Birthday Presents IX - Sword - Curse - Spear

"Well, I may be the Sword God, but I know something might have happened within that sword, so I'll make this quick..."

"..."

Philip widened his eyes from Ken's remark. Something did happen inside the Fuyu No Ame, but considering what happened, he's very doubtful that Ken knows exactly what happened

"Here!"

Ken pulled an object out of his dopo. The object looked large that it was supposed to be impossible to fit inside his dopo. This lead Philip to believe that Ken's dopo is some kind of special storage of some sort, like a dimensional storage, storage rings, dimensional boxes, and many more. But Philip is doubtful that such skills or items exists this early on in the Mysticism Age

Athough, Ken has been living almost since the Dawn of Creation of the universe, so it's possible that Ken has some sort of dimensional storage ability inside his dopo

Ken then threw the object towards Philip, to which he caught skillfully. Ken didn't bother standing up and coming closer to Philip

"..."

Philip turned the object and looked down on it

The object was revealed to be another sword. Though, it can't be called as a sword, but it might as well be a sword

The sword is shorter than normal, almost a shortsword or a dagger. The blade is quite thick and it looks very ordinary. The color is either brown or brass that gives the impression that it's made of wood, copper, bronze, brass, or all of the materials combined. In addition to that, a string is attached to the pommel of the sword and extends to a bead and a charm

The charm has symbols on it, almost like Japanese, Korean, or Chinese. One of the three

But seeing the nature of the sword, he knows which country has these symbols. It was a stretch, but he couldn't be wrong

This kind of weapon is very popular in wuxia and cultivation novels after all

'A flying sword from China?'

"That is a flying sword that I took from someone about thousands of years ago"

Ken confirmed Philip's guess

"From where?"

"A distant world from a distant galaxy"

'Oh! It's not from China then...'

In truth, there is a very small possibility that this flying sword, or more accurately, the owner of this sword came from China considering the words written in the charm

[Health. Prosperity. Family. Lover]

These were the words written in Chinese symbols that Philip could read using his [Earth Langauge Translator] ability

If these were Chinese, the owner of the sword might've reached the pinnacle of his cultivation and at that time, the Spirit of the World had to remove them and ascend to a higher world

That's where Ken met them and who knows what happened after that. Ken might've killed them, they could've been already dead, or Ken took their flying sword as a punishment of some sort

Despite all of that, Ken chose this as a gift for Philip

"Why this flying sword?"

"Eh, I just didn't have any use for it... Besides, you need other flight methods other than growing a pair of bloody wings or relying for others to carry you"

"Well, I don't mind carrying him when it's needed"

Tenshi commented earnestly. Ken narrowed his eyes in bitterness while other found it endearing

"Anyways, you don't have other methods of flight other than the blood wings, right?"

"Yeah... Besides actually manipulating mana or opening my status as the God of Darkness"

"Yeah, that's why you need other methods of flight rather than using abilities at the level of a nuke for trivial activities"

"I know..."

"Geez... I don't know why you can't simply fly with your current power despite everything. Why is that?"

"Well... Conception states that you can't access the concept of flight if you don't have a medium or method, such as wings, boosters, capes, or natural abilities such as telekinesis, control of space, air, gravity, or any medium, and divine energy"

"What? Who decided that??"

"Huh? You mean that's false?"

"Not necessarily... I mean..."

Ken suddenly became quiet as he began to realize the truth

"Wait... You're right! What?!"

Ken was plenty surprised. Other gods thought that it was common sense and everyone else already knew that as Alucard, Mathilda, Jude, Justine, Tenshi, and Sheena demonstrated flight capabilities before while using blood wings, jet propulsion boosters, sword energy, vector manipulation, chibi angel wings, and electromagnetivity respectively

They were then confused as to why Ken was very confused

"Well, anyways... Thank you for the gift. I'll make sure to make use of it"

"Ah! Of course! I reckon you already know how to use it, right?"

"Of course, I do... I have to use Sword Qi rather than Sword Energy, right?"

"Correct"

"Qi and energy? Aren't those two the same thing?"

Natsume entered the conversation and asked with genuine curiosity

"Qi and energy are ultimately the same, but if it's referring to a specific concept, the meaning changes completely"

Ken explained

"Sword Qi is the energy lingering in the sword itself while Sword Energy is the energy that I control, exert, and manipulate in order to control the sword"

Philip continued the explanation

"..."

Natsume just gazed like she doesn't understand. The others were also confused. They are not to blame though since qi and energy are literally just the same, but as Ken said, it become different when it refers to specific concepts

"Haaah... Imagine me and this flying sword... I, as the Sword Concept, have three intangibilities... Sword Intent, Sword Energy, and Sword Aura. Meanwhile, the flying sword only has one and all sword have this. It's the Sword Qi"

"Hm, I think I understand a little bit"

"Yeah, that's all you have to know... All weapons have qi and you must understand this especially if you have weapon masteru"

"..."

Everyone was quiet and silently looked at their weapons and Soul Artifacts, even Sai since she's been stuck as a Spear Emperor for a long time before Philip unlocked her potential and instantly became a Spear Saint

"Alright, I guess that's all from you, Ken?"

"It is"

Ken closed his eyes again and crossed his arms

"..."

Katara just gave Ken a side eye before turning to Philip

"I guess it's my turn!"

"..."

"In all honesty... Gods doesn't celebrate birthdays. We only hold rituals and welcoming rites whenever a god is first born or a god is passing on their Divine Souls to their next successor... So, I don't know what to give you as a gift!"

"Well, that's fine. I'm not gonna hold you for it--"

"Now, with that said... Seeing as how the others are taking this gift giving seriously... I learned that giving gifts comes from the heart. No matter what the gift is, it's value can only be determined by the person receiving it"

"..."

"This is new to me since I never experienced it... So, I'll try my best..."

"Go ahead..."

Philip didn't try to stop Katara. Perhaps this is a way for Katara to learn about human methods, just like how Sai learned through games and the internet

"I'm going to give you a curse, since I didn't prepare any material objects because this celebration was out of the blue. I wasn't able to give anything to the Sword Saint... Jude, is it? Because I don't know, but after watching everyone, I have an idea"

"But-!"

Someone tried to intervene after hearing that Katata will give Philip a curse, but they suddenly remembered their discussion earlier of how curses can also be blessings in disguise

"Remember out contract? Here's my gift to you..."

Katara raised her left arm and the stump that's covered with malicious black smoke, instead of flesh and bones, left a vertical trail

"This is the second one... Curse of Annual Birth Rites"

"..."

Philip frowned as the invisible wave of curse washed over Philip and gave him a new curse

"What was that curse?"

"It's a curse that allows you to celebrate your birthday annually without missing a year"

"..."

Philip's expression was slightly grim, but this time, he managed to hide it from everyone

"Wah!"

Everyone was excited. Because of this, Philip won't be able to miss a single birthday and everyone would be able to happily celebrate it

Certainly, this curse is very much a blessing to others, but for Philip, it is actually a curse. An actual curse that was invoked to him by the Goddess of Curses

For a person like Philip, who has never celebrated his birthday for several years, he doesn't want to this kind of celebration anymore. In all honesty, he doesn't mind it, but at this point, it's such a hassle and probably a waste of time as he could be doing something productive right now

"..."

Tenshi was smiling from everyone's cheers while she's gazing towards Philip as he's unaware of her gaze. Philip does feel a gaze, but he decided to ignore it since it's not much

Tenshi could read Philip's thoughts right now and she found it sad, but hopeful for the future

Even if Philip is acting like a child now, that he doesn't want to celebrate, as time goes by while everyone celebrates his birthday every year, Tenshi is hopeful that Philip would get used to it and change accordingly

Like a wound healing overtime, Philip's yearly routine would change and he would unconditionally accept the birthday celebrations

Of course, that is if Philip won't avoid the celebrations. Since it's also a curse from the Goddess of Curses herself, there might be a chance that he would find a way to dispel it, either temporarily or permanently

"..."

Philip was silent while giving an empty smile

"..."

Katara wasn't a fool for not knowing anything, despite her rather childish actions and behavior. She already knew Philip's situation of not liking his birthdays. This is also the reason she gave that specific curse

Even so, she didn't expect him to thank her since this is the path she chose

Katara is going to be the first person that Philip wouldn't thank

It's not like he doesn't want to thank Katara. He couldn't thank her because of the nature of the situation

He never liked false and fake thanks. He doesn't like Katara's gift, so why would he thank her? He feels bad, but it is what it is and he decided to accept the awful gift

"Uhm..."

Natsume sensed the strange atmosphere, along with Clara, despite everyone else's cheering

Before anyone else could sense it, Natsume immediately tried to cover everything up by calling out to Sai

"N-now that Goddess Katara has given her gift-"

"Just call me Katara, Natsume"

"Ah, Katara... Yes! Sai, I think it's your turn to for your gift!"

"Ah, so it's my turn, huh?"

Sai spoke in a small tone as he twirled her left index finger around a bundle of her hair while looking to the side

"..."

Everyone saw Sai's strange reaction to the situation, but the gods and Alucard didn't see anything wrong

From Jude and Katara, this is only natural. From Alucard, he already knows what gift Sai will gift Philip

"Alright!"

Sai mustered up her courage and she stood up as she slammed the table with both hands. Chibi Sai has already transferred to Alucards lap and sat down while watching Sai innocently

Alucard has his eyes closed as his hair slightly fluttered from the breeze. His hands are also on his lap while gently holding Chibi Sai in place. While doing this, Alucard is still exerting a status befitting a very proper noble

"From the first time I met you..."

Sai opened up with a typical cheesy one liner

"I thought I could just take you and use you to save my world as my hero... You refused at first, but decided to save my world just for your own benefit..."

"..."

"Even if you didn't save planet Saykrandae, you still saved three of my people... Which are now my world"

Sai smiled beautifully as she turned her head towards the three Saykranians

"..."

Clara's eyes shone, Corleona felt a little hurtful as her eyes quivered, and Braudain was entranced by her goddess

Katara was also surprised that Sai was capable of showing such smile

"I didn't give you a reward for that as my hero! Despite that, you even made me into a Spear Saint"

"Well--"

"I know what you're going to say... You achieved Spear Concept because you watched my spearmanship... But that's not enough reward"

"..."

"So... This is my reward to you, as well as my gift for your belated birthday..."

Sai lifted her arms and a single flash of light emerged in between her hands. The light flashed in violet light and she spread her arms as a solid object covered in violet light emerged

The object resembed a shape. The shape is elongated, like a stick, but at the end of the stick is an elongated triangle of some sorts. There are also different curves and lines accentuating the body of the stick

Finally, after a few seconds, the violet light peeled off of the object like flakes and dissipated into thin air

"One of the Twelve Disaster Series..."

Violet lightning surged around the object and crackled violently, but calmly as Sai reduced its power with her divine energy. Sai's gift is on a grand scale compared to the other's gifts

Hearing Sai's words, the Saykranians began to tremble and watch in awe. Seeing this scene ignited some of their sorrowful but passionate memories

"The Second Disaster..."

Sai reached her hand forward and held the body of the stick. Intense violet energy screamed from her hand

"..."

Ken was taking a peek through his closed eyes to look at the object, omly to scoff afterwards

"Disaster Spear!"

Sai called out and pulled the object, which is the Disaster Spear, and flicked it to her side. The violet light shattered and shot towards the spear, completing its manifestation

This Disaster Spear looks very different from Sai's Soul Artifacts of the Solaris Spear, both pure and divinite

The Disaster Spear looks like an ordinary spear, but it's lined with gold engravings, as well as a spiral of body around the stem, resembling a dragon's body. The pommel of the spear has a pulsating violet orb that looks like a ball of electricity. Finally, the blade of the spear is double edged and separated in the middle. The edges of the blade is almost ethereal, like it could be the sharpest object in the universe as it shows an ever-changing patterns of a starry violet sky

"This is my gift to you... I hope you like it!"

Sai extended the spear sideways towards Philip as the Disaster Spear exerts a powerful energy

"..."

Philip narrowed his eyes at the spear and back to Sai