The Spirits Within the Blade
After finishing off the goblin, I finally calmed down enough to ask the ghosts a question. "So, what exactly are you people? You claim to be the souls of swordsmen trapped inside a blade?"
The entity who called himself the Foot-technique Master spoke. Souls trapped in a sword after death—so they really were ghosts. "Then what is this sword? How can it imprison human souls?"
Lasu, who was quite the chatterbox, answered. I did as he said and looked toward where the sword had landed. It was stuck in a nearby tree, having slipped from my grip at the last moment. Just as I was about to go retrieve it, the talkative Lasu stopped me.
Lasu was asking for something strange, but I followed his instructions. As I imagined the sword appearing before me, the blade vanished from the tree and materialized right in front of my eyes. "What is this?"
I asked in shock, and Lasu replied. Apparently, the wielder can summon the sword from anywhere. What kind of weapon was this? I grabbed the sword floating in mid-air and asked again.
The Myriad Spirit Sword. A sword where spirits gather. It meant a blade inhabited by many souls.
The ghosts I was talking to were the Sword Spirits residing in the blade. But there was something strange. These spirits were my predecessors?
"Wait a second. If you were all previous users of the sword, that means..."
"Ugh..." It was exactly as I had feared. It meant that when I died, I, too, would be trapped in this blade. It wasn't exactly pleasant information. Couldn't I just throw the sword away?
I thought back to what had just happened. I had swung the sword and let it slip from my hand. It had flown away and stuck into a tree. Even then, I could still hear the voices of the spirits. It meant that even when I wasn't holding the sword, my soul and the blade remained connected.
They even claimed I couldn't use other weapons. I saw the goblin's dagger I had just defeated. I tried grabbing it as a test. "Ugh...!" A sensation like being struck by lightning surged through me, and I could smell my own palms burning.
"Ugh... I wasn't doubting you, but it seems it's true."
I shook my reddened palms. Thankfully, because I let go immediately, the damage wasn't severe. "Who chooses the wielder of the sword?"
A sword that chooses its own master. Hearing them, it seemed everyone had the sword appear in a situation similar to mine. It was as if the sword was forcing its destiny upon the user. They all said they had no choice but to use the Myriad Spirit Sword.
Two things were certain. I had to continue living as the wielder of this strange sword. And when I died, I wouldn't find rest, but would be bound to the blade and become like these spirits. "So, when I die, I will become like you all."
But the Master of All Weapons said something I hadn't expected. After telling me to resign myself to my fate, he spoke as if there were a way not to be trapped in the sword. "What are the exceptions?"
Liberate? That made sense. Since our souls were trapped in the sword, there might be a way to reverse it. "How can I liberate you?"
If I unlock all the sword's abilities, I could liberate the spirits. But I didn't know how many abilities there were. "How did you come to speculate that unlocking all abilities would liberate the spirits?" I asked, feeling curious.
"An old spirit?"
There were 11 spirits in total. But I could only hear 6 voices. The other five must be sleeping. Well, it would be hard to maintain one's sanity if trapped for so long. The spirits I was talking to now all seemed a bit unhinged, but understanding that they had been trapped for so long made it all make sense. "What are the sword's abilities like? Can I use them now?"
Unique Traits differ for every user. Depending on growth, traits suited to each user are unlocked. "Are they unlocked just by using the sword? Are there conditions?"
Every time I obtain a Stigma, a Unique Trait is unlocked. I didn't have a single Stigma. I never even had the chance to accumulate them and become a swordsman. And yet, I had obtained this mysterious sword. I felt a strange sense of fate. "This sword has more than one or two mysterious aspects."
It was full of things I couldn't understand. I didn't even know why I had been chosen. The spirits seemed to have been exceptional swordsmen in their lives. On the other hand, I was from the Seven Star Sword Families, yet I had never held a sword in my life. I had many questions, but there was one I wanted to ask most of all. "But don't you feel stifled in there?"
"I think it's a natural thing to wonder."
To have your soul trapped in a sword. Just imagining it felt suffocating. There were even souls so trapped they had just fallen asleep. And since they all had such strong personalities, there must be a lot of conflict. Why were their names like that in the first place?
It was an unnecessary worry. The inside of the sword seemed to be like an endless universe. "Come to think of it, are you all seeing through my field of vision?"
"Is the next user chosen immediately after the previous one dies?"
The spirits spoke as if it were fascinating. Originally, it took dozens or hundreds of years for the user to change. Then the Myriad Spirit Sword must have existed for well over a thousand years. "It really is a fascinating sword. By the way, is your way of speaking always like that, Lasu?"
I read the room and asked something else. Even though they all had their own personalities, Lasu's way of speaking, which made explanations easy, stood out the most.
Hmm. It was certainly concise to shorten the endings of his sentences. It seemed to be a natural way of speaking for Lasu, who loved explaining things and talked fast.
In the middle of our conversation, the spirit called the Invisible Sword spoke. I was currently moving carefully back toward the direction I had fled from earlier. I had completely lost my way while running frantically, and I knew nothing of the geography of this forest.
"I don't hear anything in particular."
I couldn't hear anything special. But I decided to listen and shut my mouth. And sure enough, a short while later, a familiar voice could be heard in the distance.
-Ivan, Ivan!
The voice of Gina, who had lured the monsters away so I could escape, began to be heard from somewhere.