Sword God in a World of Magic

It took Shang a couple of seconds to decide.

Especially the ultimate reward interested him. 

Even if Shang decided on a different Path than being a Magic Warrior, having a far greater Mana storage for his mind would help. 

He could use several more Shocks, and he would also be able to use Mana Step several times.

He could still focus on another Path while taking the ultimate reward just to boost his Battle-Strength.

Even more, this increase of Battle-Strength would follow him forever.

Yet, there were two reasons that made him decide not to take the ultimate reward.

First, Shang would need to focus on Magic until it was on the same level as his swordsmanship. While Shang knew that he was very talented when it came to physical fighting, he actually had no idea how good he was at understanding Magic. 

All of that essentially boiled down to time.

Shang was already limited on time, and training in Magic on top of everything else would most likely be too much.

And the second reason…

The jester smirked as he read Shang’s mind. “Quite greedy, aren’t you?”

Shang didn’t answer.

The second reason related to what the God had said many years ago.

“If you want to get rid of your warrior’s body, you would need the help of a King, and I don’t mean the Kings in your small Kingdom.”

This was what the God had said.

Yes, Shang’s second reason was that he could get rid of his warrior’s body on his own in the future.

But he couldn’t get any of the other four items on his own in the future.

Now, only two potential rewards were left.

It was clear to him what they symbolized.

“I’ll take the sword and the access to the trial,” Shang said.

CRRRR!

The other two pedestals vanished into the earth again, leaving the one with the sword and the small wheel.

Shang walked over and took hold of the cube.

At the same time, the small wheel just vanished. It wasn’t necessary to use the trial. It was only a symbol for the reward.

Shang focused on the cube and imagined it to take a certain shape.

SHING!

In an instant, the black cube assumed the shape of a Colossal Sword.

As Shang held the Colossal Sword in his hands, he focused on it. “Sword?” he asked.

“Yes,” the Colossal Sword answered. “Nothing has changed.”

Shang looked at the original Sword, which was currently in its Long Sword State.

“Yes, I am also here,” it told Shang.

Shang nodded, and some of his hidden worries disappeared.

Sword now inhabited both swords.

He didn’t have to deal with a second intelligent weapon, and the new sword could still help him since it was controlled by Sword.

“Since you inhabit both bodies, it would be fine if I were to only have one of you on my person?” he asked. “Suddenly having two swords would be suspicious.”

“It’s ok,” Sword answered.

Shang nodded again, and a lot of potential ideas came to him.

Obviously, he needed two hands to use a Colossal Sword or a Great Sword. This meant that he could still only use one State at a time.

However, having two swords also solved a huge weakness of Shang’s.

In Shang’s mind, he imagined himself charging forward with his Colossal Sword State.

A Mage was shooting at him.

Then, Shang switched out his sword and summoned a Long Sword.

With that, he could use Shock several times, arrive in front of the opponent, and then switch to his Colossal Sword again.

One of Shang’s biggest weaknesses was that he couldn’t “go back” in States during a battle.

But now, he could.

Just this alone was already worth it.

As Shang thought about what other things he could do with a second sword, his mind suddenly went elsewhere.

Shang’s focus was pulled to the Colossal Sword.

Then, to the Long Sword.

And back to the Colossal Sword again.

Big, small.

Much, little.

More, less.

Plus, minus.

Addition, subtraction.

Zero.

Entropy.

Shang’s grip tightened as he suddenly thought of a new Path, one that felt much more in line with his actual Affinity.

A different way to combine his Affinities.

Shang’s original plan when choosing the second sword hinged on combining two of his Affinities two times.

He had already noticed that he was making progress while constantly using Light and Darkness, and he felt like he was on the cusp of understanding something crucial.

Shang didn’t just sit around, doing nothing, for the past 50 years.

He had realized that there were probably also Pure Concepts for the Entropy Affinity, and Lucius had probably used those to become the Mage Emperor.

One of these Concepts had to be Twilight, a fusion of Light and Darkness Affinities.

However, while Twilight counted as a Mixed Concept and an Affinity as well, it was probably a Pure Concept for Entropy.

Of course, that also gave Shang enough info to find another potential Pure Concept of Entropy.

Temperature.

Originally, when choosing the second sword, Shang’s plan had been to comprehend the Concepts of Twilight and Temperature.

One sword would fuse the aspects of light and darkness, while the other would focus on fire and ice.

Like this, Shang could use all four of his Affinities at once.

He would have solved his biggest problem.

He would finally be able to use everything he had at the same time.

However, after having received his new sword, Shang’s mind changed.

And then, he turned to face the jester, who was still standing there, grinning.

“You know,” the jester said, knowing fully well what Shang was thinking about. “You already got your questions in the past.”

“Buuuuut, since your question is more or less common knowledge for Mages, I’m willing to humor you and give you an answer,” he said.

Shang’s heartbeat sped up by a bit.

“Yes, it’s possible,” the jester said. “You can also do it that way, but it would be quite a bit harder.”

“But it’s still possible.”