16 The Art of Creation - Spear Aura Part 1

Faint, almost unnoticeable fluctuations of Spirit Energy emanated from the spears, but the four didn't have a way to feel them. Asura Ryuu and Asura Tenka vaguely felt that something existed inside the spears, but even they couldn't grasp what exactly was that.

An interesting point that they haven't considered is what would happen with the spears under the influence of their Divine Sense. After all, Divine Sense was something that originally didn't exist outside of The Realm of Gods. The answer to that were precisely those fluctuations they vaguely felt. Under the influence of Spirit Power on the Divine level, the Spirit Energy within the spears awoke - the faint intelligence was born.

Neither of the four could feel it because they lacked Spirit Sense that came with Spiritual Awakening - the way to sense Spirit Energy within objects.

But there was someone who felt the existence of that faint intelligence within the spears - the old man. His eyes were slightly parted, enough to fit a sheet of paper between the eyelids. His Spirit Sense skimmed through the spears and then carefully observed each of them, after which a faintly surprised expression appeared on his wrinkled face.

"They are the children of destiny, alright. Those spear shafts can already be ranked as a Half-Spirit Weapons themselves if used as poles... I still can't get used to their miracles." The old man thought to himself, his eyes gradually lifting to the sky as he stared at the colorful clouds and several suns competing with each other which will set first. The day here was several times longer than a day on Earth, but Asura Ryuu couldn't figure out an exact number of times. The strange thing was that he didn't feel sleepy at all, even during the night. That was one of many benefits that Spirit Energy brought.

They couldn't absorb Spirit Energy willingly, but through breathing and eating it found its way into their bodies naturally. The old man disappeared from the chair and appeared in the air, standing above the clouds. His thoughts raced, as if influenced by the passing clouds beneath his feet. At this moment, the old man's eyes suddenly filled with shock as his vision fell below him, on the Asura pair. He had a feeling of something crawling up his spine for no other reason than because the two were staring at the exact place where he was.

"Those two... M-monsters!", he thought to himself as his mouth morphed into a bright smile. "I'm glad they're a part of my family. What would you think if you saw them? I wonder. Would you be willing to be their adoptive mother if I asked you once again? Would you give me another chance?". His eyes glittered under the colorful sky on the verge of morphing to tears. Even strong Spiritualists weren't immune to the influence of emotions - they may even be more emotional than others once it comes to that point. Constantly suppressed emotions become powerful once released.

The old man had a strong Spirit Power, hence the surging feelings quickly died down. He glanced at the ground once more with resolute eyes as a vast amount of Spirit Energy left his body and condensed into a wolf-like creature. Both he and the creature vanished as he returned to the chair, but where the creature went remained a mystery, although not for long.

Meanwhile, the four youngsters had their fill eating and laughing before being interrupted by a howl coming from the forest nearby. Asura Ryuu quickly grabbed his spear, placed the spearhead made from a sharp stone on the spear and put the safety ring on, strengthening the connection between the spear shaft and spearhead. He assembled the spear in less than a minute and his Divine Sense scanned the surroundings.

Asura Ryuu thought to himself: "That howl reminds me of a wolf and it's somewhere close. It seems like I'll have a chance to test this one soon."

He felt his blood boil in excitement and carefully felt the spear with his Divine Sense. When his Divine Sense fell on the spear, something within 'awoke' and responded to his call. The spear felt much more familiar with himself as soon as that happened. Asura Ryuu wondered if it was just an illusion, but he didn't have much time to ponder as a wolf's head peeked out behind the tree, identifying its prey and slowly came in their direction.

The three behind him already had spears in their hands and Asura Tenka came next to Asura Ryuu, pointing her spear in the wolf's direction. Xun Bao felt a hint of fear because this was the first time he ever came in contact with a living animal that could pose him a threat, but he suppressed that feeling while stealing a glance at Xun Meng. The girl didn't seem scared at all. There was even a hint of a cold, bloodthirsty light in her eyes which Xun Bao didn't quite understand.

Asura Ryuu once again had a reason to think that Xun Meng was not an ordinary girl because there was no way an ordinary girl would feel excited in the face of danger. "She won't become a sadist, will she?"

Her split personality was really troublesome, to the point Asura Ryuu thought that it'd be wise to carve out a demon on the other side of her spear. He noted that idea for later and focused on the wolf.

The more he looked at the furry shadow, the faster his heart began beating and then...

*Ka~*

There was a sound of something shattering within his Spirit World. He quickly submerged a part of his Divine Sense inside and found a chain coiled around a pitch-black claw in the middle of it. The claw radiated a strange, ominous aura as if it wanted to devour everything inside his Spirit World, but the chain suppressed it. He traced the chain back and found out it was connected to the Celestial Tree. "So that's where they disappeared to... What's up with the claw?!"

The claw kept on radiating a desolate, ferocious aura despite being suppressed by the chain. That could tell how powerful that claw was - the chain was now the same as the Celestial Tree!

"Did the seal on it break?", Asura Ryuu thought.

Coincidentally, the yellowish shimmer of runes from the claw was missing. "Yeah, the seal definitely broke! I wonder what ability it has? Will it be dangerous if I try it out without Spirit Energy?".

There was a desire to test it out, but he fought against the impulse. One wrong move in this world can cost him a life despite everything he accumulated during the nine lives. He didn't want to leave Tenka's side so soon after they finally got together again. Besides, he had a feeling that the claw had an affinity with him, as if it's a part of his body. That's why he told himself to wait a bit longer until he undergoes the Spirit Awakening and only then test it out.