Level Up Legacy

“Is there because you feel like you are using me?” asked Suyin as the weapon clanged when it touched the table. Arthur was staring at it with a smile before he turned toward her. In his eyes, she saw a dangerous amount of curiosity.

“I have dragged you here and asked you to use your powers for me. The least I could do is prove that this is an experiment, not that I am taking advantage of our friendship.”

The word friendship made her smile, and she did not want to say she was his disciple. If he considered her a friend, then she would not refuse it. It would be an honor for her.

Lin Xue was right about Arthur; Suyin knew. He would never be hers. She has seen the golden field and heard the story from the witch Aurora. According to her, he was thinking about his love. If he were as she knew him, Arthur would never look at another woman.

However, others failed to understand that she did not love him. On the contrary, she admired, respected, cherished, and even felt affection toward him. It was her first time meeting someone like this, who she could trust.

In the beginning, she indeed thought that she had romantic feelings for him. However, along the way, she realized that her concern did not originate out of interest but was happy to follow him.

“I have a theory,” said Suyin all of a sudden. “I trust you this much because Morana and Gaia are sisters. We both know who we are, what we are, and what we want.”

“And what do I want?”

“You want to be yourself, live for yourself, and die as yourself. I am the same,” said Suyin as she grabbed his hand and placed it on the sword before doing the same. “There is no need to feel guilty. I am not going to fade in your light.”

Arthur looked both surprised and relieved before giving her the happiest smile she had seen. It was too bright that she turned toward the sword, admiring its craftsmanship.

“I still have no idea how to do this,” announced Suyin, and Arthur simply raised his hand over the sword and drew a rune. Then, he placed the rune next to her hand. It was the first time she was so close to one, and she could feel its power.

“I birth life into items and give them the ability to change the world while you give them the awareness of doing so. I will open its mana gate, and you can link your souls to it. No need to use an existing one, only those that can be birthed through the remains.”

“…this is how mine was created,” said Suyin with surprise, and Arthur nodded. She then turned into an item with complex emotions. “If I create an item in the same manner I was created, I would feel less of a human.”

“You can back away now if you feel uneasy.”

“…what do you think about how others treat you?”

“How is that related to your dilemma?”

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“The more I learn about humans and fight them, the less I am happy about being one of them. Humans lie, cheat, and kill for their survival. The word human refers to our species, which makes it a biological word. If I can, I want to break free from the selfishness of survival. I know someone who was not a human and sacrificed everything for her people and those she loved.”

Opposite what she thought, Arthur did not mind the question and was ready to give her a lengthy answer. He even mentioned the person he loved, revealing that she was not strictly human. Arthur did not say she was the same person, but Suyin could see it in his eyes. Instead of being jealous or anything, she smiled.

“I want to be less human too.”

As she said so, Suyin raised her hand at the artifact. She had no idea what she was doing but decided to do what she felt was natural. A blue flower bloomed on her hand with six petals, and one broke free from the rest.

Arthur fused his rune with it as the blue petal floated beside them. The blue petal dissolved into the vibrating rune, also turning it blue. Furthermore, it grew bigger as new lines began to emerge on it.

The two could feel the world shake with the rune. First, Arthur had to step back and raise it high as it sent a wave of mana that shook the entire lab. Then, before the rune could collapse, Arthur slammed his hand into the blade, creating a resounding impact.

Bam!

The blade rose and slammed back into the table as it had been fused with the blue rune. First, however, it started shaking as cracks appeared on its surface. Then, it shone searing light through its cracks that soon covered the blade.

“It is going to explode!” shouted Maryam from the monitoring room, where she could read the mana percentage as they worked.

Suyin had no idea what was happening, so she only stepped back. The person who filled the gap she left was Arthur, who appeared before her. He gracefully spread his arms, leaving curtains of golden mana between them.

“I will not let it.”

The searing blue light exploded from the blade, and at the same time, the golden mana exploded from Arthur. It felt like the battle inside Helios was happening again as Suyin was thrown away. However, before she slammed to the table behind her, everything froze.

The golden mana took hold of everything inside the lab while Arthur manipulated it like a puppeteer. Little Yin floated as if gravity was gone before she was gently lowered to the ground. As she landed, she stared at Arthur, who was bringing his hands together slowly.

The golden mana, now mixed with the blue, started condensing back into the blade. Everything was moving at a snail’s pace before the two women, all thanks to the man controlling the mana.

As Arthur pressed his palms together, every ounce of mana returned to the blade. At that moment, it sent a shockwave that threw every tool on the ground before landing back on the table. Then, it was over.

“…have we succeeded?” asked Maryam as she took off her goggles and stared at the blade. “Is this the first ever living weapon?”

Arthur did not answer and kept staring at the blade instead. Suyin rose from the ground and walked to stand beside him. As she saw the blade, she could not help but exclaim.

“Beautiful.”

The silver sword now had two golden and blue lines running across it, intertwining in beautiful engravings. These two lines covered the blade’s body before meeting at the tip of the sword, forming what she thought to be a golden and blue flower.

“…we forgot to think of how to test whether it is alive or not,” said Arthur with a laugh as he walked toward the blade. “Since it does not have a mouth, we must communicate with it spiritually.”

“Yeah, go ahead, chief. I have no idea what you are talking about,” said Maryam as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I would care to see what is unique about this weapon first.”

“It can tell us,” Arthur said as he turned toward Suyin. “You should be the first person to talk to it. It has received its life from your powers.”

Suyin nodded and walked forward, reaching out toward the blade. A blue hue left the edge to touch her as her fingers got close. Then, a voice appeared in her mind.

“…what… am I?”

Faced with a tricky first question, Suyin was confused. Thus, she relayed the words to Arthur and the runemaster. Arthur also walked forward and used his spiritual energy to connect to the blade.

“We need to give it general knowledge about the world first,” said Arthur before taking out a different rune. Then, he used the rune on the spiritual connection, transferring his knowledge about the world to the blade. Then, he nodded at Suyin.

“Hello, little fellow,” said Suyin, not knowing how to address it. “You are a sword that has been given life. You are the first living sword that the world knows about.”

“…first…”

Arthur raised his brows as he heard its voice too. It was weak and childlike, making the two share a glance. But then, the sword began to ask more.

“…why… was I created?”

Suyin looked stumped at the question. Thus, she turned to Arthur. Her eyes asked him to give the blade a life purpose, making Arthur think momentarily before smiling.

“You were created to live for yourself.”