Ketis almost wanted to scream out!

What was Sharpie doing?!

​​

Shiva felt a little warmer to the hand. Ketis sensed that Sharpie had found something interesting inside the weapon. Apparently, the attraction was so great that her sword intent simply moved over on its own accord without asking her whether it was okay for it to move!

The only reason why she didn't panic was because her intuition and other senses didn't signal any danger. If the situation was any different, she would have tried to pull Sharpie out of the blade!

Of all of the people in the room, no one sensed that anything had happened. They all thought that Ketis was having some private moment with Venerable Trey Walinski's personal weapon.

Only Venerable Dise furrowed her brows for a moment. Perhaps she sensed something odd with the help of her force of will. Perception wasn't its strong suit, though.

As the seconds went by, Ketis felt that Sharpie became happier and happier for some reason. She also sensed that her sword intent felt a bit different over time.

Was it changing?! That wasn't supposed to happen! Her sword intent should reflect her swordsmanship! Even if Ves made it alive for some reason shouldn't be a reason for it to change without her input!

Fortunately, Sharpie soon ended its little jaunt. It jumped back into her mind with a satisfied feeling.

Ketis grew suspicious. She attempted to probe her sentient sword intent, but it largely felt the same aside from some indescribable differences.

What had happened? What had changed? Even though Ketis tried really hard to express her puzzlement at Sharpie, her darned sword intent acted as if nothing was wrong!

She gave up on questioning her insubordinate sword will and turned her attention back to Shiva. The saber did not look any different from before, but as she stared into its surface, she felt a bit different about it than before.

A moment ago, Shiva was just a curious weapon to Ketis. She did not feel any intimacy with the weapon because she knew it used to belong to someone else. Furthermore, it wasn't a greatsword, which seriously reduced her interest in owning it. She even hesitated whether she should refuse to carry it on her person despite Fred Walinski's wishes!

Her upgraded CFA greatsword was her true weapon of choice. Even though it was rather inconvenient to bring it everywhere, she didn't want to part with it. She had fought so many battles with it and spilled so much blood. Even after enhancing it with Unending alloy, she completely felt as if it was an extension of her body.

When Ketis initially picked up Shiva, she completely lacked that sense of closeness and ownership.

Yet after Sharpie rummaged through its interior, some of that changed.

While she still felt a lack of intimacy, she somehow had the impression that the saber belonged to her now!

This was confusing to her! Whatever Sharpie had done caused Shiva to recognize Ketis as its rightful owner and wielder.

At the same time, Ketis also felt as if the weapon belonged to her hand. While her sense of ownership of Shiva wasn't as strong as her CFA greatsword, it was still remarkable how comfortable it felt in her hand.

"Strange."

She did not recklessly swing the weapon or do anything fancy with it. All of that could wait. She carefully put Shiva back onto the table and directed her attention to the pile of books.

"These books contain the unfiltered and unedited thoughts and ideas of my late brother." Fred Walinski noticed where she directed her gaze. "The words inside can be a bit.. disorganized.. but as long as you spend some effort into deciphering them, you will be able to learn the theory behind the Annihilator Sword Style. Of course, that is just the first step to mastering it. I cannot count the amount of times that I have read my brother's scriptures. His recorded thoughts are too profound for me even after decades of study and experimentation."

Ketis grew intimidated by what she heard. "I won't necessarily be able to do any better, you know. If the contents of these books don't click with me, I seriously doubt whether it is useful for me to dedicate my time to puzzle out the ramblings of an expert pilot."

One of the lessons that Ves had taught to her was that expert pilots were only good at fighting and little else. These brutes were geniuses on the battlefield but dunces everywhere else. She had no expectations about how the former head of the sword school structured his writings.

Even so, she still picked up the book at the top. Once she flipped it open, she quickly realized that it was specifically written to introduce newcomers to the Annihilator Sword Style. At least that was good.

The opening quote immediately captured her imagination.

"Swords exist to kill. We exist to destroy."

Although Venerable Trey Walinski wasn't creative enough to come up with a more dramatic phrase, the motto he invented for his sword school was quite bold. Ketis kind of liked it. The words were simple and direct.

"Do you know why this saying represents our sword style?" Fred asked.

"Please explain."

"As you undoubtedly know, swords can inflict damage in a number of ways. Due to their propensity for slashing, the most ubiquitous form of damage they deal comes in the form of cuts. Certain swords can also be thrust onto a target, thereby leaving a nasty puncture behind. In rare and special occasions, you can also use the flat or the pommel of a bladed weapon in order to bash a surface."

"I already know all of that. Every sword style tries to find a good way to deliver as many of these wounds to the target as possible. Swords exist to kill, and they rely on these different types of damage to do their jobs."

Fred nodded in approval. "Good. You have a good grasp on the true nature of a sword. I'm glad you aren't one of those delusional idiots who think that swords exist to create peace or that they are meant to protect. Swords are killing implements and nothing else. Now, what if you could make them even better at killing?"

"Is this the part where you explain to me what 'Annihilator' stands for?" Ketis interrupted the pattern of the conversation.

The old man gave her a wry smile. "Well, since you are a mech designer, you probably know what the word stands for. In short, my brother was really good at destroying things. So good in fact that he even used it as the basis for successful advancement to expert pilot. To him, the sharpness and sturdiness of the sword didn't matter too much for him. Whereas other swordsmen seek to rely on those two properties to cut or pierce into a target as deeply as possible, my brother sought to inflict damage in a different manner: annihilation!"

This was where Ketis grew skeptical again. "Are you serious? You know what annihilation means, do you?"

"I may be the only remaining member of this sword school, but I know the basics. In physics, annihilation is a reaction where a particle and its antiparticle collide. For some reason, pushing them together causes them to disappear. In their place, the energy that is equivalent to their mass gets released."

This was indeed a short but succinct description of annihilation. When described in this fashion, the reaction sounded innocuous.

In truth, annihilation was much greater than anyone who heard about it realized! It was not only an essential component in how the cosmos took on its current shape, but also served as the core of many powerful and destructive processes!

From lighting up enormous balls of gasses into stars to allowing humans to destroy entire continents and planets, the power of annihilation was one of the most destructive natural phenomena that both nature and civilization wielded!

To claim that someone trained in a single sword style could harness this destructive power sounded extremely absurd to someone as well-versed in the sciences as Ketis!

"I wouldn't be surprised if you pair annihilation with a positron beam weapon. After all, that's how these weapons pretty much work. Yet I can't imagine how you can possibly apply it to a sword of all objects, especially plain ones like Shiva!"

Seeing that Ketis remained unconvinced, Fred knew he had to show her that the Annihilator Sword Style wasn't an exaggeration!

"May I demonstrate our sword style with Shiva?"

"Be my guest. I mean, the weapon used to be yours."

Fred reverently picked up the saber from the table and held it in a comfortable grip. He looked around and approached a solid wooden pillar, one of many that spruced up the ceremonial hall.

The pillar was as thick as a cow. Ketis had no doubt that the wood material was extra solid as well.

Perhaps with a sword as sharp as her CFA greatsword, she might be able to cut deep into it, but she doubted she possessed the strength to make her blade go all the way through.

Once Fred entered into range, he took a few calming breaths before adopting a serious stance.

His eyes turned sharp and his expression became serious. The vibe he exuded had clearly changed from a harmless old man to a swordsman who possessed a little bite!

Ketis briefly turned to Venerable Dise. The expert pilot looked at Fred with some respect.

"He's a swordsman, alright. He hasn't wasted all these years."

Even Ketis had the impression that Fred could give her a run for her money if he was still in his prime.

Sadly, he was fifty years too old. His body had already aged to such an extent that his current display was merely an echo.

Fred did not seem to pay any notice, though. After making some sufficient mental preparations, he finally lashed out with Shiva!

For a moment, Ketis had the illusion that an explosion of darkness had struck the pillar.

This faint impression disappeared in an instant though.

Immediately, she realized that something was missing.

"There's hardly any sound."

A sword, regardless of its properties, should have elicited some sounds when it was cut into a solid wooden pillar.

The fact that Ketis didn't hear anything was very disturbing to her! Outside of vacuum environments, this shouldn't happen!

She soon directed her attention to the aftermath of the attack.

A wooden pillar exhibited a thin, precise cut that went a quarter of the way through its width. While this did not sound like much at first, Ketis was deeply impressed.

Even if Fred was a trained swordsman, someone in his physical condition should have never been able to drive a saber like Shiva this deep through such a large and solid object!

She soon gazed deeper into the cut. She saw that it looked abnormally smooth. Not only that, the surface of the cut sides was briefly covered by some strange black shadows before they dispersed.

Obviously, something amazing had just happened! If her guess was correct, Fred's swing somehow managed to annihilate the wooden matter in front of the blade for a brief moment of time!

"This isn't possible." Ketis became increasingly shocked. "This can't happen. How can someone who isn't an expert pilot and doesn't rely on any high-tech equipment be able to perform so many abnormal annihilation reactions without releasing enough energy to blow up the entire city!"

Fred Walinski easily pulled out the saber from the pillar and smiled. "I have learned that it is best not to think too deeply about the science behind our techniques. Simply do your best to will your blade to annihilate everything before it and it will happen, one way or another. It's a pity that most people are incapable of performing even a fraction of what I just did. However, I think you will be able to fare better. Would you like to try and perform this technique as well?"

"Huh?" Ketis was still trying to process what she had just witnessed. "I don't know anything about this technique! I haven't even read through the introductory book of your sword style yet. You can't expect me to replicate your trick."

"Ah, but I believe you will be able to achieve a much greater process due to your talent. Please, satisfy my curiosity and prove my judgement right. Just go over the introductory book once and try and see if you can make use of what you have just read."

Fred looked at Ketis as if she was the chosen one. At this point, he had invested so much faith in her that he was already convinced that she exceed his result in the first day!