Moyosore settled into a routine for the next week.

The mornings became renewed spars in the lava pool with ajax who pummeled his bones to mush and tore his flesh from his bones with precise attacks, Moyosore in turn would heal as fast as he could while trying his best to avoid the casual swings of Ajax’s’ katana or parry to the best of his ability without breaking the blade he had been given, so far, he had successfully defended the blade from breaking, his body, not so much.

On the bright side he gained an additional 10 levels in titans’ wrath, grinning to himself till ajax told him the skill cap in the archailect was at a thousand and he was nowhere strong enough to grin about the skill at level 51. The other training he did was meditation, a technique ajax said allowed swordsmen sense the aether around them and channel it into the feeling of blade intent or ki while also helping them heal up.

What he didn’t tell moyo however, was that moyo would meditate as his golden katana opened up bone deep cuts on his skin, ajax said it was for him to familiarize himself with the feeling of the sharpness of the blade and sense it in the air so as to be able to direct the core he was about to create into the battle intent type,

Moyosore was pretty sure his master was just sadistic and wanted a chance too just dice him like a tuna, not that he voiced that certain opinion anyways.

Several times the meditative training was close to killing him as he felt the blade intent attack ring in the air and cut deep enough to touch bones, moyo felt light hearted and was pretty sure if he could see his health bar, it would be in the single digits, he had to create a core as fast as possible and see his other attributes in order to know where his constitution stood.

As days passed, more and more, the baths in lava lasted longer and longer, Moyo could hardly feel any pain from the burn or heat any longer, since hitting the fiftieth level on titans’ wrath, his resistance of pain had grown so strong that bathing in lava passed on noting but the feeling of an itch, allowing him to focus more and more on the fights with ajax, who in turn assured moyo that the baths in lava had ensured his titans shield body had gotten the maximum tempering it could get from it.

Afternoons were Moyos' favorite. It was skill practice with both ajax and the rucar drones that he released. At this point all of the lower caste were dead, moyo had crossed the level 10 mark and had begun to fight the lava rucar hive soldiers who were level 10-20, still they were nothing but fodder to moyo whose speed and body proved more than a match for the stings and bites of the insects, it was ajax that was the main point of worry, the insects were mere distractions. As he fought Moyo broke the common aether shards he had gotten from his leveling up, using them as a substitute for battle ki to slash at the rucar and ajax who always had a bored look on his face.

At night ajax would produce the flesh of some low-level creature he had hunted as outside the cave was still too strong a ground for moyo to traverse, in his words he said,

“You might survive the first attack or two if you concentrate, but it is without doubt you would be prey, at least till your early 20s”

On the seventh day it happened, as moyo had cleared out the last of the rucar soldier drones and turned to ajax who swung his katana in an arc towards him, moyo had the strongest urge to cut ajax, to use his blood absorption skill on him, he wanted his katana to cut as well as crush him and with a crack in the air, ajax was pushed back a step, much to their surprise.

Before either could talk, Moyosore felt a feeling of heat in his stomach, like something blazing up. Ajax saw the look on his face and in a flash he barked,

“Lotus position now” he ordered and moyo felt himself unconsciously obeying, falling into the lotus position as he sat cross legged on the cavern floor,

“Use the breathing technique I taught you, imagine a blade cutting away at the aether inside of you, envision your skills surrounding said blade. They are a part of you, let them guide your steps” ajax said as moyo shut his eyes hard, breathing deeply and falling into a meditative trance,

Moyosore could see it, glowing softly, the edge of a blade coming to life, glinting in the darkness of himself, and then he saw two orbs rotating around the now forming blade, one glowed bright red, his blood absorption skill, throwing off a feeling of unmatched vitality and a dark brown orb that looked like crystal, his titan’s wrath skill, throwing off the feeling of rejuvenation.

Groaning as he felt the heat go up in strength, this felt nothing like the lava, it didn’t feel like conventional heat in the slightest, he could hardly explain it, clenching his fists tight, Ajax’s’ voice broke through the haze of pain he was feeling,

“Your core is about to be created, you need to forge the blade you’re envisioning, imagine yourself heating the metal, your body is the furnace, your will and the aether shards I’ve just broken are the metal, your blood is the cooling liquid and your titan’s wrath is the sharpening tool” he started,

“All these come together to forge the blade that will determine your core and the path you would follow”

Moyosore cracked an eye open, sweat pouring down his face,

“Reaping katana?” he said, voice hoarse,

“Let your will guide you, should it choose another path I am fine with it, you are still a swordsman and my disciple” ajax replied, a hint of pride in his eyes and moyo nodded, closing his eyes back and concentrating,

Back where he came from, in the stories and tradition of his people, there was a deity named Ogun, god of hunters and blacksmiths, lord of the warriors, he forged metal into blade, protecting the first abode of human civilization, or so the stories said, moyosore envisioned it all,

His body began to steam as he imagined a furnace, his rage and anger the flames that burnt hot enough to burn his foes to cinders, hot enough to protect those he cared about, so that they may not suffer the same cruelty he suffered at the hands of the archailect. He had thought hard about the path of the reaping katana and had come to the stark realization that said path was not for him. He could imagine himself killing off his foes no doubt, but not with the finality of the reaper,

Oh no, death was too simple for them,

He wanted to crush them, make them hit, batter and struggle against his very being and realize that every ounce of injury, pain and malice they brought his way would do nothing more than forge him in the flames of his anger, letting him grow stronger every time.

And so Moyosore gathered his willpower, adding it to the legendary aether shards that ajax crushed over him and his body assimilated, creating a metal unlike any other that shone a hue of blue and black,

Clang!

Clang!

He could see Ogun, hitting his hammer, his very being on the iron, sparks of light that spoke of his fury flowing up away into him, reminding him that his wrath would not fade till everyone or being who would threaten his world were left broken and in fear of him. Ogun dipped the metal in his blood gotten from the skill blood absorption, a significance that as he cut his foes down, he took a vital aspect from them, adding it to his being and turning it against them to break their spirits.

He could see the blade, shining within him as Ogun used his titan’s wrath skill to sharping the edges into a sharpness that was an impossibility.

Finally, it clicked in place, a feeling of his body cooling descended upon him,

Congratulations! Your battle intent core has been created!

Notice! due to the use of a substantial amount of legendary aether shards, core is of the legendary grade!

Notice! Due to being the first individual from earth to forge a legendary core, you’ve been given +100 to will power!

Moyosore could see the katana representing his core glowing inside him, his two skills rotating it like planets in a solar system, breathing out he opened his eyes as another notification came up across his face

Congratulations! you have created your own path, the path of the crushing blade!

Rather than follow behind the footsteps of your master, you have decided to forge your own path, only time will tell if this was a wise choice or foolishness, as the first from your world to create a path you’ve been awarded +100 to endurance.

Breathing out in relief, moyo felt a series of prickles flow all over his body, like his nerves were heating up, glowing red through his skin,

“Your core lines are beginning to form; this should take just a minute” ajax said

And truly in a flash it was over, moyo stood up, hopping from one foot to another,

“so?, let me see your new table” ajax asked,

And with no sense of unease, for Moyo knew within him that he had chosen the path that suited him the most, he opened his table

Name: Moyo

Stage: fledgling

Path: crushing blade

Body: titans shield (+50% defense against mental attacks)

Race: human

Level: 10 (200 points)

Skills:

Blood absorption(L) 5 titans’ wrath(r)51

STR: 15

END: 115

W.P:130

CNS: 30

DEX:10

INT:5

Ajax kept quiet for a minute, staring at his table, eventually he looked up, a smile on his face,

“Swing your blade at me, I want to test a theory” he said,

Moyo nodded, crushing an uncommon aether shard and refining the shards into battle intent with his willpower, it felt so much easier, his willpower showing itself, and with a swing he sent it to ajax,

Or he supposedly did,

With a finality his blade shattered into hundreds of pieces, ajax did his one step movement and left the spot of the attack in a flash, Moyo saw the wall of the cavern where ajax stood a minute ago crumble to broken stones after it split in two separate chunks, about to talk, he received a notice,

Congratulations! You have acquired skill edge of the titan(u) 1!

“Let me guess, you acquired a skill?” ajax said with an air of superiority,

Moyo rolled his eyes, nodding in affirmation,

“The points you see beside your level are attribute points, you can add them to your attributes, in my opinion, I’d recommend adding 100 to your strength and 50 each to both constitution and dexterity, considering your build” ajax said,

In a rush of power, Moyo felt himself grow stronger, muscles becoming thick, growing a bit taller and becoming lighter, he could feel the energy racing through his very being. Smiling at ajax who understood the feeling, he looked at his stat table again,

Name: Moyosore

Path: crushing blade

Body: titans shield (+50% defense against mental attacks)

Race: human

Level: 10 (200 points)

Skills:

Blood absorption(L) 5 titans wrath(r)51 edge of the titan(u)1

Attributes:

STR: 115 END: 115 P:130 CNS: 80 DEX:60 INT: 5

“Congratulations disciple, you are now fully on the path of the katana, even if you will not be the one to inherit the path of the reaper, I can say with pride you are my disciple, carry that title with pride” ajax said,

Moyo faced his master, kneeling and bowing down as he pressed his face to the ground,

“This one was not worthy of being your disciple, but still you decided to take me on, I promise to hold that title high” Moyo replied,

Standing up, ajax smiled at him,

“I have a gift left for you, two really but one will be reserved till when you’re about to leave this dungeon in 3 months’ time” he started,

Opening a spatial rift, Moyo once again wished he could learn the skill, but instinctively he could feel something blocking him from learning it, it must be the system warning him. He watched ajax pull out a piece of metal rod from the rift,

“The reason your blade couldn’t withstand the attack you made was because it lacked any will” he said,

“Will?” Moyo asked,

“indeed, in the archailect, you would realize that the strongest weapons are those that have a will of their own along with becoming sentient later on, and those weapons complement the will of their wielders, it’ll initially start out as a simple weapon of potent willpower and later on gain a sentience of its own, this piece of metal is permeable to the will of someone, it hasn’t been impressed on anyone yet, mined in my world, it would be the metal of your blade, you would use it in place of your blade, channeling your willpower in the form of battle intent or ki in the place of a blade, and when the time is right, we will smelt it into a blade, worthy of you” ajax said,

Again, moyo bowed at the waist in gratitude,

“Now rise, look your master in the eye as he decides to help you level up your skills” ajax said, eyes alight,

This time moyo had no complaints as he settled into place, a grin on his face. In a move, moyo, the swordsman on the path of the crushing blade met his master, ajax deathblade on the path of the reaping katana.