Chapter 18 - The World’s Best Sword Saint!

<p>I blink slowly. "Haaa… huuuh."<br/><br/> The sensation of my throat being seperated from my body still lingers somewhat, but what I saw was the scene from right before it had happened. My middle finger sat pointed at Reniel, who's red face contrasted nicely with his blond hair. His arm was raised; his strange sword in the air had a frozen glint along one side.<br/><br/> Everything was frozen in place. I couldn't even move anything aside from my face. "Wuhh… What's happening?"<br/><br/> "Easy now, Reincarnate," A familiar voice sounds out. I wasn't sure where I knew it, until a white light shone, and a woman appears from within it. She had the exact same look and pose of the statue, down to the placement of her hands on the sheath.<br/><br/> "You were in that one dream."<br/><br/> She laughs, softly and gently. It's incredibly gentle, almost like she's singing. "You dream of me? That is cute. I am flattered."<br/><br/> I frown slightly. "So, what? That crazy dude said he was your disciple or something, right? I mean, you're obviously Alyphia, so… Wait, are you here to tell me I died again?"<br/><br/> She shakes her head elegantly, her pure-white hair flowing like centuries-old rivers.<br/><br/> "Two things. One, he is not my disciple. Two, no, I am not here to proclaim your second death. I am here to offer you a chance. However, if you deny it, I am afraid the future I just showed you will have to come to pass."<br/><br/> "Well, not like I have that much of a choice, eh? So, what is it?"<br/><br/> Alyphia smiles, an exact copy of the statue, just with her eyes open. "The one I want as a disciple is you."<br/><br/> I blink again. "Me?"<br/><br/> "Yes, you."<br/><br/> "Uh… Why?"<br/><br/> A small laugh slips from her small lips. "Because you are interesting. Your growth is fully due to your own perseverance. And you have the potential for much more. I can aid you with some of my own power; the only thing is that it requires a Sacrifice. However, you have already lost an arm, so I think I might be able to take a suitable one that is not detrimental to you. Will you take my offer, and become my Sword?" Upon her final sentence, she extends a hand to my outreached stump, as if a hand would grow from it.<br/><br/> It didn't take me long to decide. It was quite simple really. If I didn't take the offer, I would die. Even if I somehow survived, I would be down an arm, and essentially be screwed. If I took it, she said I would gain some of her power, and I would still have the opportunity to see how far I could push myself, and how far I could raise my coordination with these new stats.<br/><br/> If Reniel was planning to be the World's Best Sword Saint, I would be the World's Clumsiest.<br/><br/> Decisively, I reach out with a hand that I didn't have. I felt the touch of her delicate hand, which managed to feel extremely gentle and yet maintained the roughness of the callouses from her immeasurable experience. <br/><br/> She fades away, a small laugh echoing around me again. "Very well. I await to see the World's Clumsiest's achievements."<br/><br/> "H-hey!"<br/><br/> Before I could protest much, I heard a voice from within my head speaking. <br/><br/> 'IdiditIfinallydidit'<br/><br/> That wasn't my voice. For one, it was too girly, and I could feel another presence almost as if it were partially melding with mine. As this happened, the outlines of a new, outstretched arm began to appear where it would have been. In the distance, white light slowly began to cover and devour my severed arm the base up. As all of this transpired, the squealing voice continued.<br/><br/> 'A disciple! I finally picked a disciple! And he is as good as I needed him to be!'<br/><br/> 'What the hell?' I think loudly, unsure if she would be able to hear me as well<br/><br/> 'Ahem. I see the process has begun.' I could feel the heat of embarrassment that Alyphia was feeling, but it was soon replaced with a presence of true elegance. 'I am lending you my "right arm." It is how you will become my Sword.'<br/><br/> I watched curiously as my disconnected arm was replaced with a feminine one. Worry began to fill my chest, but it was immediately eased when Alyphia giggled. 'Just give it a minute.'<br/><br/> A flash of light blinded my vision for a second, and it was back to my normal arm. The feminine hand rested gently on my forearm, and as it slowly pulled away and disappeared, I saw a bright white sigil ingrained there. It was a circle with pointed edges on both the left and right sides, with a sword down through the middle that resembled the one that Reniel held.<br/><br/> 'Time will return to normal now, and I must go quiet for a bit,' Alyphia said. 'One last thing, and then it is up to you!'<br/><br/> As time slowly began moving again, I regained control of my body, sluggishly shoving myself backwards as Reniel's sword inched forwards to cut down on me. I saw the slow recognition on his face as he saw my arm suddenly reappear on my body, causing a grin to grow on my face.<br/><br/> I felt a surge pulsing through the Mana within me, and my arm grew warmer as the sigil glowed brightly. As soon as time had returned to normal, Reniel's swing connected with air as I roll to my feet, holding my hand out.<br/><br/> Both Alyphia and my voices' rang out in my head as we called together, "Come! Holy Rend!"<br/><br/> A tendril of light formed in my palm, shooting upwards and spreading to become a sword, one in the same shape as Reniel's and the sigil.<br/><br/> …No. This one was more perfect.<br/><br/> The long, flat white blade seemed as if it were floating in air and perfectly mirrored its surroundings. The hilt was unconventional, with two pointed diagonally tips ran down, protecting the handle of the blade without being so long that fluid movement of the wrist would cause self-injury. The handle itself had beautiful engravings etched all over it, intertwined so intricately that my brain couldn't properly process it. And that was just the looks.<br/><br/> Without even swinging it, I could tell the balance of the weapon was perfect, and the weight of it overall was incredibly light, probably because it was made of… well, light itself.<br/><br/> It was then that I realized… I might have fucked up.<br/><br/> Shooting pain flew instantaneously through my arm as the blade grew unbearably hot in my hand, but I couldn't let go. My body shuddered from the amount of light energy forcefully coursing through me, as if it intended to rip me apart.<br/><br/>[User is unable to wield Holy Rend.]<br/>[Holy Rend is being diminished by the World Lines.]<br/>[The World's Pickiest Sword Saint has intervened with the World Lines.]<br/><br/> 'Pickiest?' I thought, trying to pry my fingers off of the weapon I clearly could not handle. Yet, the phantom feeling of the woman's hand from before slid between my fingers, pushing my hands apart and supporting the blade with me. Immediately, the pain ceased, and arcs of white lightning shot from the blade against my skin, the floor, and reaching towards Reniel, who stood dumbstruck.<br/><br/> Ding!<br/><br/>[The user has become a disciple, and overcome all odds.<br/> These achievements forcefully rose all stats.<br/> ALL +1]<br/>[New stats taking effect in 3…]<br/><br/> "Well damn, look at this!"<br/><br/>- - -<br/><br/> With one final, intense heartbeat, Reniel fell to the floor, blood spurting from his mouth. His Life Statbook opened in front of him, turning to its last page.<br/><br/> (You have been rejected.)<br/><br/> "W-why?"<br/><br/> Everything the shunned man had done to increase his strength, no matter how minimally it rose, had been to prepare himself to become the next Sword Saint.<br/><br/> So, why was his Statbook telling him he was rejected?<br/><br/> As his vision grew dark, his eyes closed slowly…<br/><br/> And then, flew open again. <br/><br/> He was standing in front of the boy whose arm and head had been claimed by his blade just a moment ago. And yet, his arm was still there, as was his head. In fact, now that he looked closer, The clean rip from when he HAD cut his arm off was still there, revealing—<br/><br/> 'A Sword Saint sigil?!'<br/><br/> Upon seeing the sign on the young boy's arm, the dark rage within his heart began to dance dangerously.<br/><br/> In his anger, he swung to decapitate the boy again, but the boy was already rolling out of the way.<br/><br/> Then, the boy grinned almost evilly as he held out his hand and summoned the one thing Reniel had longed for his entire life.<br/><br/> Holy Rend appeared in his hand, but his face twisted into a grimace of pain as pure white lines ran jaggedly up his arm like veins.<br/><br/> 'Ah, its rejecting him too. Good.' Reniel thought, but he was too entranced by the blade in the young boy's hands to move to strike him down.<br/><br/> It was perfect. It showed the number of impurities in his own blade, Unholy Raze.<br/><br/> A second later, the white lines disappeared, and instead white arcs of pure energy spit from the blade like lightning.<br/><br/> 'He… tamed it? How could he have…?'<br/><br/> "Well damn, look at this!" the boy called, stomping his foot down as he prepared to charge Reniel.<br/><br/> The dark rage combined with the entitled arrogance of the man rose to a boiling point, causing Mana to spill from Reniel. His usual Mana was blue, but as his eyes darkened, so did his Mana, until a dark mist emanated from his entire body.<br/><br/> "I'll kill you, motherfucker."<br/><br/> "Ahh, finally some spunk, old man!"<br/><br/> Reniel roared, charging towards Klum. If it was the last thing he did, he would dismember the boy limb from limb. Klum followed suit, closing the distance at high speed. Klum had noted the black Mana, but it hadn't mattered to him. <br/><br/> All he had to do was win.</p>