by Pegaz
How do the rune slots get created? Is it because of the metal? That can’t be right, I’ve seen better weapons with more rune slots made with inferior metal... Is it because of the purity of the metal then? This nano metal was 100% pure, even before I touched it. There’s nothing mixed inside.
The sword I saw made with inferior metal might have been purer, so maybe that’s why it had more slots. I’m not a blacksmith and the only books I’ve read don’t go into the specifics.
Before continuing with his work, John checked his stats in the system. Creating that one short sword had cost him over 50,000 Toxin Power, which equated to 250,000 Life Power.
Lucky I created the new technique. That’s only two minutes of absorbing work with only three mind parts working. If I didn’t have the new technique, it would take days to recover for each sword!
John then created two more short swords with the same style, length, weight and balance. One of them was for him, the other two for Sarah. With the last piece of metal, he created a long sword in the same design as the short swords but with thirty inches of blade. This one was for himself.
He used the remaining metal to create sheaths for each sword, they were the same colour as the swords. The sheaths held the swords in place, but did not touch the edges. The edges of the sheaths were thicker than the middle, creating a figure 8 shape so it will hold the sword in place by the middle only. To finish them off, John made four “shrink edges 2A molecule” runes and placed one in each sword.
Finally, he then got out a blank rune and thought about the next step. He wanted to try creating a new rune for security, to prevent these swords from falling into the hands of anybody else. If anybody knew about these swords, they could try to shake him down for information on how to create them. Or, even worse, they could attempt to steal them—killing him and Sarah in the process.
Either way, it wouldn’t be a happy ending for him and Sarah.
Chapter 31
Sword Sect’s Prison
John placed the swords inside his Storage Space and concentrated on the new rune.
He left the top left part of the rune blank because he would need somebody to test it before he used it himself, for his own safety. In the top right corner, he put two parallel lines, making an equals sign. In the bottom left corner, he put the letters, “NO” and at the bottom right corner, he put half a circle with the top part jagged with lines and other pieces of the circle coming from it. This meant “explosion.” Finally, he grabbed another blank rune and switched the pictures around.
The first rune read: ? = NO explosion
The second rune read: NO ? = explosion
Since it was still early afternoon, John walked out the cultivation room and told Sarah he was going out. He walked to the sword shop and purchased a few more rare Rank 1 blades for his experiment. Then, he went to the admin building to teleport.
In the building, he asked a member of the staff if there was a prison of some sort in the sect. To his annoyance and pleasure, he was told that there was a prison. However, to go there, you needed permission from the sect master himself. Other than the elders who worked as guards, they typically allowed nobody else to go there. There were no visitors or anything.
John thanked the staff member and went through the teleport, on his way to meet with the sect master. Once John presented himself, the master agreed to meet almost instantly. He was with the sect master of the Dual Cultivation sect, who he introduced to John. Her name was Alisha Wilkinson. John checked her with Immortal Eye.
Alisha Wilkinson
Rank: 9
Level: 1
Sin: 6
“The Dual Cultivation sect is friendly with the Sword Sect,” Frank explained. “So the sect masters of the two sects watch things like tournaments together to show the rest of the sects that we’re close. There are a few others around here from other sects, too, but I won’t name them all since there are so many.”
With introductions out of the way, John asked to speak with Frank privately. Alisha understood and, with a nod, she bid her farewells.
“Sorry, this isn’t sensitive or anything like that, but people could take it the wrong way!” John began as soon as he was alone with Frank. “I came to ask if I could go to the prison. I need people to test something for me, but it could be dangerous. If they’re imprisoned for life then I figured they might volunteer. The only problem is, I don’t think I can test this thing indoors. I’m going to need them outside for the tests. You can get an elder or a grand elder to observe, just so long as they understand that this is a very private experiment.”
Frank rubbed his chin, considering John’s proposition. Seeing no signs of disapproval, John continued.
“I’ll need four people for the tests. If it all goes well, then nothing will happen, but I can’t guarantee that things will go well. As payment, I have a Grade 8 Life Stone that I err... found... You can have this as a thank you for accepting my unreasonable demand.”
John held the stone in the palm of his hand, outreached. Frank couldn’t help but smile at John’s gift. Although he didn’t buy John’s statement about finding the stone, he held no ill will for John’s methods, especially knowing the man’s previous occupations code. Collecting the Grade 8 Life Stone, Frank grabbed a parchment from a bag tied to his belt and tossed it towards John.
“That allows you to have one visit at the prison,” the master proclaimed. “Tell the elders working there that you have my permission to take four volunteers to the backyard for your experiments. The prisoners are your responsibility, so if they escape then you will be held responsible.”
John shook Frank’s hand and thanked him. He said goodbye then walked out of the meeting room.
Now back at the admin building, he gave the parchment to a member of staff. After briefly scanning the document, the staff member was a little surprised. It had been over thirty years since the last visitor to the prison, but nonetheless, he showed John the teleport location.
The teleport rune leading to the prison was the only one in existence. It was located in the basement, guarded by two Rank 7 grand elders. John was allowed through and told to pick any four prisoners that he wanted.
On the other side of the teleport, John arrived at a big room where two grand elders guarded the entrance door. As soon as John appeared, both grand elders stood up with weapons drawn. Checking them both out with Immortal Eye, John took note that they were both Rank 8. John held his hands up.
“I’ve got a letter from the sect master allowing me to be here,” he called out. “The parchment is in my bag and I’m now slowly going to get it out, okay?”
He slowly lowered his right hand into the bag tied on his belt. Fiddling around for a second, he grabbed the parchment and raised his hand. John waited for the guards to respond.
One grand elder walked over and snatched the parchment out of his hands. Stepping a few feet back, neither of the guards let down their guards or lowered their weapons. John admired their discipline.
A few seconds later, they put the weapons back in their sheaths and relaxed.
“Sorry, it’s been a while since a visitor last came,” he said in a gruff and stern voice. “We’re under orders to not let anybody inside without permission.”
“I understand, I do,” John replied with a toothy grin. “But I can honestly say, I almost lopped your heads off because of all that killing intent I felt from you.”
The other grand elder laughed.
“If you’re able to feel that bit of killing intent then you’re much better at this than all the other outer disciples. So, what you here for?”
“I’m here to conduct an experiment or two.” John shrugged casually. “It could be dangerous. The sect master said I could pick four people from those who volunteered. The experiment will be taking place in the backyard, but I’m responsible if any of the prisoners escape. If I could get volunteers below rank 6, that would be perfect.”
The two guards exchanged unsure glance
s, so John tried again to gain their favour.
“Ah, let me introduce myself!” He smiled at them. “My name is John and I’ve recently joined the Sword Sect. I did not go through normal channels, though. It was the sect master himself who let me join the sect.”
With that, the grand elder who had taken the parchment off John rolled it up and gave it back.
“So,” the guard said, a bit curious. “What kind of experiment is it? And how did you convince the sect master to let you down here? You his long-lost son or something along those lines?”
“No, no, no.” John took the parchment, a slight laugh stumbling out of his mouth. “As grand elders, you know about the new thing everybody has to say to join the sect now, right?”
Both men knew what he was on about. They couldn’t talk about it because of a blood oath, so they merely nodded at John.
“I’m the reason that new procedure is there.”
This statement stunned both of the elders for a little while, but after a few moments, they both laughed.
“No wonder you could feel the killing intent!” One of them managed to chime in. “I’m surprised you didn’t react to it.”
“I’ve got a legitimate reason to be here and I have permission.” John smiled back at them. “I knew I was in no danger. Wanna see real killing intent?”
Without waiting for an answer, John released all of his killing intent. It only lasted a total of two seconds, but both elders backed up and drew their swords again. Once John sealed his intent, the elders calmed down. They openly gawked at the frost on the floor and the ceiling directly above John.
Both elders looked down to realise they had shaky hands. In their time, they’d both killed thousands of people and thought that the killing intent they could generate was enough to scare even the criminals inside this prison. However, in that moment, they realised it was nothing.
“How… How many…?” One of the elders broke the silence with a shaky voice. “How many people did you have to kill to gain that much killing intent?”
John shrugged his shoulders.
“I stopped counting after the first million.”
Chapter 32
Human Testing
The elders stood there, dazed.
“You got contracted to kill all of those people?”
“Not officially.” John shook his head. “I did receive currency in exchange, though, and that’s all I can tell you.”
Technically, I’m not lying. I got paid in Sin points.
“Well, you’ve got permission.” One of the elders opened the door. “Go do what you need to do.”
John thanked them both and walked through the door.
Looking around, there were quite a few staff members all wearing the white Daoist robes. From what John could see, they all had the ‘E’ for ‘Elder’ on the left side of the robe instead of the stars.
Approaching the largest desk in the room, John waited for the man to finish writing. The moments passed before John cleared his throat to draw attention. With somewhat of a startle, the man placed his paperwork down and glanced up to see John. He was a bit surprised to see an outer disciple inside the prison without shackles.
John showed the parchment and told him what he was there for. Understanding, the elder followed orders of the sect master and sent out an announcement. Any prisoner at or below Rank 6 who wanted to volunteer for the project was instructed to contact the elder of their block.
“More than likely, the people who volunteer are here for life,” the staff member told John. “They either want to die or hope this will shave a few years off their sentence.”
“Dying I can understand.” John shrugged. “This experiment will be dangerous. In fact, I suspect that unless I have a successful result, there will be no survivors. As for shaving off years on their sentence? I’m not asking for that. Don’t think the sect master would agree, either.”
The elder laughed at John’s explanation. John figured the elder was trying to butter him up.
He must think I’ve got the sect master’s ear and might want me to ask for something on his behalf.
An hour later, four volunteers had stepped forward. All four were Rank 5 males. The elder in charge led the way for John and the prisoners to the backyard, which was an open field outside the prison. He left John and the prisoners alone in the middle of the field.
Using his Scan to make sure nobody was spying on his experiments, John got to work and separated the four people into two teams. He then made the teams stand one hundred fifty feet apart from each other. Looking at the two people he named B-Team, he directed them to stand completely still. If they moved a foot in any direction, he threatened to take one of their legs in one of the most painful manners possible.
As soon as John turned his back, one man from B-Team gave in to fear and bolted away. However, much to this man’s misfortune, John spotted him trying to make a break for it. Before the escaping test subject had a chance to realise this, John shot a Fire bullet at him.
Blue flames tore through the air in a flash, ripping through the target’s knee, causing him to buckle in pain and skid across the grass. The bullet left a gaping hole in the man’s knee, about an inch wide. Blood squirted out in all directions. The man screamed in agony, grasping at his right knee for dear life. Through his skin, his veins began to shine—the bullet had left a fire inside of the wound, which was now spreading throughout the man’s body.
For ten minutes, the man cried in pain as his leg was slowly burned from the inside. The other three men gawked in terror, unable to speak up on their comrade’s behalf. John watched the man suffer without batting an eye. After the screaming had gone on long enough, John abruptly tossed his water bottle to the other man standing nearby.
“He’s lost his leg, which I said would happen,” John said plainly. “Put the fire out so he loses nothing else.”
Orders were followed and everyone could now see that the man’s leg was gone. Flesh and bone were reduced to ash, and the man was still conscious enough to have experienced every second. It was a gruesome, fear-striking sight.
Continuing his stroll to the A-Team, John took out a vial of blood and instructed his subjects to dip the one side of their dominant hand’s forefinger in, which they did.
Taking out the two runes he would test, he told them the place to touch the rune, creating a fingerprint made from the blood.
Looking at the runes, the fingerprint from the blood was detailed enough, causing him to smile. He gave them each a rare rank one sword and a rune with their fingerprint on and walked to B-Team.
Standing about ten feet upwind of the B-Team, he shouted at A-Team, “Walk thirty feet away from each other and put the runes inside the sword, then hold it with your dominant hand and wait for further instructions.”
The man on the left had the rune “fingerprint = NO explosion,” the guy on the right had the rune “NO fingerprint = explosion.”
Both men did as John asked and nothing happened.
“Hold the sword in your other hand.”
BOOM!
It blew the man on the right to bits. A small ditch formed under where the sword had fallen.
So the fingerprint part of the rune needs both the left and right hands? The explosion wasn’t that strong either… Is that because of the weak sword, or the rune itself?
Looking at the man on the left, John barked orders once more.
“Throw the sword over there, at the new ditch.”
The man did as he was told to do. When the sword landed on the ground, John was half expecting another explosion, but nothing happened.
So the fingerprint thing worked but only once? Like a bomb once it’s deactivated, it needs to get primed again? That’s useless, too.
“All of you, sit down,” John called out. “I need to remake two new runes. B-Team will experiment them this time. If anybody stands up before I tell you to, you will lose at least one leg.”
All three prisoners did what John comm
anded.
Taking out a table and chair from the Storage Space, John sat down. He then took out two blank runes and more blood. With a sigh, he pondered over what to do.
After a few minutes, he drew “NO” in the top left corner. To the right of that, he’d put the left and right fingerprints but wrote an “OR” that would go between them. In the top right corner was “WHEN” and in the bottom left corner he drew a hand gripping a pole or handle. This continued on for a few minutes until the symbols on the rune finally read “NO left OR right fingerprint WHEN using = explosion.”
The other rune he drew the same but in a different order. The symbols read, “WHEN using NO left OR right fingerprint = explosion.”
Returning the chair and table into his Storage Space, he told the B-Team to stand up. John took out the blood and made them place their left and right fingerprint on the rune, in the position so the “OR” was between them. He then gave them each a rare Rank 1 sword and the rune with their fingerprints on.
John walked away, standing alongside the sole A-Team survivor.
“Move away from each other and place the rune inside the sword. Hold it with your dominant hand.”
The man with only one leg looked at the other man who walked away like John told them. They held the swords but nothing happened.
“Hold the sword with your other hand.”
Still, nothing happened. With a frown, John shouted another instruction.
“Swing the sword down like you’re hacking at somebody.”
Nothing.
“Drop the swords.” John knitted his brows.
BOOM!
Looking over, it was the first rune that had exploded. The man with the missing leg was now scattered about in many pieces.
That was the opposite of the last experiment. His fingerprint primed a bomb and acted like a dead man’s switch. Let go for too long and... boom!
John walked between the survivors of each team, making sure to stay out of their way as he did so. Once he was standing away from both men, he pointed at the man who had the sword at his feet.