Mastering Every Weapon

"This is not your business," Vallynor reacted coldly.

Vallynor was almost scared, imagining that death awaited him, and his soul would be obliterated in the next moment. He felt a sharp shift in his mood.

The God of Death, having calmed down, silently looked at Vallynor. Vallynor himself did not want to worsen their relationship with any words.

"I am bound by an agreement with all the gods. I could only watch, not help. Can you imagine how it feels to lose love and even your younger brother? If I could... but I am powerless. Now I am like in chains. Fortunately, you are mortal, and the agreement does not prevent me from helping mortals," the God of Death finally replied to Vallynor's question. However, Vallynor felt that the conversation was not with him but with a fragment of the soul within him.

"The time has come. I can no longer stay. I have no mood for conversation. I can only give you a gift and offer advice," the God of Death, approaching, touched Vallynor's forehead with his index finger and said, "Become stronger as much as you can. Even for strength, you will have to cast aside humanity and kindness. You have become an enemy to all gods by entering this world. None of them will want a potential threat to develop behind their backs."

Vallynor never imagined that he would become a target for the gods. Of course, he received various warnings and hints. The gods will not leave him alone, and he will have to fight them. But all this seemed too much like a plot from some book.

The God of Death smiled gently, patted Vallynor on the head, and said, as if instructing a student:

"Even you won't be able to see me. I will watch over you and root for you to make the most of this situation. I'm leaving," he turned and began to move away. Vallynor reached out, wanting to stop him, but the beautiful human form turned into dust and sand within a few seconds, slowly settling on the ground.

Vallynor himself saw the world around him crumbling, and the dust obscured his vision. Eyelids became heavy, closing on their own. Vallynor felt a long-forgotten physical fatigue and drowsiness. He resisted, not wanting to close his eyes, but helplessness took its toll. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep.

The next moment, Vallynor woke up in his room. Opening his eyes slightly, he thoughtfully pondered everything he had learned. He contemplated his path forward, already feeling the desire to disconnect. Remembering that he needed to return to the grimoire, necromancers awaited him there, ready to share their knowledge.

***

Beyond the sealed world, in weightlessness, an old man with a long beard sat. He assumed the lotus position, his face turned towards the sealed world. His calling was to guard, destroy, or detain those who tried to escape from the sealed world.

The old man sat with closed eyes, not moving an inch, even when an asteroid flew towards him, colliding and breaking into pieces. However, it didn't affect the old man. Flying by, even a black hole couldn't alter his position. Only a trespasser could make him open his eyes and move forward.

Sensing something, he opened his eyes and looked in the specified direction. From the sealed world emerged a soul, wounded and almost completely filled with impurities.

"At last, I managed to break free! So many years of suffering were not in vain... ahhh..." - the poor soul didn't even have time to rejoice before being caught and held like a chicken.

"Hmmm... Mmmmmm? Almost became an abomination. No point in letting you go."

"Wait, wait... ahhh..." - the soul heard the words of the one who caught her and realized that death awaited her. After so many years of struggling for survival, she would be destroyed, with no chance of reincarnation. But before she could do anything, she was already torn apart.

The old man looked at the scattering fragments of the soul, took some of them containing memories, and sealed them. Then he sent them back and, sitting down, closed his eyes.

***

Returning to the world of the book, Vallynor woke up surrounded by necromancers who stared at him with gleaming eyes. There were even those he saw for the first time in his life. And all of them looked at him as if he were a desirable morsel.

"Well, how was it?" asked one of them.

"What?" Vallynor instinctively replied, not understanding what was being talked about.

"How was the meeting with the God of Death? What did he say?" - in Vallynor's voice, he recognized one of the girls who had previously given advice on raising undead from corpses.

"How do you know?" Instead of answering, Vallynor asked a question, wanting to know how they all found out about his meeting.

"Because of the great and terrible aura that enveloped the whole world. This aura is weaker than I remember, but stronger than that of a phantom or an illusion. This means you encountered the avatar of the God of Death," spoke the man with long black hair, dressed in a necromancer's cloak adorned with bones and skulls.

"He told me about..." Vallynor hesitated, not knowing what to say. The information from the God of Death was very delicate, and he didn't want others to know about it. He had to say something. "The God of Death taught me the basics, after which he said he would leave the rest of the information to you." Vallynor quickly concocted a lie, mixing it with the truth, and gave an inaccurate answer at the end.

"Is that all?" asked the little girl who stood at Vallynor's feet, raising her head and looking into his eyes attentively.

"He also said that one day he would leave this world but become an enemy of..."

"The gods," someone from the crowd finished Vallynor's sentence.

"Where..." Vallynor was interrupted again, but this time by another person.

"It's not a secret. If you think a little, you can guess who is to blame for all the troubles. And knowing that we, in freedom, can extract souls from their bodies, they don't like us. If one of their souls escapes control, the Gods will start hunting it down to either capture or destroy it," spoke Duke of Graves, who, as it turned out, was also here.

"The gods are hypocritical beings, greedy for power and knowledge. They will hunt down anyone to extract any information that can strengthen themselves as well as their servants and subordinates," said Krina, dressed in her favorite dresses filled with souls.

"So, the God of Death wants us to teach you," weakly spoke the man with long hair, dressed in a necromancer's robe.

"Teach the boy? But he's only at the first stage. And he hasn't even chosen his path as a necromancer. The army, the curse, and... the third, mysterious path, remaining undisclosed for us. The aristocratic path, allowing the use of the other two paths. But that's not certain."

"We just have to teach him. Knowledge can save him in the future. So, it's better not to ask such foolish questions," interrupted one of the necromancers, Experavit.

"Experavit?" - many looked at him surprised, as he recently said that his spiritual body was weakening, and he needed to devour a few souls. But now he stood before them, looking the same as always.

"Something happened?" he asked, releasing his aura.

"No, no," the girl quickly replied, lowering her head.

"Master is here!" - everyone turned to the shout of one of the necromancers. Seeing a flying skeleton hovering over Vallynor.

It was Retos, who looked at Vallynor with his glowing points. Like lightning, he approached Vallynor, making everyone step back a few paces. Even Vallynor wished to retreat, but he realized that they were all distancing themselves from him as if he were a source of plague. He couldn't curse them, and closing his eyes, he prepared for the collision.

But instead of a collision, he felt someone patting him on the shoulders, and then began to shake him.

"Hey, open your eyes and tell me what happened. I want to know everything," Retos spoke loudly, shaking Vallynor back and forth.

"Everyone, step aside!" commanded Duke of Graves. He looked at Vallynor and the necromancers, who began to divert curious looks from the boy, transitioning to waiting for orders and explanations. Vallynor couldn't stay on the sidelines.

"Wait, I want to learn new information," Retos shouted. Even now, he continued to shake, but feeling Experavit's aura around him, he lowered his shoulders and stepped back.

Duke of Graves looked at all the necromancers, as if they were standing like dolls in a discount store, and began to speak:

"I met the God of Death, and he ordered to teach Vallynor everything. But in exchange, he must pay with a new form of currency. And now disperse, don't meddle in others' affairs."

"But we want to know what the God of Death said to the boy," exclaimed one necromancer from the crowd.

"Do you think the God just summoned Vallynor for a chat? And don't think he could forget. He's a god, one of the oldest. What he talked about with Vallynor remains a secret to us, and that's it. Today I will continue to teach how to create undead," Duke of Graves gazed at the crowd, understanding that if left alone, they might lose patience and swarm with questions. So, he had to extinguish this dangerous fire, knowing that the God of Death could no longer come.

Necromancers looked at each other, unsure how to react. Some wanted to get angry and shout, while others continued to ask their questions. But most began to lose interest and realized that it was not worth meddling in other people's affairs.

"Let's go," Duke of Graves said to Vallynor to leave as quickly as possible and start the lesson. Time was short, and they were already wasting it on meaningless questioning.

"I won't teach this boy," spoke one of the necromancers. It was a man with long hair, dressed in a necromancer's mantle, adorned with bones.

"What are you talking about, Iratus?" Duke of Graves asked displeased.

"I see nothing special in him. On the contrary, a pitiful creature, unworthy of my knowledge. And until he proves otherwise, I won't teach him," Iratus replied, turned around, and left. Shortly after, several other necromancers also refused and left the place.

Duke of Graves was displeased, but he had nothing to do. He had to continue thinking about what he saw in Vallynor's soul.

"Fine. Those who don't want to teach Vallynor can continue their useless existence. I've said everything," Duke of Graves turned away from the group and left, followed by Vallynor, who didn't know what to think about this situation.

***

Deep underground, shadows raced through the tunnels. Stopping at a particular door, they knocked twice. Then they entered an empty room. The room was square, adorned with several symbols that could drive mortals insane.

Seating themselves in the center of the room, the shadows knelt down and began to pray. Wings on their back unfolded, emitting white light. This light, touching the drawings on the walls, began to glow. After some time, an angel raised his head in confusion. It was Cassiel. Standing up, he exited the room.

"Wait, wait? We can't give this creature time," Cassiel whispered. He recalled the battlefield he had seen. He expected to see something standard, repetitive, and senseless. But this time, he encountered an anomaly. Something that could penetrate this world and remain alive. It hadn't fallen or been destroyed yet. And that wasn't the most important thing. The crucial point was that it contained two opposing threads of fate – the hero's and the villain's. Something he had never seen before and considered impossible.

Informing the chief of everything, he received the response "wait." Now they had to wait for further instructions. Cassiel's thoughts were confused – whether they were rebellious or foolish, but his main task remained – to await the Gods' next instructions while trying to understand what could prompt the Gods to give such an order.

***

Early in the morning, dressed and ready for a new day, Vallynor moved to the arena where Neffan, Alexander, Gabriel, and Ashley awaited him. Neffan, as usual, was eager to start the lesson as quickly as possible to finish it promptly. Alexander looked pathetic. Gabriel was covered in bruises, with black eyes from fatigue. But even this couldn't hide the bruise on one of his eyes.

Only Ashley looked cheerful with her beautiful smile. She raised her hand and waved to Vallynor, shouting that they were here.

Seeing this, Gabriel almost had a stroke. He put his hand on his heart, knelt down, and began muttering something under his breath.

Approaching, Ashley was the first to speak:

"Happy to see you again. I see everything's good with you... Too bad about Koshchey." She cheerfully greeted until she remembered about the immortal Koshchey. Her voice became sad. Afterward, she returned to her usual smile, inherent to her legend.

"Today we'll train for not 3 hours, as before, but 9 hours," Alexander spoke melancholically. Shaking his head, he became serious.

"9 hours?"

"Yes, nine hours, with the help of this little artifact, which will help you replenish your mental energy," Ashley answered.

"What is this artifact, and why do I need to replenish it?" Glancing at the hourglass in Ashley's hands, Vallynor began to guess. Still, he asked to confirm his suspicions.

"This artifact speeds up time threefold. But for this, it needs energy. And for this energy to be somehow linked to time. And because you have a rune from the soul – the Butterfly Effect. You meet all its requirements. Here it is, yours," Ashley tossed it to Vallynor.

Vallynor wanted to catch the artifact but somehow missed it. Due to this, he quickly summoned the hands of the soul to catch the artifact and prevent it from falling to the ground.

Having caught and lifted the artifact, he, out of shame, tried not to look at them but to concentrate on the artifact itself. It looked like a twisted cone, held by two pillars, with a plate between them.

"What is this artifact called?" he couldn't help but ask.

"You can call it whatever you want. But officially, this artifact belongs to the class of time artifacts – a time acceleration artifact in a specific area," Ashley replied.

"And how does it work?"

"Very simple, you fill it with energy..." Ashley began to explain enthusiastically. Gabriel, regaining some of his dignity, stood up and lifted his nose. He was proud to have such a daughter and to have created this artifact with her. An artifact that could accelerate time threefold. He couldn't help but look at the artifact and Vallynor, and then at his daughter, who was glowing with joy. With whom he couldn't have created such a high-quality and unusual artifact. Most importantly, he wanted to twist Vallynor's head and tear out his soul.

Remembering how his daughter ran away in the bar during such wonderful sex with a nun and an old student. And got punched in the face for not starting to create the artifact that was planned to finish in a week. No, she hit Gabriel all over his body every five minutes and several times in the balls. Just to finish the artifact by this time.

Although he couldn't have completed this artifact without her, which speeds up time threefold. At most, it's somewhere around twice, maybe a bit more, but certainly not three. After all, my daughter is better at creating artifacts than I am. I regret that she doesn't have such a necessary resource as time.

"Did you create it?" Gabriel's question, posed by Vallynor, broke through her thoughts.

"No, I..."

"Yes, she did the main work, and I helped her finish and correct the flaws," Gabriel quickly spoke for Ashley. He knew she would downplay her merits. And he didn't like that. Because of this, he couldn't be proud and shout about what a wonderful daughter he had. Unless he wanted to get a scolding.

"Ooh! Ashley, can you create artifacts?" Vallynor looked at Ashley in surprise. He thought she was a mage. That she knew a lot about magic. And he didn't realize that she could also create artifacts.

"It's... well..." Ashley hesitated, trying to say something, until her father interrupted her.

"Of course, it's her main path. She's still far from being an expert, but she's already surpassing me. She's my pride. Ha ha ha," Gabriel proudly told Vallynor and began laughing at the end.

"But then where are her artifacts? And why hasn't she used them on the battlefield?" Vallynor asked. He couldn't recall Ashley using artifacts left and right, maybe something with time stopping, but he wasn't sure.

"This... well..." Gabriel himself began to stammer, not knowing what to say, while Ashley hid her red face in her hands.

"They confiscated all of them because the last artifact created consumed 17% of the remaining mana in the world. You know that in the city, we started implementing various restrictions on mana usage, similar to how electricity is used now," Alexander intervened in the conversation, seeing that Gabriel and Ashley were silent and not saying anything.

"Thanks, ALEXANDER!" Gabriel thanked Alexander, emphasizing his name.

"But then why is so much mana being spent on the battlefield? Wouldn't it be better to save it there too?" Vallynor asked, recalling the fireworks on the battlefield where various spells were flying.

"That's why restrictions were created so that in case of enemy attacks, they could counterattack. Also, to power the barrier. Let's finish with this. If you have any more questions, ask Caesar, he will tell you the details." Alexander could no longer sit and answer Vallynor's questions.

Nefan, sitting on the side and listening to the conversation, joyfully stood up and looked at Vallynor, who had left Alexander and taken the hourglass in his hands. Pouring energy into it, as Ashley had explained, he activated the artifact to work for three hours of real-time.

With the activation of the hourglass, Vallynor felt something strange. Turning to the group, he saw them moving very quickly, but the next second, they slowed down to a normal pace.

"It worked!" Ashley exclaimed enthusiastically, while Gabriel looked strangely at Vallynor.

"The daughter's scheme turned out to be the right one after all. Without it... you wouldn't have been able to sense magic and move for us at a slowed pace," Gabriel began to reflect.

"What happened?" Vallynor didn't understand what had just happened and wanted to get answers.

"My daughter told me that there is a soul rune in you, created from the soul of the Time Butterfly. The Butterfly Effect. And during the design, she added several schemes that interact with the artifact owner so that the artifact also influences the owner. I thought it was excessive and costly, but it seems to have been the right decision," Gabriel explained, remembering his long nights.

"Understood!"

"Let's stop talking and start training." Alexander, taking up his weapon, approached Vallynor and began to explain how to hold the weapon correctly.

"On the battlefield, warriors cannot always fight with their primary weapon. There can be many reasons – the weapon broke, was stolen, and so on. Therefore, you must master every type of weapon, even if you are far from it. Let's begin!" Alexander shouted, throwing a weapon at Vallynor and taking swords in his hands.

Nefan sat on the ground, awaiting his turn for training, while Ashley and Gabriel checked if the time bubbles were working as they should.

After several hours of battle with different types of weapons, Alexander stopped and turned to Nefan. At this time, Vallynor raised his hand and returned it to its place. He was glad that this ability worked, and he wouldn't have to lose either his hand or his leg.

Nefan, standing up and dusting off his backside, approached Vallynor and began to explain and demonstrate various battle techniques.