The King

(Bonus: Thank you for the 3 power stones Creepy_CuddleBear chapter 1/3)

A life of impossible density for thirty-seven years, with no rest or pause as the unyielding machine strived forward, never taking a step back.

A world torn apart by constant war, instead of being used to yield crops, the land was drowned in blood.

Amongst the corpses and crows picking skeletons of their carrion stood a boy, the sword he swung never ceasing.

Each day caused it to become sharper as it was repeatedly watered by blood. And yet in a world of impossible darkness, the boy still smiled.

Not for himself, a machine like him didn't have the opportunity to smile but instead for the Kingdom he raised with each step he took forward.

The boy then grew into a young man and from then into a middle-aged man, yet one thing was consistent throughout his life.

The swords he wielded changed in shape and size, yet they never rested; refined by each move, the King could be called a blade himself.

And yet the smile he wore on the outside and the warmth he seemed to exude masked his true nature as a machine that moved forward. 

A final sacrifice could then be seen as a radiant life that ended in a supernova coming to a point. He could finally rest. The king, who had given up everything, felt darkness encroach on him.

Yet when he opened his eyes, it wasn't truly over. In a new world, he could finally experience everything he missed out on.

This time, wanting to reach the true top, experience love, laugh and cry, the King entered the new world as a new person.

As if he had just finished watching the greatest tragedy, a tear rolled down the featureless mannequin's cheek, defying all rules.

The Soul Doctor's soul was crying at what he watched. At that moment, he noticed the lost feelings from his extremities, glancing down like ashes floating away. He was dissolving piece by piece.

The overwhelming soul weight of Regulus had exterminated any anchor he had inside the 'Prince' rank sword.

"Do you finally understand now what you had, what you cast away?"

"Transcending humanity? How can such a flawed human hope to be the one to transcend."

"Man is just a quintessence of dust blown away by the slightest whim of fate. If it were that simple to transcend these bonds, you would not be the first."

Each of Regulus's words seemed comparable to preaching from the highest place as the Soul Doctor felt he was really faced with someone trying to escape his fate.

In front of the crystallisation of tragedy, Regulus's life was, his own attempts at transcendence seemed childish.

His soul slowly slipped away piece by piece, and feeling the icy grip of death clutching him, the Soul Doctor cried out in desperation.

"Please let me reside within this sword, I only understand at the end! Let's fight fate together; I acknowledge you as my King."

Hearing such familiar words, ones that reminded him of the restless life he had experienced in the past, Regulus spoke.

"The title of King no longer belongs to me; in this life, I refuse to lead another group until those who are truly worthy find themselves in front of me."

"And you, a mere parasite deluded to think his actions aren't predestined, have no place in the ones who will transcend reality under me."

Revealing his lofty ambitions to the residue of the Soul Doctor, Regulus flicked his hand, and the remaining head turned into dust.

"Blown away like dust, I guess in this world, I get to play the role of fate."

***

In an isolated and dust-clogged basement, a muscular young man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes could be seen pacing back and forth.

David Smith felt as if he were trapped in an infinite nightmare as he watched the still frame of Regulus.

Unlike the last time someone touched the sword Regulus had not collapsed yet but instead stood tall with his eyes glazed over and hand resting on the pommel.

'Not another one I can't deal with another one.'

David had gone to great lengths to prevent his friend's death from being related to him to prevent damage to his reputation.

The possible death of Regulus was weighing heavily on his consciousness as he knew it was impossible to hide the death of such a seemingly high-born noble.

On the verge of a mental breakdown, David finally saw movement from Regulus.

'He's going to collapse, isn't he? Why did I let him down here in the first place.'

Yet contrary to his belief, Regulus moved extremely naturally, grabbing the beautiful longsword as he pointed it upwards at an angle examining it.

Purged of the malevolent energy it held due to the remnant of the soul of the Soul Doctor, Regulus could now truly appreciate the beauty of the sleek blade.

Channelling celestial energy inside the weapon, unlike the 'Ace' ranked blade, which could only hold a puddle, the 'Prince' ranked blade seemed like a valley.

As he circulated his martial art and filled the blade with celestial energy, it began to hum in satisfaction, syncing itself with Regulus.

Freed of the malevolent soul residing within it, thanks to its wielder, the sword spirit that could now emerge was extremely grateful and submissive.

As the energies of Regulus and the sword harmonised, a warm feeling spread throughout him. Regulus felt his connection to the sword increase.

Observing the reaction between sword and wielder, David felt his jaw drop, filled with a child-like excitement, he was slightly bouncing up and down.

"I can't believe I get to see it in person; you managed to achieve sword harmony."

Finally looking away from the sword and towards the odd-looking muscular blacksmith who was jumping up and down, Regulus asked.

"Is that the strange connection I feel between me and the sword, what is it?'

Shocked that someone capable of reaching sword harmony didn't know about it, David quickly summarised.

"It's known as the greatest hurdle to reaching the rank of a sword grandmaster."

"To attain it someone must not only possess an extremely profound knowledge of sword arts."

"But also submission from the sword spirit residing within the chosen blade sword harmony is achieved deepening the connection between wielder and weapon and bringing vast improvements."

Now understanding his new relationship with the blade he held, Regulus examined it repeatedly whilst drilling his basic moves.

As Regulus swung his sword in a perfect arc, he could feel the sword spirit inside, helping him drag the blade along, increasing power and the flow of celestial energy through the blade.

Despite only being a mid-ranked 'Prince' sword, now that sword harmony had been achieved it was easily comparable to a late-ranked 'Prince' weapon.

Satisfied and excited with the now purified weapon he had spent so much effort on Regulus looked towards David.

"So how much does it cost?"

-Author's Note-

Paying off my power stone debt slowly but surely, any support you give is really appreciated :)