Alex walked past the inns patrons to head to his room, intent on preparing for the hunters registration with Gideon. He would need every ounce of strength he had to bare, there was no telling what this world had in store, annd he would rather be over prepared and alive, than underprepared, overconfident and dead. So he ascended the stairs to his room, before quietly locking the door. Then he considered his next steps. The hunters’ organisation was clearly integrated into this tavern’s daily life, meaning anyone with combat training likely passed through here at some point. If he wanted to gather reliable information, register with the crown as a hunter, or sell his skills when the time came, this would be his foothold. For now, though, his room upstairs would serve as a place to think, plan, and regroup.

  He still needed to study the high-level martial arts manual he had received as the reward for achieving second place, it had been given to him as an impossible task, a technique far above his capabilities and something deemed impossible for someone of his level of progress to master, assuming he did not have a system to aid him in the task. He also needed to inspect the three swords he’d stolen from the sect's inner treasury, the pair of twin blades of opposing natures and the oversized great sword that had possessed a dominating presence. The sect vault’s artistry indicated that each weapon had once been wielded by powerhouses of the martial world before they had been conquered and claimed by the Ben Nui. Alex found himself curious as to the result of integrating such powerful weapons into his soul-armoury, but that would have to wait, for a while. For now, a much more prominent objective had caused him to place both the martial manual and stolen swords on his mental ‘To-Do’ list— immediately after he had addressed the contents of the system panel that had suddenly appeared before him. He allowed his domain to spread to a fifteen-foot radius as he viewed a notification he had been anticipating for quite some time.

  [System Message: Soul-Bound Ego weapon 'Eclipse' Minor Evolution due to excessive higher grade (D) resource absorption in Progress.

  [Time until completion: 3 Seconds]

  […]

  [System Message: Soul-Bound Ego weapon 'Eclipse' Minor Evolution Completed]

  [Weapon Available for use.]

  In the dim room, Alex extended his hand, and the blade materialized in a flash of chaotic energy—a long, impossibly sharp weapon forged from dark metal. The blade had the proportions of a katana but with no guard, its dark hilt seamlessly flowing into the wicked edge; It was as though his connection to the blade had allowed it to glean the form of his ideal weapon. At the base, where the hilt began, a single demonic eye stared unblinking, its surface shifting faintly as if alive. Violent mana churned and surged along the length of the blade, chaotic currents swirling like a storm trapped within the metal, more dense and pure than any quantity of mana the blade had ever held before, almost matching Alex’s base reserves with each rotation. A thin haze of dark energy clung to the surface, its presence unsettling, as though it carried with it the whispers of another realm. The blade’s thick base tapered into an edge so fine it seemed to disappear into the air.

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  “Sovereign Clone,” Alex muttered the words with curiosity, having no clue what to expect from the transformation.

  The metal twisted, warped, and stretched in an instant, flowing as if molten before snapping into its new form. A clawed hand burst out to land on the ground, and up rose an entity almost identical to Alex, except the being appeared forged entirely of dark metal. It held long, sharp incisors and serrated teeth, and stood almost three heads taller than him. Twin horns adorned its head, sharpened to cruel edges and rising upward to nearly scrape the wooden ceiling, their sharpness reflected in the long tail that coiled behind it to end in a wickedly sharp blade as good as any sword.

  Out of each of the demonic doppelg?nger’s outstretched and clawed hands sprouted two katana-like demonic blades identical to its original form. Its eyes opened— two red orbs and a third piercing eye glowing bright on its forehead, all three swivelling to fix on Alex.

  Alex looked up to take in the breadth of his companion and immediately sensed mild contempt from the connection shared between them.

  “What’re you angry for? You just got a major power boost.” He muttered at the demonic blade. The blade simply observed him, unresponsive, though the disdain he felt through their connection intensified. Still can’t talk, ey? He thought, eyeing the statuesque entity. I wonder how much more blood Eclipse would need to communicate more clearly? Maybe even speak? He pondered the possibility as more notifications sprouted into existence, each panel’s blue light leaving no impact on his surroundings.

  [Skill ‘Sword Soul’ has gained additional properties]

  [SwordSoul- Mastery: 16 > 17%]

  [Mythic Rank - Sword Soul (Passive) - The sovereign is the god of swords, his very essence a weapon. Allows the user to consume blades to permanently empower the user’s soul and life force. Consumed blades are grafted onto and merged with the user’s soul to become permanent additions to the soul’s structure, resulting in uncountable abilities. The user gains the ability to bind a single powerful weapon ego to their soul, gaining skills and abilities in conjunction with the weapon's growth. Sufficiently powerful blades will provide permanent stat boosts or permanent skills at low levels of mastery, whilst higher levels of mastery allow for consumed soul blades to act as conduits for channelling souls, life force, or mana into physical manifestations. From allowing strikes against enemies to pull fractions of their life-force to add to the user's own, to other more powerful possibilities.]

  [SoulBound Weapon & Ego ‘Eclipse’ minor evolution has been added to your Soul Armoury! Enchantments gained!]

  [D Ranked skill 'Dual Resonance - Eclipse' (Active) gained!]

  [Dual Resonance (Active): Allows the user to share two of their skills with any soul-bound blade in their possession, enabling any existing sword ego within the blade to utilise those skills independently while maintaining its connection to the user. Due to the target blade being soul-bound, the skill imbuement is permanent and interchangeable. However, each skill can only be replaced or exchanged after a 24-hour cooldown period.]

  Dual Resonance.

  Without hesitation, Alex immediately activated the skill, intent on imbuing his demonic doppelg?nger with any two of his most synergistic skills.

  [Please select two skills to imbue to user designation ‘Alex Ironwood’ Soul-Bound blade]

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