Chapter 11: The Angry Demon Sword

Under Erend's control, the Black Furnace Demon Sword directly returned to its active form, its sword body radiating a faint glow.

Feeling the weakness emanating from the Black Furnace Demon Sword, Erend couldn't help but sigh.

"You are too reckless, Black Furnace."

Erend never expected that simply complaining about his lack of star power would make the Black Furnace Demon Sword sacrifice its own strength to fulfill his needs.

This was really... too reckless.

Even though special weapons recognized by authority could merge with his body and recover even when damaged, the extent of damage still influenced the recovery time.

If the Black Furnace Demon Sword merely expended energy in a normal way, it would be fine. But if it were completely drained by another force, its recovery would become extremely difficult.

Moreover, the speed of recovery depended on Erend's own strength—his power and energy levels directly determined how quickly his special weapon could regain its full potential.

With Erend's current strength, if the Black Furnace Demon Sword were to deplete itself entirely and suffer severe damage, there was no telling how long it would take to recover.

"Emima..."

At Erend's rebuke, the red crystal embedded in the Black Furnace Demon Sword flickered with a faint light.

Erend immediately sensed the sword's response.

It... no, perhaps it should be she?

She was actually dissatisfied with his scolding!

"You..."

Erend was momentarily speechless.

Pure Festival-style weapons possessed independent consciousness.

Since they had a consciousness, they naturally had personalities as well.

Some Festival-style weapons had mild temperaments, while others had notoriously bad attitudes. They could even be considered a different kind of life form altogether.

The personality of the Black Furnace Demon Sword was among the more manageable ones.

Her temperament was somewhat unpredictable and occasionally stubborn, but she did not interfere with humans excessively. Even if someone offended her slightly, she would likely ignore it unless truly provoked.

For example, back in the basement of the Equipment Bureau, she had realized that Erend's ability was barely sufficient to wield her. Their compatibility rate was below 10%, yet she didn't reject him outright. Instead, she allowed Erend to hold her.

Unless someone attempted to dominate her forcefully or treated her with disrespect, the Black Furnace Demon Sword rarely took the initiative to retaliate.

Compared to some Festival-style weapons with downright malicious dispositions, this was already quite a favorable personality.

That said, the Black Furnace Demon Sword did have one peculiarity—she didn't want special treatment from her wielder.

What she demanded from her user was neither reverence nor trust but something beyond those concepts. She simply wanted to be regarded as a sword.

To her, she was nothing more than a weapon.

A sword's sole purpose was to fight. A tool's only function was to serve its wielder.

Because of this mindset, the Black Furnace Demon Sword willingly sacrificed its own strength to fulfill Erend's wish without hesitation.

If it had been another wielder, she wouldn't have done this. Those people were just temporary wielders, and she could always change masters. Unless there was a special reason, she wouldn't go to such lengths for any single wielder.

But Erend was different.

The Black Furnace Demon Sword knew she was now completely bound to him.

For the rest of her existence, she would belong to Erend alone.

If Erend were to die, all of his exclusive weapons, including the Black Furnace Demon Sword, would shatter along with him.

They would grow together, become stronger together, face any enemy together, and ultimately confront death together.

In this reality, as a sword, there was no need for hesitation. If she could be of use, why not sacrifice herself?

This was the will Erend felt emanating from her.

But…

"If I want to grow stronger, I can train myself or find other ways. It doesn't have to come at someone else's expense."

Erend had his own principles.

"You are my first special weapon. You will fight alongside me from now on. How can you just diminish yourself over something so trivial?"

The Black Furnace Demon Sword was immensely powerful, with unique abilities that made her invaluable in battle.

Rather than temporarily increasing his power at the cost of losing such a valuable weapon, Erend would rather remain as he was.

"In the future, you're not allowed to do this without my permission. Understood?"

Erend didn't want to control the Black Furnace Demon Sword through force. He wanted to fight alongside her as equals.

So, he spoke these words with absolute seriousness.

"————"

The Clean Crystal embedded in the Black Furnace Demon Sword dimmed, as if restraining its light.

She seemed… angry.

Erend chuckled slightly.

But he knew she had listened. She wouldn't make the same reckless decision again.

After withdrawing the Black Furnace Demon Sword's power, Erend fell into deep thought.

"If I can't absorb the Black Furnace's energy, what about other sources?"

That's right.

Although he had decided not to drain the Black Furnace Demon Sword's power, Erend had come up with an alternative idea.

"The Black Furnace can interfere with my abilities by releasing the Universal Elements stored within the Clean Crystal. So, wouldn't other Universal Crystals be capable of the same?"

"Even if I can't obtain other Festival-style weapons or Universal Crystals right now, I still have Heavy Color-style weapons and Universal Minerals in my possession."

"Those should work too, right?"

Even without authority-based recognition, as long as he could make contact with Heavy Color-style weapons or Universal Minerals, his perfect control over weapons should allow him to release the Universal Elements within them.

If he could extract Universal Elements from Universal Minerals, wouldn't that still increase his strength?

Even if he didn't fully understand how to manipulate these elements to enhance his abilities, he still had the Black Furnace Demon Sword.

Absorbing the sword's power directly wasn't a good solution, but if she helped him control and integrate the Universal Elements from external sources, wouldn't that achieve the same result?

"Let's test it out."

Excited by the thought, Erend quickly retrieved a Heavy Color-style weapon he had used before.

"Black Furnace, cooperate with me."

Holding the core of the Heavy Color-style weapon in one hand and the engine of the Black Furnace Demon Sword in the other, Erend began channeling his consciousness into the Universal Mineral embedded within the weapon.

"Emima!"

The Black Furnace Demon Sword, seemingly in a better mood now, responded immediately. Its Clean Crystal emitted a red glow, assisting Erend in controlling the released Universal Elements.

Just like before, the energy was transferred into Erend's body through their shared connection.

Moments later, the Universal Mineral within the Heavy Color-style weapon shattered.

Erend smirked.

His physical abilities and star power had increased slightly.

The boost wasn't nearly as significant as what the Black Furnace Demon Sword had provided earlier, but this was merely the result of a single Universal Mineral.

While Universal Crystals were rare and valuable, Universal Minerals were much more abundant. If they weren't, Livermorny Academy wouldn't distribute them to students so freely.

"It looks like I need to figure out how to acquire a large quantity of Universal Minerals."

But how?

Obtaining a few wouldn't be an issue, but acquiring a large amount would be tricky. The academy might not allow it so easily.

Even if they did, they would likely demand to know what he intended to do with them.

And Erend wasn't ready to reveal his secret.

After thinking for a while, he still couldn't come up with a perfect solution.

"I guess I'll have to ask for help…"

The Student Council Office – Livermorny Academy

"You need a large quantity of Universal Minerals?"

Claudia, seated behind her desk, looked at him in surprise.

"Yes," Erend replied seriously, nodding.

Claudia didn't seem particularly shocked—only curious.