Trial

The many bystanders watched him be filled with emotions upon touching the hilts of the swords.

Gaia, Hephaestus Terran, Pandemos, and the swordswoman who went by the 'Red Rabbit' name.

They watched him without missing one reaction…

"How about Stormbringer and Stormquell? To bring forth and quell the storms to your leisure." (Gaia)

"If we go by their elemental natures, then Agni and Rudra go better… don't they? (Hephaestus Terran)

"I like that fire and water association." (Pandemos)

Red Rabbit didn't say anything. She watched as the trio seemed to be on the same wavelength on this.

A name was truly important…

The newly reborn weapons could grow differently depending on what he decided to call them.

Adam considered these names…

However, there was names he'd already thought of giving them upon seeing their divine appearances.

The longsword was cold and mysterious. It was easy to hold and made him feel incredibly intimate.

'What is this feeling…?' He thought while turning his attention to the fiery broadsword on his right.

Simple. Nice. Clean. Warm... Like a sunflower in the breeze. He found the lack of dangerousness such a large blade gave off contradictory. Or maybe its size wasn't a statement. That was how it appeared.

He spoke the names he'd decided for them:

"Solaris… and Lumina." His words made the faces of Pandemos and Hephaestus become stern.

They turned their heads to see the disappointed look of Gaia, who peacefully held her shoulders.

A frown becoming deeper…

As if reacting to being called out, the two blades shone brightly. Resonating with their true owner.

Adam felt a direct link was being made…

The black sky seemed to have been falling apart upon witnessing the terrible explosion of energy.

Yin Qi and Yang Qi flowed into his Dawn Sapient Divine Physique, then back into the swords.

They seemed to be transforming…

The longsword and broadsword changed to look more like regular swords that fit their master's size.

Not too long or too short to wield as swords…

Regardless, their weight and features seemed to stay the same. Even becoming more intense.

While Adam could hold the Earthfire Broadsword with ease, the 'Solaris Sword' the weapon morphed into was even more imbalanced than the former. Its spine was heavy, so he held it down from the hilt.

Letting it swing back and forth in his hand like a pendulum… while the sister sword contrasted.

His 'Lumina Sword' was so well-balanced and easy to handle that he felt swinging it around was a breeze. This exhilarating feeling of harmony made him unintentionally turn to give a demonstration.

At first, he merely swung the icy blade about without much flare… until it corrected his moves.

Gradually, the sword showed him many ways he could swing the sharp edge and stab accurately.

This was followed by Solaris getting in on the action. Without thinking, he spun the blade by the handle and made full use of the imbalanced weight of the blazing sword. Yin and Yang in harmony.

It was a style never before seen in the world…

Despite being an amateur in all respects, Adam was improving at a pace far beyond normal.

It was to the point he was able to bring out the first feature of the two swords. His Qi had flared up.

By infusing Yin Qi and Yang Qi into the two blades himself, he was able to bring out two elements.

The 'Lumina Sword' was cold to the point of manifesting ice projections in any way he chose.

While the 'Solaris Sword' simply burned black with a hot flame. Seemingly simpler than the former.

Whenever he did a heavy enough slash, a strong combustion of flames would rise from the stroke.

Like a hammer with a bomb attached to it…

When he was done with his sword dance, the two blades 'returned' into his Dawn Sapient Divine Physique. It felt like he was nurturing them for something. That this wasn't their highest limit.

Regardless, he turned back to the two items left.

"Do you want to try them out with me?" Red Rabbit was now interested, but Adam raised his hand to stop her. It looked like there was still things he needed. A hand reached out for the black mask…

"What's this…?" He asked Hephaestus Terran while flipping it over. The feeling of 'connection' he'd initially felt from the mask was gone. Replacing it was the feeling discomfort from holding the mask.

The only thing stopping him from throwing it away was the slight nudging the swords were giving him.

They were requesting him to hold onto the mask.

"That's a strange Mystic Tool I'd refined using what some called 'Dark Steel'. It has an interesting feature I'm sure you'd like." Seeing that the God of the Forge was confident about this, he relented.

Putting it down to see the last item that was left.

It looked different from everything else. Though he felt a faint connection from it, there was no feeling of 'intelligence' that followed. When he looked at the bearded man again, Terran explained it briefly:

"That's a 'Spirit Essence'. Your guardian, Gaia, had wanted me to make that for you personally."

Adam looked down and the 'Black Wand' and clenched it, only to see a message pop up.

[Would you like to acquire the 'Black Mage' Rare Class? Doing so will give you two Intrinsic Skills.]

He clicked on 'Yes'.

[Congratulations. You have acquired the Class specific Intrinsic Skills: 'Magic Talent' and 'Dark Extension'. The more you master the basic skill of yourself as a Mage, the more your research grows.]

[Because you have attained a Class as a human of Earth, the benefits you have gained are degraded.]

[It isn't possible to attain Spell Slots. The source of power of this Spirit Essence is your own magic.]

"So it's a degrading version..." Adam understood what a Spirit Essence was thanks to his earlier discussion with Terran. However, that didn't mean he wasn't disappointed by the lack of abilities.

"This was the best I could do with the Mana provided to me. If I added more materials other than the Dark Mana of your Dawn Sapient Divine Physique, it wouldn't have formed." (Hephaestus)

"…I didn't say anything." (Adam)

"That wasn't you questioning my excellent handiwork? I'll have you know: I have experience in smithing 'Immortal Slayer' blades and literally every Spirit Essence in existence." (Hephaestus)

"No, really… Thank you. I'll make the most of it." An awkward look appeared on his face while taking the wand and the mask. When both of them were held, the circular smiling mask started to activate.

[Do you want to add 'Black Wand' want into the Combination Slot?] The function was revealed.

"Oh, so you're already making yourself acquainted with the Mystic Tool's function." (Hephaestus)

"What's this?" (Adam)

"I call this 'Combine'. It allows you make a direct link between two or more existences in the slots."

"That doesn't sound like Adomanthea…" (Adam)

"Wasn't that girl's myth about being a really rare goat-nymph herself? It's likely that." Hephaestus raised his arms. His job was only making the weapons, not interpreting about the abilities given.

'Combine' was a strange function… even to him.

"There's the last weapons I wanted to give you, but they couldn't exactly fit on a little place like this." It was then Hephaestus Terran flicked his finger. The table vanished, and new 'weapons' were revealed.

Adam's eyes widened when he saw the line of puppets- No, androids that had been created.

Each one of them seemed to be looking at him…

Hephaestus Terran started to monologue:

"There are many types of weapons in the world. All armaments aren't solely created for the body. This refinement technique came from a world where puppeteers controlled automaton-like machines."

"They were the different from Mystic Tools, and way less personal than those Divine Weapons you created. I be uncertain on how giving them a name was enough to recreate them, but this fine too."

"Anyway, the difference between 'Divine' and 'Mystic' be the naming. Just like how Weapons had one use and Tools had many. Mystic mean to have impure imagination infused. Nameless tools mean to be easily be defined by features, not naming."

"Can you hurry it up? I feel like I'm going to go to sleep by that explanation. Focus more." (Adam)

"Alrighty… These automaton have souls infused into them. They are living beings that can die of broken. Name them or not, they are all yours." The death put made him walk to the metallic figures.

They were both taller than him and masked. Their bodies were like young female mannequin, but had hints of metal here and there. The most telling part was that they lacked the faves of a human being.

Rather than having a 'mask', all of the automaton females had faces that looked like frowning masks.

They looked both beautiful and incredibly creepy…

Especially with how those faces seemed to have fleshy 'real' eyes that looked at him curiously.

[Would you like to combine the nameless automaton with the 'Black Wand' Spirit Essence?]

Adam ignored the message coming from his system interface regarding the Adomanthea's trait.

He thought of names for each of them…

'Typhon and Echidna were fused into Lumina and Solaris… I can also feel a connection between them and Lumina. What name should I give?' He inwardly wondered… before coming to a great conclusion.

Rather than giving a unique name each, he decided to consider them as a whole to give them a name.

"Gorgon Furies…" The first referring to the serpentine creatures that turned others to stone.

The 'Furies' part referring to the three Goddesses of Vengeance that Hades was able to command.

They brought justice to those who commit crimes.

Upon being named by him, the blank slates of the automaton started to shift upon being 'blessed'.

They gained two Imaginary Attributes…

Though unable to fully gain the strength of those two names, their bodies shifted to suit them.

Wings of a Fury, and scales of a Gorgon. They did not inherit stone paralysis eyes, but this was good.

"It looks like you chose 'Mystic' this time." Terran had no comment on the choice of Gaia's avatar.

Tools only became useful when paired with a wielder. He looked to see what they'd do next.

After retrieving the 'Spirit Essence' into his Dawn Sapient Divine Physique, he took out Lumina.

"Return." When Adam spoke thus, the many automatons followed his commands precisely.

Even without having used it before, the landowner was able to use 'Dark Extension' to connect him with the living machines he now took care of. He wasn't really comfortable using them as weapons.

It was because his Lumina Sword seemed protective of them. Like they were her children.

As the automatons blended into the shadows he'd extended towards them and into his blade, he finally turned to look at Red Rabbit. She seemed even more interested in seeing how he'd fight her.

Adam put his hand over his chest and looked at her with squinted eyes, giving her no choice to ask:

"What's wrong?"

"…My blades have been asking me to kill you for a while now." He made a strange face while walking.

As if he found the situation amusing…

He held the black smiling mask in his hand while standing before her, and she readied a stance.

Just before they actually fought, he asked:

"What are the rules?"

Red Rabbit shifted her gaze to Gaia for a brief moment, then felt pressured by the rest of them.

She sighed, lowering Divinity Striker and saying:

"As long as you get one hit on me within three bouts, I'll pass on the part of Divinity I've been saving up for my own avatar. That is… if you're able to hit me once, of course." A killing intent released.

As someone who had forgotten how important such things were, Adam didn't feel moved.

The reaper-like aura that suffocated most was blocked by his 'Death Insensitivity'. He was more concerned with the smiling mask he held. When looking at it, he felt an odd sense of discomfort.

It was really strange…

Solaris and Lumina showed that weapons that had fragments of his soul within them were intimate.

Even the 'Black Wand', which was merely made out of his physique's Dark Mana, felt closer to him.

So why was this mask not the same…?

He couldn't feel any sentience from it. There was nothing dangerous to him about it inside and out.

'…Why does that face look so annoying?' He felt like the smiling mask winked at him, which almost made him throw it to the side. It was only thanks to Solaris and Lumina's begging did he keep it on him.

Adam took a deep breath before deciding to rarely use 'Combine' on anything other than weapons.

He had no idea what would happen if he did it to people, nor did he want to know about it anyway.

The 'Black Wand' Spirit Essence manifested…

[Would you like to use a Combination Slot?]

'Yes.' Rather than using it himself, he decided to only partially use the mask's function without completing it. This way, he wouldn't have to hold onto the Adamanthea Mask more than he had to.

[You have created the 'Magus Mask'.]

[Choose another weapon to fuse the two entities.]

The Mystic Tool vanished into his body after he retrieved the Spirit Essence, and he ignored the system messages. Adam's focus was entirely on Red Rabbit and how she was offering him a trial.

Somehow, the landowner didn't feel like he'd lose…

The glow of 'Inspection' appeared in his eyes while looking at her, and he reached his fingers at her.

This was his own 'stance'.

Red Rabbit couldn't understand what gave this novice 'Mage' so much confidence to go at her.

He didn't say any arrogant words, but it felt like she was humiliated by the great confidence in his eyes.

She'd show the difference between their status…!