Chapter 7 - Black-Dyed Dagger
Levi took a deep breath, and another. He closed his eyes sensing his mind, looking for possible traces of intent from those dark tendrils, only when he was confident that the foreign intent was fully gone did Levi approach and pick up the dagger.
His eyes sparkled, as he observed the intricate tendrils now serving as intricate design for the blade of the dagger… The once aggressive tendrils now frozen in place, and although the tendrils didn't have hands, their shape if one looked at it, evoked pain and desperation making Levi recall his short mental dance when he directly held the things…
He somehow felt that he gave the tendrils, the cruelest of endings. The hint of sadness briefly appearing in Levi's eyes, before his cold and calculating side reminded him of the malice and rage the cumulative intent that those tendrils carried.
…
.
Taking a couple of swings the dagger, Levi did a combinations he knew, testing the now larger dagger back and fort, marveling at how the weight seems to have stayed the same despite almost doubling in size…
The dagger now almost at the size of a short sword…
It's blade now pitch black blade and nonreflective unlike normal steel, the even darker tendrils looking like gaps to the abyss itself, immortalizing the final struggle of the tendrils before they finally fused with the dagger.
.
Testing the dagger on a couple of sand sacks, Levi unleashed a flurry of cuts and combinations, the blade singing through the air. Most of the time, it sliced cleanly through, but at times, the dagger's blade changed into the darkest of blacks, phasing in through the sack.
Observing it's duration, Levi soon learned the cooldown of the phasing ability. Every 12 or so seconds. The blade of the now pitch black dagger seemingly inheriting an inferior version of the phasing ability of the [Wraith]s… Making Levi grin as he tested the dagger against multiple surfaces.
There were a two caveats however:
Similar to the phasing ability of the [Wraith]s, the dagger seem to have no control whether the phasing ability would activate or not. This in itself made carrying the dagger a hundred times harder as the sheathe kept activating the phasing ability which brings us to the next imperfection…
The ignore threshold of the trait.
Unlike the birds who seem to have some avenue of control with their ability, the dagger would instantly turn darker as soon as he hit objects and particles as dense or denser than sand.
Making it extremely annoying and unpredictable when fighting where there clouds of particles permeated the air like places with lots of smoke, and as he tested, sand. Which by extension should also to rain not to mention when submerged underwater…
Thankfully, the slight bump in sharpness and durability was a big help, making Levi slightly more confident as he recalled a similar trait in the tough meat and gummy skin of the [Wraith]s he had butchered earlier.
Overall, he deemed it usable—and perhaps even vital, should he encounter something he couldn't shoot or slice through by normal means.
…
… …
'…'
Levi felt an odd sense of familiarity at the obvious reaction. Beyond the tendrils being sentient and 'alive,' the process felt eerily similar to the absorption that occurs during tempering and forging. If he could somehow withstand the enraged intent of the ravens during the forging then…
He looked at the container where the second orb was still sealed before parking the thought for now, while the Phasing ability was indeed attractive to Levi, even from a distance he could tell that the final shriek of intent from the tendrils was something that he wouldn't be able to withstand in direct contact much less attempt a forging process while withstanding full blown the wrath of the thing.
Taking a deep breath, he asked [EVA] to make a reminder for now. Modifying the existing sheath to only grip the handle of the dagger, adjusting its position slightly lower rather than directly beside his pistol. In fear that he'd either cut himself or trigger the phasing ability by accident then expect the phasing to work only for it to not work mid battle.
Exhausted, Levi finally decided to retire for the night. The Automated Detection senses of [EVA], allowing Levi to rest, the new weapon good enough to slightly ease his worries. He wondered about the situation of other cities… the capital… as well as an old man he hoped to still be alive before his thoughts finally drifted him to sleep.
…
… …
To be continued.