Chapter Eighteen: Echoes of Fading Memories
¬With a longsword in hand, I'll enchant my enemies. With a longsword sword in hand, I'll break their will. With a longsword in hand, I'll slash the stars apart. With a longsword in hand, I'm the doom of a battlefield¬
This memory flashed in Dusken's mind; this was what his father's saying when he had taught him the way of the sword.
His father's favourite weapon was a longsword, so he decided to teach it to him when he was just seven years old; although it wasn't right to force a child to use one particular weapon since that may not be their talent, Dusken was different.
Each and every weapon available, he could use, spears, battle hammers, he learnt them all, but his main weapon was a longsword.
These memories came rushing back to Dusken's mind, making him laugh out loud and everyone stared at him like he was senile.
Dusken slowly shook his head, as he subtly manipulated the words of his father and blurted it out.
"With a longsword in hand, all my enemies shall die. With a longsword in hand, I'll sweep through a battlefield. With a longsword in hand, I'm despair itself, With a longsword in hand, I shall tear the clouds apart. This is my true meaning, my way of the sword and whoever blocks path shall get cut down."
These words, filled with coldness and laced with no emotion but killing intent, boomed in the silent battlefield.
"Kerch!"
The creature charged at Dusken; with a side step, he avoided its pounce, but the beast twisted itself in the air, and one of its legs decorated with needle-like claws swiped at his rib.
The sound of the air being cut apart resounded in the area as he used his knee to deal a heavy blow to the creature's stomach; as for the claws, they scratched his rib, causing three faint lines to appear and start dripping with blood.
Pain ravaged his senses, but he didn't care; that was completely his doing. His eyes blazed as a ruthless slash echoed from his sword.
It was filled with profound meaning, imbued in him since he was just a mere seven-year-old by his father.
¬You must remember, Dusken, a sword is a tool for you to use. Do not believe in others when they say you need to treat your sword as a living being to form the essence of combat. It is just a mere tool for you to manipulate and end your enemies with. It has to serve you, and when it's broken, get another one. This is the essence of a battle with a sword. Meant to be manipulated by you, controlled by you, and end the enemies even if it's destroyed.¬
The words of his father resurfaced from the deepest part within him; his one slash contained all that his father had imbued in the seven-year-old him before he had disappeared.
The sword zipped the air, and sounds of wind tearing apart were heard; the creature landed on the ground, but before it could move, it was too late.
Shrek
A weird sound rippled out as the beast was slashed; blood flowed out of the deep gash on it.
"Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!"
A deafening shout erupted from the monstrosity as its head was almost divided in two. It struggled weirdly, but Dusken was now a level one.
His muscles bulged as he sent the sword deeper; the creature swayed frantically, swiping its claws and tails around, trying to attack Dusken.
Sadly, its efforts were useless, twisting his blade and sending it deeper into the monstrosity's skull, a cold, detached look radiated from his eyes.
His inner thoughts were cool and calm; anyone who tried to end his life would also die like this one day; he would be sure of it.
Demon prince Ashahell, Jessica, Benita, Drake, Alex, Joel and that lean boy all would die like this one day, ended by him with fear written all over their face.
Unknowingly to him, a dark smirk had formed at the corner of his lips; blood dripped from the creature's wound, and little by little, its struggling weakened.
Brain matter accompanied the blood to flow out of the wound on its head, and soon, the struggling of the creature stopped entirely; it stopped moving, it was... dead.
For a moment, everything was silent before Dusken felt negative emotions raging through him, and the voice of the Calamity Codex sounded from the depths of his soul.
[You have slain a level one awakened creature]
[Your Abyss within grows darker]
Rage, anger, fury, madness, murderous, malice, hunger, hunger, hunger, rage, rage, rage, malice, malice, malice, fury, madness, craziness, insanity.
All these negative emotions were flashing through his mind like a chaotic current of swirling sea, in a roundabout manner.
From the words of the Calamity Codex, Dusken got one part.
'M-my Abyss within?'
The thoughts shook Dusken's heart, he didn't understand what was going on here, but if there was one thing he felt, it was that the negative emotions had retreated.
His eyes became clear once again as his gaze swept through the battlefield; everyone had stopped paying him attention long ago, except a girl.
The girl who looked 14 years old with a slender figure and beautiful smooth white skin, a cloth was wrapped around her upper body, covering her breasts, and another on her lower body.
Her sharp, dark brown eyes were planted on Dusken; she wasn't a contestant, but instead a normal slave inside the trial.
But she was not to be underestimated; below her feet was a creature that was dead, and on her hand was a long claw that seemed to have been taken out of a beastman.
Probably this girl had ripped off a beast-man's claw after his death and used it as a weapon to kill the creature; this meant that she was at least level one.
Dusken didn't avert his gaze, and his incredulousness wasn't hidden either. To be honest, humans could grow stronger by killing creatures and getting exp from them by the Calamity Codex - though he was another case.
He didn't know how the aliens and creatures could grow stronger, since they didn't have the Codex. Dusken was well aware that this trial was probably just an illusion conjured up to test them, but still there was no answer to that.
Tiredness filled his very being as the battle between the creatures had ended, so now the adrenaline had left him.
The girl's stare was persistent, she refused to turn away, even when Dusken was gazing right at her.
He averted his eyes from her; she was just someone from an illusion, so his care for her action of staring was nonexistent.
As for the last contestant, he glanced at the area: charred corpses lay everywhere, the tree the slaves had been tied to, even more corpses laid, so probably, that person had died long ago.
Not everyone was like him who had slain a level one creature before reaching the god's palace and reached level one after unlocking his talent.
He inhaled sharply but grimaced soon after.
'Curse it, such an unhealthy air,'
Shaking his head, he decided to call upon his soul script, as he didn't receive any exp only the words that his abyss within grows darker.
Name: Dusken
Innate Name: -
Rank: Awakened
Level: 1
Abysmal points: [10/1000]
Spell Cards: 1
Scrolls: 1
Material Cards: 1
Talent: Abyssal Star
Talent Rank: Ultimate
Talent abilities: [Darkshadow control]
Side abilities: [Child Of the Abyss]
Innate abilities: [Dark Flame]
Legacy: None
His expression faltered as he read his abysmal points. People normally got around 20 to 50 exp when they slay a level one lifeform depending on how powerful the entity was, the exp could either increase or reduce.
Even still… 20 exp was the lowest for a level one existence, but, he got only eight damned abysmal points. It had previously been only two, and now ten.
However, Dusken's eyes glinted with a sharp light as a realization dawned on him.
These abysmal points were the negativity of any life form, when he had slain that level one awakened creature, emotions, negative emotions had surged through him.
Those negative emotions were the Abysmal points and if those were negativities, then that meant that the more negative an entity, the more abysmal points got when slain, but this also meant that his brain would be on overload and threat of being consumed by them, simply because just this level one creature had influenced him, a stronger one could break him down.
All these thoughts swarmed his mind, but that was not what made him shiver, if negative emotions were abysmal points, then the shadows of these dead creatures, maybe these were the type of shadows that he could control.
If he could control the shadows of dead beings, then that meant that with enough magical essence, making them rise and fight for him wasn't impossible, and maybe if he absorbed them, his strength would rapidly grow.
'Doesn't this mean that… I'll become a lord of death on a battlefield? With thousands of shadow armies fighting for me?'