260. Centaurus

❮ ◈ ❯

Assimilation Successful!

Rhapsodic Sonata’s Perk, Blood Rage, resonates with Lifeblood Curse.

A new perk was synthesized; Lifeblood Rage!

Rhapsodic Sonata’s Primal Curse has grown to the Second Stage!

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Designation: Weapon/Blade/Scythe

Name: Rhapsodic Sonata

Rarity: Unique

Attack Power: +1500~

Magic Power: +600

Durability: 100%

Perks:

- Intertwined Miniature Eion Systems: The item possesses memory of form and is able to switch from one form to another. Currently available: Scarf, Guandao, Bow, Kusarigama, Twin Daggers, Greatsword, One-Handed Doubled-Edged Sword, Twin Katanas, Scythe.

- Eion Energy Production

- Demonic Spiritual Anchor

- Gale Outbreak (All Forms)

- Hyper Mana Oscillation Blade (Bladed Forms)

- Skulking Wraith (All forms)

- Skulk Life Down (Bladed Forms)

- Tainted Holiness (All Forms)

- Shield of Piety (All Forms)

- Crescent of a Falling Star (Bladed Forms)

- 10 000 Nights of Severance (Bladed Forms)

- Tender Hands of Clemency (Bladed Forms)

- Symphony of Magic (All Forms)

- Primal Curse – Second Stage: This weapon has gained some level of curses from the evolutions it went through. It will inflict severe injuries to non-authorized wielders and the more the weapon is wielded, the more it will become altered to match its wielder.

Unification (Unlocked at First Stage): The primary wielder, Rakna Xiorra, can accurately control every movement of his weapon through his mind with no cost.

Soul Unison (Unlocked at Second Stage): The weapon will react to the wielder’s emotional state and adapt accordingly to their soul. Furthermore, the item’s size can now be altered by an application of soul power without any structural weakness being created because of it.

Note: Rhapsodic Sonata is on the verge of becoming a Soul Weapon.

- Lifeblood Rage (All forms): A refined version of Lifeblood Curse. It retained all of its antecedent’s abilities and has gained an active ability; if the wielder decides to use their own blood to fuel the weapon, a synergic perk will activate and for as long as the wielder provides blood, they will gain the ability to manipulate blood which, among other things, can be used to paralyze or weaken enemies by hijacking their blood vessels.

Additionally, the rebelling aspect of the curse has been cleansed by Rhapsodic Sonata. The Blood Storage is now bigger and the buffs have increased in potency:

Current Blood Storage: 0 BU. Maximum Capacity: 30 000 BU.

The weapon will repair itself faster by spending 100 BU per durability percentage. Healing a target with blood energy is now more efficient by mixing nanomachines with the blood.

The damage increase to those whose blood is registered is now 20% and the defense decrease to enemies can now be stacked up to 50% at maximum. Finally, due to the refining of the curse, boosting stats is now stable and quantifiable; a 1% increase to the wielder’s stats will consume a baseline of 200 BU per second.

Description:

A masterpiece forged by a master blacksmith, the Earth conqueror himself, with the technology of an advanced civilization. It was given to Rakna Xiorra as a gift by the one who bears the name of Blade.

After many evolutions and enhancements, it has gained both the facets of impiety and holiness and is gradually evolving to become its wielder’s soul weapon. It has gained a spark of ego and through an incredibly unique feat, a Spell Matrix has been absorbed by the Item that allows it to channel mana through its material.

Note: Evolvable

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna admired the azure scythe in his hand as a network of vein-like lines spread throughout its body and pulsed like blood vessels. Sonata’s usual ribbon was also wrapped around the shaft, right below the head and it was mystically floating without wind, sometimes whirling around the blade of the weapon.

The therian slowly waved it and a crimson trail was traced in its wake with a certain cadence that matched the pulses of the red lines. The runes of Lifeblood Curse had also been converted into a far smaller version. It now appeared as lines of small symbols across the blade’s flat edge.

“Blood manipulation, huh?” Rakna muttered and with a thought, Sonata started floating up as he let go of it. He squinted his eyes and visible waves of Eion energy were released from it before it expanded to a size similar to the one during the Simulation Scenario. “Finally, I don’t need to hold back Gigantism when I turn into a werewolf,” he groused and then caught his weapon back in its regular size.

“{A soul weapon, huh?}” Fray commented. “{It makes sense that Sonata is becoming one…}”

“What do you mean?” Rakna raised an eyebrow.

“{A soul weapon is literally that; a weapon linked to its wielder’s soul. In which case, the weapon will gain the ability to be stored inside the owner’s soul, change form, and grow stronger together with the wielder. A soul weapon can either be made out of one’s soul power or assimilated from an already existing weapon. Long story short, it is a complicated process that turns a weapon into an extension of yourself. It seems that Sonata’s accrued perks and curses are absorbing your soul power the longer you wield it. Soon enough, it will turn into a full-fledged soul weapon.}”

“I see… Who knew a curse would have that effect?” Rakna muttered to himself and focused on the new perk that had originally caught his attention. “Eye, how much blood do I produce per minute?” He asked out loud and Eye of Symphony rapidly answered his query.

[| Plasma And Red Cell Production Enhanced by More Than 4000%. Full Reconstruction of Blood Is Estimated to Take 15-20 Hours; A Liter Every 2-3 Hours. External Sources of Blood can be Drank to Accelerate the Process; Estimated to Require 1 Hour of Adaptation Per Liter. Warning: Body Structural Integrity Is at Risk If a Constant Blood Production Is Forced Without Proper Rest. |]

“I see… I get the warning; it probably is the same as healing my injuries. My stamina would start to get into the negative,” he muttered to himself. “What is the minimum amount of blood needed for me not to be enfeebled?”

[| Current Estimation Based on Blood Purity of The Holder: 1 Liter Is Sufficient. Bodily Functions Will Last 12 Hours Without Blood. |]

“In that case, let’s see how much my blood is worth,” Rakna said and looked at the scythe. “Drink it, Sonata,” he uttered and the veins on his weapon glowed. The ones right next to where his hand was seemingly detached themselves from the material and then pierced his skin, directly aiming for his blood vessels.

The therian only grunted as the tendrils began to suck up his blood, which had a pinkish color due to its composition being purified by his physical traits. Rakna let it do as it pleased whilst keeping an eye on how much blood he had thanks to Eye of Symphony’s HUD.

At the same time, he was also getting familiar with the ability provided by Sonata. Instinctually, he knew that he would be able to move the blood of others if they were in his range, but also his own.

Soon enough, he halted Sonata from draining more blood, leaving him with around 2 liters. When he checked the blood storage of Sonata, he saw that it had gained roughly four thousand units.

“Uh, so a liter equals one thousand Blood Units?”

“{Well, for you,}” Fray said. “{As things stand, your blood is probably quite a ‘delicacy’. There are high chances the same amount of blood from other people would give far fewer units.}”

“Hm, I guess so,” Rakna mused and twirled Sonata around for a short while. He shouldered the scythe and stepped onto the reflective floor of the training area. He star-flashed to the center and conjured a quill to draw a constellation.

“{Hm? Are you going to summon Astraea?}” Fray asked curiously.

“No, maybe I’ll do that tomorrow since I owe her for the help in the Simulation. However, right now, I’m aiming for something else. My unarmed martial arts don’t need much help anymore, but that’s not the case for my weapon mastery.”

“{Hm? But you said you would need a teacher… oh, I see,}” Fray realized his intent while Higure tilted her head in confusion at their conversation.

Rakna smiled. “Exactly,” he said and tapped into his soul power to momentarily activate Founding Intuition before flicking the constellation. “[Centaurus,]” he uttered and the star energy swirled into one spot, forming the shape of a creature with the upper body of a human and the lower half of a horse.

When the star entity was finished materializing and that colors filled its appearance, the therian was faced with a centaur reaching nearly three meters in height. The equine half was befitting of the physique of a warhorse and had dark brown fur that gradually faded to black as it got closer to the hooves, with tuffs around the ankles.

The human part was dressed in Greek-style leather armor, partly covered with red cloth, and the man’s facial features were surprisingly handsome. He had long and untamed black hair that gave the impression it replaced the mane a horse would normally have. There were two more details that stuck out to Rakna; namely, the centaur’s bright blue eyes and his elongated ears, not unlike elves, with a higher-than-average length as well as a slight downward curve.

“Hm, this is peculiar,” the centaur spoke up and clenched his hands. “So, this is what it feels like to be summoned from Egregore…” He whispered and turned toward Rakna who was watching him with a calm and appraising eye. “Am I safe to assume you are the Lord Monarch?”

“Yes, and if everything went well, you should be Chiron, correct?”

The centaur nodded with a small smile. “The Teacher of Heroes, as they call me. At your service. If I may, can I ask how you summoned me? It feels incredibly stable. Normally, Firmament Monarchs should barely be able to call upon our physical vessels, much less our divinity.”

“Hm, it’s roughly the same as Astraea. My magic element is Star. I used the constellation erected by Zeus after your death as the medium.”

Chiron’s eyes widened. “Star Magic… I see. So, it is you,” his smile widened and he bowed his upper body, he even went as far as kneeling with one of his front legs. “It’s an honor.”

“You too, huh?” Rakna snorted. “Raise your head. I’m not the one you know yet, you might as well hold on to that behavior for the future.”

The centaur chuckled and straightened himself. “Understood. By the way, Lord Monarch… is this a Hydra I sense upstairs?” He asked with an uneasy glance.

Rakna hummed inquiringly before recalling something. “Oh, sorry, I suppose that doesn’t prompt any good memories, does it?”

“You could say so,” he replied wryly. “It’s hard to forget that I died because Zeus took pity on me after the Hydra poison made my life a living hell,” he added with a faint hint of sarcasm.

Rakna snickered. “Well, don’t worry. Pronos is quite different and I don’t think he’s quite reached a level capable of poisoning the son of a God and a Nymph like you. Anyway, I’ve summoned you here for a simple reason,” he continued and checked the description of his new sub-spell. “You can stay here for two hours. In that duration, I would like you to teach me a bit.”

The centaur blinked in surprise. “That’s… unexpected. You are making me quite nervous. Tutoring one such as you might be a daunting task, even for me.”

“Think so?” Rakna smiled faintly and lifted Sonata off his shoulder. He whirled the scythe and put it to the side whilst pushing his empty palm forward. “I have two jobs for you actually. I will switch between several weapons and have you help me improve on each. I’ll control my body to match your physical specs. Additionally…” He trailed and his empty hand began to blur oddly. “I will need a sparring partner to familiarize myself with a new art of mine.”

Chiron’s expression suddenly turned serious as he beheld the strange blurs. He squinted his eyes and used the divinity he exuded to form a scythe of his own. He took a different stance from Rakna, quite obviously taking his physiology into account, and smiled.

“I see… then, please allow me. I will make a proper warrior out of you,” the centaur declared with the same friendly tone but with a very sharp intent. “I might lack many things compared to all the students I’ve taught, but let it be known… you have a long way to go before reaching my level of martial prowess.”

Rakna snickered and carefully controlled his internal energy. Sunken Ripple of Rupture began to make itself shown around his legs, and without using any of his fast movement skills, he kicked the ground and disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, the sound of blades clashing echoed in the training room, and Chiron allowed himself to grin as he saw Sonata chipping the weapon made out of his raw divinity. “Yes, I’m sure this will be interesting,” he muttered and in a series of movements that looked incongruous to the human eye, he ended the clash with an upward swing and somehow retaliated from the side, as if his hand had teleported.

Rakna’s eyes widened in alarm. His high senses and instincts were the only thing that allowed him to dodge the blade right before it hit him. He jumped back and his mind began to run through what he had just seen, but even Eye of Symphony didn’t seem to be able to make out anything.

Chiron laughed lightly. “Give me a moment,” he said and borrowed a small amount of mana from his summoner before channeling it into his body. His lower half started shrinking and after a few seconds, it had transformed into a pair of human legs clothed in what seemed to be the extension of his upper outfit. The only thing that remained inhuman about him was his long ears.

“This is better to teach you, don’t you think?” He said and employed a completely new stance. “You are not a centaur, after all, are you?”

“Well, last I checked, I wasn’t half-horse, yes,” Rakna quipped and prepared to attack; this time he was going to pay attention to every movement of his opponent.

The two of them gazed at each other for a few seconds in silence before dashing toward each other and clashing in a shower of sparks. Their movements were unfathomable and imperceptible. But it was not because of their speed. All of it was pure technique.  

Higure watched them from a safe spot with her head resting on her folded paws. Her eyes marked by a cross were carefully tracking the two fighters. In her eyes, she could see that Rakna was using his Ripple of Rupture in his footwork to move like he was. As for Chiron, she simply couldn’t tell what he was doing at all.

When she observed him, it was like she was watching a video with missing frames. Or perhaps, it was her mind that didn’t have the necessary capability to register what happened in those ‘missing frames’.

She smiled lightly, noticing that Rakna was clearly on the losing side but quickly adapting. “This is a nice show,” she commented laughingly with her tail wagging.

AhraManyu

Okay, I think I'll take an indefinite break soon.

It might be from tomorrow on or next week, idk, it depends on how I feel. So, basically, I'm really starting to dry up my motivation and inspiration, and I initially thought I could power through it until it eventually returned... that didn't work really well.

So, I'll just write at my own pace to increase my stockpile on Patreon for a few weeks I'd say, and maybe try to take more days to focus on either other novels or IRL stuff, because yes, that's also a thing right now.

So, yeah, if you're still here when I come back, it actually might be next month. Don't worry though, I won't disappear. I'm way too much of perfectionist not to finish something after coming this far.

Anyway, if you don't see a chap tomorrow, that means I'm on vacation! Fuck yeah! Ahem... I mean, see you.