16 Upgrade (2/2)

Nero's weapon, the scythe, had finally been forged. It took so long because Nova's instructions needed the weapon to be forged with such chemical precision, that only the most experienced and skilled blacksmith in all of Pinnacle could perform the forgery.

The outcome had completely shocked him.

The weapon's blade came out incredibly sturdy, sharp, and most of all, incredibly light. The blade had been forged under constant pressure, even when being heated, to make sure there were no spaces inside.

The blade's composition was mostly titanite, an alloy mix of titanium, vanadium, and crystalline, a mineral likely to be made of a mana-bonded compound. Titanite made the structure incredibly solid, whereas, crystalline made the blade almost completely air-resistant, making the final product easy to swing around.

The blade was like a cap, it had an outer cover where the main body, the wooden rod, was supposed to fit in.

The wooden rod was also quite special.

The rod on the outside was made of crystalline embedded wood, with a dragon patterning where the lightning patterned handle was, making it look as if the dragon was spitting lightning.

The inside of the rod was purely made of graphite aerogel, it was the lightest material that was easy to make that Nova could think of.

Unlike other weapons where the inside was the strongest, to keep together the weapon, Nova had taken a different approach.

The weapon was already incredibly solid, if it were to meet a force that could damage the structure of the outer body, the inside would absorb all the force the structure could not handle, making the weapon only susceptible to wearing down over time.

It really was quite a masterpiece.

The weaponsmith felt quite a bit of jealousy, the blueprint had been taken away right after he had made the forging, and he had no right over such an incredible weapon, moreover, it was being given to a kid! How could he possibly be complacent?

Still, he knew of the King's wisdom. He knew there was a reason so he kept his complaints all to himself.

Little did he know, the weapon's blueprint was made by its wielder, Nero.

.

.

.

Back to his training grounds, the temple lands, Nero had just been delivered his weapon.

”Well well well, it's about time.” Nero opened the matte-black case it came in.

Inside, a beautifully forged scythe lay, its blade left covered in a crimson & black wavy patterned sheath.

The Shaft had faint red streaks running across like tiny crimson lightning strikes were coalescing inside.

'It came just like I thought it would! Though, I didn't know that there'd be feedback from it.'

Nero felt very very minute feedback from the weapon in front of him, his aura, the mana he released, was being absorbed, even though he gave out no commands.

'It's... rejecting us. That's quite odd. I'll just overload it, I guess.'

With little effort, a coin-sized sphere formed, giving off a deep red hue.

This was peak tier basic mana.

Yup, Nero was a genius, handling mental fatigue was easier than pie for him, and since his body was of a child's, physical fatigue regenerated at an extremely quick pace.

Nero had really pushed his body to the boundaries, exhaustion simply didn't matter. It was good for his body, and only his. This was because he had complete control over his body, meaning that regeneration with protein and nutrients was child's play.

The tiny sphere descended into the Shaft of the scythe.

There was a sudden response as the mana sphere permeated inside.

The intensity of light given off jumped.

The weapon was glowing brightly, very brightly.

A fraction of the mana sphere was left out as if the weapon had had enough.

As the shine subsided, the light faded and became incredibly meek. It had had enough of what it needed.

”Well, that works I guess” Nero shrugged.

'I think the crystalline absorbed our mana, the question is... What's it need it for? It's not a rare gem like our senator's gem so our mana has probably been used up for something.'

”Who cares? Either way, this weapon is cool and I really wanna try it!” Nero excited held up the scythe and carefully unsheathed the blade.

Most of the blade was a void black, completely absent of color, the razor-sharp end, however, was like a mirror, a complete contradiction to most of its body.

Nero could see a slightly warped reflection of himself, the blinding sun invading from a corner.

”Holy Shit It's SO COOL!!!” Nero had just found his new favorite toy, a very dangerous toy.

Giving it a few swings, Nero felt like he was slicing through the air unhindered, it was so fast, so swift and so goddamn light!

Every time he swung it, a red haze followed after, like a phantom.

'Alright, send me the move set'

'Copy that.'

'Would you like assistance in performing these movements?'

'Uh...Oh...Oh, what the hell? How the fuck am I supposed to do that? Nova, guide me until I get the hang of it okay? And the second I'm about to chop a limb, stop my body.'

Nero had just seen both the most visually pleasing and dangerous moves in his whole life. Nova had made moves that required extremely high dexterity and spatial awareness, without Nova's help, he would probably accidentally chop a few limbs off.

'I'll take over and do all the moves, and you can just ingrain the feeling into your head and try and perform what I did.'

”Aye aye, cap'n.”

Nova took over, marking the beginning of a furious dance, filled with danger and sharpness.

To her, the scythe was an extension of herself that could move in specific ways in different stances, on her accord, like a muscle.

She swung the scythe round and round, the haze began to form a barrier in front of her. Satisfied, she began to move the rotating scythe behind her back, the rpm only increased as she beautifully weaved through the air.

With a sudden jerk, the blade moved from behind her, over her shoulder, into her left hand in front, still spinning at dangerous speeds. The haze was everywhere now, from afar it was as if Nero's body was breathing red, in and out of existence.

To end the dance, she pulled the scythe from the side, holding the handle and spinning with the blade. With each rotation, a force manifested itself into piercing wind.

Slowing down, she made a final slash that traveled a few meters before dissipating into the air.

”WHAT. THE FUCK.”