NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: Ruler of Dark
"Wait, I can't use it!? What can I do?"
[Oh, the Host should be able to Attune to the spear, it cannot deny the Host then. Uhm... sorry, I forgot about it...]
"..."
'Aidana... You're a goddess or something right?' His voice wasn't a curious one, it had a strange tone.
[I can't...]
'I know you can't confirm or deny because of this ER thing but anyway, this is not what a want to say.'
[What is the Host's question about?] A one-eyebrow-raised emoji appeared in the blue window.
'If you are a goddess why do you make so many mistakes?'
[...]
'Arn't gods perfect...?'
[I have to work too! I'm not stupid! I'm not the goddess of knowledge but don't call me stupid! I'm multitasking even now I have to do my work you know, I can't pay attention to so many little things at once!]
'Uh...?' Temorsth raised both his hands as he stepped back, his eyes opened in pure shock, this was the first time Aidana raised her voice at him. 'Sensitive topic...?'
[I'm not sensitive!]
'I know-I know, just calm down a little... I didn't say you were stupid and neither did I say you're sensitive..'
[I'm completely calm!]
'Breath in... then out...'
[Don't try to calm me!]
'Ugh... Anyway, talk about how I can Attune to this spear?'
[Don't divert the topic! I'm not stupid why are...] While Aidana continued her hysteria.
'Ugh... help me!' Temorsth called for help from someone.
?: '... She most like had a bad day, just say ...' and a voice answered.
[...and I have to...]
'Aidana! I only asked why you make mistakes because it's cute... I feel closer to you and... '
[Uh...!?] Her speech stopped as she heard the words.
'Hm...?' Noticing her stop Tem hastily continued 'I feel comfortable knowing that we are not that far apart and that we can get even closer, it's great that you are not perfect...' He followed the words of the voice.
[Ah...uh...]
'Hm... even now your reaction is cute...'
[Uh!?]
*sigh...* He had a big sigh of relief as he finished his speech... 'Thanks, Relatio.'
Relatio: '... It's nothing I'm happy I could help ...'
[...] 'Cute...!?' While Temorsth talked to his alter Aidana far away between the veils of different plains talked to herself.
...
'Aidana! Hey, Aidana...!' After some minutes of silence Temorsth called out to her in his mind.
[Ah...ye-yes?] She stuttered as she came to her sense.
'How can I do this Attune thing?'
[Ah, easy, just run your Mana through the spear.]
'Great she is calm now...' Taking the spear up from the ground "Hm... something like..." he tried to do it... 'It's slow... Am I doing it right?'
[Yes, it might take some time...]
"Alright, then..." Instead of standing Temorsth sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes as he placed the spear on his lap, but before he could continue...
[Before the Host starts... I... I...] She hesitated.
'Yes?'
[Uh... I apologize for taking out my anger on you... I...]
'It's nothing don't worry about it.'
[I...]
'Anyway, it was quite good seeing it, you were really cute...'
[Uh!?] As Aidana went to her world while turning red with embarrassment so did Tem start his Attunement to the spear.
...
After more than an hour. "Hm..." Temorsth opened his eyes, and as he looked around.
"Oh, the barrier is already up?" While he was Attuning to the spear Xalier and Elah rebuilt the barrier.
"Up..." He helped himself up with the spear, he was attuned to it so he gained all the status bonuses it gave. He was again unaccustomed to the strength in his body just like after the Elixir he had drank almost two years ago.
"Hm... it has a green light in it..." Looking at his hands he saw he was still enveloped in the white flames but now the flames had that unique green-yellow color in it from his seal or to say it had the color of his mother's energy.
'I realized while attuning that I can't use the spear's true power since I am still too weak but because I could attune to it, I can use it to a certain extent.'
"I want to use it now..." As curiosity got the better of him he raised the spears to the left, and as he brought it forward with a slash, "Balance Breaker!"
"Oh?" Without time to think, the energy around him which was in the form of white flames started growing darker and darker. The same thing happened as when he first touched the spear but this time the seals on his left the seals of his father glowed up with a red glow.
"Hm..." This time he only reacted with a small frown to the pain from the three seals.
"Hm? It is changing...?" At the time when almost all shades of the green-yellow light were gone, leaving only black, he felt the texture of the spear change from soothing warm wood to cold, rough, and rigid metal.
"Wow, the shape remained the same, only the texture changed, but the spear feels completely different... Huh, cold...?" A slight cold air appeared around him. 'It is not unpleasant, but it's a strange turn after the subtle warmth from before.'
'Hm, let's take a look...' Wanting to see himself, he took a few steps toward a pond not far away a the edge of the forest area.
"..." As he looked at his reflection his eyes changed 'My eyes...' his ocean-blue eyes remained but they had a soft purple glow.
"It looks cool, it looks cool, but…" His entire body and the spear were covered in a black and slightly red aura. The black aura around him highlighted his pale skin color, making him stand out from the world more than before.
"Isn't this too edgy? Ahm, I mean it stands out too much, I'm too visible when I use it." With a fake cough, Temorsth contemplated the usefulness of this aura.
[The Host doesn't have to worry about that, in a real fight people don't have time to look at someone's appearance, they look at how tired you are and stuff.]
"Hm...!?" He noticed a slight change in the tone of Aidana's voice, and was momentarily surprised, but didn't bring it up.
[Strong opponents will notice if an ability is used one way or another, so it's better to look good, because if people are watching they could start looking up to you, and that will give you even more power.]
[By the way, the Host looks really good, the Host doesn't have to worry about such things.]
"Oh, alright, and thanks Aidana... Turning back to the matter at hand..." Temorsth didn't know what had changed in his abilities so he brought up the spear's status window.
'Hm... as the skill said the Element changed from Nature(Life) to Nature(Death)...' After Tem saw no other change he turned to the skills tab.
[The Bane of Elves(Altered)
Protection from Good(Altered)
The Weapons Will
Guiding Shot(Altered)]
"One skill didn't change... Let's look at the others then... Ah, so that's what it meant by flipping skill targets..."
"In the Bane of Elves, the instant death magic affects Elves instead of Vampires... it changed from halving the healing of undead to halving the healing of the living, and it even changed from energy of life to energy of death."
'So it's really a complete turn to the opposite...'
"The Protect skill now protects against celestials, elementals, living, and fey... and again it turned to an aura of death..."
'Only these two changed... The Weapons Will, skill stayed the same, and for Guiding Shot only the damage type changed from Radiant to Necrotic.'
"Hm... I want to try it, but..." Knowing he can't use the spear on his parents because of the passive type of the instant kill and remembering that he couldn't even leave a little gloom appeared on his face.
"Huh!?" While feeling disheartened, he noticed something. "Is this...my power...rising?"
[Congratulations: The Host has entered the next stage of the Mortal Realm.]
[Good luck to the Host!]
[Ah! No!]
'What's going on!? Aidana!?'
[This damned God...!] Anger was heard in her voice.
'Aidana!?' As he felt even more power he called again.
[Don't worry it is good but...The Host had unwittingly started integrating Light energies due to attuning to the spear, and now that the Host had switched to using Dark energies, it had started to integrate them as well.]
[It is forcing your body to advance as the energy in your body has become more than your stage.]
'But why is it okay if I get more energy? I can't even control the ones I already have.'
[Congratulations: The Host has reached the Peak stage of the Mortal Realm.]
[Good luck to the Host!]
[No, the energy that the Host integrates is the original, the spear only absorbs the sealed energy of the Host and gives it back. But now your body absorbs the energy naturally.]
[It's the same thing we thought out to solve the problem, the thing where you slowly absorb the energies back.]
[It's just that this damned God notice your problem and wanted to fasten things...! It only speeds up the process which is good but we have to stop it before it goes beyond what your body can handle.]
[Notice: The Host is not far from a Breakthrough, it is advisable to find a suitable place for the Breakthrough.]
*Ugh...* As Temorsth heard the system's notice it was too late.
[No! Host!]
"My head... I'm dizzy..." Temorsth held his head as he staggered, and as his body couldn't take it, *Ugh...* he fell to his knees, his eyes misty, *Ahg...* he tried to stand up but fell to the ground instead.
"Huh!?" Noticing the strange energy fluctuation, Elah and Xalier, who were still setting up the various defense arrays, turned around.
"Son!?" As they saw Tem fall, they rushed to him.
"Ah? A Breakthrough?" Knowing what it was, they didn't try to stop it.
"Uh, let's bring him in." They helped and evened the energy flowing into his body, they helped in everything they could.
...
And at the same time, in another place.
In a rather hidden corner of a dark and shadowy town, three pale men who looked in their thirties were talking to each other.
"The thing that fell down from the sky an hour ago was said to have landed in the southernmost part of the main battlefield."
"Um, isn't that the same place as…"
"Yes, it's the same place where we were looking for traces of the New King and that disgusting Elf Queen."
"Then shouldn't we investigate?"
"Hm... right, we should..." The three looked at each other...
"Do we really...?" A subtle fear sounded in the voice of the one who asked.