Eugene hurriedly scrambled forward and reached for the hilt of the sword. The moment his hand tightened around the hilt, he felt a shock run through his body and stab into his heart.
"ARGH!" Eugene's hand could not let go of the sword hilt and he continued to get shocked by this unknown force.
Eugene was a warrior. Even though he was only 2-stars by now, he still had a very clear understanding of the physical state of his body. He could feel an unknown force invading his body, taking root within his heart and muscles.
'This is the price for the power you seek. Don't resist! Accept it all! TAKE IT!!!' Argon's voice boomed within Eugene's mind as the foreign power burrowed deeper into his heart.
'Whenever you use this sword, you will lose a part of your humanity! But it return, you will gain a portion of the power that belongs to a Demon of the Archduke rank!'
Eugene's mind went blank as the pain overcame him. His fingers that held onto the hilt of the sword began to exhibit some changes. The golden-brown tanned skin looked as if it was covered in black scales. His fingernails morphed into vicious claws that could dig out hearts.
The change only occurred on that one hand, before returning to normal. All of this took less than ten minutes before everything stopped. Eugene finally let go of the sword, his body weak and his mind worn out.
'What did you do to me?' He asked within his mind.
'You have gained power. Use it as you see fit.' A different voice from Argon's answered, but at that point, Eugene had already lost consciousness.
.
.
When morning came, Eugene was awoken by the feeling of something rough, sharp and pointy on his face. He blinked his eyes blearily as he gain consciousness. Then he felt the sharp, pointy thing on his face move and he abruptly jumped up.
"Ahh!" He scrambled back, only to hear the flapping of wings as a bird flew up into the sky. It circled for a moment before landing again a short distance from Eugene.
"A-a Desert Eagle?!" Eugene was stunned. He felt he was lucky. If not, the Desert Eagle might have plucked out his eyes already!
A strange smell passed through Eugene's nostrils and his face scrunched up. His senses came back to him then and he felt a warm wetness on his cheek. He instantly realized what had happened.
Desert Eagles had a habit of... excreting on things that they saw as prized possessions. They were quite smart and knew when something was rare, or of excellent quality, so they liked to keep it for themselves.
'Did I just become Desert Eagle property?' Eugene thought to himself as he used a piece of cloth to wipe his face. He then used as little water as possible to wash it off in disgust. He had to ration his water well, but there was no way he would let dry bird poop remain on his face like that.
CAW!!!
The Desert Eagle screeched loudly as it saw Eugene wash his face. Eugene cast a dubious look at it, and that was when he noticed that this one was not particularly large. It was only a foot tall with a wingspan of about three feet. That meant that it was still quite young.
It curiously stalked forward in an unthreatening manner. Eugene got to his feet so that he would be able to react to anything if it suddenly lashed out.
Caw???
The young Desert Eagle walked closer to Eugene and rubbed its head against his leg.
"It likes me?" Eugene was doubtful. He felt it was because the young eagle had already 'claimed' him as its property. He recalled that there were some books he had ready about mages using spells to turn animals into their companions. They formed a mutually beneficial relationship with the creature while gaining some unique quirks from their companions and turning it into their own unique powers.
Perhaps he could have done the same with this young Desert Eagle if only he knew how.
Caw!
The young eagle flapped its wings and flew up to Eugene's shoulder. Eugene let it. With his strength, he could deal with it easily if it tried anything. On the other hand, an adult Desert Eagle in its prime would probably have the strength of a 4-star warrior, so Eugene did not see any disadvantages to taming the eagle and letting it tag along. Plus, it seemed friendly enough.
"I need to give you a name." Eugene held his chin in thought. He examined the sandy brown color of the eagle's wings as he thought. His naming sense was quite poor, now that he thought about it. He would need some time to think about a proper name for the eagle.
"Let's just get going for now. I can think something up as we go." Eugene smiled a bit, feeling a little better. He turned and eyed the cursed sword that had once belonged to Gustavo. He pulled out a piece of cloth, not wanting to have direct contact with it, and held onto the hilt of the sword. He sighed when nothing happened, then he put it away in one of Gustavo's spatial rings that he had left behind.
As he had planned to give his life to ensure Eugene's survival, Gustavo did not even take anything of importance aside from his sword. Everything else that he believed was important was stored in the two spatial rings that he had taken with him as they fled Blazing Sun City.
"Alright, let's get going." Eugene said and walked over to the automobile that sat silently in the sand. The young desert eagle cawed and flew to the top of the automobile, as if understanding Eugene's words. It looked down at him as he sat on the driver's seat before jumping down and landing on his head. It was considerate enough to avoid scratching him with its claws.
Vroom!
The engine of the automobile spurred on as it came to life.