NOVPUBDuring the Timemould Mirror Box training…
After killing over eight thousand of herself, Pherdanta felt like she lost the essence of what made her, her – her name, her likeness, her age, her power, her gender. She felt… hollow. Her hands were shaking. She had grown so much by fighting clones that thought like her, moved like her, and evolved like true, living beings. But she felt like she lost something in the process. After a while, when she was still clashing with those like-faced enemies, she'd even begun to question where she was, and why she was doing this.
And now, she was here. After 8,009 Pherdantas killed, she simply couldn't kill a single one more.
She was released from the Impossible Task, not knowing – or even thinking about – who else had managed to pass, and simply sat down in a confined space. Her thoughts were blank, as were her eyes. She must have sat there doing nothing for decades, or at least she thought so. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed within the Timemould Mirror Box. Only Skullius could determine that.
Speaking of her master, he came to her some time after she'd almost started to become a fossil. Her thoughts were starting to settle, and she remembered who she was then, and why she had been fighting.
Skullius sat beside her for a long while, silent, passing the time with her.
A long while later – or perhaps a short while – she turned to the Warmoth's Progeny.
"Did I do well?" she asked him.
Skullius smiled.
"Well is an understatement."
Blushing, Pherdanta looked away. She felt ashamed to ask this, but…
"Was I the best… out of the others?"
Skullius laughed.
"Rather than that," he said. "Do you remember how I said if any of you completed the Impossible Task with the higher standard of 1,000 kills, I would honour you as an equal?"
(A/N: Refer to Ch.1334.)
Pherdanta shuddered a little.
"Yes."
"Well, I was wrong."
Pherdanta was confused. What did he mean? Had her master judged that he couldn't allow his subordinates to be equals after all?
Skullius must have read her mind. He laughed at her reaction.
"No, no. It's not what you think," he said and he conjured a sword using mana. "I was once under the tutelage of a very powerful Swordsman once. His name was Alaris. He really helped me grasp the essence of becoming a Swordsman. I don't know what kind of Swordsmanship my real body has acquired as of now, but I believe in any event, that you'll surpass me in that regard."
Pherdanta's brows rose.
"But…" she attempted to rebut, but Skullius spoke over her.
"There are certain crafts that require one to pour their all into them. As good as I am with Swordsmanship, I'll never reach the pinnacle because first and foremost, I'm the Nullmancer and the Insurgent Magnus. Your Class is all about understanding swords and drawing their power. It doesn't matter that it's not a Hidden one. In the end, its laser focus on that one goal will help you reach the pinnacle of Swordsmanship as a craft, perhaps with a few added complements, in the future."
And indeed, Pherdanta was the only one among the Unlimited without a Hidden Class. She had an Advanced Class that allowed her to merge two or more swords together to create singular, powerful variants. It also had the added benefit of making her undetectable to most sensory abilities.
Pherdanta had honed and exhausted all possibilities this Class could offer during the Impossible Task, and while using the most basic of swords to advanced ones.
Skullius smiled at her and stroked her cheek.
"Above all else, there is another reason why you'll surpass me in Swordsmanship."
"W-what is that?" she asked, dreading the answer. Her master suddenly turned stern.
"You are whole. I am missing some part of my soul, so even if I wanted to, I can't give my entirety to any craft. I have been, and will be incomplete for a while. I am doubly lacking even now," he said. "You are whole in soul and in resolve. You've burned all ties to anything else you held dear right in front of me. I remember that. You have no hesitation and you have no weakness. Believe me, your powers will extend beyond even the heights of Swordsmanship as well. And because of that… I want you to lead your lessers and your equals alike. You serve me better inspiring everyone in our little… Faction."
***
A tear threatened to spill from Pherdanta's eye as she recalled the memory. But it wasn't the brimming faith Skullius had in her that made her feel emotional. It was the fact that her master had called himself incomplete, diminishing himself to encourage her resolve.
He needn't have done that, she thought. She would have believed everything he said to her regardless.
Taking a deep breath, Pherdanta composed herself.
"It's time," she said to everyone in the courtyard with a commanding voice.
A great silence ensued.
Everyone including Pherdanta herself had finished using the [Soul Talisman] for their benefit. The Unlimited Star was the quickest when it came to deciding and implementing what she had desired. Her very being had already been in the process of change since she saw and felt Festos' unlimited sword slash, after all.
It would take a little while for the changes in everyone's souls to register in their bodies. Well, for the Incandescent Stagers, it was already done, but since most of the changes they made couldn't be identified with a glance, it was hard to tell.
For Masters and below, at worst, it would take five minutes for the [Soul Talisman] to translate the changes. For some, those five minutes were already nearing their end.
Everyone – Vali's experts, the Six Houses, and the Stark Troops – stood at the edges of the courtyard. Pherdanta then walked towards the centre of the courtyard alone.
Everyone watched her anxiously. They might have been excited about what was coming next because of the fruits of the [Soul Talisman], but now, it all felt real. Too real.
Pherdanta was about to open a gateway into the Under.
Had she truly learned the technique required to do so?
It appeared she had. The Six House Heads watched like hawks. They were quite interested in whether or not the [Soul Talisman] had helped Pherdanta improve the power of her swordsmanship, and by extension that freakish sword technique the demon they saw earlier used.
Well, Pherdanta would show them shortly.
Vali and Maxim couldn't fight the impulse to compare the absurdity Pherdanta was inevitably about to display with their own new prowess. They too watched like eagles.
The old Priest was amused. He wanted to know if Pherdanta rushing into that net of attacks earlier had truly been worth it. But well… it was bound to have been, wasn't it? 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
The Unlimited Star took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her flaring emotions finally calmed down.
'I suppose I don't necessarily need to sense where the Under is. I know it's directly under Aigas. That should allow my attack to translate into a meaningful spatial rift, rather than a simple slash through the foundations of this mansion and the dirt underneath it,' she thought.
And then for the first time since everyone here had gathered as one, Pherdanta showed signs of trying.
Her mana bubbled out of her mana cores as she lowered her centre of gravity and grabbed the hilt to Demion's Dance. She didn't draw it just yet.
There were conditions to using the new technique she'd learned from Festos.
Indeed, it was new, and the conditions for using her variation of the technique were different from those of using the unlimited sword slash.
Pherdanta's had adorned a different name. It was not a singular technique, but a series of them.
The Impossible Splicer Series.
The green blade of Demion's Dance hissed as it left its scabbard slowly.
Everyone felt their hair stand on end just from the crisp sound.
With a serene look to her face, Pherdanta charged her sword with mana seamlessly and raised it over her head. The mana sharpened within the blade right then, ready to work. Pherdanta could envision it and the intended effect.
'[Impossible Splicer: Vein]!'
And with the thought, she executed an impossible sword slash!
