Could there be a way to harness the mana essence contained within the Ether Weapon?
Christian had pondered this persistently and dedicated himself to training in his own way.
It was not in his nature to simply sit idly by and wait for it to be absorbed by his mana.
He also needed to maintain its complete form to safely return it to its original owner.
“But it hasn’t blended in at all.”
Despite all efforts Christian employed, the mana essence showed no sign of merging.
Unlike the gradual, consistent merging of mana essence he had experienced from devouring Ether Weapons owned by his master and master’s friend during the past mana transformation, this essence remained distinct, merely preserving its mana within itself without sharing any with Christian.
His conundrum deepened until he discovered an unexpected solution.
“The demon beast…”
It was the Spirit Stone he obtained after subjugating the demon beast.
The Spirit Stone, the raw material for the Ether Weapon known as Zephyr’s Wing, held the key.
The Spirit Stone that Christian had acquired served as an enhancement material to perfect Zephyr’s Wing further and as nourishment.
The small change that arose after absorbing the Spirit Stone.
It was…
“Zephyr’s Wing accepted the mana from the Spirit Stone and my own mana.”
This may merely be a change triggered by the unique ability of Zephyr’s Wing, known as Mana Devouring.
However, to Christian, this change was valuable, for it offered the possibility to utilize the dormant Ether Weapons in the Arsenal.
“After all, Ether Weapons are massive chunks of mana.”
Simply a shift in perspective, but the result was successful.
“In other words, another mana reservoir.”
Essentially, the mana essence itself had transformed into a mana reservoir.
The most crucial component in constructing Ether Weapons, spirit Stone, played that exact role.
“I have to become the Ether Weapon itself, manifesting the properties of the mana essence through my body.”
Christian, who had already wielded a dozen Ether Weapons, understood them better than anyone and handled them proficiently.
The functionality of this dual mana reservoir he created was straightforward.
It could store newly acquired mana separately from his existing mana reservoir that already held mana.
The capacity of a mana reservoir to store mana had a clear limit, and the capacity of Christian’s current mana reservoir was not even a fraction of its peak during its prime.
But this mana reservoir using the mana essence was different.
Since it could hold the mana of an Ether Weapon, its size was incomparably larger.
Moreover, the mana held assumed the properties of Jerephis Falcon’s mana rather than Christian’s own, allowing him to somewhat utilize the manner in which the Ether Weapon was utilized during its lifetime.
Although not perfect, the disadvantage lay in the considerable time required to replenish the used mana.
Additionally, he couldn’t perfectly replicate the skills of the original Ether Weapon.
Complete functionality could be achieved only with the full implementation of the proper Ether Weapon.
Even though the storage of mana was sufficient, there were evident output limits since his body was still incomplete.
For now, not having to struggle with mana shortages was enough.
“Phew!”
His body felt exceptionally light, and his steps were unbridled.
As Christian swung his sword, the small feather-like mana waves shot towards August Varian.
August Varian obscured herself with dolls made from the black mana of the curse-infused grudges she summoned, to block her front.
Puff—! Puck—!
Dozens of feathers enveloped the black mana dolls, but August Varian seemed entirely unfazed.
But that was a mistake.
“…?!”
As the black dolls set to block her front trembled briefly before collapsing, August Varian became gravely confused by the inexplicable situation.
“What could this trick be?”
Seeing the bewildered expression beyond the collapsed black dolls, Christian thrust his sword without hesitation.
The wave formed by his thrust resembled a giant bird’s wings.
“Argh!”
Thud—!
August Varian narrowly dodged Christian’s attack.
Christian’s wave swept through the ground, and as the black mana dolls, which were crumbling on the ground, were swept away and completely vanished, August Varian’s expression hardened.
Although the black dolls could crumble, such instant annihilation was not a laughing matter for her.
“You are certainly not an ordinary person.”
August Varian infused her dagger with black mana, her expression serious, Christian too did not let his guard down and kept a watchful eye on her.
“Is it impossible to draw out all abilities…?”
Zephyr’s Wing, besides Mana Devouring, possesses various effective abilities.
However, even merely activating Mana Devouring seemed to push his body to its limits, causing it to ache painfully.
Despite activating it partially and only when necessary, the condition persisted.
Under these circumstances, utilizing the other powers of Zephyr’s Wing was unfeasible.
Hence, he had to focus on the wave’s property change that occurred due to mana synchronization.
“That’s okay. This much is sufficient.”
August Varian’s abilities as well were significantly diminished compared to her past life, similar to himself.
Even without relying on the abilities of Zephyr’s Wing, if he merely implemented his techniques through the mana projected by the essence, it was still acceptable.
The deficiency was in mana, not skill. This made it feasible, according to Christian’s judgment.
“Perish.”
August Varian charged at Christian, swirling her dagger imbued with black mana.
The swiftly swung dagger left afterimages and divided into dozens, bombarding Christian.
“Hmm? Wasn’t it supposed to just cut limbs?”
Clang—! Clang—!
It was purely a wave without any illusory tricks, and hence, Christian countered and deflected every attack.
Typically, he would have shown a more efficient display, narrowly dodging and skillfully evading, but not now.
With sufficient mana restored, Christian decided to adopt a more aggressive stance.
Every sword strike thrust was akin to a wave transformation, and even though it was a basic application, the mana stored was amplified at least twofold compared to usual.
However, his opponent was August Varian. Though she did not possess dragon blood nor an Ether Weapon…
Swish—.
The black mana emanating from August Varian’s body formed constructs, creating a puppet resembling her.
When the black mana underneath her feet turned gaseous and spread like mist, Christian stepped and leaped into the air upon seeing this.
Swoosh—! Swish, swish—!
Sharp black spikes emerged from where Christian had been standing.
Simultaneously, four shadows generated from the black mana charged at Christian.
No, there was one more.
Among them, August Varian, cloaked in black mana, headed straight for Christian, emitting an aura of eeriness and dread.
‘Are you already using the Dark Waltz?’
Christian avoided the attacks from the dark puppets, kicking the face of the nearest one.
Using the rebound, he flew outside the coverage of the black mist spread beneath and landed.
“Do you think you can escape like that?”
“I am not escaping.”
Observing August Varian, who had achieved Dark Synchronization, Christian calmly engaged his mana.
‘Still, it seems the entire dark elf tribe has not mobilized yet?’
Within the Northern demon realm, the unique mana possessed by the dark elf tribe residing in the Forest of Darkness embodies the concept of curses combined with the grudges concentrated within the forest.
The dark elf tribe played the pivotal role in opposing humanity among the demi-humans, toppling the Northern Empire of Granier.
The leader of that time was indeed August Varian, but…
Crunch—!
A black puppet that foolishly charged at Christian crashed to the ground, missing its target.
Crack—!
The following two entities were obliterated by Shatter, and Christian stared at August Varian, who was crafting a massive scythe from the remnants of a puppet, pondering.
‘Does she still lack the chieftain’s insignia?’
Although a unique tribe tattoo manifested through Dark Synchronization existed on August Varian, it wasn’t the tattoo form Christian recalled from her past.
“First, I’ll kill you and take care of the dark elf tribe, too.”
“… What?”
Though August Varian swung the massive black scythe, cutting through the surrounding ruins without direct contact, the extensive range of the black blade was significant, yet Christian evaded without surprise.
On the contrary, he rushed into August Varian’s widened attack range, closing the gap between them first.
“I said I’d kill you.”
Despite maintaining anger in his eyes, Christian was notably calmer than before.
Tempered calmness had overcome his emotions, ensuring his sword was untouched by unnecessary rage.
Slash—!
“Argh…?!”
Christian’s slashing strike clear-cut through August Varian’s black mana defense and diagonally sliced her chest open.
Thud—!
The black mana barrier mitigated the depth a little, as August Varian didn’t perish instantaneously but triggered her mana, pushing Christian and herself apart.
Although separated to a great distance, their conditions were utterly different. Christian, unscathed by the mana blast, bore merely August Varian’s blood marks on his face.
On the other hand, August Varian, having been cut in the chest, further tore herself apart getting caught in her mana explosion.
‘Weaker than I thought.’
The absence of dragon’s blood and an Ether Weapon created such disparity between past and present.
Observing her, Christian calmly re-gripped his sword anew.
“Hi, hihi, ahahat…”
“…..”
Even witnessing her ominously laughing, seemingly half out of her mind, Christian unyieldingly mustered his mana.
“You seemed to know me well enough, yet you don’t, do you?”
But regardless, August Varian said with her dim eyes fixated on Christian.
“You said you’d kill me, right?”
In saying so, Christian’s movement paused abruptly.
The mana vigorously being activated began to falter slowly as an unknown force infiltrated his body, instinctively responding urgently.
‘Poison? When was I poisoned?’
No, he hadn’t allowed any attack from August Varian carrying black mana.
It was simultaneously such doubts arose.
Her silver eyes began slowly adorning golden iris within them. Seeing this, Christian murmured as he wiped away the blood splashed on his face, frowning in surprise.
“A curse of blood?”
From the start that she was not some dragonkin made by Magnus but seemed to be possessing Dragon’s Bloodline.