Chapter 77- Blade of Wrath

Chapter 77: Chapter 77- Blade of Wrath

Chapter 77- Blade of Wrath

After several attempts, Rize sighed as he put the sword down. "It doesn’t seem like it has any particular triggers." He muttered under his breath. "How did it even activate then?"

Rize was certain that with his sharp eyes and senses, he would’ve noticed the smallest dents in the frame of the sword, or even a particular abnormality. But, even after looking for a while, he found nothing.

"Something doesn’t seem right. Maybe I’m looking for the wrong thing?" Rize frowned. "What else could a blade hide from its owner?"

Staring at the broken blade, Rize fell into deep thought. If the previous owner had found something, it was most likely by sheer coincidence and not a deliberate attempt at discovering its secret. So, what could truly happen by sheer coincidence for a swordsman?

’Aside from clicking a trigger while using it...’ Rize frowned. He tried to recall the kind of accidents that occurred to him while practicing his swordsmanship. ’Now that I think about it, I’ve had so many accidents happen to me during training. I broke a blade; it flew to my face, almost slicing my head in half. I slipped, and the blade flew in the air and stabbed the ground next to me. I even almost lost my hand one time...’

There were so many accidents and failures during his ten years of training. It was far from a smooth ride, and the scars on his body were proof of that.

"..." Rize stared at his sword silently, his eyes lost in thought as he tapped rhythmically on the blade. He tried to remember any particular incident he faced often, one that could be a trigger.

’One that could... awaken the sword?’ He frowned. ’Something that would trigger it? Like...’

Suddenly, it clicked in Rize’s head as he instantly looked down at his body. His eyes were wide with surprise as he realized what it could be. The idea sounded very eerie, but it also made the most sense.

"Blood... It could be blood." He said. "An incident during training led to the user injuring themselves. The blood could’ve splashed on the blade, which triggered its awakening.

"How did I not think of that? I’m so stuipid. But also... Ugh, do I really have to slice my finger open for this?" He muttered as he tapped the sword a few more times. Rize had amazing tolerance to pain, but like any normal person, he didn’t like pain at all.

Still, Rize knew that he wouldn’t make any progress if he didn’t dare to push the limits and try everything.

’This is a sword worth every drop of blood. It might be the reason why I survive in the future.’ He thought to himself as he sucked a deep breath and picked the sword up.

"Ok, here goes nothing," Rize said as he put his fingertip against the blade and then swung it down fast. He felt a sharp pain assault his finger for a split second as he pulled away. "Ouch."

He licked his finger clean and then looked at the sword. There, a droplet of his own blood dripped down the chipped blade. Rize watched it closely, his eyes focused on its movement.

For a second, he frowned, noticing no change in the blade. ’Is it not that? Did I just slice my finger for no reason whatsoever?’

However, before he could regret that decision, suddenly, Rize noticed something. Out of nowhere, the droplet of blood disappeared from the surface of the blade, seemingly being absorbed inside.

Then, for a moment, Rize felt a change in the sword. A weird energy flashed from its blade, then disappeared not long after.

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow as he put the blade close to his face. "It absorbed it? Wait, that actually worked. But... It didn’t awaken."

Rize scratched his head for a moment. "Maybe it needs more?"

Realizing what it could mean, Rize decided to give it more. It sounded like such a weird idea, almost as if he was doing some sort of sacrificial ceremony. Using another finger, Rize sliced it open and drew blood from it.

The sword instantly absorbed it and made the same reaction as energy pulsated inside it, but it didn’t do anything else.

"Ugh, what more do you want, man?" Rize said with an annoyed look. It was clear he needed a lot of blood to make this thing awaken, and his fingertips weren’t enough. So, he looked at his hand, opened it, and then sighed. "You want me to do this, don’t you?"

It was almost as if the sword was telling him to be more daring, more bold, and more aggressive about it, something that bothered Rize, but he didn’t want to hold back since he came this far.

"*Gulp*" Closing his eyes, Rize put the sword against the palm of his hand before he wrapped his fingers around it tightly. "Fuck... This is gonna hurt."

*Swish*

Then, he pulled the sword out fast, slicing his palm open deeply. He clenched his teeth in pain but didn’t groan loudly.

As the sword was pulled out, a huge amount of blood covered its blade. Rize looked down as he opened his palm, shaking subtly.

"Shit, this is a lot of blood... Hahaha..." He laughed nervously as he watched the blade. For a second, nothing happened.

Then...

*Swish*

All the blood was absorbed into the blade in a split second. The sight was very morbid and bizarre, but what happened next made Rize forget about it completely. Suddenly, the entire blade exploded with Essence.

A dark, almost palpable energy erupted around the boy. It felt strong, intense, and incredibly evil.

’Ugh! What the hell?!’ Rize instinctively dropped the sword on the bed as it continued exuding that energy. At the same time, Rize watched the old piece of scrap morph and change. The damage started fixing itself rapidly as the old blade became pristine and incredibly sharp.

The shaft and the handle lost all the rust and grime on them, and instead, beautiful engravings formed across them.

"Wow..." Rize’s eyes flashed with amazement. The transformation was insane. It looked almost like pure magic. A terrifying, dark magic... But still magic.

Then, Rize received a notification.

[The Blade of Wrath recognizes its owner.]

[The Blade of Wrath has been bound to the user.]

Rize instantly felt a connection form between him and the sword the moment he read those notifications.

’My system recognized it?’ His eyes lit up. ’So, this is what it means.’

The boy smiled faintly as he picked the sword up, tracing its changes. "It feels lighter and way faster, almost like the shackles holding it back are gone. The blade also looks incredibly sharp."

Standing up from his bed, Rize watched as the aura around the blade kept pulsating and moving, like the violent waves of a black sea. It filled the room with its presence with ease.

Then, the boy swung the sword and instantly heard a sharp noise as if the sword had cut through space itself.

"Hahaha!"

He swung it again and again, and each time, his smile grew bigger. "It’s perfect! No, even better than that!"