Bloodstained Blade-Chapter 18 - A Superior Wielder

When it was over, the blade considered burning the remaining souls it had to gain yet another level of Repair Soul, but it decided against it. Not only was it a poor use of resources given its uncertain situation, but it was also more than it could handle in this moment.

As much as it wanted to know more, it could still feel how unstable it was in the aftermath of that last burst of magic. It had taken weeks to process its previous revelations, and it was sure that this time would be no different.

I knew more than I did before, it told itself.

For now that would have to suffice. Rather than spend anything, it simply looked at its current status, before heading back up the stairs to the upper temple.

Aura of Hunger: Multiple enhancements available

Increase Connection 4: 1250 Life Force

Increase Reserves 8: 800 Life Force

Repair Soul 3: 2500 Life Force

Increase Control 3: 1500 Life Force

Empower Blade 2: 2000 Life Force - not currently accessible

Improved Siphon 7: 2000 Life Force

Life Force: 1864/3000

Its current wielder did nothing to stop this, though it did pause briefly on the way up the stairs to gnaw at one of its comrades who Kell had struck down almost two days before. The goblin didn’t care that the corpse was putrefying under the twin forces of time and moisture. All it cared was that it was hungry, and Ebon Blade wasn’t about to make it starve.

It wasn’t in a hurry. It still only had the vaguest idea of where it should go next.

Should I seek out Severon, wherever that is, to try to find some clues about what befell my wielder or why I was imprisoned? It wondered. Surely, if it wanted vengeance, that would be the place to start. Everyone I might take vengeance on has almost certainly already died of old age, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wreak havoc on their descendants.

In the end, as it reached the top of the steps, it was forced to consider that simply rampaging throughout the area with the most powerful wielder it could locate might be the best move for the time being. Perhaps before I burn Kalraka to the ground, I can find out where Severon is, it considered.

The goblin that wielded it balked at the idea that someone else might take its new weapon, but the blade ignored it. It was simply a body to swing it that lacked a mind powerful enough to oppose it. It didn’t get a say, not when its protests amounted to little more than repeated outbursts of profanity in a tongue that barely qualified as language.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

At least, that was all they were until it tried to force the goblin to walk outside in daylight. Then, the thing almost had a stroke. Until now, the Ebon Blade had been able to make it do what it wanted. It wasn’t concerned that the lowly goblin couldn’t see during the daylight. It could still see fine, more or less.

However, when it reached the threshold, it categorically refused to cross it. Instead, it threw itself to the ground and engaged in an enraged temper tantrum. Worse, simply trying to force it wasted Life Force, which was not something it expected. It burned almost two dozen points before it even realized it was happening.

-1 Life Force

-2 Life Force

So I can push it to do anything it wants without difficulty, but something it has no interest in, well even that’s a bridge too far, it decided in annoyance as it eased up on the pressure and let its wielder retreat back into the shadows by the altar.

The blade was in no hurry. As long as the creature never put down the weapon, it didn’t really care. Still, it wasn’t as if crossing the threshold into the light would kill it or anything. It might have expected such resistance if it had been trying to force a good man to kill an innocent or a bad one to kill themselves, but this was animalistic, instinctual behavior, and it was surprised by it.

The Ebon blade wasted the day, but as soon as the sun set, they were on the move. They left the donkey behind because it wouldn’t let the goblin approach, even though the blade was fairly certain that having at least a little of that gold would come in handy.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I’ll come back for it if I get a human body, it told itself, to the goblin’s annoyance.

That was its plan, at least to start. Sprint across the foothills to the village of Olden-va, then find a new, better host and keep moving. That changed when it spotted fresh beastman tracks, though. The beastmen might have been brutes, but they were willing to travel by day, it decided, as it changed course to pursue the new objective.

The goblin slavishly obeyed it, but only because it expected more bloodshed. The blade certainly hoped that would be the case, but it was as likely that there would be more green blood that was shed than red, for the Ebon Blade was already chafing at the idea of being held by such a small, ridiculous creature.

It took two more hours, but eventually, the goblin’s short legs caught up with the faster, four and five-foot-tall beast men. It screeched a cry of pure, bloodthirsty glee and ran toward them, holding the weapon over its head in both hands.

As much as the blade wanted to throw the goblin’s life away then, it resisted the urge. No matter how pathetic its wielder was, it would be wrong to kill it. Such actions would constitute a betrayal.

It did not, however, have to help it, and instead of joining this fight as a cruel puppet master to help it swing the awkwardly sized weapon in the most efficient arcs possible, it was content to spectate as its first overhand chop cleaved through the mangy beastman’s spear and deeply into its chest.

+10 Life Force

That single blow wasn’t deep enough to kill it, and it had to hack at the second thing to bring it down. That much was fine, but it gave the other members of the creature’s hunting pack time to join the fight, and in the time it took the goblin to raise the cursed blade and bring it down again, it had been shot with a stone-tipped arrow and stabbed twice.

-4 Life Force

-6 Life Force

+18 Life Force

-7 Life Force

You have claimed a lesser monster soul.

Still, the goblin was undeterred. It screamed and bled, but even as the blade’s energy flowed through it to heal the wounds left by weapons, as soon as they were removed, it was charging the next one and then the one after that. It was a furious little berserker that certainly didn’t want for ferocity. If it had been twice the size, it might have been unbeatable.

Unfortunately, it was a small thing that was little more than a nuisance, and when it got one of its overhead chops stuck in the hip of the largest goat man with twisted horns, the beast succeeded in kicking the goblin, sending it end over end where it lay sprawling.

That wasn’t quite enough to kill it, but without the blade's magic, it couldn’t rise in time to avoid being kicked to death by the other goaty warriors who quickly surrounded it.

The Ebon Blade couldn’t have cared less at that point. Once its wielder lost the fight, the creature was nothing but dead weight. Instead, it sat there studying the flea-bitten goat man it was halfway to gutting. The monstrosity was bleeding out, but it might yet live. It had only to grasp the handle and pull the blade free.

Moments later, that’s exactly what it did, and when it did so, the Ebon Blade seized its soul almost as completely as it had taken control of the goblin’s. The thing’s spirit was stronger but better in every way. It was not the human vessel it might have preferred, but there was a physical strength that was hard to deny.

The beast men’s communications were more complex, too. They weren’t just fuck, eat, kill. They were, “fuck that, roast it and eat it!” While not exactly scintillating conversation, it was certainly better than the bursts of goblin expletives, and on the whole, the blade took it as progress. Anything was better than Ren’s simpering about women had been, and it would take the bleating of goats, intelligent or otherwise, over such sentimentality any day.

It stood, stretching the body of its new wielder before, the hideous goatman bellowed a sound of triumph as it cried out, “Mine!” and raised its black blade skyward. It wasn’t quite as good as a human, but its new wielder was taller and stronger.

It will do for now, the blade decided as it regarded the situation and looked around at the rest of the tribe, trying to decide whether it should slaughter them or turn them into the horde it had been wanting for most of its short existence and unleash the havoc that haunted its dreams.

Name:Gar-lok

Race: Beastman (goat)

Toughness: 3 +1

Strength: 4 +3

Agility: 4 +2

Speed: 4 +1

Intelligence: 1

Willpower: 1 -1

Morality: Greedy

Bloodlust: Medium

Status: Elderly

Martial Skill: Low

Armor Proficiency: None

Dodging: Medium

Athletics: Medium

Goal: To fuck fertile does and devour his enemies.