Rivers of the Night

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO STOP?!"

Theron didn't even turn to the voice, because it was nothing more than an echo from a far-off distance. He directly ignored it, moving to Raiden's corpse, bending down, and plucking the spatial ring off of his fingers.

He shattered the protections Raiden had on it with a thought, his own Third Eye so much more powerful that it was hardly much more than a breath of effort.

'It seems your master treats you well,' Theron thought to himself.

The spatial ring wasn't a normal Bronze Resonance spatial device like Theron had grown used to. In fact, by the letter of the law, most spatial devices Theron had come across were better off being unranked. It was just that any spatial device was so rare that it felt odd calling it a common treasure, so the lowest were just slotted in as Bronze.

This one, however, had the very clear signs of a Silver Resonance Treasure, and not just by some arbitrary standard, but a very real one. This wasn't decided by its size—though that was one factor—but instead its stability.

The more powerful the spatial device, the stronger the treasures it could store within it, the more fluidly one could use their Third Eye to pick out items, and the faster you could move items in and out by extension.

Of course, this all translated to a larger size as well, and this spatial device was already the size of a small home.

However, Theron didn't care about any of this. With a pull of his Third Eye, he took out his father's sword.

When it landed in his palm, he exhaled a breath, his heart trembling.

He closed his eyes, feeling all the rage and fury that had been building up in himself finally dissipating.

A frosty breath was pulled out of his mouth.

Theron's eyes snapped open.

'What was that?'

One part of Theron was paying attention to the surroundings to make sure that the old man didn't suddenly appear, but just now… he felt like his throat was being scorched by something.

While it had looked like a frosty breath, it was anything but. It was more like steam.

Theron never noticed it when frost was pulled out of his body because it had been happening since he was a literal infant. To him, it was a natural bodily function. Asking him to notice that was like asking someone to be conscious of their breathing 24 hours a day.

But this one… this felt very different from what he was used to. Just now, he practically felt like he was breathing fire, and that was ridiculous. In fact… it hurt.

This pain only lasted for a brief instant before it was replaced by a soothing massage to his soul. But Theron was certain that it had happened.

Theron's eyes snapped down to the necklace around his neck. That scorching pain—it was very similar to what he experienced in there… the push and pull of hot and cold almost tearing him in two.

But in the end, he came out stronger for it by a substantial margin.

'What's this?'

Theron felt like his mind was being pulled in all sorts of different directions. First, it was scorching pain, then came his necklace, and then… his father's sword?

The short sword was a straight edge with a transparent blue blade. It was never meant to be used like this, but it honestly would look like the quintessential assassin's weapon had it not had such a light glow to it.

Something from within the sword began to pull on Theron. First it pulled on his Core, and then the Blue Pufferfish. And then Theron felt it pull on his blood, before the Immortal Jellyfish. Then it pulled on his soul itself, going deep until it found his Manaborn Resonance.

A connection formed between Theron and the short sword. All of a sudden, its blade became akin to a wispy mist, an array of gorgeous colors that reflected the body of the Immortal Jellyfish.

But then it solidified, becoming so heavy and dense that Theron's arm collapsed to the ground, his body almost being pulled over and forward.

A small dent was formed in the ground, and Theron couldn't help but blink.

What happened?

What he didn't expect was that there'd be yet another change. A large amount of Water Mana began to pool in from the surroundings as though Theron was trying to break through, but this time it wasn't him at all.

It was… his sword?

It resonated with his Manaborn Water Resonance. The two formed a link, and the short sword began to pull in a great amount of energy from the surroundings.

The process took several minutes, and when it all came to an end, Theron caught the faint glimmers of complex runes dancing within the transparent blue blade. It was only for a moment before they vanished, but just from that one look… Theron was certain that they were simpler than the Black Limbo Tortoise Runes, and yet somehow far more profound at the same time.

He really felt the urge to study them, but not only did trying to recall them give him a splitting headache, but they had long vanished. No amount of Water Mana Theron poured into his sword seemed to bring them back either.

'Wow…'

Theron had thought that there must have been something special about his father's sword for Raiden to go out of his way to take it when he didn't lack weapons and didn't even use a sword to begin with. But this… it was beyond his expectations.

His sword had upgraded. Not only had it become a Silver Resonance Treasure, it wasn't a normal one. It was a Manaborn Treasure now, capable of resonating and pulling in Mana all on its own.

If this sword was placed on the market right this moment, maybe even the entire wealth of the Nightingale Clan would be unable to purchase it.

Right then, Theron realized… he could upgrade it more. And its upgrades would be entirely dependent on his cultivation and comprehension.

But more importantly than maybe all of that was the fact…

It gave his Echoes tangible form.