It was the middle of the night, and Davis was wandering aimlessly in the direction he believed was West. He had already made it past the more dangerous parts of the Devil’s valley, namely, the middle section, and was close to civilization.

The now-sheathed blade rested calmly at his sides, as Davis found a comfortable spot to sit down. He had dug out the Aetherites from all of the bodies of the Lilliacs, intending to increase the rank of his core.

It was unsafe and foolish to try absorbing the Aetherite right in the middle of a massacre, where half a hundred dead corpses lay gutted and rotting. It was practically a feast for stronger monsters in the area, which Davis was not too keen on meeting.

Digging the first of the Aetherite out of a makeshift bag made from stitching the clothes of the dead together, Davis sat cross-legged. He held the small transparent crystal up to his head, reflecting the pure pale moonlight of the Placid Moon.

And then in one swift motion, he chucked it into his mouth and held it down with his tongue. The disgusting taste of the Lilliac’s black blood permeated throughout his tongue, but he resisted the urge to spit or swallow. Either would be terrible, but swallowing would be fatal.

A hot, pleasurable sensation exploded from the base of his tongue, radiating outwards and permeating throughout his entire body. It was different than the soothing calm that slaughtering gave. If a comparison were to be made, consuming an Aetherite crystal would be akin to a delicious feast, while the sensation was a warm bath. Two entirely separate feelings, each not outclassing the other.

Davis’s crestfallen face lit up. 15 Aether! From Black-Ranked monsters no less! It was equivalent to hunting 15 Green-ranked monsters! The past 18 years were him just hunting nonstop and consuming their low-grade Aetherite, and he was barely halfway to Red Core saturation.

He quickly summoned his personal scroll to check his total Aether capacity.

Internally jumping for joy, Davis pumped his fist as he found that he had indeed gained 15 points of Aether. He glanced back at the makeshift bag, the tinkling of hundreds of Aetherite made his ears ring with joy.

Each one of the Lilliacs was a Black-ranked monster, which meant they each contained 4 cores at the very least. With 53 of them slain, confirmed by the Scrolls, that meant 211 Aetherite crystals, minus the one he ate!

He would completely saturate his Red core!

“Lewis… this one is for you.” He sunk the Aetherite crystal into the soft dirt. “Anna…” Another one sank into the soft dirt. “Jack…” Once the last one was in place, he poured the last bit of water he had out of his waterskin and held his hand out in prayer. “May we meet again someday…”

After a brief period of silence, reflecting on it, he dug a handful of Aetherite crystals out of the bag and stuffed it into his mouth. Ignoring the initial foul taste, he quickly processed through the Aetherite.

…
Soon, as the last dying lights of the moon trickled through the thick jungle canopy, Davis finished his last piece of Aetherite crystal needed.

Davis gave a low yawn, as he stood back up. His Aetherite bag is nearly empty now, with only a few pieces of Aetherite left.

He clenched his fist, admiring the newfound strength that he had gained.

‘So this is what a saturated core feels like… That’s why those rich bastards are so strong…’ Davis felt like he could punch through an entire tree, run for 10 kilometers, and swing a heavy broadsword for 10 hours straight. Just a feeling, of course.

But first, he had to check the promised upgrade the Scroll was willing to give him. He had heard about it once, though he was never brave or rich enough to saturate his own core.

In his mind, he commanded the Scrolls to show him the upgrades. Inwardly, he hoped that it would be good, especially since he picked up this blade and formed a contract with it. He had never even heard about Soulcrafts before… so there's hope for an entirely new and unheard-of Curse! He patiently waited as a different type of scroll, one entirely red in color, unfurled itself in front of him.

Davis hesitated as he was presented with a staggering 5 options. Being the ever-cautious and indecisive man, he was terrible when given options.

‘Each one has its own price…’ It was now up to Davis to deduce which Curse outweighed their flaws, simply from their description alone.

“Mad Slaughterer is immediately off…” He murmured. Not only does the description sound unappealing, but there's also a great chance that the Price would turn him insane. Being a normal human being was much more desirable, thank you very much!

Davis hesitated, before also crossing Shadow Assassin and Master Swordsman, simply because he felt that the Soulcraft curses far outrank the others. It was perfect for him because the Soulcraft had cut through the Black-rank monster's hides like it was nothing.

Only powerful blades by famed blacksmiths could do that, and here the Scrolls were giving an option for a class related to said powerful sword. Why would he choose any other class, if not these two?

Now that he had narrowed his extensive list of 5 options, it was much simpler to decide. The Moonlit blade, judging from its cryptic description, likely had something to do with the lunar cycle and Nightime. Being restricted to the cycle of night and day wasn’t really appealing to Davis, and there were way too many unknowns.

On the other hand, The Bloodied blade, although very similar, was definitely forcing him to become a merciless killer. He crossed out Slaughterer’s Curse for that same reason. There wasn’t any problem with that of course, everyone in the business had at least killed something. The problem was whether or not the terms included innocent people, and if it was worth the price. He wouldn’t want to become a mindless beast that only knew how to fight and kill. There was so much more in life than those 2 things.

After thinking about the subject for a few more minutes, he sighed. Instead of choosing one or the other, Davis dismissed the Scroll panel.

He would advance into the Silver core first, then he’ll decide. Maybe there would be an even better Curse for him to take, or even combine the two existing ones he had his eye on.

There were rumors, but no one that he knew of was stupid enough to delay a Curse upgrade. No one, except Davis of course.

“Now…” He tied the makeshift bag to his waist. There were still some Aetherite crystals left, jingling around. The sound suddenly prompted a question to appear in is head.

“The Scrolls kept referring to the blade as a ‘she’...” He untied the sword from his waist. “Masamune, isn’t it?” With his other hand, he extracted an Aetherite crystal.

“Can you even eat these?” Davis pushed the Aetherite onto the scabbard, patiently waiting for something to happen. “No?” He thought that since the sword was technically a living thing, it could also absorb Aetherite crystals, becoming stronger in the process.

‘Maybe it's because the scabbard is in the way.’ Davis hesitated. It was the Devil’s valley, he was pretty sure if he wanted to, he could find another monster within 10 minutes. Besides, he could always re-sheathe it. Weighing whether or not the risk was worth the reward, his cognitive and curious sides fought until his curiosity won.

Slowly, Davis unsheathed the blade. All 75 centimeters of silvery, lunar material extended outwards. Davis felt a tug near his heart, an invisible pressure slowly building up. ”Let’s try this again…”

Davis placed the Aetherite on the surface of the blade. This time, there was a reaction, with the crystal seemingly dissolving into a liquid and disappearing beneath the blade’s surface.

A myriad of runes glowed bright white, hundreds of thousands of them being written across the blade’s surface. “What the…” He waited, expecting the sword to do something else. Nothing happened.

“Well, that answers my question.” Suddenly, the runes of white disappeared, fading back into the sword as if they had never existed. “A very expensive torch.”

“More…” A small voice suddenly appeared in his head, making Davis jump.

“???!!!”

Shyberu

Didn't expect me to make her intelligent that soon, huh? In the previous iteration, she really hasn't done anything noteworthy until extremely later on, and seeing how this is her story, and not her wielder's, gaining intelligence early on is extremely beneficial for both of us. As for the Organs and Homunculi? I'll decide later on if I feel like they would fit in with the story, but soon.

Davis powerup arc!