Scythe of Retribution

Another few days had passed as Magnus reached the halfway point of his stay on Tyrm. He discovered something with Restiel:

He could not bring the Half-Night Tome too close to him or their energies would clash. Divine Energy versus some kind of undead enslavement energy clearly wasn't a good match.

Even under the jurisdiction of the Hivemind.

Magnus could do nothing about it.

Using Klaris as a third pair of eyes, Magnus had discovered that his body and aura changed fundamentally whenever he held the book.

His usual cyan eyes grew on colours of purple and flickered like candle wicks.

His orange hair would grow white with every second he held the Half-Night Tome.

On top of that, the Spirits around him would start wailing, and Klaris could swear he could hear something whispering to him.

It was the total opposite of the experience when Restiel would activate his powers, and thus just being close to each other caused problems. Magnus' skin would now burn despite not actually holding the book.

Restiel seemed much brighter than he remembered, and it was likely that Purification wouldn't be a positive experience any longer.

'My body has been transformed...' Magnus groped around his own body and still felt everything was normal.

It was just when he held the book or got too close to Restiel's energy did something happen.

On that note, something did happen to Restiel over the days that Magnus went around experiencing the underground.

With the skeletons going crazy, something within them had also weakened. They no longer had the resistance they once had, and Spirit Manipulation was all that was needed to annihilate them.

Thus,

VWHOOOOOOOM!

A large swath of land was bathed in flames and light as Restiel flew overheard. He carpet-bombed whatever skeleton squad he saw with mercilessness flashing in his eyes.

His hands had become flamethrowers, spouting streams of fire whenever a skeleton escaped the initial bombardment.

Shua! Shua!

Together with the large amounts of kills, Restiel was also converting his kills into Divine Energy. His gauge was rapidly being filled up.

And when it did, on the seventh day, he called upon light, as instructed by his own Blessing.

Magnus surveyed the situation from afar through the Hivemind.

The light that erupted coagulated into a sphere in Restiel's hand. It gleamed brighter than a sun's rays, illuminating the giant cavern where the skeletons lay, vaporizing the many that had gotten too close.

The skeletons below thus all scrambled away, looking for cover. The light that exuded from Restiel now was beyond their wildest dreams.

The light sphere then seemed to be waiting for something.

"Hm?" Magnus thought as he controlled Restiel.

"What is it waiting for? My command?"

He thought to himself as an image of a hard-to-wield weapon flashed in his mind.

"If it's made out of light then, perhaps,"

Magnus had Restiel turn the light into the shape of a scythe. A giant one. The one normally seen as actual weapons in fantasy stories.

Zwwaaaahm!

The light of the scythe suddenly grew exponentially brighter as it seemed to solidify.

Starting from the long shaft that was taller than Restiel himself, and the blade that could rival the shaft in its curvy length, the scythe's shape was being cemented into place. It started to turn tangible, like watching resin harden over time.

When it was all over, Restiel now held a silver-gold scythe in his hand. The weapon was as light as a feather to him, but Magnus could only imagine how heavy it was whenever he had Restiel swing it.

Like Thor's hammer, it was heavier to those unworthy of wielding it.

Swish! Slash!

Restiel spun the scythe around him as if it was a part of his own body. It created tangible slashes in the air that lingered as a line of light for a few moments before dissipating.

It was a light show that surely would have garnered a lot of points from the Starry-Eyed Bout's judges.

Restiel then went to the skeletons and began reaping them with haste.

The small skeleton squads were being cut down like mowing the lawn. It was a satisfying experience to watch all that accumulated Divine Energy literally melt them upon contact.

Another analogy, though overused, was like using a hot knife and cutting through butter.

Without expending any sort of energy at all save for his physical body's wings, Restiel was once again gathering Divine Energy into his body.

It left Magnus wishing to just leave Restiel there forever to farm the skeletons.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. Restiel still counted as a part of him due to Master of the Hivemind. Restiel would be teleported out of Tyrm with him, at least according to the Blessing's subtle hints.

.

.

.

Restiel spent his days killing skeletons while Magnus spent his looking for more peculiar events.

The former had more success than the latter.

Aside from the Half-Night Tome that might have transformed his body into something other than human, Magnus did not know what kind of fun it could give. He was even tempted to grab his body from just before he held the tome and assimilate that one into the Hivemind.

It would return his state to the time before the transformation.

Mirror World Thief and Master of the Hivemind could do that with ease.

On that note, Klaris was healed through a portion of the fruits that Restiel had been able to collect. Whenever possible, Magnus had him steal something from Tyrm's Mirror World.

Whether it was more fruit, a pouch of gold coins, and other items.

He had thought of getting a second Half-Night Tome, but he didn't wish to risk transforming Klaris into something weird. There was no thrill in that; only an inconvenience.

Thus, like this, Magnus' time in Tyrm ended. With a tear of a Scroll, he reappeared back in a clearing of the Heaven-Touching Mountains' forest.

Restiel appeared beside him, to which he instantly reacted by unsummoning the angel, lest he gets burned.

He already felt lightheaded from that brief moment of contact.

"Urgh... Ever since gaining that scythe, Restiel has grown much stronger than I have." Magnus groaned.

It was likely that the angel was close to becoming a 2-star threat.

Magnus then lifted the bags of goodies he had earned from Tyrm and relocated; He couldn't risk being discovered around the area.

He also went and retrieved the 'sleeping' Javelin from a hole in a tree. The Spirit Beast had been able to survive up to now due to its unique constitution, and Magnus was not heartless enough to kill something that had once been a part of his Hivemind just like that.

He could sacrifice some of them, like with Jistill, but replacing them and then killing them just for the convenience of it? That felt like a moral line that he did not want to cross.

"Now, where can I sell these things?"

Magnus had a small hurdle to cross.

'I should probably use Klaris' face, but doing illegitimate business is risky. I'm too weak that I would surely be bullied... What if I use Magnus' face instead? That way the scouts watching over me would be somewhat of a deterrent?'

Magnus was trying to come up with a solution using Klaris' expertise and his imagination.

'Yeah... by having a lot of eyes on me, that means I won't just randomly disappear by kidnapping. Other factions will hold each other off without them meaning to do so. That, and perhaps my fame would draw attention to what I'm selling.'

Suddenly, Magnus smacked his head,

'Wait, if I just use my real face, can't I just do it upfront and personal? Right, I can totally do so!' He inwardly mocked himself, 'I'll just stroll over to a store and sell my wares. After that, I disappear! I have more than enough Spirit energy to cast Master of the Hivemind twice. I can use Javelin's body, for now, leave Restiel somewhere safe, and then switch back afterwards.'

With a plan in mind, Magnus began moving.

He found a hotel to stay in using Klaris' face, left Restiel 'sleeping' on the bed with a Do Not Disturb sign, and then headed to the bustling centre of Quarteridge after assimilating Javelin back into the Hivemind.

There, he showed Magnus' face to the people and hastily made his way to a place that sold potions that aided in strengthening the body.

"Hi," Magnus walked up to the cashier with a smile, holding a rather expensive-looking box he had stolen using Mirror World Thief.

Keeping up appearances was important.

"I would like to sell some fruits that strengthen the body and regenerate Spirit Energy," He said with the best business-like smile he could do.

The cashier raised a brow, "Strengthening the body and regenerating Spirit Energy? From which Pocket World is this?"

"A pocket world called Tyrm," Magnus answered.

"Never heard of it."

"Of course, you haven't. It's not open to the public." Magnus' smile grew wider, making the cashier eye the box in his hand one more time.

'A box like this goes for around 1000 dollars... For a box, that's pretty costly.' He thought to himself before saying.

"Very well. Show me the goods."

Silently calming his beating heart, Magnus placed the box onto the counter and unlocked all the various contraptions placed around it. It took about a minute, but such an action made the cashier's scowl lessen every second.

"You may also have a taste to see their effects first and foremost." Magnus gave the cashier a wink, making him chuckle.

"Don't play with me boy," He gently handled the fruits with gloved hands, "If your wares are fake, the police will come after you, not me. The store will suffer a little reputation loss but, isn't that normal with goods from Pocket Worlds? You, on the other hand, will have to live life as a criminal forever."

Magnus' smile froze, 'Smartass.'

But he continued, "Then, how much are you will to spend for these?"

"You know how they work, right? Lecture me. Which ones are the most potent, and which are the weakest?"

"These ones are definitely the most special among them..." Magnus pointed to one batch of fruits. They crackled with electricity every now and then, and had caught the cashier's eyes the moment that Magnus opened the box.

Magnus' words only confirmed his initial appraisal. And so did all of his other words too.

His Blessing was named Alchemical Analytic. Passively, it already helped him analyse a lot of the 1-star items. 2-star items required a bit of focus, and it was only when it came to 3-star items that he had to invoke his Blessing.

There was no way for Magnus to sell him fakes.