Daz opened his eyes and got out of bed while leaving the still sleeping Madison alone. He went to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. Now sat in the living room, Daz began thinking.

'So that skill, 'Grave of The Gods', it can be used for building or fighting purposes, huh? Cecil made a big deal about how it can be used to trap enemies mid-fight. I guess I should dedicate some time to learning it today.' Daz took a sip of his coffee and checked the time via the system.

'Six in the morning, huh? Better go do some training then, before everyone else wakes up at least. I guess I should also check the box of wonders, right? I'm not sure if it counts rest-cycles in its mechanics, but that would be nice if I could get a freebie from that weird thing,' Daz thought as he recalled the odd box that Altros, the original owner of his armour, had left to him.

The first thing Daz did after finishing his coffee and eating a few slices of toast was equipping his armour, strapping Hamson to his back and heading over to the old charity shipping container which held his personal safe.

"Every time I look at this thing, I can't help but think that it's massive..." Daz sighed as he opened the ginormous metal box that barely fit in the container. He had stored all of the unused guns, the box of wonders and all of Rimmy's spare jewels in here since it was undoubtedly the safest place in Fort Skip.

After taking out the box of wonders, surprisingly, it was actually ready to be opened. Upon unclipping the suitcase's latches and popping it open, Daz could see a small wisp of red matter that seemed to be calling out to his soul and a letter. He picked up the letter first and read it.

'Hello, hello! Altros here!

I was watching some of your antics, and oh boy, am I impressed! You might actually be the strongest person I handed a toy too. Aren't you happy? Do you feel proud? I bet you do, after all, I'm pretty amazing.

Anyway, I noticed one thing while I was watching you besides the fact that you're a bit of an idiot who'll never learn enchanting and unseal my armour...'

"Hey, I'll just get someone else to do it if I can't do it myself, like Sarah or something," Daz mumbled in annoyance. Obviously, he didn't like Altros's attitude very much. If he could, he would throw the letter away, but he had a feeling that it would force itself into his face like the one a few days ago had.

'... Anyway, this wispy thing, I bet you're wondering what it is, right? Well, like I said before, this box gives you something you need in the present cycle. I can't really affect it much. At most, I can explain what you get.

This wisp is actually a soul. It's the soul of a lesser demon sword, to be specific. I'm guessing the box wants you to make your shovel eat it, but who can say for certain? Identify it if you want more details.

By the way, do well in the next four-day cycle and I'll give you another toy.

With love,

The all-powerful, amazingly handsome, super strong, unbeatable, Altros.

<3'

"I really don't like him... however... I'm not against getting more free shit," Daz said as he crumpled up the letter and threw it into the safe. While he didn't appreciate Altros, he certainly didn't want anyone to read the contents of the letter, so storing it in the safe was Daz's best option since he'd rather keep it than destroy it.

Daz then gently scooped the red 'soul' out of the box and watched it furiously try to escape from his grasp. "Feisty, huh? Guess I'll do what Altros suggested and identify it. I'm not gonna let Hamson eat this thing if it's not safe."

Reika's Soul [A-Rank (Middle Tier)] Description

The soul of a very powerful lesser demon sword. Once the Princess and daughter of the Demon Lord from Kaltraso, after being slain by the Hero of her time, her soul was forced to serve that Hero as the spirit of his weapon.

After many years of enduring such a fate, Reika managed to corrupt his holy sword and take control of the Hero thanks to her innate loneliness and wish to communicate with him. It didn't take long for her to be thrown away and discarded after the Hero's inevitable death.

The blade eventually rusted and became nothing more than dust, but a wandering mage associated with the system gladly harvested her soul and sold it to the system where she was left to wait until she found a new master, or potentially, a new victim.

Stats Willpower: 600 Endurance: 4,000 Skills Weapon Fusion Weapon Fusion Allows the soul to fuse with any one weapon. Must be initiated by the soul's own will and the fusion cannot be undone until the weapon is completely destroyed beyond repair.

"That's a pity. It has to be from its own will? Well then, maybe I should just consume her soul? I mean, I am a Reaper..." Daz mumbled.

Immediately after, Reika's soul stopped struggling in his hands, confusing Daz slightly, but then suddenly, with a very powerful and strong burst of energy, it broke free from his grasp and entered Hamson without any warning.

"What the..." Daz exclaimed in shock as he took Hamson from his back and stared at it.

Hamson's entire body began to glow a bright red and a second pure-red skull appeared just below the first one at the tip of the weapon's shaft. The serrated edges on the blade became more pronounced and it turned an even deeper shade of blood-red.

What happened next, truly startled Daz. Hamson shrunk and then entered the flesh of his right hand. A small brand of a shovel that looked exactly like Hamson appeared in the centre of his palm.

Daz identified his hand over and over again but it didn't show anything special. This truly befuddled the Reaper. "What the fuck just happened?"

Almost as if to answer his question, a red light left the mark and formed the shape of a very small finger-sized girl. She was completely naked and looked to be a miniature child of no more than twelve years of age. The two curled horns on her head told Daz almost everything he needed to know.

"You're Reika?" he asked.

The small girl nodded and opened her mouth, but no sound came out, so she held her chin and looked like she was thinking hard about something. Finally, she brought a fist to her palm and then smiled.

'Yes, we are Reika, Insolent Fool!'

The sound of a clear and childish voice rang through Daz's head. "What the fuck? Some sort of telepathy?"

'Indeed, Insolent Fool, we have used the bond between the user, you, and this strange weapon to communicate with you. This is usually impossible, but you are very attuned to souls.'

"And why exactly did you... inhabit Hamson?" Daz asked as he held his palm out completely straight.

As if it were natural, the finger-sized girl sat on her knees and landed on Daz's outstretched hand. "We were afraid."

"Of?" Daz was curious. What could this demon sword's soul and ex-Demon Princess, possibly be afraid of?

Daz quickly got his answer. "You."

"Me?" Daz tilted his head in confusion much like how Madison and Rimmy liked to do so.

Reika's head mimicked Daz's. "Yes."

"Why?" Daz still wasn't sure exactly what the tiny soul was frightened by.

"... You said you would consume us if we did not fuse with your unusual weapon," Reika confessed with an embarrassed face as she squirmed about on Daz's palm. She kept accidentally phasing through his skin, so clearly, she didn't affect the physical world at all.

"Huh, I did say that, didn't I?" Daz recalled it now. It was merely in passing and he wouldn't seriously consider the thought unless this soul proved to be completely useless. "Anyway, what do you mean by 'unusual weapon'? Have you never seen a shovel before?"

"A shovel? Is it a type of sword? No, perhaps a spear? It is rather long." Obviously, Reika genuinely didn't know about shovels in either of her past existences. Daz had studied up on souls and he knew that no matter what, a soul couldn't lie, so he could trust her words.

"A shovel is neither. Regardless of that, shouldn't you be trying to mind-control me or something?" Daz clearly remembered in the soul's description that she had done so to the Hero, so he assumed that she would try to take control of him as well.

"We have been trying," Reika sulked and flew off of Daz's hand before she landed on his head and pretended to make herself comfortable in his hair. "We can't succeed, so we've decided to help you. We don't want to be alone again..."

'I guess my protection to soul attacks is working well.' This racial immunity was the only reason Daz had picked up the powerful soul without much preparations or his usual caution.

"How long has it been since the people who found you following the Hero's death threw you away?" Daz asked.

Reika held her chin and thought for a moment before replying, "We do not know. Too much time has passed, so we stopped counting at some point..."

"I see, it must have been lonely, huh?" Daz had a sympathetic tone in his voice. 'If I can get the unconditional trust of this soul, that would be great.'

"Very," Reika openly admitted.

"Well, if you serve me faithfully and never try to betray me or mind-control me again, then I'll keep you company until the day I die. That is so long as you can offer some benefits to me?" Daz offered. Though he planned to do so regardless since she had already fused herself with his growing weapon, Hamson.

"All fleshy creatures are the same with their greed. Insolent Fool! We have many uses!" Reika's face was painted with frustration.

"That's great. Such as?" Daz proceeded to inquire.

"We-We cannot be seen by anyone unless they are attuned to souls like you are, so we can act as a spy by going through nearby walls!" Reika told Daz as she held her arms up to add some emphasis to her claim.

"Mhmm, and?" Daz's expression didn't change.

"We... We can shrink your, 'shovel', as you called it, into this brand and bring it back to full size at will!" Reika demonstrated by getting off of Daz's head and pulling Hamson out of the blood-red sear on his hand.

Daz calmly held Hamson and continued with a placid appearance on his face, "Oho! And?"

"W-We can teach you the Hero's swordsmanship style..." Reika's spirit was greatly diminishing.

"Anything else?" Daz remained without emotion as he asked.

"We! We!... No... Please don't leave us alone! We can be of more use to you, we are certain!" Reika was sure that Daz was upset with her and would abandon her like the others had done so.

The only reason she tried to mind control any user in the first place was to make sure that they never left her alone like her father had done during her life and so she could actually talk to the Hero's soul, thus corrupting her and him in the process.

"Why would I leave you alone? I was just wondering if there was anything else you could do," Daz answered honestly.

"... Really?" Could she cry, there would no doubt be tears in the corners of Reika's eyes.

Daz wrinkled his nose. 'Such a needy soul.'

He sighed and said, "Really. So, can you do anything else?"

"We can do this!" Reika exclaimed before she forced herself into Hamson's edge. A dark-crimson glow spread across the metal and some sort of energy began seeping out of it, almost as if Hamson was bleeding from his blade.

"I can feel that Hamson is stronger now..." Daz mumbled and then decided to inspect Hamson.

Hamson/Reika [B-Rank (Lower Tier)] Description

A regular shovel that has been given life by its owner, Daz. It has been selected by the host's sentient skill, The One Shovel To Rule Them All, and can now only be wielded by him.

If used offensively without the host's permission, any sentient being wielding it will be consumed in body and soul.

It has been sharpened and enchanted by a master blacksmith.

It has fused with the soul of Reika, a lesser demon sword.

Stats Attack: 400 Defense: 60 Evil Power: 200 Sharpness: 25 Durability: 600/600 Skills The One Shovel To Rule Them All Morph Earth Rise Evil Cloak Evil Cloak Cloaks the blade in a powerful evil energy generated by the soul, Reika, which boosts attack power and inflicts injuries on the enemy soul when used to attack. The power and duration are both limited by Reika's power.

"Amazing, simply amazing. I think we're going to get along very nicely, Reika." Daz smiled for the first time during their conversation.

"Y-Yeah..." Reika's answer was most definitely unsure. Would Daz prove to be a good companion for her? Or perhaps it would have been better to let him actually eat her? Only time would tell.