Did she already know what I would ask her for? Chapter 323 323: Ch 322: Just as I imagined... Haa... Well,

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'You need to focus a little more, kiddo... You have to let the belief that you can master anything on earth and that there is nothing and no one who should not bow down in your presence beco a part of you. You have to feel it deep within yourself... That's the only way to use the Sword Demon class skill.'

'I'm trying. It's not as easy as it sounds.'

'Well, it's not as difficult as you seem to think... I didn't think it would be so hard for you to learn how to use the skill.'

I'm in the sa uninhabited adow where I always co whenever I need to reflect or try sothing, and I'm holding Zariche unsheathed in my hands.

Today I've co to try to learn a new skill that, according to Zariche, I should be able to use as the owner of the Sword Demon class, even though I can't use it normally: by ntioning or thinking its na.

According to Zariche, the skill is called Sword Demon Domain and should give a huge advantage when fighting multiple enemies alone, although he didn't tell exactly what that advantage is.

The reason the sword has offered to teach this supposed hidden skill is that he has apparently decided to offer a mutually beneficial agreent.

According to the terms he himself proposed, he will not try to control my body or mind in exchange for letting him stay out of my inventory and using him to fight.

With his proposal, I discovered that the sword hates my inventory much more than he had let on until now, as he apparently cannot think properly inside it because ti inside my inventory 'feels strange.'

I suspect that this is not the only reason for his proposal, as it is strange that he took so long to decide to offer a truce, but it may simply be a matter of pride on the part of the sword.

Certainly, he has no shortage of excessive pride and ego.

Today is just one day after the attack on Delia, so Alessia and Delia agreed to stay ho and rest.

In the morning, my opinion was the sa as theirs, but the proposal and information from the cursed sword surprised so much that I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I don't know how much I can trust him, but I have nothing to lose by taking a chance.

In the worst case, I'll just have to put him back in my inventory.

The information about this supposed hidden skill was ant to be a peace offering, but it seems he didn't expect it to be so difficult for to learn how to use the skill.

So he's been sharing so more information about himself to show his goodwill.

He told that he can change shape at will, sothing I already knew he could do.

He also told that he can use the blood he stores in combat to temporarily increase his Edge rune by one level.

But I told him that I already knew that information too and that, besides, it's sothing I'll almost never need.

At that point, the sword was already starting to get impatient.

Perhaps that is why he revealed sothing to that he had not initially intended to tell .

Apparently, the sword can freely control which individuals are affected by the Dentia Mist skill.

That information was useful to , as it ans I can use the skill without any problems when fighting alongside others.

But that's not the only thing I discovered in the conversation.

I also got a clearer idea of how the sword's mind works and ca to the conclusion that it's not as intelligent as I had initially thought.

I think his reasoning ability is quite linear and limited, because otherwise it makes no sense for him to try to gain my trust by revealing information that I had already discovered.

'This isn't getting anywhere. I'm starting to think I was a fool to trust you.'

'I confess that I didn't think it would be so hard for you to use the skill either. In the past, my previous bearers used it with relative ease.'

'Were there other people who used you? How did they do it?'

'Well, as usual, by unsheathing . I think I'm starting to understand why you're having such a hard ti learning to use the skill.'

'I know that! what I an is that I want to know how they managed not to lose control when using you.'

'Ahh... That... No one but you has been able to use and escape my control... That skill of yours didn't exist in the past.'

'But you said you had other bearers.'

'Exactly: bearers. They were people who carried but didn't use . I was their last resort... Ha! I'm sure that if they knew what I made them do, they would all have regretted using ... But you have nothing to worry about... You're different.'

Along with Zariche's thoughts, a wave of perverse pleasure washes over , surely due to the mory of the atrocities he committed.

But right after that, I feel a sense of fear and caution, as if they were the feelings of a child who has been caught doing sothing naughty.

'Just as I imagined... Haa... Well, this makes it easier.'

'What do you an?' asks the sword, as I notice the feeling of caution intensifying.

'Nothing... So how many bearers did you have? Who sealed you in that stone? And... How long have you been sealed?'

'I don't know how many bearers I had... I never bothered to keep count. People are just tools for my amusent, nothing more. There's no point in keeping track of how many toys I've broken throughout my existence... I also don't know how long I was sealed. Keeping track of the passage of ti is irrelevant to us eternal beings... but any amount of ti is a long ti if you're locked up... I hate being locked up... but I hate that disgusting skill of yours even more.'

'You didn't answer the second question.'

'Because I don't want to... I get in a bad mood just thinking about that damn golden hypocrite.'

'Hmm... Okay... Going back to this supposed hidden skill, is there anything else you can tell to learn how to use it?'

'No... And there's no such thing as a hidden skill. Skills exist, and that's it. They're not supposed to be that difficult to activate... Maybe it's harder now than it used to be.'

'What do you an?'

'Supposedly, the more skills a person knows, the harder it is for them to learn new skills... It always gets harder and more complicated... Order tries to limit chaos, and chaos in turn creates new variables... There was a ti when people didn't need to use a chant to activate skills... It was all about practice and learning... But then people 'discovered' that using a chant made it 'easier' to use them... It's the sa old story, a constant tug-of-war: chaos versus order, life versus death, etc.'

'I have quite a few skills... Maybe that's why I can't learn to use it,' I say ntally, trying not to be distracted by the sword's ravings.

'That can't be it... For that to be the case, you'd have to have several dozen skills... Or at least that's how it used to be... No, you must be doing sothing wrong.'

'Well, I've been trying to activate it for over an hour now... Sword demon domain!... Nothing.'

'I already told you that you don't have to say or think the na of the skill to activate it! You have to force its activation with your body and mind. You're useless!'

'Or maybe it is just that you don't know how to teach! ... Assuming the skill really exists,' I say ntally and throw the sword away in any direction.

The weapon sticks into the ground several ters away from , and I instantly stop hearing his voice.

'Focus, Emir...

I know the sword doesn't lie, because it makes no sense for him to lie to with this kind of nonsense...

Sword demon domain'

Suddenly, I feel a small sting of pain in my chest, while around , at my feet, a circle of darkness with reddish, viscous-looking tinges grows.

The color of the circle is very similar to that of coagulated blood and extends approximately one ter around in all directions.

The more the circle expands, the more the pain in my chest grows, almost as if the skill were feeding on my own blood.

Interestingly, despite being able to activate it, the skill does not appear on my interface, so I will have to trust Zariche regarding its effects.

'Ha! It seems the bastard was right...

Should I apologize to him? Nah...

It's obvious now that he was laughing at this whole ti, since I would never have been able to activate the skill while holding him in my hands...

But...

Now that the skill is activated...

I wonder if...'

With a few steps, I reach the place where the sword is stuck and pull him out of the ground.

'Hello again. Didn't you tell that I didn't need to say or think the na of the skill to activate it?'

'Yes! I told you more than three tis, you damn idiot brat. If I have to repeat it one more ti, I'm going to start doubting my judgnt in offering you this... truce.'

'Then why did the skill activate as soon as I said its na, and I didn't have you in my hands?'

As I talk ntally to the sword, I observe the effect of Sword Demon Domain to see if it starts to disappear now that I have wielded Zariche again.

But it seems that his skill-blocking effect does not disable skills that are already activated.

That's an important discovery.

'I- I don't know... I already told you that it wasn't so complicated to activate skills before... It seems that currently the Sword Demon Domain skill works differently than I rember... Haa... The world has changed while I was sealed away much more than I thought.'

The feeling of regret and lancholy I sense coming from the sword disarms and convinces that he wasn't lying to laugh at .

While still holding Zariche, I deactivate the skill and try to reactivate it, but, as I suspected, I can't activate it while wielding the sword.

So I let go of the sword montarily and try to activate the skill.

'Sword Demon Domain'

Instantly, the skill reactivates with a slight twinge of pain in my chest.

'Hmm… For whatever reason, it appears that it was much easier to activate the skill before...

Has anything else changed besides how it's activated?'

Then I pick Zariche up again and ask him, 'What effects is this skill supposed to have?'

'My bearers used it when they had to fight multiple enemies alone. The skill causes all beings within its radius to fight the one closest to them, while also making them heavier and slowly draining their health to give it to the one who activated Sword Demon Domain... But that was before... I don't know what effects it might have now,' says the sword in a dejected tone.

'Okay. But assuming it works as you rember, I can't decide who it affects, can I?'

'No. That's why my bearers never used it when fighting alongside others. The skill affects all beings around the one who activated it, as long as there isn't much difference between the strength of the one who activated it and those affected.'

'Hmm...

That's a problem...

But the benefits are extrely great...

Assuming it works as you rember.'

'Yes. The skill may be useless now,' says the sword, in the sa tone of voice.

'Cheer up! We can check that very easily.'

After thinking for a few seconds, I open an illusory door to a trap zone in the Altamira Labyrinth.

At the sa ti I appear in the place, hundreds of glowing eyes begin to point in my direction.

But that only lasts a fraction of a second, because a mont later the horde of Level 9 Black Widows begins to kill each other.

As soon as the carnage begins, the sharp pain I felt in my chest disappears and is replaced by a montary feeling of well-being, which fades at the sa ti as the last of the Black Widows dies.

'It seems that the skill still works as you rembered,' I say ntally, as I open an illusory door to another trap room.

'Yes, it appears that things haven't changed much since I was sealed away,' says the cursed sword, his tone of voice returning to normal.

'Good. Now that you're feeling a little more cheerful, help think of a good way to convince Alessia and Delia that it's a good idea for to accept this agreent you proposed.'