[AOTFL] Chapter 10: Price

Two days later, Zexuan finally obtained Ser-Veresta from Claudia.

"Sorry for the wait, Veresta."

In a rather secluded corner of Seidoukan Academy, Zexuan held the completely black device of Ser-Veresta in his hands, feeling the excitement emanating from it.

Zexuan smiled faintly before activating Ser-Veresta.

Zing—

Crimson light shot out from Ser-Veresta's red Urm Manadyte, and as mana responded to its power, a thick, massive sword guard formed, allowing a pure white blade to extend from it.

Hummm—

Zexuan raised Ser-Veresta high, injecting his prana, causing black lines to appear around the pure white blade as they spiraled upward and gathered into the Urm Manadyte.

A tremendous amount of heat quickly condensed on the blade, turning its pure white color into black.

Under Zexuan's control and Ser-Veresta's precise cooperation, the heat did not radiate out like last time but was all concentrated on the blade.

"Hmm... Even though it feels pretty convenient to use like this, Ser-Veresta is still too big."

Holding the now blackened Ser-Veresta, Zexuan pondered for a moment, speaking to himself.

Ser-Veresta was designed to be a greatsword, so much so that an ordinary person might not even be able to lift it. Most Genestellars would struggle to wield such a large sword with any kind of agility, limiting its effectiveness in combat.

"It'd be better if it were smaller..."

As soon as Zexuan muttered this, Ser-Veresta, held firmly in his hand, suddenly began to change.

Zing—

In the next second, the red Urm Manadyte emitted crimson light again, and mana once again coiled around Ser-Veresta as black lines, swirling and shifting.

In this state, Ser-Veresta began to disassemble—no, it was more accurate to say that it underwent a reconstruction.

Zexuan saw that the massive sword guard that had first formed almost completely disappeared, and the wide blade suddenly shrank, compressing the extreme heat. Before long, the greatsword, which had been nearly as tall as a person, transformed into the size of a regular sword, no longer heavy or large but now appearing agile, light, and deadly.

Seeing this, Zexuan smiled knowingly.

"As expected, you can freely adjust your size, Veresta."

With ultimate authority over armaments, Zexuan could fully control any weapon he held, especially since this particular weapon had already been bonded to his authority, becoming his exclusive weapon.

As a result, from the very first time Zexuan held Ser-Veresta, he had known what kind of abilities it possessed, including its ability to adjust its size freely.

"Not bad... this is much more convenient."

Zexuan casually waved Ser-Veresta, leaving a distorted heat trail along the sword's path.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

As Zexuan swung Ser-Veresta, he unknowingly increased its speed, and with a slight movement of his body, he cut through a vast expanse of black sword light, causing its blade, which contained intense heat, to emit a buzzing sound with every swing.

If someone else were here to witness this scene, they certainly wouldn't believe that this was his first time wielding Ser-Veresta.

It couldn't be helped.

With the way he was completely immersed in the movement, his body naturally moving in sync with the sword, even a highly skilled swordsman would think that he had been wielding Ser-Veresta for over a decade, just like an experienced Ser-Veresta user.

For those who knew that he had only just obtained Ser-Veresta today and had never wielded it before, seeing this scene would likely leave them in disbelief.

At this very moment, his posture with Ser-Veresta betrayed no signs of him being a newcomer to the weapon.

Even Zexuan himself felt as though he had been fighting alongside Ser-Veresta for years, given the synergy between them was so perfect, their coordination so seamless, it far exceeded that of any of its previous users.

The unity of man and sword—this phrase suddenly appeared in Zexuan's mind.

Unfortunately—

'Hahh... the consumption of prana is a bit too outrageous...'

Zexuan, with his face turned slightly pale, abruptly stopped with a bitter smile.

'So, this is the price of using Ser-Veresta?'

Orga Luxes were indeed powerful, but every use of an Orga Lux required a price to be paid, which varied depending on the Orga Lux in question.

It was both a side effect and a boundary to cross.

As for the price of using Ser-Veresta, it was a massive drain on its user's prana.

By 'massive', it was not just a figure of speech—at the very least, if an ordinary Genestellar used Ser-Veresta, their prana would be drained in an instant.

'Well, the protagonist's prana far exceeds that of others. If we're talking strictly about quantity, there are probably only two or three characters in the entire original work whose prana could surpass his.'

'I mean, the reason he could gain Ser-Veresta's recognition is largely thanks to that.'

'Compared to him, my prana is much weaker.'

Zexuan's abilities across the board were average at Seidoukan Academy, including his prana.

In other words, with his average prana, even if he could use Ser-Veresta, he would be drained in an instant, making him unable to use it for too long.

If not for bonding with Ser-Veresta using his authority, it would not hesitate to drain him dry in two or three seconds, leaving him with no chance to swing the sword.

Needless to say, the only reason he could use it for a while now was that Ser-Veresta had intentionally held back, not draining too much of his prana. Additionally, after bonding with him, it had been strengthened by his authority, so not only had its power increased, but the price of using it had also been reduced.

Even so, with Zexuan's extremely average prana, he could probably only use Ser-Veresta for a few minutes at most.

Of course, this was still with Ser-Veresta deliberately holding back most of its power. If Zexuan wanted to unleash its full potential and push its output to the limit, he would probably only be able to launch a few attacks before it drained him completely.

"At the end of the day, my prana is just too little..." Zexuan muttered helplessly.

Suddenly—

Hummm—

Ser-Veresta suddenly trembled, releasing a massive amount of mana from its Urm Manadyte.

"Veresta?" Zexuan blinked his eyes, looking puzzled.

Ser-Veresta didn't respond to him but instead focused the released mana onto him, even injecting it directly into his body.

Soon, Zexuan was shocked to find that both his prana and body were rapidly strengthening.

"What the heck..."

Zexuan widened his eyes, first in utter disbelief, then quickly feeling a surge of joy.

'Veresta is actually helping me increase my power?'

What in the world was going on?

He remembered that this had never happened in the original work!

'Wait...'

Zexuan suddenly came to his senses.

'Genestellars were born because of the influence of mana, while the Urm Manadyte is a high-purity crystallized form of mana, essentially the condensation of mana itself.'

'In other words, as long as the mana in the Urm Manadyte is used to interact with the human body, it could potentially lead to the birth of a Genestellar or even enhance the Genestellar's power!'

Of course, it wasn't something that could just be done at will, but since Ser-Veresta had already acknowledged Zexuan as its master, becoming his exclusive weapon and merging with him, it could release its own power through their connection, enhancing his power.

'What a great surprise...'

As Zexuan felt his prana and body growing stronger, his smile deepened.

However, not long after, his smile faded because, in his perception, Ser-Veresta's presence was growing weaker.

"Veresta! Stop!"

Zexuan's expression changed drastically as he quickly tried to stop Ser-Veresta, but unfortunately, it showed no sign of stopping and continued releasing large amounts of mana, causing the glow of its Urm Manadyte to grow fainter.

It was clear that Ser-Veresta was sacrificing its own power to make Zexuan stronger.

"Stop!"

Realizing this, Zexuan quickly took control of Ser-Veresta and forcibly cut off the mana release.

By fully mastering Ser-Veresta and turning it into his exclusive weapon, Zexuan could now ignore its will and control it forcibly.

In that instant, Ser-Veresta's red Urm Manadyte finally stopped releasing mana, slowly retracting its glow.