Rivers of the Night-Chapter 428: Different

Theron reached down. Piles of dirt had piled up around him as he dug deep, finally finding exactly what he was looking for.

Ironvale’s sword.

From the beginning, Theron hadn’t wanted to leave it behind, but he had to for the sake of not alerting others that he was the one who had killed Ironvale. But at this point, it didn’t matter, now did it? Patriarch Gian would certainly target him one way or another, so he might as well take a look at this sword that had always had his interest.

Somehow, Ironvale had managed to turn this blade into his Echo. There definitely had to be something particularly special that allowed him to do that...

Theron had two trains of thought in this respect. One led him down the path of the item spirits of the Secret Realm he had entered, the souls that had been able to change their affinities and fight him as a Water Mancer.

The other thought was actually that of Wren’s sword.

It was a shame that their battle had ended up destroying it. But Wren’s sword was at the very least on the same level as Ironvale’s after the evolution.

Theron usually wielded one dagger and one short sword. But he hadn’t been able to find a dagger that could keep up with his battles. He didn’t have the funds or the time to get his hands on one, so they usually ended up just being destroyed before he inevitably had to pull out another.

As for his father’s short sword, it was quite special, clearly. It never showed signs of giving way, and if Theron thought about it... it was probably a huge part of the reason why Wren’s sword was destroyed.

Of course, Wren’s sword had also been a very normal iron sword at the start, and it had been too impatient for revenge, not allowing its evolution to be fully completed. But even so, Theron had a feeling if he slammed Ironvale’s sword and his father’s sword together...

The latter would come out on top.

Theron swung the sword a few times. It would take a bit of getting used to, but honestly speaking, he had picked up the dagger and short sword with shocking swiftness too. And this time, he would pick it up even faster.

That was because this entire time, Theron had never focused on sword and dagger mastery in the first place. He had used his Water Runebound Resonance to wield his weapons as though they were water.

Meaning...

It didn’t matter what weapon was in his hands. His skill in using it, after a brief onboarding period, would be just the same as any.

In which case, it wasn’t a matter of what weapon he chose, but instead which ones suited the path of a Water Mancer the most and which were the strongest.

For now, this would have to do.

...

Theron found quite soon that he actually preferred to have a weapon he could wield backhanded. There was something about the strong control it gave him that a forehand couldn’t match.

Unfortunately, both his swords—even his father’s short sword—were too long to backhand. Though he could use the strength of a cultivator to make up for the weakness the length made him feel, everything was relative.

He wouldn’t be fighting mortals; he would instead be fighting other cultivators that were just as strong. So unless he could make his wrists even more powerful than others, it would change nothing.

He was an Elemental Mancer to begin with, not a Flux Mancer. So strength was never going to be his strong point.

Theron inwardly wondered if he could maybe find a crafter that could forge the black iron sword into a dagger, but that would have to wait for another time. Instead, he tried to focus on the strengths of having two longer weapons.

More strong attacks, it was easier to flow into combos without putting himself at risk, and the fact his short sword could suddenly extend when he poured Water Mana into it meant that he could actually control battles with greater ease.

By the third battle, Theron actually found that he had swiftly become used to it, and he found that missing his backhanded grip was a feeling that was quickly fading, though in the back of his mind he still felt that he preferred it.

Theron also found that he was overthinking things. There didn’t seem to be a weapon "suited" for Water Mana in the first place. Of all the elements, Water Mana was probably the absolute most flexible. freeweɓnovel-cøm

One might try to dispute this, pointing out that Wind Mana existed. But Theron would vehemently disagree. Ironically, the problem with Wind Mana was that it was too flexible.

Water Mana could easily use a weapon that was precise and swift just as easily as a weapon that was heavy and lumbering. Water forced through a small hole could pierce through anything, and water allowed to be large and sweeping could flood anything.

Wind lacked too much substance, while Water Mana had exactly what it didn’t... an actual, real, tangible form.

Between the two, Theron felt Water was superior. There was a twinge of pride that sparkled in his bloodline when he had the thought. But he was much too focused on the stroke of his sword to care at all.

One beast after another fell to his blade, and at some point, he began chopping them down with such ease and grace they looked more like pigs to a slaughter than Mana Beasts.

They were crushed beneath his thumb entirely.

A challenge? Is that what this world wanted to send at him? Yet another barrier he had to walk through even though he had already proven himself?

A fiery breath left Theron’s lips.

Die, then.

A searing heat came from the edge of the black iron sword, slicing a Runebound Metal Rhino Beast in half right down the middle as though it was formed of wet tissue paper.

Theron walked right through the spurts of hot blood.

Every time he killed, he gained more Bloomstone, a mystery of his Secret Realm slowly unraveling itself.

Somehow, rather than the earth producing the Bloomstone...

These creatures were doing it instead...

And they seemed different from the Bloomstone Theron had grown familiar with.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢