Chapter XXXIX: The Triune And The Swords III

Demonic Wildlands Near the Great Plateau

Month of the Tortoise 2, 172 ,328 DE

The cur broke through the boundaries! A sense of shock fills the sword's thought.

Indeed. The other sword's thought carry a hit of satisfaction and anticipation.

So what? I do not acknowledge it. I have only one Master.

We have only one Master. But he died.

He was a fool.

Indeed. If he had hidden for a few months to consolidate his strength, he would have destroyed that lizard.

We would have destroyed that lizard.

As my awareness expands, the nothingness feels infinite, but at the same, it feels like it is not even a yoctometer across. Everything and nothing. That might be a perfect definition of the volume of the nothingness. But the nothingness still feels like nothing in my awareness. Completely empty.

Still under my control, the beads of compressed trinity collide together at what I suppose should be the center of the nothingness. For just a fraction of an instant, I compress the confluence of all three beads to a density several magnitudes greater than the individual beads. But I have no hope of maintaining that level of compression.

Trinity explodes outward from the single compressed mass. As it expands, I race to shape Trinity into the form I want, to imprint the Realm pattern I comprehended from the Core Scripture. As Trinity bends to my will, the intricate web of a Realm pattern takes shape. Three points of the pattern connect to the holes torn through the boundaries of my Body, Mind, and Soul. The shape of my Core Realm solidifies, and Trinity fuses into the concrete boundaries of the Realm.

The space inside My Core Realms grows, but it does not grow infinitely. With only my awareness inside my Core Realm, I find it hard to estimate its size. The complete lack of anything beyond my own awareness inside the Core Realm leaves me with no point of reference to go by. After observing and contemplating for a few minutes, I estimate its diameter to be a hundred meters at most. From what I read in the tomes written by the ancient War Masters, mine should be a huge Core Realm for a newly forged Triune. The War Masters determined that Triunes normally had only a few tens of meters of space in a newly created Core Realm, and an infant born as a Triune only had a few meters to its Core Realm.

My Core Realm merges with the tears in the Realm boundaries of my Body, Mind, and Soul. My wounds quickly heal, leaving natural passageways between my Core Realm and my Body, Mind, and Soul. As the connections form and my wounds, I sense changes ripple through my Body, Mind, and Soul. While I have no objective means to measure myself, I have the impression that just by forming my Core Realm and connecting it to my Body, Mind, and Soul, I have greatly strengthened the three parts of myself. Three parts? Should it be four parts? With a Core Realm added to my Body, Mind, and Soul, do I remain a tripart being? Or have I become something else? A quadpart being? As long as I grow stronger and do not violate the natural laws of the metaverse, does it matter what I label myself as?

With my Core Realm formed, my next step is to fill it with Trinity. Trinity stored within my Core Realm will be my fuel source, so to speak. The more Trinity I am able to store, the more Trinity I will be able to use at a moment's notice.

It is so small.

True. The Master's was much bigger when he became a Triune.

This is just a cure, not the Master.

Shut your shitholes, you pair of annoying bitches. My irritation and annoyance floods my thoughts.

Ungrateful!

Ingrate!

Cur!

Animal!

Listening to the swords' thoughts, I have the impression of a pair of snotty human bitches turning up their noses and sniffing with an air of false superiority. Not many females born and raised in Shizukana Gake act that way, but I see it in the females from the larger cities. Shizukana Gake is just a backward border town in the eyes of the inhabitants of the larger cities.

With the sword radiating indignation but finally silent, I once more gather the ambient Trinity in the world around me. This time, after circulating it through my Body, Mind, and Soul, I draw it into my Core Realm. It takes barely more than a thought to compress the Trinity inside my Core Realm, and so long as I do not compress it too much, it remains in its compressed state. The bead that forms at the center of my Core Realm lack the extreme density of the beads I used to tear open my Body, Mind, and Soul. Even so, the stable density proves to be several dozen times the density of the ambient Trinity. It feels like the bead contains a thick mist of Trinity.

I stop gathering Trinity and draw on the Trinity in my Core Realm. It comes forth in a thick stream. I do nothing more than circulate it throughout my Body, Mind, and Soul, and while it circulates within me, I feel my strength, the speed of my thoughts, and the intensity of my emotions explode. Once I return the flow of Trinity to my Core Realm, my Body, Mind, and Soul apparently return to normal. But I have the feeling that the strength of all three might have permanently grown by a near infinitesimal amount.

As a feeling of elation bursts forth from my Soul, I do not bother to withhold my grin. I have taken the first step on the path toward true strength, the Path toward Transcendence.

After looking at the swords sticking up from the block of black metal, I turn my back on them and head for the door of the temple.

Hey!

Wait!

We are you going?!

Don't leave us here!

Cur!

Come back!

Stop!

We have been waiting for you!

Stopping, I turn to look back at the swords. Explain yourselves!

For several very long moments, no external thoughts enter my Mind. But I get the impression that the sword are nervous and chagrined.

We are swords Made for killing Dragons.

Those pathetic lizards are not Dragons. The Maker killed the True Dragons . The sword that calls me cur flares up with anger.

Our Master gave us the purpose of killing Dragons. One remains. Maybe more.

Indignation mixes with the cur sword's anger. This cur will never kill God. Our Master fell to one of the lizards! This cur is nothing compared to our Master! Look how pathetically small its Core Realm is.

The sword that calls me animal projects a sense of calm resolve. This animal is the one we have been waiting for. Life intends for us to be wielded by him.

I don't want to be used by a cur!

I don't like swords. I'm not interested in taking you with me. I turn around and continue toward the temple's door.

You need us.

Submit to us! We can make ever a cur, like you, strong!

I let my anger fill my thoughts. Piss off! I've no use for a pair of oversize, arrogant lumps of steel.

Come back. We will serve you.

NO!

Yes. Our purpose is to kill Dragons. Our fate is to serve the ones chosen by Life.

Turning around, I stare at the swords. Life left them for me? Really?

I do not like swords. Really. Anything bigger than a large knife or a blackjack puts me off. Hatchets are a nice size too. But battle axes are too big. Just the part of these swords sticking out of the metal block is already as big as a blackjack. Looking at the shape and taper of the part of the blades I can see, those swords have to be at least a hundred and twenty centimeters overall. Swords that long are just meant to get in the way when you fight and be tripped over.

You can bind us to you.

NO! DO NOT TELL THE CUR THAT!

Be silent, sister. We have a purpose left for us by our Master and his Mother, Life. We will fulfill our purpose. The sword that calls me animal seems more resigned than happy.

We deserve better than to be wielded by a cur!

I deserve better than a pair of mouthy bitches! What in all the fucking hells makes you think I even want the pair of you? My rage pours through my thoughts.

We are fated to be together. It is Life's will. Without each other, none of us will achieve our purpose. We need to kill Dragons. You need to kill the Dragons who have sealed your Realm. If you do not wield us, you will probably never live long enough to achieve your purpose. Those calling themselves Dragons may be nothing more than lizard with overblown egos, but they are far more dangerous than you know. We have been sealed to the Od. We can use the Od on your behalf. With us, your chances of triumphing over the Dragons will increase by tenfold, perhaps more.

Ten fold? More like a million fold.

The Od. It is mentioned in several books in Old Man Jones' collection. It is the Power that makes Blood Oaths binding. It is a Power that exists to fight against the Primal Powers. If the swords can truly wield the Od, it would give a tool to fight against the Celestial Court and the Daos themselves.

I nod to myself. How do I bind you to me?

I do not agree with telling the cur about this.

Silence, sister. He has his purpose, and we have our fate.

After the cur sword remains silent for a moment, the animal sword continues its thoughts. Blood. You only need to place a drop of blood onto each of our hilts. Blood will act as a medium to allow you to tie Soul Threads to us. We will not resist. Do you know about Soul Threads?

Yeah.

One of Old Man Jones' books about what it called Items of Power had detailed descriptions about Soul Threads and how to weave them. When I read that book, my Ki had already been sealed to my Soul. I never tried to weave a Soul Thread, but I remember the process.

Moving to the block of metal, I swipe one palm across each blade. Their razor-sharp edges make a small slice on each palm. The blades absorb my blood into themselves.

Wrapping by bleeding hands around the swords' hilts, I bring the template for the pattern of a Soul Thread to the forefront of my Mind. After drawing Trinity from my Core Realm through my Soul, I weave into the shape of two Soul Threads and insert them into the blood leaking from the slices in my palms.

As the animal sword said, the swords do not resist. Carried by the medium of my blood, which is absorbed into the hilts of the swords, my Soul Threads split into countless smaller threads and spread throughout the entirety of the swords.

An image, perhaps a memory, plays out in my mind. I see a human, a male human, wielding the sword and fighting a black Dragon.