Chapter 292

As soon as Arran touched the jet-black sword, he felt the condensed Essence within it react to his skin . Surprisingly, it seemed to withdraw from his touch — almost as if the weapon was afraid of him .

Arran frowned at the odd reaction, but he did not let it deter him . He clenched his jaw, then grabbed the sword’s hilt and pulled it from its rack .

Several moments passed without anything happening, and Arran began to wonder if something was wrong . The sword was supposed to feed on his Essence, yet instead, it seemed to be shrinking away from his touch .

With a thought, he moved some of his Shadow Essence toward the weapon, then forced it into the sword’s hilt . Perhaps that would entice the Living Shadow to feed .

There was no immediate response, but after a second or two, Arran felt a faint pulling sensation . It was only barely noticeable, but it was enough to draw a thin strand of Shadow Essence into the Living Shadow, where it promptly vanished .

The taste of Essence seemed to have emboldened the Living Shadow, because only a single breath later, the rest of the Essence was drawn inside and consumed .

Again he sent some Essence into the weapon — slightly more, this time — and again the weapon seemed to hesitate before accepting the gift and consuming it .

This repeated for several times, and Arran could not help but smile in bemusement . |The whole situation seemed more akin to using food to win the trust of a stray dog than trying to gain control a powerful artifact .

Arran continued to feed the sword through the days that followed, slowly growing more familiar with the object and the power within . And if the Living Shadow didn’t exactly seem comfortable with him yet, with every meal it grew slightly less hesitant, consuming the Essence more quickly and eagerly .

After two days of this, enough of Arran’s Shadow Essence had entered the weapon for him to Sense it .

By now, he was pouring as much Essence as he could into the Living Shadow . That was nothing compared to the weapon’s own power, but it was enough for him to gain a connection to it . And through this connection, he became aware of just how much power the blade held .

He had known the Living Shadow contained a vast reservoir of Essence, of course — after countless thousands of years of absorbing Shadow Essence, that was to be expected . But now, he began to realize just how vast that pool of Essence was .

Compared to the ocean of Essence within the weapon, his efforts over the past days barely amounted to a single drop . And while that was just barely enough for him to Sense the weapon, it was nowhere near what he needed to control it .

Still, he continued undeterred, continuously gathering as much Essence as he could and pouring every last drop of it into the weapon .

Steadily, the connection between Arran and the weapon grew stronger . And after another two days had passed, he began to feel that there was something more to it — something beyond the vast sea of Essence it held .

The weapon was more than just concentrated power, he realized — it really did hold some sort of rudimentary consciousness . It devoured the Essence he fed it eagerly, but it still seemed slightly fearful of his touch .

Anxious to learn more of this, Arran stood up from the ground and held up the sword, then gave it a few quick swings .

At once, his eyes widened in delight . It was as if the weapon somehow knew what he required, as if it remembered the movements of battle . Rather than resisting his control, as Arran had feared, the sword appeared eager to be wielded . Each swing Arran made, the sword strengthened, amplifying the power of his attacks .

“You’re learning to control it?” Karanos asked, his eyes studiously following Arran’s movements .

“I think so,” Arran replied . “When I use it, it’s like it strengthens my strikes . “

“Good,” Karanos said . “But our time runs short . Focus on concealing its Essence — with the weapon in its current state, we have no chance of escaping . “

Arran responded with a nod . He knew Karanos was right — as it was, the pitch-black blade was like a mass of impossibly dense Shadow Essence . And if the Remnants in the city could detect Shadow Essence, a weapon like this would be like a beacon in the night .

For them to escape, he would have to make the weapon conceal itself . And for that, he would need to increase his control over it .

He spent another day practicing sword strikes as he continued to pour Essence into the weapon . Before anything else, it had to grow accustomed to his control . And since both Arran and the weapon were familiar with battle, this was the easiest way to achieve that .

After a day, Arran decided it was time to move forward . While he would’ve preferred to have a month — or even a year — to strengthen his bond to the weapon, there simply wasn’t enough time for that . He needed to conceal it, and he had only days to achieve that goal .

The task seemed almost impossible, but there was nothing for it but to try . The only alternative was to leave the weapon behind, and Arran had no intention of abandoning a treasure as powerful as this . He set his jaw and got to work, determined to succeed .

As expected, the challenge proved a difficult one . While the sword had been easy to control when wielding it, controlling its Essence proved far harder .

It wasn’t that the weapon resisted his control . Rather, it was as if the sword did not understand what he wanted it to do — as if he was trying to teach a dog how to write .

Had more of his Essence been inside the weapon, it would have been easier — then, he could have exerted enough control to force the matter . But right now, he could only nudge the weapon and hope that it would follow his lead .

Yet the weapon appeared eager to please him, and even if it had some difficulty understanding what he wanted, he made steady progress .

After three days of constant practice, he could more or less conceal the weapon’s dense Shadow Essence . The result wasn’t nearly as good as he wished — and occasionally the concealment failed — but if the Shadow Essence had earlier been like a beacon, now, it was more like a campfire .

“It’s not good enough,” Karanos said, his expression troubled . “But we’ll have to chance it . We’ve run out of time . “

“If you give me another day—” Arran began . With another day, he might at least stop the concealment from randomly failing .

“We don’t have another day,” the mage interrupted him . “We should have left the city weeks ago, truth be told . But it was too valuable an opportunity to pass up — and even now, it’s worth the risk . “

“Are you sure it’s worth it?” Arran asked, casting a hesitant glance at his sword .

No matter how much he valued his new weapon, he would rather leave it behind than face certain death . A treasure like this could save his life a hundred times over in his own world, but that was little use if he didn’t make it back alive .

“I am,” Karanos replied firmly . “Now let’s be on our way . You can improve your control further while we travel . “Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www . webnovel . com for visiting .

“All right,” Arran said, relieved and worried in equal parts . While he was glad he would not have to relinquish his treasure, he hoped he would not have to pay too high a price for keeping it .

He moved to belt on his new sword, but then, a mass of shadow suddenly shot out from the wall, soaring toward him .

Instinctively, he parried the attack with his sword . Yet although the parry was successful, the mass of shadow enveloped his blade, covering it in dense darkness .

It took Arran a moment to recognize what was happening, and when he did, his eyes went wide with shock . The dark mass was consuming his sword .

“No!” he cried out, but it was already too late .

The dark mass had fully consumed his blade, and he felt his connection to the weapon vanish abruptly . A second later, the mass of darkness changed shape, and Arran stared in astonishment at what he was holding .

Where the flawless arming sword had been moments earlier, there now was the vicious executioner’s blade that had hung on the wall . Large and unwieldy, it had a fearsome aura — even more so than before it consumed Arran’s sword .

At once, Arran tried to drop it, but the sword somehow clung to his hand, seemingly unwilling to be abandoned .

And that wasn’t all . The Shadow Essence that Arran had poured into the arming sword was now inside the executioner’s blade, and through that, he could Sense the power it held — as well as the consciousness that resided within .

The executioner’s blade was vastly more powerful than the arming sword had been, Arran Sensed, the amount of Essence within it incomparably larger . And where the arming sword had been like a timid but loyal dog, the executioner’s blade was more like a vicious wolf, as cunning as it was savage .

“It ate my sword…” Arran stared at the blade with wide-eyed bewilderment .

“That’s not possible,” Karanos replied, his expression every bit as astonished as Arran’s .

And yet, possible or not, it was clear that was exactly what had happened — the executioner’s blade had enveloped Arran’s sword and consumed it whole, leaving nothing behind .

“You’ll have to leave it,” Karanos said in a tense voice . “We have to leave, and we can’t travel with… that . “

“I’m trying to,” Arran said, “but it won’t let go . “

A deep frown on his face, he reached for the blade with his left hand, hoping that perhaps he might forcefully pry it away . There was no question in his mind of keeping this weapon — it was far too strong for him to control, and he had no way to conceal it .

Yet before his left hand reached the weapon, it suddenly changed shape once more . In just a fraction of a moment, the oversized executioner’s blade shrank into the shape of the arming sword — a perfect copy, but one with a viciousness the original had lacked .

Moreover, as it shrank, the intense darkness of the material faded away . Within seconds, the Living Shadow turned into plain steel . Had Arran’s Shadow Essence not allowed him to Sense its true nature, the concealment would have been perfect .

“You can control it?” Karanos asked, his voice unsteady with shock .

“I can’t,” Arran replied . “But… I don’t think it wants to be left behind . ”