Chapter 20 - This Is My Weapon
Ren asked the spirit of the weapon he was looking at to come out, yet no one responded. The other spirits who were with him started to warn Ren of the dangers of that particular weapon.
"Sir Ren that is not something you want. That weapon... Its legend is that of Death and Massacres. It will never acknowledge you or anyone as a master."
"Yes Sir Ren it would be better if you leave that weapon alone. It is not something you can handle. Not that I'm questioning your abilities, but that weapon is not something a mortal man can wield."
The spirits continued to warn him, that the weapon was not something he could wield. They thought warning Ren like this would make him not want to use the weapon, that notion was foolish. Ren loved challenges almost as much as he enjoyed battle. So the warnings of the spirits sounded like urgings to him.
So Ren without further ado took hold of the handle of the weapon. The moment he touched the handle a mysterious force was trying to remove Ren's hands that held the handle. His right arm which was holding the handle was being attacked with no mercy.
After a few seconds of simply holding the handle of the weapon had made the flesh of Ren's right hand seem like it was tearing off. Ren then proceeded to heal his hand continuously as it was damaged. Though he was healing himself, the pain he felt didn't disappear.
If it were any other man, this much damage and pain would've made them scream in agony. But not Ren, instead of screaming he was smiling and laughing heartily.
"Do you really think, that this much pain will make me quit? It doesn't even tickle. If this is all you have, accept me as your master already." Ren spoke while taunting the weapon, in which it responded by doubling the power it emitted.
With the doubled power it was releasing it now felt like Ren's whole right arm was going to disappear. Yet even with this level of pain Ren didn't even wince.
"Just being attacked one sidedly is boring, how about I retaliate?" Ren then sent a wave of his mana into the weapon. The weapon shook a bit, but it still kept on attacking Ren, who then increased the output of the mana he sent. Neither of the two wanted to back off, so they kept on attacking each other. It was now a simple battle of endurance. It was either Ren loses mana or the weapon concedes defeat.
The other spirits simply watched the fight between Ren and the weapon. They wanted to see if Ren can subdue even this aggressive weapon's spirit. After a few minutes of their back and forth energy attacks. The spirit of the weapon showed herself.
It was a woman clad in a black cloak. Her face was covered by a thick veil but you could tell she was a female spirit based on her body figure that couldn't be hidden even by the cloak that covered most of her body.
"So you finally appear. Just when it was finally getting good, are you going to give up? Come on don't do that to me, struggle some more. Show me why all these other weapons seem to fear you."
The cloaked spirit didn't respond with using more force, she simply spoke. Her voice sounded like that of a young female barely older than the current human Ren.
"Why do you seek to be my master? I am not one who wishes to be wielded. I simply want to rust away in this shop forever forgotten. I do not wish to see another master die because of me."
When Ren heard what the weapon spirit had to say, he couldn't help himself and chuckled. A weapon that doesn't wish to be wielded. A weapon afraid of her wielders death. How hilarious, by its very nature a weapon should expect to be wielded. A master dying was simply because he or she was either inadequate or plain stupid.
"Hey I do not know what kind of masters you have served, but I assure you none of them are like me. I can tell you now, you would break first before I die by your hands, which by the way is never going to happen. You a weapon is asking me to not wield her? Sorry to say this but I am not one to listen to others. The more you deny me using such idiotic reasons, the more I want to wield you. If you do not want to submit to me willingly, I will force you to submit!"
As Ren finished what he was saying, he released the full extent of his current mana. His fighting spirit rising to uncontrollable state. Ren was once again getting excited. This time his opponent isn't someone his current self could beat. That is if you look at the fight using numbers since the weapon had a greater amount of mana at this point, but a battle isn't simply all about who has the greater mana.
The spirit of the weapon looked at Ren confused. With Ren's level of skill he must've felt the disparity of their power, yet why doesn't he cower in fear like all the others? Instead he looked at her with eyes of anticipation. He didn't despair at his eminent defeat, he simply showed that vicious smile of his aiming for victory.
The weapon's spirit couldn't comprehend what she was seeing, but she still needed Ren to give up. So she released the full extent of her powers in front of Ren. Her power could envelope the whole shop but she concentrated everything at Ren. This was also the usual tactic Ren used against those weaker than him. If you show them such overwhelming power most of them would kneel and cry as they beg for forgiveness.
Yet that's not what Ren did, as that overwhelming source of mana surrounded him. Not only did he not feel suffocated by the pressure, he felt excited instead.
This was it! This was what he was looking for ever since his past life. A battle that he had no idea if he could win. Hell it was almost certain that one mistake can lead to his certain death. Yet that made it even more exciting.
He who was once the strongest demon lord, had numerous life threatening battles, but as he grew stronger it got harder and harder to find someone worthy to face him. It was even harder to find someone even willing to face him. Aside from the various human heroes there was no other that could face his might.
Yet now right in front of him was a being that was beyond his current abilities to face. Still he would face her with glee.
"Now this is what I'm talking about! Come spirit! Show me everything you got! Show me your overwhelming might! Then let me overcome that power and step on it, crushing it underneath my feet."
The weapon's spirit didn't expect this. She was sure that at this point Ren would back away and beg for mercy, like all the others before him. The spirit looked at Ren who looked like a little kid who was just given a new toy.
This man before her has gone beyond everything she expected. She was shocked time and time again by his choices. This time it was her turn to shock him. The weapon the spirit resided in disappeared, and turned into a ball of light.
This ball of light then touched Ren's right arm. Ren who saw the ball of light coming didn't evade it, he simply stood there ready to take the blow. Yet when the ball of light touched his right arm the attack he was expecting never happened. He was not blown away nor did he feel pain.
The ball of light fused into Ren's arms, and a tattoo of a red and black dragon coiling around each other appeared. Ren who didn't know what happened simply stood there stunned by the events that transpired.
One of the sword spirits that was there then spoke in a congratulatory tone. "Amazing Sir Ren. You have tamed that weapon! She has chosen you as her master."
When Ren heard what the sword spirit said he stood there stunned for a few seconds as he couldn't understand what was just said. After a short while he finally shouted at his right arm in frustration.
"What was that?! I thought you were going to attack me? What happened to the battle!? Come out and face me! I am your master now, right? So I order you to come out and face me."
The weapon's spirit came out and spoke to her new master. "I'm sorry master I cannot face you in battle anymore. The moment you told me to submit to you, that was the beginning of the contract. So the moment I decided to submit to you, the contract was formed. So now that we're wielder and weapon I cannot harm you in anyway master."
"Annul the contract and face me first!"
"Sorry master you just can't annul the contract, this is until death do as part." The weapon's spirit had fulfilled her goal and made Ren be the one irritated and shocked instead.
Ren who finally fully understood that it was now impossible to face her, felt a wave of disappointment.
"Fine then, let's just get Valdel and head out of this place. I feel really tired right now.." Ren sighed as he walked towards Valdel's presence.