For now, Mud decided to name its new sibling in the same way The Master had named Mud.

"My name is Mud Golem. Your name is Ego. We will go out to hunt now, in order to make you stronger."

Through their soul bound, Mud felt a flow of excitement and determination. Just as Mud had been subtly imparted with a desire to clean when it was crafted, perhaps its sibling had been crafted with a desire to kill? A suitable inclination for a tool of death.

Although tier two monsters were out of reach for the time being, the forests around the Cithlar estate held plenty of tier zero and one prey. Grabbing hold of the wobbling sword, Mud made its way out of the house. For now, Mud would focus on raising the swords racial level, as there would be plenty of time to increase class in the future. The low level of hitpoints was also concerning to Mud, and an issue it would like to rectify.

As they neared the exit, Mud sent its sword one last instruction. "Try to use your Skill Points. Chose skills that will let you fight on your own. Rare Skills are better than normal Skills, and if you hold on to a skill point you can upgrade a Skill to something way better once it reaches level ten. You have no mana for unknown reasons, so do not select magical skills. Selecting a skill that uses your large SP pool would be a good choice." Mud felt the concentration and careful consideration over their bond.

It was possible for Mud to micromanage every aspect of Ego's growth, but that seemed a poor choice. For one thing, Mud was still very ignorant on many subjects, so its choices would be no better than the swords once given proper advice. Another problem was that Mud didn't know Ego's preferences and personality. Suitability appeared to be an important aspect of fully utilizing power.

Mud reflected on its own early life. How much had it fumbled in the dark and struggled to obtain those same small crumbs of wisdom it was now granting to its sibling? Needing to pry the information from an unwilling and sly demon or figure it out on its own had complicated many simple problems greately. Sadly, although The Master's library was vast, there were no books that contained basic information about using the Akashic Record. Most instead focused on the structure or history of the magic constituting the Akashic Record, which was useless to Mud.

Mud was somewhat envious of Ego, who would have an ally that earnestly cared for and supported it from the start of its journey. Perhaps sensing Mud's attention, a wave of camaraderie flowed from the sword.

Refocusing on the task at hand, Mud left the house and took to the trees. Following a familiar path to the north-east, Mud soon arrived at a certain river clearing.

Below its perch on a high tree, Mud observed a quivering green mass as it wandered aimlessly across the grass.

"That Slime is your target. Go kill it."

Releasing its grip from Ego, Mud waited patiently for its sibling to destroy the weak enemy.

Suddenly without support, the sword faltered and wobbled a bit before regaining balance. Slowly, and with much swaying, the sword lowered towards the oblivious Slime.

Reaching near the level of the slime, the sword readied itself for a swing, raising its blade to point towards the sky. With a sudden lunge, it swung itself forward. Unfortunately, a momentary lapse in control caused it to rotate sideways, and the blade merely flopped lightly onto the surface of the slime.

Reacting instantly to the stimulus, the slime engulfed the length of the sword. Although it wiggled weakly, Ego was completely unable to free itself from the mucus.

For a few awkward moments, Mud watched its trapped sibling. Defeated instantly by a slime. Mud felt a sudden urge to copy a gesture it had seen many times from Jabrax. One muddy arm swung upward and slapped against the golem's head. It seems Ego would need a lot more training before it could fight on its own.

Leaping down from the treetops, Mud quickly tore apart the slime using its blades and meathooks.

[Experience Gained: 0]

Mud lifted Ego from the corpse of the slime and held it with stubby brown arms.

"You lost the fight." A feeling of shame came over the bond, but Mud ignored it and continued. "I will wield you until you gain enough strength to function alone. Use your control to augment my attacks." A feeling of confidence came this time. Ego seemed to like this plan.

Advancing on another nearby slime, Mud swung Ego. Although Ego's movement ability was barely enough to stay aloft by itself, the effect was substantial when wielded. Since the weight of the sword was being fully supported, Ego could focus all of its movements towards empowering and aiming the blow. Still, using Ego in this way felt extremely unpleasant to Mud. Wielding a sword simply did not align with the concept of a Master Butler which Mud had been shaping itself into.

The pair continued their slaughter of Slimes for some time, one greatly enjoying itself and the other miserable. After the seventh slime was killed, Mud felt an unusually strong spike of emotion from Ego. If Mud's calculations were correct, it had gained a level.

Releasing the sword again, Mud directed it to kill a slime alone once again. Ego seemed unsure, but floated unsteadily towards the slime nonetheless.

Unfortunately, its attempt was as pathetic as the first time. It flopped over weakly onto the slime, then was engulfed.

While ripping apart the slime to rescue Ego, Mud considered the situation. This lack of ability from its sibling was likely a result of low physical statistics. Assuming the sword functioned like Mud itself, the only known way to make it physically stronger would be to gain a class. Gaining more levels in species would not solve this issue.

Sheathing Ego by stabbing the length of its blade into its muddy torso, Mud swung through the trees back towards its Domain.

"Ego, send me your record again. I wish to see the results of the hour of training." A moment later, the information appeared to Mud.

Name: Ego Golem

Level 2 Ego Sword

Class: none

HP

6/6

SP

119/0

MP

0/120

Spells:

Unique Abilities: Laghimā

Skills(0): Levitation Control 1, Swordsmanship 3, Teamwork 2, Siddhi (U)

Status Effects: