From Player To Npc

Chapter 121: Vardan and the Sword

Shing cleared his mind of what just happened and went to write the letter for Harbin.

He was much better, but he doubted Harbin would let him go, and he would have to explain how his wounds healed at that degree that fast. But he could move much easier, putting no strain on his body.

He needed to get what he could from Vardan and return to Carda. The trip would normally take him a little less than a week, but since he couldn't move at top speed, he had to find a way of transportation. 

But he was certain that Harbin could help him on that.

He used all of Earth and Fire mana that the Scale of his could make for the day to feed his Mana Tree and Mana Seeds. He regrew the ones missing but weren't still in full power.

He had to find a superb source of Light Mana to strengthen his Mana Tress side of that Element; otherwise, it will grow weaker as the rest raised in power.

As for unlocking more Elements, he didn't want to push his luck.

With the scale's help, he probably could do it for the rest of the Basic Elements, but his Mana Tree had a big chance not to be able to handle all of them. He was happy he had three of them, but he was planning to have tools,  like special wands and staves, to allow him to use the other Elements, but that needed time to make them and many resources.

Morning came as Harbin entered the room with some breakfast for Shingi, as Harbin advised him to stay in bed today.

Shingi gave him the letter he wrote.

"Before giving him that, make sure you introduce yourself as Mr. 42. Also, try not to look him into his eyes; he doesn't like it, but don't ignore him either."[Shingi]

"Ok, I will deliver it right away. Anything else I need to know?" [Harbin]

Shingi thought for a second before responding.

"Don't have tea with him. Also, if he gives you anything but a letter or something similar, don't take it. Say that 'the spirits won't like this transaction' if he seems to insist. I will have my Golem in your pocket, and it will give you a pinch if you don't need to do something."[Shingi]

"What if I need to do something? Also, how would the Golem fit in my pocket? Can you make them whatever size you want?" [Harbin]

"Well, the ones you saw who are close to my size are the biggest I can make, but that is if I make multiple ones. If I concentrate on one only, I can make it maybe a little bigger than you. It would be stronger and have more defense, but his speed would be lower. The smaller I can make them would be to the size of your fist. Still working on improving those limits."[Shingi]

Harbin seemed impressed as he had heard people using that kind of Magic, but they were a rare sight.

"Also, do you have a way of transportation? I need to get back to Carda as soon as possible, especially to let Karemon know he should make his way here."[Shingi]

Harbin started thinking as they heard a female voice from the door.

"I can get him there."[Orsina]

They both turned their gaze towards her.

"You don't mean to use that way. You haven't practiced for a long time, and what about Himon?" [Harbin]

"She can come with us. I may haven't used it for some time, but it isn't like I forgot how to do it. It is like riding a bicycle, as those people keep telling me, whatever a bicycle is."[Orsina]

"Excuse me, but do you mind sharing with me what you are talking about?" [Shingi]

"Well, you aren't the only Arcane User in the family."[Orsina]

Shingi's eyes widened a bit of surprise.

"Do you know TELEPORT?" [Shingi]

Orsina nodded as a response.

"I have been to Carda sometimes in the past visiting your Father and Mother, but that was before you were born. But I can get us there, and I am sure Himon will be happy to see a new place."[Orsina]

"What about me?" [Harbin]

"You can take care of yourself for a few days, sweety."[Orsina]

Harbin sighed once more than he seemed not to have a say in what would happen.

"Are you sure you want to use this? There are chances of things go wrong no matter how familiar you are with the Spell, especially if you haven't used it for some time." [Shingi]

There was a chance for them to get Teleported to a different destination than what Orsina meant to get them at.

"Don't worry, I will prepare myself, and we should be fine. I am sure you can protect us if something goes wrong since you seem to be better after last night's visit."[Orsina]

Shingi's eyes got completely wide as she said that, as he didn't expect anyone to notice.

"Night visit? Did someone come here? "[Harbin]

Shingi was thinking about what to say, as Orsina was the first to speak.

"Private matters, sweetheart. But we should let him rest a bit more. I still need to take care of a few things so we won't try for at least three days." [Orsina]

Harbin didn't insist on learning as he knew his wife wouldn't let him know, and he had to deliver Shingi's message before going back to work.

"Oh, I almost forgot Shingi, don't make my daughter get embarrassed, or you will wish to have to fight this Demon again."[Orsina]

Shingi nodded as he felt that she, as Meyana, could also make this into a reality.

'Mothers can be pretty scary.'[Shingi]

He had his breakfast as he then turned to focus on the Golem that Harbin had with him. 

The store was quite some distance from him, so he had to put almost all his focus to keep a connection with the Golem to use its senses to a degree, but mostly hearing.

He could listen in very short proximity to Harbin as he heard him knocking on a door.

There was no answer from inside.

"Open up, I am Mr. 42."[Harbin]

The silence dropped as from inside, many locks got heard to getting unlocked one after the other.

The number of locks seemed to unthinkable high, which showed how 'crazy' Vardan was.

The door got slightly open.

"A man on a trip is a man with a purpose. But your purpose seems to be unknown."[Vardan]

Some words he said were in different languages, like Elvish, Dwarfish, and even a few Demonic, making Harbin not fully understanding what he said.

He brought out the message that Shingi gave him and brought it towards Vardan, or so Shingi guessed.

"This is for you."[Harbin]

Shingi heard the letter being taken by Harbin's hand as the door closed.

A little less than a minute passed as the door got slightly open again.

It seemed like Vardan brought something to give at Harbin, but he denied it by using the phrase that Shingi gave him.

This happened a few more times, as Harbin seemed to take something from him eventually.

Vardan then closed the door, and he didn't seem like he would return as Harbin waited for some time, and nothing happened.

"Should I stay?" [Harbin]

Shingi ordered the Golem to pinch him as he succeeded at the task at hand. After making sure he was at some distance from the store with nothing happening, Shingi released his Golem.

He had to wait for Harbin to return to give him what he got, but that probably would be later in the afternoon or night as he should be busy dealing with the people they had captured from the Owl Talon.

Fortunately, the town didn't get damaged, just a few graves that could easily restore to how they were or recreate.

Shingi brought out Sinhunter as he had to have a talk with him.

"'It's been a while since we had a discussion. Hope you like the battle the other day.'"[Shingi]

"'Battle good. Me not fed bad.'"[Sinhunter]

Shingi prevented him from consuming the souls of the ones he dealt with as it would help grow the power like consuming the part of 'souls' from Blessed Ones, to a smaller degree, but he didn't want to follow that route.

"'We need to change your diet. You don't want to be like the axe we encountered the other day, right?'" [Shingi]

There was no response until he got a mental sigh.

"'But don't worry, you will get much stronger, but first we need to develop you instead of your 'body.''"[Shingi]

Since the Growth-Type weapon had a mind for themselves, their power also depended on how 'smart' this conscience was.

Shingi couldn't check the stats of his sword's conscience, but he was certain he could help it become smarter and stronger while at it.

"'Me no punny Mist user. Me just need food. Me getting stronger.'"[Sinhunter]

"'This isn't the way we are going with. You need to admit that the move we pulled off at the Demon was a powerful one. Don't you want to make moves like that more often?'" [Shingi]

Shingi could feel that it was giving it some thought.

"'Me give one chance.'"[Sinhunter]

"'Ok then. I hope you are ready for some training then.'"[Shingi]

He got a mental nod, and he sat at his meditation state.

He held the sword with both hands horizontally, with one hand close to the tip of the blade and the other at the handle.

Both his fists were open as the sword was staying on them.

He closed his eyes as he focused his MANA SENSE on the sword, and he found what he was looking for.

There was a sphere of energy moving around through the runes at the carved runes on the blade, seemingly at random directions each time.

This was the conscience of the sword.

He kept track of it as he used some of his mana to come in contact with it.

It took him a while as the sphere moved at a significant speed and tried to avoid him even after Shingi told it this was him.

He made it at the end, and after making sure that he had a good 'grip' at it, he enabled something that he wasn't certain would work.

The active effect of his Beliss' blessing.

He could feel the effects actually take place.

"'What did you do to me? Why everything so clear? '"[Sinhunter]

Shingi noticed his messages were more clear and fluent than before, but they still could get improved.

He wasn't certain what its INT was before, but that much improvement was expected.

Also, if the consciousness got used to that higher INT, it would increase its normal value up to a certain number.

Shingi couldn't make Sinhunter his student, but some of his Scholar Master's benefits still affected it as he started tutoring him in solving simple problems.

They had only one hour, and he was planning to keep using the effect while in town.

Still, if his sword became smarter, it would be like he had two brains while in combat, helping him to end combat faster.

Also, the higher its INT would be, the less resistance the sword would have against his mana and possibly it could even do it by itself by using the surrounding mana, but this would take a lot of time to learn how to do.

He tried training with it a little after the effect ended to see the progress he had made and then stored it at his Spatial Ring.