Chapter 7 - Sword Totem (1/2)

Will was in the zone! He finally felt like he somewhat understood the essence of those words! It was only when he was about to die, that the idea hit him. Death was the end of life! A previously obvious assertion that now bore so much weight.

Or one could say the absence of life. Just like how darkness is the absence of light, or cold is the absence of heat. To understand death, one needs to start by understanding life.

In everyday life, the cycle is constantly around us. When we accidentally kill an insect, or when we pluck a flower or even killing rodents in your own homes. Every human usually ignores such acts, yet they are in fact killing.

Every human is a killer. When you engage in any one of these things you feel no revulsion, nor do you feel any guilt. In fact, it even feels natural.

So why is killing other humans is treated differently? Because we make it relevant, we say we are justified in killing other creatures because they are not sentient, but doesn't that mean other beings on a higher level of existence, have a right to kill us? Of course not!

There is no such thing as rights. Only privileges and these belong to the

strong!

Once Will started processing these thoughts, the killing intent that Modus had been weighing down on his body, suddenly rushed through Will's body like it was filling up every nook and cranny of his being. Even his soul was affected. The natural resistance Will had against killing was gone. He had accepted it. It was now a part of him. He no longer saw killing as an atrocious act, to him it was now like anything else he saw, a part of nature.

Its relevance only depended on the individual whether or not you could control your own fate, depended on power.

There is no right or wrong, just like how there is no up or down. It all

depends on your position.

If Modus wants to kill me, then I will kill him!

Will started searching deep down within himself. Now he knew that death was not such a bad thing, now that he had accepted it, it had become a part of him. So he could now bring it out!

Killing intent started oozing out of Will's body; it rushed out like a rocket. The fervor, in which it came out, was no different from that which was shown by a pack of starving wolves, running towards a bloody carcass.

Modus was overwhelmed. He had suppressed his own cultivation and bathed Will in a little bit of killing intent.

He expected this trial by fire to wake up the boy's hidden potential. Although the boy had sword enlightenment, it was only a small understanding. One cannot smell meat and claim that they have eaten it.

True enlightenment must be gained by yourself.

He never really intended to kill the boy. Only frighten him, he had hoped that the boy would at least reduce the pressure of his killing intent and dodge. Never would he have expected that the boy would attempt to fight back.

Truly amusing, as expected from the boy I chose!

Then the unexpected occurred. Modus was just about to stop his downward swing and release his killing intent when he jumped back and landed on the ground on one knee.

*crack*

A crack suddenly ran down the length of his mask. Modus looked at Will as if he was a monster!

Will not only canceled out Modus' killing intent. He was even able to temporarily suppress Modus with his own. He used that split chance to swing his sword upwards.

If it was simply this, then he would have never been able to touch Modus. Modus himself looked at the swing, leisurely.

It seems the boy can now properly tap into his sword skills.

That's when it happened. Will's killing intent suddenly transformed. It became heavier.

'No, it became denser.'

It started compressing around Modus. Modus now felt his movements being slightly suppressed.

What? This is incredible!

Will continued to compress his killing intent until it only covered Modus and himself. The air started to gain a blood red tinge. The air became redder the closer it was to Will's sword. The smell of blood started wafting all around. Will's sword started moving faster than before and caught Modus by surprise!

This! This isn't killing intent! This is bloodlust!

Even though he was caught by surprise, Modus was still an immortal, and a very powerful one at that. It was not difficult for him to escape the bloodlust in time.

After Modus jumped back, Will continued to hold the sword, looking at it. He looked as if he was in some sort of trance, his face emotionless, and his eyes dead. Will continued to compress the bloodlust until it only covered him and his sword. His entire body continued to radiate a red aura.

All the grass around Will started dying or rather disintegrating. It was as if the life was being sucked right out of Will's surroundings until he was only surrounded by cracked earth for hundreds of meters.

If any ordinary mortal had been standing there instead of Modus, they undoubtedly would have died instantly.

'Ah, he's destroying my garden.'

Modus saw that Will wasn't really in control. Although he didn't want to disturb the boy's moment of enlightenment, he didn't like the way things were going. Bloodlust has made many people, even immortals insane. He didn't want Will to end up like them.

He was about to knock Will out when he was once again shocked. The red bloodlust around Will's body started turning blue. When Modus saw this, he stopped in his tracks.

The red compressed aura turned blue and started decompressing. It started spreading all around, radiating if you will. The plant life that had been destroyed by Will started growing back again. The grass started growing back, flowers started blooming, and the aura Will was giving out was really comforting. Not only did the wildlife resurrect, but it was also even more vibrant than before.

Species that were not there started growing around them.

'He created life...from nothing! This is radiant energy!'

Modus was once again flabbergasted. Rejuvenation was commonplace. Creating life from nothing, on the other hand, was a different story.

Modus guessed that his deadly aura came from his sword yuan, and his life creating aura came from his water yuan, these traits were opposing and should conflict, although he could possess the energy from both classes due to his unique constitution, such an incredible phenomenon such as displaying bloodlust and turning it into radiant energy, was absurd!

'Ah, he's going too far!'

Modus got out of his stupor and realized that the grass was now as tall as his waist. They were now practically in a jungle.

'Now I really have to stop him.'

Once more Modus was about to move when a change occurred in Will. The aura around Will suddenly changed color once again. It became red once again and started compressing.

Modus just stood there quietly and observed. The plant life started shrinking again. This time, however, something changed.

Will stopped looking at his sword. He sat down cross-legged and placed his sword across his knees; eyes closed.

He started meditating. The aura stopped compressing when it reached about a two-meter radius around him. The aura changed from red, this time however it did not become blue again. It became green.

The plant life stopped changing form. In fact, it became still very still. For example, even when the wind blew, not even a single blade of grass would move. It was very strange. As if the grass didn't exist in the same dimension as the wind itself.

'To be able to achieve two incredibly rare and powerful abilities is one thing, but harmonizing them is ridiculous, at his first try no less. Unless... '

Modus was impressed, truly impressed. He had been alive for countless years, had seen many things, but nothing remotely close to this, this was a first for the Great Modus. Even the most talented Immortals would find what the boy did very difficult.

The aura around Will suddenly shifted. It left Will's body and floated above him and became a very large sword!

It was a katana. The grip, the guard and everything about the sword looked simple. Much like the rusty old katana Modus had thrown at him.

It seems he truly understands.

Of all the things Will had done today, this sword, or rather its appearance, was what impressed Modus the most. Modus knew that the boy was now semi-conscious. He somehow knew what he was doing.