Chapter 175: Will Zac Survive?

"Is this some kind of runes?"

Zac looked at the multiple types of runes drawn across the different sheets of paper spread out in front of him.

"Yes," Siegfried confirmed. "These were the last things your father gave me before he disappeared."

Zac examined them more closely. "These look different from the ones we used to contain the metal. So what are they used for?"

"I don’t know for sure. These are far older than anything I’ve ever seen. Probably from around the same period as the journal I found back then."

"But as far as I can tell, these are some kind of seals, specifically designed to be engraved onto artifacts."

"So you’re going to engrave these on the sword?"

"Well, I already did."

Zac stared at him. "And you only intend to tell me now?"

"Hey, I was in a spur-of-the-moment situation, racing against time, you know."

"Right." Zac looked back at the runes. "So, if you’re just going to seal it away, why even bother making it?"

"Hey, don’t put the blame on me. It was your father’s plan. He was the one who provided me with the metal and everything else needed to forge it. I can’t just skip the final part now that we’ve finally reached it, right?"

Zac thought for a moment. "System, do me a favor and tell me what these seals are. And please don’t bring up Info Points for once."

[sigh...]

[Well, since you already have the runes and the old man has already mentioned that they are seals used on artifacts, I’ll do you this once.]

"Now we’re talking."

[Don’t get used to it.]

"Of course. Of course."

[It is as the old man said. These are ancient seals used for restrictions. But they are not usually used on artifacts or weapons. Instead, they were used on people and beasts to restrict them.]

[As you can see, there are five different seals. Each one will restrict the strength and nature of a being more and more.]

Zac nodded internally before looking toward Siegfried. "Maybe they’re meant to restrict the nature and power of the weapon."

Siegfried looked at Zac in surprise. "Well, that’s also the conclusion I came to. Your father must have predicted that you wouldn’t be strong enough to carry this weapon at its full power. So perhaps he gave these seals to me to restrict the weapon’s true nature and full potential."

Zac nodded. "So let’s speak clearly. If I need to open one of the seals, do I have to come to you? Or some other blacksmith or rune specialist?"

"I don’t think so." Siegfried shook his head. "I think it’s more likely that it’s based on you."

"The probable answer would be that, since the weapon is bonded to you, the stronger you become and the higher you climb, the seals will gradually undo themselves."

"Siegfried, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, but make it fast. We don’t have much time."

"Is my father some kind of clairvoyant or something? Or did he have some ability to see the future?"

Siegfried suddenly laughed. "Ha ha ha ha. I thought you might ask that. Even I wondered about it."

"But no. He definitely wasn’t someone like that. Actually, he was quite the opposite."

"He was someone who always did things based on his heart, never crossing his own morality and never thinking about what they might become in the future. That’s how he had always been."

He glanced toward the sword. "But now, thinking about how he prepared all of this..." He looked back at Zac. "It only shows how much he must have loved and cared for you."

"Love and care? Right. That’s one way to describe leaving your son with a world-ending countdown."

[That’s called parental trust. Only that, yours comes with a very high stakes.]

Zac looked at the long sword. "So, what do we do now?"

"My part is complete. From here on, it’s all in your hands."

"So now I should bond with the weapon?" Zac asked.

Siegfried nodded, though there was a trace of worry in his eyes.

Seeing his expression, Zac was reminded of the warning the system had given him a few days ago. "Just ten percent survival rate, huh?Let’s hope my father thought about this too."

He pushed the thought aside. "What do I do?"

"The sword is complete, but right now, it’s still dormant. To awaken it, you need to bond with it, only then will it become a full-fledged weapon."

"Remember, a sword is just a decoration without a wielder. Your mana, soul, will, and blood will give the weapon its final identity."

Siegfried’s expression became slightly more serious. "And as for its nature... that’s the part I can’t predict. It’s also what worries me the most. Let’s just hope everything turns out fine."

Zac looked at the sword and slowly ran his fingers along its blade.

"Are you afraid?" Siegfried asked.

"Yeah, I am. But I’m not going to stop after seven sleepless nights of torture."

"Good. Give me your palm."

Zac extended his hand, Siegfried immediately sliced across his palm, and blood welled from the cut.

"What are you doing?" Zac jerked his hand back.

"A bond is forged through blood."

"Well, you could have warned me at least."

"Warning you would only make it more painful and frightening. Now grip the sword with that open hand."

Zac took a deep breath and slowly wrapped his hand around the sword and lifted it.

But what he expected to happen...

didn’t.

"That’s it?" he asked.

"Not yet." Saying that, Siegfried suddenly stepped away from him. He slowly moved backward toward the edge of the barrier and stopped beside Armani.

"Where are you going?"

Zac gave the sword a small swing and looked at the blade. "It’s perfect; just like you said before, it feels like an extension of my arm."

He then looked toward Siegfried. "Actually, I don’t feel anything unusual. Other than a little sting in my palm, that is."

The old smith didn’t answer and kept on staring at Zac’s hand with a horrified expression.

Seeing that look on Siegfried’s face, Zac began to feel uneasy.

"What are you looki..." He didn’t finish the sentence.

The moment he saw his hand, his eyes widened in horror. Like a sponge absorbing water, his blood was being sucked by the sword.

It spread across the weapon like countless ants, covering the entire sword in crimson from the hilt all the way to the edge of the blade.

"What the hell?!" Zac shouted in horror as more and more blood was drawn from his hand.

[This isn’t normal.]

"What the fuck?! Get away from me!" Zac desperately tried to release the hilt and throw the sword away, but his fingers wouldn’t move an inch.

"What the hell is happening?"

He looked at the blade and then at Siegfried. "Get this thing off me!"

"It’s not letting go!"

He suddenly felt something welling up from deep within his very soul and started shouting it to stop.

His eyes widened and turned completely white. His movements stopped and he stood like a statue.

His body slowly lifted from the floor, rising higher and higher with the sword still clutched tightly in his hands.

Boom...!

A wave of energy suddenly exploded outward from his body, shattering everything nearby. At the same instant, a massive reddish-violet aura erupted from the sword and swallowed Zac whole.

"Zac!"

Armani’s eyes snapped open. But before she could move, Siegfried grabbed her.

The next instant, both of them disappeared and reappeared miles away within the pocket dimension, far from the place where the forging had taken place.

Armani stumbled for a few steps before spinning around and grabbing Siegfried by the collar. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Wait."

"What do you mean, wait?" She turned toward the distant forging platform and felt it.

Her expression changed completely.

An ominous aura permeated the surroundings, so oppressive that even from this distance, Armani could feel it pressing against her skin.

Reddish-violet energy twisted upward into the sky above the forging ground, churning with a terrifying intensity.

"Forging ground..." She turned back toward Siegfried, anger flashing in her eyes. "What the hell did you make, you bastard?"

Armani immediately released him and prepared to return to Zac. But Siegfried caught her wrist again. "Don’t."

"Let go of me."

"Armani..."

"Don’t make me smash you." Her voice had changed. It was no longer merely angry but a clear threat.

"Let go of me, you old bastard."

"If you go there, you’ll kill him." The words stopped her instantly; Armani turned back toward him with moist eyes.

Seeing Armani, the headstrong woman who never bowed to anyone and cared little for anything, becoming so emotional over a little boy, Siegfried didn’t know what to say.

He sighed. "We already knew something like this could happen."

Armani tried to pull her wrist free. "So what? We can still help him. He’s just a child."

"I know."

"Then let me go."

"No." Siegfried’s grip tightened around her wrist even more. "This isn’t a battle of strength, Armani. You know that. Don’t let your emotions cloud your foresight."

"This isn’t something you or I, or anyone else, can simply punch apart or teleport him out of."

He looked toward the distant forging ground. "He has already started bonding, as I said. From this point on, it’s a battle of wills. If we interfere now, the bond will collapse, and we may never be able to save the kid again."

"And what if we don’t?" Armani stared at him. "Will he be all right?"

Siegfried fell silent for a moment. Seeing his silence, Armani turned her gaze back toward the distant platform.

"Damn it."

The frustration of being completely helpless, despite possessing enough power to overwhelm almost anything else, made the situation all the more unbearable.

Siegfried looked at her anguished expression.

"Armani, you and I may not know what’s happening, but Eldric should have already thought about it. Just like he thought about everything concerning this forge."

"He prepared everything that was needed for this forge, and he knows the boy better than we do. He would never do anything that could harm him."

"If he believed Zac could overcome whatever is happening, then we should too."

"Eldric trusted his son, and I trust Eldric."

"What about you?"

Armani said nothing for several seconds and simply kept staring at the place from which that fiendish aura was now pouring into the sky.

Her hand slowly clenched into a fist, tightening until her knuckles turned pale.

"I trust Zac."

The single sentence completely caught Siegfried off guard.

"I trust Zac," he thought.