Zich stretched his arms above his head, yawning. "Is that everyone?"

A timid voice spoke from the very back.

"U um..."

Zich looked up.

Floating at the far end of the void, barely glowing, was a small weapon. It looked like a short dagger. No, a knife. A simple, unremarkable knife with a faint teal glow that flickered like it might go out at any moment.

"I... I’m not very strong," the voice said. "I’m not a legendary weapon. I don’t have titles or achievements. I’ve never had a master. I just... I thought maybe... if no one else was left..."

Zich tilted his head.

The knife’s glow dimmed even further. "S sorry. I shouldn’t have..."

"What’s your name?" Zich asked.

The knife froze. "...Huh?"

"Your name. I asked everyone else. What’s yours?"

"I... I’m Sliver."

"Sliver," Zich repeated. He looked at the tiny knife for a long moment.

Then he looked at Frostgrave’s pale blue light, still hovering faithfully beside him.

Then back at Sliver.

"What can you do?"

"I... I can cut things. Small things. Like rope. Or thread. Or... um... vegetables."

Zich’s eyes widened.

The entire void went silent.

Bloodfang, who had been sulking in the distance, let out a strangled noise.

Zich pointed at Sliver and uttered words that left every other weapon shocked.

"You’re hired."

"W WHAT?!" Sliver’s glow flared, then sputtered, then flared again like a broken lantern. "R really?! But I’m just a..."

"You can cut vegetables," Zich said, as if that explained everything. "That’s practical. Do you know how annoying it is to prepare food in a dungeon with a sword or scythe?"

He turned back to Frostgrave. The pale blue light had been hovering beside him this whole time, silent, patient, loyal. She hadn’t competed. Hadn’t shouted. Hadn’t tried to impress him with titles or achievements. She had simply stayed.

And she had protected him. Twice. Without even being asked.

Zich looked at the drop of blood still suspended between them. It had been floating there since before the chaos began, waiting for his decision.

He wondered if he could get more than one spirit weapon.

[Ding! Your current soul power can only merge with two spirit weapons. Increase your soul purity to merge with more weapons.] 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Seeing the text, Zich couldn’t help but smirk. "That settles it then."

"Frostgrave."

"...Yes?"

"You’ve been standing next to me this entire time. You froze Bloodfang for me. You stopped that chain sickle. You haven’t asked me to choose you once."

Frostgrave was quiet for a moment. "...You had already reached for me before the others woke. I did not think I needed to ask."

Zich smiled.

"You didn’t."

He let the drop of blood fall.

It drifted forward, slow and deliberate, and merged with Frostgrave’s pale blue light. The moment they touched, a pulse of cold swept through the entire void.

[ Contract Formed! ]

[ Soul Contract Formed: Weapon Spirit Frostgrave ]

[ Weapon Type: Scythe (King) ]

[ Growth Potential: Legendary ]

[ Details:

Effect One: Soul Bound. Cannot be destroyed as long as the contractor lives.

Effect Two: Can absorb the essence of defeated enemies to grow stronger.

Effect Three: Possesses a powerful SSS Rank Ice Element. ]

Frostgrave’s light grew brighter. Warmer, somehow, despite the cold. Her voice, when she spoke, was steady. It was no longer uncertain or surprised.

"Thank you, Master. I will not disappoint you."

Zich nodded. Then he looked at Sliver.

The tiny teal knife was still hovering in place, trembling.

"W wait... does this mean I’m also...?"

Zich held out his other hand. A second drop of blood rose from his palm without hesitation and drifted toward the teal glow.

"You said you could cut vegetables. That’s all the qualification I need."

[ A Second Weapon Spirit Has Requested a Bond! ]

[ Weapon Spirit: Sliver (???) ]

[ Would You Like to Form a Secondary Contract? ]

[ Yes / No ]

Zich selected Yes.

The blood merged with Sliver’s light instantly, as if the little knife had been waiting its entire existence for this moment.

[ Contract Formed! ]

[ Sliver Has Bonded With You. ]

[ Sliver’s current abilities are sealed. As your bond deepens, her true potential will be revealed.

Note: Do not lose this weapon. ]

Zich raised an eyebrow at the screen, especially at the bold note. The system was straight up warning him. He had a hunch that the harmless looking knife might be even more powerful than Frostgrave.

He looked at the tiny knife now floating beside Frostgrave. Next to the scythe’s pale blue elegance, Sliver looked like a kitchen utensil that had wandered into a battlefield.

"Don’t worry, Master!" Sliver said, her voice brimming with shaky enthusiasm. "I’ll work really hard! I’ll cut ALL the vegetables!"

Frostgrave’s cold presence shifted. "...We are weapon spirits. We are supposed to slay enemies."

"Enemies, vegetables, same principle!" Sliver declared.

Frostgrave fell silent in a way that radiated deep exhaustion.

Zich looked at his two new weapon spirits. A cold, dignified scythe and an excited, possibly useless kitchen knife. Only time would tell if they would be useful or deadweight.

[ You Will Now Be Returned to the Crypt. ]

The void shuddered as the stars began to blur, and the remaining weapon spirits watched him go in stunned silence.

Bloodfang’s flames flickered weakly. "...He chose a butter knife over me."

"She’s a knife, not a butter knife," the golden mace corrected.

"THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT BETTER!"

When Zich reappeared in the crypt, both Frostgrave and Sliver had materialized at his side. Frostgrave took the form of a scythe, long and elegant, with a blade of pale blue crystal that radiated freezing mist. Its haft was wrapped in dark leather, and frost crept along its edge.

Sliver took the form of... a knife. A small teal knife, slightly longer than his palm, with an unremarkable blade that glowed faintly.

Zich held one in each hand and looked between them.

"A scythe and a knife," he said. "An undead army, a graveyard system, and now two weapon spirits."

He paused.

"I’m starting to feel like the final boss."

Frostgrave hummed. "You lack the dramatic entrance."

"And the cape!" Sliver added. "Don’t forget the Cape!"

Zich opened his mouth to argue, then stopped. He looked down at his tattered cloak, stained with monster blood and dungeon grime.

"...I’ll work on it."

A system screen appeared.

[Ding! Your Luck handband duration has expired.]

The handband on his wrist vanished. Zich stared at his now empty wrist, wondering if things would become even more unlucky from now on. Because even with the handband, he had gone through a series of misfortunes.

Zich cracked his neck and rested Frostgrave across his shoulder.

"Alright," he said. "Let’s see what you two can do."

Sliver vibrated excitedly. "I’m ready, Master! Point me at a vegetable!"

"There are no vegetables here," Frostgrave said.

"Then point me at something SHAPED like a vegetable!"

Zich stared at the small knife and then at the corridor ahead, where the distant growls of undead monsters echoed through the stone.

He sighed. "...This is going to be a long dungeon."

....

Thanks for the golden tickets and support! You guys are amazing. The weapon spirit arc is just getting started. Sliver might look like a kitchen knife now, but trust me, there’s a reason her abilities are sealed.

Next Chapter drops soon. Stay tuned!