Durandal’s raised a monster—an absolute monster. If Lucia Fluffytail was around 80 years ago, there’s no doubt in my mind she’d be on par with my owner, Cuchulainn, or even the Godking himself. Perhaps she could only reach this far due to finding Durandal, but I can’t deny her strength. With the help of qi, Cuchulainn and the Godking could maybe carry 5,000 pounds at the peak of their strength. Lucia can swing a ten-ton sword around as if she were waving paper. How is that even fair? She could disable someone by leaving her sword on top of them, possibly even killing them.

“An opening!”

Durandal’s weapon body swung down from above, crashing against my spear which was actually a really stiff sock. As if a mountain had fallen on me, my legs were forced into the ground and my arms creaked as if they would break. Her strength is absolutely unreasonable! Being her spirit is nothing like being Lan’s. Sparring with her may actually lead to a temporary death if I’m not careful. It’s even more dangerous than living beside a prince who’s a target for assassinations.

“Unrelenting path of slaughter: Breaking Blade!”

The world froze as Durandal’s weapon body emitted a thick red glow. The light radiating off the blade was heavy, nearly tangible. It engulfed my body and my vision became white. Red lines appeared on my body, revealing all the flaws in my stance. Though I could see them, there was nothing I could do to stop Lucia’s blade from descending, carving me apart while following those lines. A sigh escaped from my lips as my body fell to pieces before dispersing into a mist that was absorbed by Lucia’s socks—my new home.

Damn. I lost again. It’s the fourth fight Lucia won in a row, and I’ll be out of commission for at least a week now. What kind of person would kill their armor spirit in the name of training? But I suppose that’s what Lucia’s path does. When she activates her path, there’re only two outcomes: her opponent dies, or she becomes disabled. The path can only be disabled when she kills something. At first, I didn’t understand how someone could obtain a path like that, but after seeing her train for the past few months, I understand: she doesn’t eat, she doesn’t sleep, all she does is kill. She used to dismantle the corpses of the beasts she killed, but I’ve been given that duty instead. Surprisingly, my capabilities to do things other than fighting have increased after turning into a sock spirit.

And once I hand over the bones, she uses her qi to crave some engravings to convert them into consumables that she uses right away. I think she’s become dependent on them, but I can’t deny their effects. Though it costs her qi to convert a bone, once the bone is consumed, she gets back an even greater amount of qi than what she spent. Her strength, speed, and concentration are increased which allows her to function as a machine purely built for killing.

Speaking of killing. I still can’t believe those people who I thought were magicians were actually spirit beasts. I don’t believe they’re a variant of monkey, but it’s possible for them to be a slime of sorts that absorb the characteristics of the things they eat. However, even if some of them are really spirit beasts, there’s no doubt in my mind that some of the people Lucia have killed were actually humans. But that’s the frightening part—with every person she kills, her unrelenting path of slaughter advances by leaps and bounds. She’s become a mid-ranked spirit warrior in a few months. It took Lan a year and a half to advance to mid-ranked from low-ranked.

Despite Lucia Fluffytail’s prowess, she does have quite a few shortcomings. For one, she’s pretty stupid; maybe, it’d be nicer of me to say she has a single-track mind. It’s sad, really. Once she thinks something is true, her mind doesn’t change about it despite evidence to the contrary. Or it isn’t stupidity, and she’s just delusional. Either way, she’s not exactly your normal person. But I can’t look down on her for it. She’s been alone, hunting spirit beasts in a jungle without sleeping or eating for over a year. Before that, I’m pretty sure she was living as a slave. Only a slave beastkin would’ve been allowed to accompany Bryant to the Godking’s tomb.

“Puppers!”

Has a week passed already? When a weapon or armor spirit dies, our sense of time is distorted. A few brief moments for us can be weeks or months to our owners. Also, I really dislike having to respond to the name Puppers. I was a renowned spear, Gae Bulg. Criminals would tremble when they heard my name. Now—

“I know you’re awake, Puppers! Dismantle these things!”

Is that a tree-devouring centipede? She killed something like that? …Does it even have bones?

“This too! And this! Also do these things! Why did you have to die again? Do you know how much slower my hunting became without my little helper!?”

Little helper…. I’m not sure if Puppers is better or worse. But I’ll begin because materializing outside is infinitely better than living inside of her socks. I still can’t believe I’ve fallen from a mighty spear spirit to a sock spirit. But I guess I’m lucky to be alive. Lucia completely diced apart my weapon body, but she just missed my core. If her blade had struck even a millimeter closer when she was breaking apart the spear… I probably wouldn’t be here right now. It’s a shame about Lan. Though Lucia won’t admit it, I know she killed him. After all, that’s what her path of slaughter does—it kills. If Lan weren’t so paranoid, maybe, he’d have been willing to talk with Lucia rather than fighting, but that was his one shortcoming. Perhaps I’m doomed to have mentally unstable owners. Even Cuchulainn has something wrong with him that compelled him to exterminate evil.