[AOTFL] Chapter 4: True Power of the Authority

"Lux…"

Zexuan's eyes trembled slightly as he stared at the blade of light in his hand.

In this world, the weapons commonly used by people were no longer cold weapons forged from metal or modern firearms.

Because the meteors brought to Earth through the descent of the Invertia had carried with them mana, in addition to triggering the birth of a new type of human known as Genestellar, mana could also crystallize naturally to form a special kind of crystal called 'Manadyte'.

With this Manadyte, many scientific fields in the world have made groundbreaking progress, and among the most representative of these advances was the development of mana-based transformable energy weapons, which used Manadyte as their core.

Using the mana within the Manadyte as their energy source, these weapons achieved complete reusability and zero consumption. By simply activating a device embedded with Manadyte, it would materialize a pre-programmed elemental pattern and further focus the mana to form a blade of light, arrows, or even bullets.

Yes, these mana-based transformable energy weapons were known as 'Lux'.

Lux could not only be adjusted in terms of output and power through manual control, but when not in use, it was just a handle-sized device, which made it extremely advantageous in practice.

For this reason, nearly all personal handheld weapons were Lux.

Its usage had even become widespread among civilians—whether for self-defense or as toys for children, this thing was everywhere.

Naturally, in Asterisk—a city built around the concept of duels—and within the six schools designed to train Festa participants, the use of such a convenient Lux was absolutely essential.

Students attending any of the six schools within Asterisk could, as long as they were enrolled, apply to the Equipment Department for a Lux free of charge and could also submit specific requests to have their Lux customized or modified according to their personal needs.

At this moment, what Zexuan held in his hand was precisely a Lux, a sword-type Lux.

"..."

Tightly gripping the hilt of his Lux, Zexuan could only describe the sensation with one word—unbelievable.

Up until now, he had never handled a real weapon before, and the sharpest things he had held in his life were kitchen knives and fruit knives, plus the occasional pair of scissors or nail clippers.

Given that, he should've felt unfamiliar with the weapon in his hand, should've felt awkward, and he shouldn't have known how to use it at all. Yet, the moment he grabbed his Lux, what arose in his heart wasn't a sense of unfamiliarity but something that could only be described as a strange feeling of omnipotence.

It was like something was telling him—

'You know what you're holding in your hand? It's your hands and feet.'

'What you're holding is an extension of your senses.'

'You've already mastered it perfectly. You know exactly how to use it, clearly and without confusion.'

'It's your servant.'

Swish—!

Suddenly, Zexuan swung the sword-type Lux.

At this moment, his eyes were shut tight as if he had entered some kind of mysterious state, and he began to move with the sword naturally, while the sword in his hand felt just like his arms and legs, guiding his body to move on its own.

Even though he had absolutely no experience using weapons before, and this body had only become younger and stronger, there should have been no way he could swing a sword this smoothly, yet at this moment, he seemed like someone who had been practicing swordsmanship for decades—like a seasoned swordsman who had trained for years, wielding the sword with incredible skill.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

As the hum from the Lux vibrated in the air, Zexuan's swings grew faster and smoother until he produced countless streaks of light, weaving together a blinding storm of sword flashes, leaving no gaps at all.

Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!

As the light from his sword grew faster and sharper, sword marks began to appear on the ground around him, while the grass and flowers nearby swayed wildly from the force of the sword wind.

BOOM!

In the final movement, Zexuan suddenly opened his eyes and slashed down hard, sending out a gust of sword wind that swept across the courtyard in front of him, flipping the entire thing over.

In an instant, dust flew everywhere, chunks of soil sprayed out, and the carefully maintained courtyard looked like it had been shredded by countless razor-sharp blades—blasted apart in every direction.

"Uhh... did I do that?"

Zexuan finally snapped out of it.

Looking at himself still frozen in a sword-swinging stance, then glancing at the completely wrecked courtyard in front of him, his freshly opened eyes widened, stunned and speechless.

"Hey, what was that sound just now?"

"Yeah, that was loud..."

"Was it a duel or something?"

"Let's go check it out!"

Turned out that ruckus really had been over the top, enough to draw the attention of nearby people.

Zexuan saw a few figures rapidly approaching, so without even thinking, he quickly put away his Lux, making the blade of light vanish, leaving only the sword handle, which he hurriedly shoved into the holster at his waist before he turned around and bolted, disappearing without a trace.

Luckily, he moved fast, as by the time those people arrived, the place was already empty.

All they could do was point at the total mess Zexuan had left behind and chatter away, no one knowing exactly what had just happened.

===

"Whew…"

On the other side, Zexuan had fled the scene at full speed, and only after reaching a deserted corner did he finally stop and let out a breath of relief.

"Wait, why the hell am I running?"

Zexuan suddenly realized something and smacked his forehead.

He had almost forgotten that this was Asterisk, the city of duels, so duels between students were a common sight here, whether within the academy or out in the city.

In other words, even if some public property got damaged here, the responsibility wasn't as heavy as it would be elsewhere, and there wasn't even a need to pay compensation most of the time.

Of course, that was only if there was a valid reason.

'I was practicing swordsmanship in an open space, and that should count as a valid reason, right?'

Zexuan shook his head helplessly but soon forgot all about it.

Recalling that feeling from earlier, he once again took out his Lux and powered it on.

'Yup, that feeling wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't an illusion either...'

As he gripped the activated Lux once more, Zexuan finally confirmed it—he truly could handle the weapon in his hands with complete mastery.

He didn't need to train and didn't need to grind himself down with hard work. Just by holding the weapon like this, he could naturally unleash the most perfect form of technique, just like earlier, anytime, anywhere!

"So this is what my authority does...?" Zexuan muttered, looking a little excited. "No, it doesn't stop there..."

He could clearly feel it.

He could use the power of his authority to take things even further with the weapon in his hand.

'I... might even be able to make this weapon acknowledge me as its master?'

Zexuan sensed this vaguely, purely on instinct.

As long as he held the weapon, he could control it perfectly and wield it flawlessly—that was just the most basic function of the authority within him.

If he wished, he could totally use his authority to imprint his mark on the weapon, making it recognize him as its rightful master. Once that happened, the weapon would become his exclusive weapon, where it would grow stronger based on his abilities and evolve as he did. Even if it got damaged, he could store it within himself, nourish it, and after some time, it would fully repair on its own.

Even if he lost the weapon, as long as it had acknowledged him as its master, he could summon it back with a single thought, right into his hand, making it impossible for anyone else to take it from him by any means.

'I see... so that's what my authority's really for...'

Once Zexuan grasped that truth of his authority, his mind started racing.

He hadn't bound this Lux to himself since it was just a standard-issue Lux, nothing special—even with a few upgrades and tweaks, it was far from powerful.

Now that he understood the true power of his authority, there was no way he would be satisfied with making a basic standard weapon his own. If he wanted to grow stronger fast, he needed a weapon that was more powerful, more unique—something truly special!

With this thought in mind, Zexuan turned his head to look back at the academy building he had just left.

'Guess I gotta go for it...'

Pressing his lips together, Zexuan put his Lux away and then started walking in the direction of the academy.