I am... a sword.

"Hmm? Oh. I guess I expected as much."

The night was dark and cold, snow slowly coating the ground. Pulling her hood lower over her face, a young woman began to walk away from the man bending a woman over in the back alley.

"Mmn... guess breaking it off is okay now? Why did I ever accept in the first place?"

Dark black eyes scanned the vicinity. They were slightly dull, almost fully emotionless. Looking up into the sky, her hood slid back. Long brown hair spilled out as she sighed towards the sky.

"Tch... who was that girl anyways? She had a decent body, though my butt is bigger. Hers was perky though."

The woman sat on a park bench as her phone began to ring.

"Ah. Hey mom."

"No, I'm alright."

"I'm keeping warm."

"Eh, no. I'm breaking things off."

"I'll come visit soon, I promise. They need to clear the snow some more first."

"I'm looking forward to it. Your food is the best."

A tiny light came back to her eyes as she spoke on the phone, unaware of the people creeping close behind her.

"This the bitch?"

"Nah, nah. She's supposed to be really hot. This one... she's meh."

"Shut it. This has to be her. No one else is here!"

Three men crept closer, surrounding the girl from behind. She had just flicked her cigarette, knocking the ashes into the snow.

"Sorry babe."

FWACK

FWACK

FWACK

The men slammed their bats against her head, blood spattering the ground. In an instant, her dark eyes were becoming lifeless. Her blood melted some of the snow, but it began to freeze.

"Ah damn. She really wasn't her. Girls got blue eyes!"

"Heh. Boss won't get mad, just gotta find the real one."

The three men laughed as they walked away, leaving the girls phone on the ground. From the other end, a small voice kept calling her name.

"Mina? Mina? Baby, are you there? What happened? Mina!?"

Mina blinked one last time, her mouth speaking two last words.

"Sorry, mom."

Her vision then went black, sending her into a sea of countless stars.

'Huh? My head doesn't hurt anymore. Am I in a hospital?'

Mina floated around in this space, her mind wandering as she searched for anything. Suddenly, a powerful voice boomed around her.

"Mina Riese!"

"Agh, ouch. Loud voice you've got there."

The echoing boom vanished as a much smaller voice came out. It seemed young, yet experienced.

"Apologies. You've been brought here for a special reason. You are my first ever case!"

"Your first case?"

"Yes. My first case to find what makes your soul happy."

"Ah. Cool. Just let me float here then. Last thing that made me happy was my mother's cooking."

There was a soft sigh.

"I can't do that. As you may have already realized, you did in fact die. You were murdered. A case of mistaken identity."

"So did they find who they were trying to find?"

The voice went quiet for a bit, but returned quickly.

"Ah, yes. They did. Turned out she was a cop. They've been arrested."

"Ah, cool. So about floating around?"

"Hehe. No can do. I'm supposed to make your soul happy. I can reincarnate you somewhere. You can be a man, or stay a woman. Your preference shows women, but you dated only men?"

Mina raised her missing eyebrows.

"Women? Huh. As a twenty-three year old virgin, I had thought I'd realize if I like women or men. Anything else your little... whatever you've got says anything else?"

"Hmm. You're a loner, with no actual friends. Only child, single mother. Bastard boyfriend... sadly he was cheating on you the whole time. I'm sorry."

Mina shrugged it off.

"I didn't even like him. I don't know why I stayed with him."

"Well, Mina, we do need to send you forward. You truly don't care?"

Mina shook her head, feeling a little silly she spoke instead.

"Not really. You can throw me into RNG is you want."

"RNJesus, or Lootcifer?"

"...was that meant to be funny?"

"Nope. Nevermind then. I'll just... throw you in here."

Mina could feel a strange force act against her, rather literally throwing her into a bright light. Closing her eyes, the light still shined through. Suddenly, all went dark.

'Agh... Why do I feel so stiff? Why can't I open my eyes?'

[Congratulations User. You have activated the Sword Spirit Evo. System.]

'Sword Spirit? Oh God no. Is that why I'm immobile? Why I can't see?'

Mina tried to struggle, half-assedly, until a new message appeared.

[Activating Passive Skill: Sword Sense]

Mina began to blink rapidly. She could feel, hear and even smell the ground she was plunged into.

'Wait... plunged?'

Looking down, though she couldn't truly move, Mina saw a stick shoved into the ground.

'Wait, I'm a stick? Wasn't I supposed to be a Sword Spirit?'

[Would User like to see their stats?]

'Erm... yea. Sure, why not.'

A new screen appeared in front of Mina.

[Sword Body-

Name: None

Race: Wooden Sword (Rotting)

Level: 1/10 Exp: 0/100

Durability: 50/50

Sharpness: 10/10

Attack Power: 2

-

Passive Skills:

Sword Sense-Unlocks the 5 senses on your true body.

-

Active Skills:

Astral Projection-Casts an Astral Projection. Main method of moving your body. Cannot be harmed by physical attacks, but can touch ores, crystals, monster cores and yourself. Distance allowed, 5 meters. Your true appearance within your body.

Devour-Allows you to devour ore, crystals, beast cores and even other weapons to gain power. Also gives exp as well as stat bonuses. Limit is 30 per common, 15 per rare, 5 per legend, 1 per divine.

Astral Body-

Name: Mina

Race: Weak Sword Sprite

Level: 1/5 Exp: 0/10

Energy: 50/50 (Decreases when you move. If exhausted, Astral Body fades leaving you defenseless. Recharges 1/hr.)

Strength: 1 (Average is 10)

Magic: 1 (10)

Speed: 1 (10)

Charm: 5 (Based on race/appearance)

Luck: 10. (Stays the same your whole life unless acted upon by skills or gods.)

-

Passive Skills:

Sword Proficiency- Allows better handling of swords.

Spirit Grip- Allows you to grab yourself, as well as what is deemed food for you.

-

Active Skills:

Absorb- Allows your Astral Body to gain power through the elements. Must be near high concentrations of elemental energy to activate. May unlock skills, magic or a myriad of bonuses based on elemental purity. Can gain exp through this for Astral Body.]

'Huh. So I eat to grow. Let me try this, Astral Projection.'

Mina felt herself split away from her body, manifesting nearby. She looked around quickly, deeming the area safe. She was deep within what appeared to be a forest. The clearing she stood in was quiet and peaceful, holding a beautiful blue pool of water. Taking a deep breath, Mina took the first few steps to the waters edge. Looking inside, a small but adorable face peered back at her.

"Oh. I'm a kid?"

Her voice flowed smoothly from the child's lips, soft and small but a bit high pitched. She stared into her new silver grey eyes, as well as watched her soft white hair slip into her face. Pushing it behind her ear, she could see that it only reached her shoulders.

"I guess I'm cute, but I'm a kid. Well a sword, but a kid inside? Eh... whatever."

Mina stretched a little, noticing that she couldn't feel with this body. She only saw and heard from it with a minor ability to smell. She looked down, noticing the white gown that draped her body. It reached her little skinny knees, leaving her with little restriction if she chose to run.

"I'm really pale. I almost look sick."

She turned away from the water and stood next to the wooden sword, her body. She stroked the blade, feeling like someone just ran their fingers down her thigh.

"Egh... that felt weird as hell."

The sword was about as long as she was tall, being near 1.3 meters in total. The wood was definitely aged, and definitely rotting.

"What does the rotting status mean?"

[Rotting status means that, as a wooden sword, your body is weakened. This causes you to use double your Durability when you take action.

Durability is based around your life force. If it runs out, you are dead. Eating will refill this.

Sharpness is based around stamina based skills. The more you use, the weaker you'll feel. It regens at a rate of 1 per minute.]

"This system expected my next questions. It's kind of smart? Can it help me moving forward?"

Nothing happened, so Mina shrugged her tiny shoulders. She grabbed the hilt of herself, feeling like someone just grabbed her skull.

"This is kinda creepy, but I can't move away from this... so heave."

She began to tug on the sword with all her might until... absolutely nothing. She couldn't pull herself out of the ground.

"Huh. So I'm stuck here."

Mina laid beside the sword, making herself comfortable, but sighed when all she felt was the cold earth sealing her legs.

"This is terrible, but I guess a nap will be nice. Haven't had one since I started that dead end job."

She closed her eyes before asking her system one last question.

"Why can't I pull the sword out?"

[Astral Body needs at least 3 strength to pull your Sword Body from the ground.]

"Ah. Guess I'll just rest for now, I'm tired."

Mina's Astral Body began to fade as it returned to the sword.

'Maybe I can find something to eat when I wake up? Or I can just stay here... but that would get boring. This is the start of my new life... as a sword.'