can be used many ways, concentrated attacks that do piercing damage, then there were attacks that just blew the opponent away and then came super speed that increased evasiveness and the amount of attacks I can dish out in a matter of seconds.
I was even able to get used to the pain from using Amanori's Miasma on myself. but I was still hanging at 10%. I was doing basic strength training even while putting 20 times gravity on me. My stamina Improved, but I was still at 10% no matter what kind of training I did. I can't seem to get more power from Amanori… although my body was improving at lightning speed using that power, it was as if Miasma was molding my body up and changing the power structure from the base.
I know this was going to be hard but I thought in 6 months, I thought I at least would have been able to get 1 more % of that power…..
[Heh heh heh, if it were that easy, so many warriors wouldn't have died by wielding me.] Amanori was giving out harsh comments. It was like this for quite a while. It seemed that she had a sadistic side where she enjoyed her wielder's troubles with bliss.
I know!
I punched the ground feeling irritated. The ground crumbled beneath me. By now I had surpassed my former state by leaps. I now knew just how much my body could handle. By putting 20 times gravity on me I had been Using all of my strength nonstop for the past month. Even while fighting, sleeping, eating I was under such pressure, but alas, I couldn't harness Amanoris power….
{Notice: Cell to cell remodeling complete}
Just then System gave me a notice. I was using Cell to cell modeling all these months non stop and in this living hell, I even had forgotten all about it. of course cell to cell remodeling gave a lot of pain while it was active, but the pain that disturbed me more was when I used Miasma me strengthen my self, which in the end made me numb to all that pain and just like a robot I pushed through. it seems the brain could handle only so much of each sensation, there is a point where just can't process just how much pain your in.
"Yeah, I remember now… so what's the result?" as I expected a long report I sat on the ground to hear it.
{Cell to cell remodeling has remodeled every aspect of the body. Now the masters body can assimilate spirit energy like spirits can.}
"Which means?"
{Answer: Master can use spirit energy like mana more intimately.}
"Wait then how about magic? can't I use magic then? Also I was already using magic wasn't I? more to that… what the hell does it mean intimately??"
{The spirit magic master used was being used under the spirits guidance so from now master can use spirit energy without the overseer. Although the former restriction is still in place. To be able to use other attributes, master has to form a contract with said spirits. The only thing that has changed is that master can use his own spirit energy to complete these spells much easier, so even without Spirit Ridge here, the power to wield her attribute is already within master.}
"Haah! That is not bad I guess, so from now I can use earth magic even without Ridge being around me, the spirit energy is the only booster I got as of now.…. I wonder if I can increase a bit more in that department then..."
{Answer: Affirmative, it is possible.}
As this news was brought to me, I started to sense my spirit energy. At first when I was able to feel this energy, it was so little that I thought it would be a waste of time to think about it. but now I could feel the energy was much bigger in comparison.
It felt like my mana pool right now was somewhat big I think… as I started to think about focusing my mind to manipulate the energy, I felt that it started to spread around in my body. This feeling was completely different, the energy now distributes much more finely. Covering everything in my body. The cell to cell remodeling was nothing to scoff at. It was night and day as to what had changed… Since I was using Miasma all this time, I didn't use spirit energy for 6 months straight…. Man.. the feelings awesome..
but the real change is something else, I could feel my spirit energy move around inside the body sure, but it was centering around the heart. it seems all the energy was gathering there and with every breath I took and released, the power spread throughout my body. and little by little, the body increased it's might.
I opened my eyes and saw that my body was emanating a faint aura. It was a transparent aura. This was spirit energy itself. I had enveloped my whole body in it. It almost felt as if I had transformed into something else. My body felt lighter. I felt heat coursing through my body. It wasn't unpleasant. As I tried to get up, I just remembered that I had put 20 times gravity on me but I didn't feel like I was under that much pressure. Actually it felt more normal…
"System is 20 times gravity still applied to me….?"
{Answer: Affirmative.}
Then why is my body so light?...
I tried to move. It was unreal. It was like I just used a flash step. since my perceptive ability was still overpowered. I was able to see just how fast I had gotten.
"Okay then how about… strength…" I punched the air, it was a punch that blew the opponent away by releasing an impact like knock back.
Boom!
The punch created such force that the air around it shattered with a boom sound. It was like my 300% punch but the recoil wasn't there and my body was fine.
If I compare this enhancement from before… then I guess it feels like back then I had only learned the skill where now I felt as if I had mastered it.
"Alright let's see how many I can throw." I started to do shadow boxing….. It made random boom bang bash bang noises all around, and it was like I was firing air cannons with each punch…. It was an overwhelming force… After roughly 30 minutes I was breathing hard…
"Hah… hah… what … happened?"
{Answer: spirit energy depleted}
"Already? It was like 30 minutes…." I guess with the power up It also increased in consumption. then again, from a passive increase in strength this was more like a active skill that increased my strength by folds. the 300% I used back in the day was my upper limit, but this technique made my upper limit my base strength and increased upon that upper limit by many folds.
{Answer: Master needs to have a larger energy reserve for fighting longer in this form…..mana reserve should be filled in 30 minutes.}
As the System said that, the aura around me disappeared. I fell to the ground. I could feel the 20 times gravity again, still my stamina had been halved in just 30 minutes actually... so not only was my spirit energy depleted but my stamina to… the power up really cost a lot… I was sacrificing a lot to gain raw power...
it was more than just halved…. As I stood on all four, I could see sweat trickling down my face like I had just run a marathon…
the spirit energy boost… back when I just entered, even this boost couldn't make me this strong…
[Miasma...]
"What?"
[This was because of Miasma…]
It happened because of Miasma?
[I didn't tell you until now… but my Miasma has another trait to it.]
"Is this going to be a big revolution?"
[That's up to you… anyway… a wielder who can live after wielding me would surely deteriorate his life force and soul… but his body would also lose a lot of impurities.]
"Impurities?"
{Answer; Components of the body that hinder the mana flow in the body. When someone uses mana, in the long run, slowly their body discards these impurities and gains physical strength and greater mana control and reserves.}
"Oh… it sounds like a fact from a novel… but sure sure… I wanted to ask why this made me lose mana and stamina faster… shouldn't I have more mana and stamina then? My body is developing since discarding these impurities?"
[Your body is getting capable of using mana more and more but that doesn't mean you are gaining that mana more and more, you just got a way to use more not earn it.]
{Affirmative. The bodies mana usage capacity and mana pool are differently upgraded. currently Master can use all your energy reserves in the blink of an eye.}
It seems that using Amanori regularly made my body stronger.. Even if I can't use her power to fight. I can still use it to get stronger… if I get stronger, I can boost more using the spirit energy… for now it is a good strategy to build up physical strength and make my reserves bigger… At least I think that will need to be done...
"I guess if I want to get my reserves bigger, I just have to use my own spirit reserves… exhausting more and more. and then I have to contract with more spirits to increase the ways I recover my power too..." but I had got a lead, if I couldn't use Amanori's power, I just had to get stronger until I could use it. I think this spirit energy will be the key to gaining that power…. Still, to think that spirit energy was this easy to use… no wonder the spirits were so strong. They could just power their body with this energy itself and get stronger...
…..
It had been 6 months since our training had started. Everything was moving on quite well. Alice had become much stronger; she still was building up her stamina but her explosive strength had increased further. breathing techniques also molded ones body into a more resilient one after all.
"I can feel my strength increasing."
"Well, you bet you are, with the training you are doing… you are even more hardcore then me…"
"I still can't train to the point like you who coughs blood… literally…"
"Th-that's just my fault for training wrong sometimes!" I said as I stuttered from Alice… the blood is just when I mess up with Miasma and spirit enhancement together… I had no idea what caused me to think I could use both at the same time… I barely had mastered any of them after all. in the end, the energies with different properties clashed inside my body and literally made an explosion inside me.
Not to mention, it was really embarrassing to see both of them carry me to my room and mend my body while I was knocked out...
"No matter what you say… I can't train like you can… it's frustrating..!" even as Alice says that there hasn't been a single day of training that I didn't need to carry her to her bed since she passed out on the fields… this is one hardcore girl.
....
Systy had also greatly improved, she could even block my 300% punches with her water magic. I had to believe that she was a prodigy herself because her mana pool had become so big that it was incomparable to before. her basic strength had also increased. I even heard that she could manipulate water more finely. As such, we continued to improve.
Day by day I thought we would have become hopeless in time, but it looked like we had more perseverance than I thought.
[Water girl, you can increase your power by relying on the curse! Use my curse that Rekka has bestowed on you!]
"The curse? Master, you cursed me!" As Systy looked at me horrified, I panicked and said that it was like a protection.
After a long explanation….
"So this cursed halo is like a curse that detects malice and stops malicious individuals from damaging us…. It's a very unique curse…" thankfully Systy didn't ask what the attackers would get after the curse activated. I can't tell her that they would literally rot inside out from the curse.. Well that's the worst that could happen. Depending on the malice, the enemy could have a nightmare or die being rotten from the inside.
[Thus I am saying, just like Rekka, you can also draw power from the curse. Well at worst you can die.]
"...Amnori… your way of thinking is way too death oriented… Systy can't use that power with so much risk." as I said with a cross with my hands, Systy on the other hand…
"...Master… I will strive to follow this curse you have bestowed me!" ahh… I should have guessed… this girl followed me and Alice here… she herself wasn't normal…
As such I had a long and hard conversation where Systy agreed that when she finally understands what curse meant and built up a natural immunity from them, then she will use it to bring out that power.
As for Alice…
"I won't use your power to get stronger!" yeah… everyone had their own path to follow… but she didn't need to smack me on the head to retort that.
.....
[Are you mad?] Amanori asked me.
"Of course. You had to tell them about the cursed halo… if they tried to use curses… unlike me…"
[They would get swept up by the curse.]
"You knew that well."
[Heh heh… Rekka you don't know what curses and Miasma can actually do.]
"Eh?"
[After I became your sword… well… I learned that I lost the way to actually disobey you….]
"I know… you did a lot of damage learning that." even remembering that day makes me shudder. It did happen accidentally after all.
[I can't help it… it was the first time I was under someone after all. But that also meant that I was getting something back.]
"You were?"
[Yup, My consciousness, it's not in the sword anymore, even if you leave the sword behind and not log it around everywhere, I am still with you now.]
"Now that you say it…."
[Yeah, this also means that I got the opportunity to actually feel what it means to have a body, first hand. Even if I don't have control over it, everything you feel… I can feel it first hand.]
"Wait wait!"
[All the time you feel horny, I feel the same if you wanna ask about that.] as Amanori said with a teasing tone, I crunched up in bed….
"Oh man… you sound like a little girl… can you not say it out loud that your were horny?"
[That's not the point, unlike you, even if I feel those emotions, those don't affect me much. What affects me is when you feel relaxed and calm, and when you use the miasma… that's when I feel good… and I mean like really good.]
"Is that why you always humm and sing when I use miasma?"
[Yeah, the feeling is that good. Then let's come to the curse. By this logic when you get cursed then I should feel even better no?]
"Sure?"
[That doesn't actually happen… when you get cursed… I feel like I am going to die. Even though I don't know if it really is death.]
"Then…."
[Your hunch is right, you and I have been connected to the soul… I don't know for sure… but if you die I might die too. This is what the curse's strength is. Even if you are the curse itself… The same curse can kill you too. That is why I said to that girl who looked weak. If ever she gets cursed, since you are getting cursed… not being able to endure the curse she might die.]
"This…. This is a big… revolution… I already cursed so many of the girls… I never thought that there would be this kind of a situation…"
[Nothing comes with a free pass in the world after all. But you don't have to worry, I already found a way to reverse if that situation arises and if memory serves… there would bound to be a time when you would get cursed… human emotions can't be controlled after all.]
"Amanori… you really like to kill people… why are you doing this…? oh…. So that's the reason..." as I found the reason midway… a smile came to my face….
[Can't be helped when I feel their love… I can't kill something that loves me...] holy shit…. Amanori… and I am connected now… loving me is the same as loving her… but who knew that she would be so quick to change from only love…?
[It's intoxicating… feeling loved… aahh… I can't express just how much pleasure it feels!] as she said… I could feel Amanori… and her feeling might be even more deeper than me…
It was unknown to me… but someone who always felt something clearly the opposite of love until now… would of course feel intoxicated when they feel love… that too since she feels everything I feel… a first hand experience… I guess… she is bound to get intoxicated…
...…..
Even though Amanori had revealed such a thing… Rekka did not know what it meant when the cursed sword Amanori… actually came to value someone… With every member to love, there comes strength and power and comes vulnerabilities.
Until now if something happens to the Cursed sword wielders possessions. Only the wielder gets berserk…
Until now that is….