Irwyn stared intently at the short sword in his hand. Although it may appear simple to an uneducated beholder, it was nothing of the sort. It was, in fact, miraculous, as Overseer had revealed.

[Equilibrium]

[Grade: True creation]

[Type: Devouring blade]

[Equilibrium is one of the 10 legendary devouring blades forged by the minor aspect of war, Mars. By their nature, all devouring blades are considered transcendent, however, Equilibrium surpasses the rest, as it is the creation that Mars had given up his life to forge. Devouring blades drain the very essence of slain foes, resulting in unlimited growth of their power. As true creation, Equilibrium is utterly indestructible by any means. Equilibrium requires two wielders to bind their souls to one blade each, only then will it leave its dormant state. Equilibrium warps its shape to suit the wielder once it is woken]

The possibilities of a weapon like that were immense. Irwyn was naturally aware of the power that a devouring blade possessed, he had formerly experienced it first hand after all. His was ranked 8th and was called Mayhem. It was originally a gift from Mars himself back before the aspects sacrificed their lives. When Irwyn had eventually given up on his immortal shell in order to combat the Crown it had been left it for safekeeping in the hoard of primordial king Tiamat. Perhaps it was ironic, however, Mayhem never reached anywhere near its full potential. Back then there was simply not much strife in the world, especially for him who used to dislike conflict. His brother, on the other hand, used to love the thrill of a hunt. His blade, Legion slayer, could at one point cut through the fabric of reality as though it was butter. However, the time it had lain dormant must have left it with only a remnant of its former glory.

Yet Equilibrium might become even more powerful than that, given enough time and blood. Irwyn glanced at Elizabeth on the bed beside him. She was still unconscious but should be waking up very soon. It was obvious what Logos interned for them, all things considered. At first, Irwyn had considered hiding the blades from Elizabeth, keeping them until he could properly reunite with his brother. However, after considering all the implications he could only shake his head and quietly scold himself. Logos wanted the two who successfully completed that quest to use Equilibrium together. If he were to defy the will of an aspect it would be heresy. When his thoughts reached that far, there was no longer any hesitation within Irwyn's heart.

As though on cue Elizabeth twitched. Based on the slight spontaneous movements of her limbs she was just about to wake up. It did not take long for her movements to grow more intense until she finally opened her eyes with a long exhale.

"Good morning," Irwyn leaned over so that she could see his welcoming smile.

"I fell unconscious," she immediately realised and a slight blush surfaced on her cheeks as she averted her eyes, "I am sorry."

"Don't worry," Irwyn waved his hand, "you did well."

This caused Elizabeth's blush to deepen as she slowly nodded. Eventually, she recovered enough to ask the obvious question: "Where are we?"

"Already back at the Blackburg manor," Irwyn answered her, "You had been unconscious for about 18 hours."

"Did the trial succeed?" she raised her hand to look at it, however, she couldn't perceive any difference.

"It did, in fact, we have completed all the bonus objectives," Irwyn said.

"I don't feel any different," Elizabeth glanced at Irwyn in confusion.

"Of course you wouldn't," Irwyn chuckled "the power still lies dormant within you. In order to unlock it, you must advance into the second tier. But before that, there is something important left to do," when Irwyn got that far he handed Elizabeth one of the two short swords.

"This is?" Elizabeth was clearly confused as she took the blade.

"The reward for our trial," Irwyn smiled and offered her a hand, "Hold on and follow my lead."

Elizabeth grasped his palm without hesitation. Now they were both holding each other's palm as well as one of Equilibrium's short swords in the other hand.

"Close your eyes and start taking deep breaths. Focus your mind within yourself as though you are seeking the mana within your veins, however, look for something else," as Irwyn instructed Elizabeth he had already began to shift his soul. Soul binding an item was usually not something a first tier mage could accomplish, however, it was, in the end, a matter of a soul. With his soul and experience, Irwyn would not necessarily need to even pay close attention, and could easily help Elizabeth whose soul was not that weak either.

Without much hesitation, Irwyn splintered his attention and lead a small sliver of his soul into Elizabeth's body. At first Elizabeth's soul tried to resist his intrusion, however, this subconscious defence did not stand a chance against Irwyn who gently dismembered all resistance. Since he had already gone this far Irwyn decided to do one more thing before he helped Elizabeth bind the weapon.

Slowly, Irwyn spread the sliver of his soul throughout Elizabeth's entire being, tightening his grip over her soul. All the while he encroached upon Elizabeth's head. There lay the essence of the soul, the epicentre of being where the soul was anchored to the brain.

The core of Elizabeth's soul took the shape of a sphere. Her power and understanding were still far too nascent to carve her very essence into a proper shape. The sphere was, however, far larger than the bead that most individuals in the first tier possessed, that signified the dormant potential of her soul which her own body would not be able to withstand yet, should it be unleashed.

With utmost care, Irwyn focused his soul and began to gradually penetrate into the inner core of Elizabeth's being. The process required an excruciating amount of discipline from Irwyn, as a moment of inattention would result in that slumbering power awakening, killing both Elizabeth and Irwyn in an instant. Something this immensely dangerous was naturally done only with absolute confidence from Irwyn. Slowly but surely he delved deeper and deeper until he had the most inner centre of Elizabeth's soul within his grasp. Then he didn't do much. He just allowed the path which he had trod to meld, disconnecting the small strand of a soul within from his consciousness.

What he had left behind would quickly integrate itself into Elizabeth's untempered soul. From then onward it would become an imprint, growing stronger together with Elizabeth. It would be the brand of Ignis Lumen, a mark which signified Elizabeth as someone who belonged to and obeyed only a single being. She would now truly remain his, in life, and in death. Irwyn would always be able to find her as long as her soul didn't cease to exist.

With that done, it was time to get to the original purpose of his intrusion. With ease, Irwyn guided Elizabeth's tamed soul to concentrate on her natural mana pathways.

"I can feel something," Elizabeth exclaimed after merely a few seconds.

"Good, focus on that thing, and try to control it like you would mana," Irwyn instructed and kept a close watch on the development within Elizabeth's body. At first, her control was clumsy at best, as she could barely cause small ripples to manifest, however, she improved rapidly, in fact, many times faster than even Irwyn had anticipated. In merely half an hour she handled her soul well enough to hasten its speed, and she even managed completely halt her soul from flowing. She could thin or thicken individual strands, and even form simple helixes or spirals. When another hour passed she could already create simple shapes with ease and multitask.

"I think I got the hang of it," Elizabeth announced, and Irwyn nearly sighed. That talent slightly terrified even him. Were all Heralds this terrifying given proper guidance, or did he managed to pick up a rare case even among them? That was not something he could easily answer.

"If you can manage it, concentrate some of that power, lead it through your veins and channel it into the sword you are holding," although Irwyn was startled, he would not let that have an impact on his ability to reason. He carefully observed Elizabeth insert her soul into Equilibrium, and followed suit. It was important that their timing was similar.

Just as Irwyn had expected, Equilibrium took over the binding as soon as a sliver of his soul entered. It was only expected from such a high-grade weapon. The binding was halfway done when an unexpected change had occurred. A blinding light was suddenly emitted from the swords. That was definitely not a normal occurrence. Irwyn intended to investigate, however, he was not given a chance. A surge of drowsiness entered his mind. To his immense surprise, Irwyn found himself unable to resist. Before he could come up with a countermeasure, that fatigue seemed to multiply exponentially, affecting his ability to react. No defence had been raised before his mind succumbed to oblivion.