The Harvester-Chapter 455: Cardinal Sonata

Later in the day, Ramsa was tasting a coffee brewed by Flavia when a tremor suddenly shook the territory. Her drink jumped and splashed on her clothes.

Nearby, Lanata outright fell from her chair. "Ouch!"

Ramsa’s eyes twitched in annoyance. "...what is this foolish child doing now?" She muttered and glared at the floor as if she wanted to slay it.

Flavia chuckled wryly. "It’s rather rare... but like us, he also fails to hold back," she said. "Usually, he goes outside to try particularly destructive skills. So... right now, I suppose something caught him off guard."

"Destructive..." The goddess repeated, recalling how Rakna had quite literally forced the sun to set down and the moon to spin as an experiment. "I see. He is reckless in every degree," she said whilst cleansing herself with a wave of her hand.

"Haha, who can argue with that."

* * *

"..." Rakna gaped at the wall in front of him, his body frozen in place as he clenched a black magic staff with a purple crystal heart encased at the top.

The wall of the training room had a hole bigger than itself in it, going far enough that the end was obscured by darkness. It was also frozen solid by Everfrost.

"Ooh..." To the side, Ceresta clapped softly with an adorable exclamation.

"...I’ve been sleeping on staves," the therian uttered in shock as he looked at Sonata’s form; it had nearly tripled the output of his magic. And it wasn’t even a spell; just pure manipulation.

And that was without counting the new Perks and upgrades it had gotten after devouring both the Sword of Cardinal Life and just now, the Wretched Staff of Heaven.

Now... every time Rakna peeked at his own weapon’s description, he couldn’t help but shiver.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Soul Weapon/Magic Staff

Name: Cardinal Sonata | Rarity: Half-Transcendental

Attack Power: +6 000~10 000 | Magic Power: +4 000~8 000

Spell Damage: +250% | Mana Consumption: -30% | Casting Speed: -50%

Durability: 100%

Perks:

- Intertwined Miniature Eion Systems: The item possesses memory of form and is able to switch from one form to another. Currently available: Scarf, Guandao, Bow, Kusarigama, Twin Daggers, One-Handed Double-Edged Sword, Twin Katanas, Scythe, Cao Sword, Crux Augury Sword, Sacrament Lance, Cardinal Sword, Wretched Staff

- Eion Energy Production

- Demonic Spiritual Anchor

- Gale Outbreak (All Forms)

- Hyper Oscillation Blade (Bladed Forms)

- Skulking Wraith (All forms)

- Skulk Life Down (Bladed Forms)

- Wicked Sanctity (All Forms)

- Shield of Piety (All Forms)

- Crescent of a Falling Star (Bladed Forms)

- 10 000 Nights of Severance (Bladed Forms)

- Tender Hands of Clemency (Bladed Forms)

- Lifeblood Rage (All forms) (15 988/100 000 BU)

- Absolute Dimensional Stability

- Focal Concentration (All Forms)

- The Three Decrees of Dominion

- Thorns of Longinus (All Forms/Conditional)

- Road of The Martyr (All Forms)

- Core Transmutation [Obsidian; Neverwinter; Everfrost; Tears of Gaia; Divine; Everfrost Lightning; Air; Earth; Fire; Water; Life]

⠀

- Source Apotheosis: A Minor Soul Resonance. It is said that Soul Weapons take different paths of Transcendence as they grow with their users. At times, it is possible for the weapon to achieve Transcendence before their wielder.

Cardinal Sonata has made its first step toward that process. Source Apotheosis is a known Catalytic Phenomenon, in which one uses their own soul as an instrument of conjuration; a Source. It is not to be mistaken as the soul itself performing magic; the soul manifests an ’envoy’ for that purpose, which can subsequently be physically attacked.

If the Source is destroyed, the Soul is destroyed.

Cardinal Sonata has become the Source of Rakna Xiorra Blade, gaining its most basic properties without suffering any of the downsides. Once destroyed, Cardinal Sonata shall recover within the wielder’s soul as normal.

This has but one effect: All other Perks shall no longer scale to Cardinal Sonata itself, but to the wielder’s power and will.

- War Crest of The Cardinal God: The teachings of Bhumi, the Cardinal Sword. This War Crest is engraved into the core of Cardinal Sonata and contains the insights Bhumi attained in his life on his path to master swordsmanship.

If this Perk is properly utilized, the Host may be capable of permanently learning the techniques of the Cardinal Sword.

- Transcendent Ego – Bhumi: The merged Spiritual Ego of Bhumi, the Cardinal Sword. It has achieved the highest rank possible of Transcendence, residing within the weapon, and can increase its power independently from the wielder.

Note: The Ego’s power has been partly sealed in order to preserve encoding limits.

- World Symphony [Incomplete]: Any object possesses varying degrees of World Energy conductivity: Mithril conducts Mana; Orichalcum conducts Ki; Mercury conducts Ether; Aether conducts Divinity; Cold Iron conducts Qi; Ectoplasm conducts Soul...

Regardless, there has never been a material in Existence that was naturally capable of conducting all forms of Worldly Energy at once. However, objects purposefully made to do so by human hands are known to have existed and possessed the ability to twist reality.

After numerous evolutions, Cardinal Sonata has accumulated Conductivity for Ki, Mana, and Intent. It has also begun to harmonize with Qi but has yet to embrace it.

As a high-tier, half-transcendental conductor, all forms of channeling relevant to the mentioned energies will be significantly boosted when wielding Sonata. Similarly as before, magic formations and runes carved with Sonata directly will also be enhanced.

- Equation of Clear Death [Heart of Crystal + Equation of Life] (All Forms): A perk resulting from the fusion of two opposite sides of the same vision. It is a conceptual verdict mutated from the remnant powers of a Fiend and refined further by the belief of a compassionate god who wished for life to flourish beyond the desolate boundaries of victory and defeat.

After its integration into Cardinal Sonata, this Perk has taken on the personal values of its new user. Therefore, this beating heart within the weapon will apply the wielder’s Clear Death upon whoever and whatever it conquers.

Furthermore, once Clear Death has claimed its target, Cardinal Sonata will be capable of absorbing it in order to strengthen itself and its wielder for a time.

- Fatal Heartbeat (Staff Form): Make the manifested Crystal Heart of the staff beat to convert the Aura of the user into a Tarnished Aura. This aura is capable of applying Clear Death more flexibly and over long distances.

- Zafas’ Freedom (Staff Form): The life-study of the Grand Elder, Zafas. He sought to find Freedom in magic above all; to become one with magecraft and erase its limitations forever. He thus crafted a Staff that embodied this sentiment; an instrument capable of conferring Freedom to his spells.

Any spell cast by the user shall no longer be restrained by such things as Cooldown or Range and any elemental weakness will be ignored at will. Zafas’ Freedom shall make Fire dominant to Water if that is what the user desires.

As a cost for this effect, there will be a continuously increasing Energy Cost, proportional to the degree of Freedom demanded. But as long as the wielder can provide this cost, their Freedom will not be taken away from them.

- Heavenly Sky: Sonata will engulf all of the Natural Qi in the surroundings and form a connection with the Heavens; granting its wielder Heavenly Qi and giving them the right to access the Martial Art known as Veritable Sky.

- Heavenly Demon Descent: Extract the essence, corruption, and desperation of the man once known as Prasminta, the Sky Heaven Saint, and transform Sonata into an otherworldly sword made of twin scythes.

Falling into inevitable darkness, and seeing no hope in the Veritable Path, Prasminta was inspired by the strongest vision of power he had ever seen. He imitated the Heavenly Demon himself and with a twisted weapon in his hand, he conceived Absolute Sky.

This Perk can only be activated if Heavenly Sky is as well. Sonata will transform into the Heavenly Demon’s Sword and temporarily gain Qi Conductivity. The Heavenly Qi granted to the wielder beforehand will then flow backward and become Demonic Qi, allowing access to the Arts of the Absolute Sky.

Note: Beware, as Qi Deviation may occur to those unprepared.

Description:

A masterpiece forged by a master blacksmith, the Earth conqueror himself, with the technology of an advanced civilization. It was given to Rakna Xiorra as a gift by the one who bears the name of Blade.

After many evolutions and enhancements, it has gained both the facets of impiety and holiness, vanquished mortal limitations, and reached the peak of unison with its wielder. It has bloomed a complete Transcendental Ego after fusing with the Cardinal Sword, Bhumi, and began to harmonize with the World, paving the way for Symphony.

This is a weapon impervious to the erosion of time and impervious to defeat itself.

Note: ???

❮ ◈ ❯

...there were so many elephants in the room, Rakna didn’t know what to think.

Though, the biggest of them all still was Source Apotheosis. The implication of that single Perk couldn’t be overlooked. On a surface level, it seemed unimportant. A Soul Weapon already grew stronger with its owner; so why would it particularly benefit from an alternative scaling?

One could theorize that the owner’s power is simply greater than their weapon, so naturally, it’s better. But neither is right. In the first place, what did it mean to scale to the user?

It wasn’t just damage. Cost, cooldown, output, effects; all of the Perks’ details were now directly linked to Rakna’s input. He could fuel them with Soul Power, Mana, Ki, Intent, Star Energy, and whatever else he wanted to tinker with.

In other words, each of them was akin to a spell or a skill that could be used liberally. He had no obligation to abide by their rigid operations.

And it didn’t matter which; all of them were better this way.

10,000 Nights of Severance, Crescent of a Falling Star, and even Skulk Life Down. Having full control meant he could overload or multicast them. For example, what if he was able to release a slash of Skulk Life Down that was as wide as a mountain? It would be impossible to dodge.

He also couldn’t forget Perks like Skulking Wraith, Shield of Sanctity, or The Three Decrees of Dominion. Notably, the shield would no longer be limited in durability and the Decrees could potentially become one of Sonata’s strongest perks.

The Answerer could be overloaded to compel truthful answers from even stronger foes.

The Whisperer could bend the wind to its will, including the magic of others.

The Retaliator may be able to curse the wounds it inflicts to never heal at all.

Rakna silently stared at the tall staff and struck the floor with it, making the purple heart release a small cloud of shimmering dust. "...no wonder the Evolvable note has become redacted. I can’t even see the requirements anymore. It seems as if Sonata could devour anything now that it has escaped some of the encoding limits."

The therian looked at Ceresta. "I don’t see anything with Crystal Sight. Do you?"

The dollish girl’s eyes flickered, inscrutable equations scrolling past her irises. "Nay. There is no anomaly within the Formulas, just as before the staff was fed."

"I see. I suppose there was no need to be so cautious," Rakna commented and whirled the staff in his hand, musing quietly. "Now then... should I try one of these Perks?" He muttered to himself.

Personally, he was rather interested in Heavenly Sky and Clear Death...

{I would not recommend the first one.}

Rakna’s expression twitched as a voice spoke into his mind... directly from the staff in his hand. With a glance to the left, he saw a spectral, male figure floating in the air with his arms crossed. It was a familiar man with long black hair and a dark martial robe adorned with red.

’...and there goes the second biggest elephant,’ the therian thought blankly. Right after swallowing the staff, Sonata accumulated enough power to pull its newly created Ego out of dormancy.

In consequence, ’Bhumi’ had awakened and manifested as a spiritual projection of himself in the outside world. However, the man was different. Overall, he was nearly unchanged, but instead of crimson eyes, he had a pair of salient azure orbs.

His hair was streaked with purple, and while his clothes retained their general impression, their material and design leaned a bit more toward Allegro’s modern standards.

Furthermore, since his awakening, he had done nothing but stare into space without sparing a word. He looked lost in his thoughts.

"...who are you, Bhumi or Sonata?" Rakna finally asked.

{Both,} he replied calmly with a shrug. {My Intent; my knowledge; my attainments; they all come from ’Bhumi’. And most of my personality, I’d say. But my powers... and the memories amassed over time, starting from the moment ’my’ maker gave ’me’ to you, are Sonata’s.}

"Your maker...? The old man?"

{Yes.}

"Are you still acclimating to your reborn self then?"

{Yes.}

"...should I call you in any particular way?"

{Bhumi and Sonata are equally acceptable.}

"...it’s like getting a personal AI all over again," Rakna blankly said and Ceresta felt amusement at those words, smiling softly. "Well... tell me when you are done searching for yourself, I guess."

{Hah. Count on it,} he replied with a corner of his lips curling up.

"Let’s get back on track. Bhumi, it is. What do you mean you don’t recommend it?"

{You are not ready,} he stated dryly. {Veritable Sky will be hard to control for you. You have yet to learn how to use Qi, not to mention your adeptness for Intent is severely lacking compared to the quality of your Internal Art. You should at least master Ki and Intent before tackling Qi.}

"...how bad are we talking here?"

{Depends. My Heavenly Sky could either injure you internally or ravage the surroundings. But it is nothing compared to the Heavenly Demon Descent. If you attempt to use Absolute Sky... the entirety of your territory will be obliterated. You need a safer environment.}

"How frighteningly thrilling," Rakna huffed. "What do you suggest then? I plan to train all of your abilities for a while."

{Start with my War Crest’s techniques. Learn them; understand them; master the foundation of martial arts. Then, I will start infusing Qi into you bit by bit to acclimate you.}

"You can do that?"

{Source Apotheosis applies to me as well,} Bhumi nodded. {With your permission, I am allowed to cherry-pick the effects of a certain Perk if needed.}

"Uh. That’s neat," Rakna uttered and pondered for a moment. "All right. Ceres," he turned toward the former AI and transformed Sonata into a majestic greatsword with golden highlights. "Would you like to spar with me? We can see how well you’ve attuned to your body at the same time."

"I would love to," Ceresta replied softly, and with one step, she moved locations in the blink of an eye. And based on Rakna’s twitching lips, that movement hadn’t been anything simple. "Should I also use a sword?" She tilted her head.

"...do you know how to wield one?"

She smiled inoffensively. "I believe I can."

"..." Wordlessly, a magic circle appeared from Rakna’s hand as he flicked his fingers. An obsidian sword fitting her physique appeared out of thin air and lodged itself on the floor next to her.

Ceresta hummed curiously and tentatively gripped the handle. As she pulled it out, the sound it emitted seemed to vibrate the air. A silver light undulated from the guard and scattered glowing petals into the air.

At once, both Rakna’s and Bhumi’s eyes bulged.

"I can," Ceresta nodded again to herself, gently waving the weapon as silver flowers bloomed in her vicinity and created petals that managed to cut into the training room’s floor and walls.

"...hey, isn’t that Elemental Intent Embodiment?" Rakna asked dumbfounded.

{...} Bhumi was too stunned to speak. A delicate and pale woman who seemed to have never held a sword in her life had just broken through a stage of mastery countless martial artists dreamed of achieving. Even Rakna had initially brute-forced it.

"I am ready." Meanwhile, Ceresta, ignorant of how prodigious her actions were, smiled softly as she brandished the sword.

’Bhumi...’ Rakna spoke in his mind, clutching Sonata with both hands. ’We’re trash.’

{...}

* * *

Ceresta kicked the air, sprouting a silver flower of Spiritual Intent, and dashed. Her sword burst with petals and clashed against Sonata.

Rakna gritted his teeth as the petals cut his skin. He dragged his foot backward and swung his sword upward. His Spiritual Intent, still colorless in comparison to hers, briefly flickered purple and redirected her trajectory.

"[North King of Rupture,]" the therian intoned and the air whistled. His Intent became a storm of blurry dimensional force and chased down Ceresta with a loud rumble. "[Puyaḷ Arasaṉ.]"

The former AI’s eyes flickered and in the blink of an eye, her Intent became blue like cobalt. They scattered below her feet and she disappeared from view, avoiding the rampage of wind.

Rakna shuddered and turned around instantly, parring her sword before it could touch him. He tightened his grip on Sonata and his eyes glowed. Finally, his Intent flared with light and colors, a black flame with a purple center.

As soon as the Obsidian Star’s properties were incorporated, Ceresta staggered faintly as she felt her Intent and strength being absorbed. Before she could react, the black and purple flame fired back at her in the form of a petal.

Without a choice left, she extended her empty hand and a shield appeared in front of her. It was a geometrically shaped flower with seven petals. And despite its hasty and casual creation, it had more than enough fortitude to block Rakna’s attack and snuff it out entirely with a silver glow.

Ceresta leaped backward, elegantly spinning back on her feet right as she landed. Her dress was spotless even after that, with not even a crease to be found.

Meanwhile, Rakna smiled bitterly as his Elemental Intent died down. "Well... that’s one," he said as the System rang out that the Spiritual Intent skill digested by Rippling Ghost of Rupture had gained in proficiency.

{She is still leagues above you,} Bhumi faded in to comment. {She was going easy on you. She has already learned how to alter the properties of her Intent and influence the World with it.}

’Isn’t that close to War Crests?’ Rakna snorted.

{...this girlfriend of yours may possess the ability to decorticate the formulas of all things, but it would be ridiculous to--}

"Congratulations, Rakna," Ceresta raised her voice with happiness in her soft tone. "Is it time for me to use this then?" She inquired and adopted a one-handed stance far more refined than at the start of their spar.

She had started solely with her ability to calculate Ki and Spiritual Intent movements. However, the more she spent observing Rakna with her Formulation Magic, the more she learned, not only about those energies but also how to move her body and wield a sword.

Of course, World Formulas are not something she could solve so quickly and easily. But she had an advantage that nobody else possessed; an entire soul born to analyze and compute.

She could combine those two things and learn from both.

She calculated how to move like a master and searched for insights inside the Formula instead of solving it. Just like that, she guaranteed a linear learning curve in any endeavor she picked up.

And now, Rakna realized Ceresta was the true sleeping dragon of his guild.

"[Brave The Winter,]" Ceresta chanted melodiously and a symbol swirled above her. It was a flat depiction of a Céraiste, with the stem forming a circle around it.

Bhumi immediately looked as if he was punched in the guts.

"Haha..." Rakna laughed helplessly. "Say, Ceres... are you having fun?"

The dollish girl blinked in surprise but then smiled, "Yes... surely, this feeling is joy."

"Is it from the battle itself, your growth, or the chance to beat me up?"

Ceresta tilted her head. "All three?"

"...man, you girls are one of a mind," the therian lamented humorously and used a burst of soul power to switch Sonata to its twin-katana mode. He closed his eyes and breathed out. His Sword Intent surged into each weapon, stronger than ever.

He had tested the Cardinal techniques well enough. It was time to pave his own path.

Interestingly, his swords began to burn. It wasn’t cladding the blades, however; it was truly as if the metal was burning from the blunt side of the blade. The color of the fire was a bright violet. It was reminiscent, but unlike the usual purple hue of his soul power.

It managed to make Bhumi raise an eyebrow; he could tell it was Elemental Intent... but it didn’t seem to be any of the three Mystic Stars or even pure neutral Star Magic.

Rakna opened his eyes and smirked, letting the violet fires spread to the handles of the katanas and then his hands, arms, and shoulders. It was a docile fire that burned atop his body instead of engulfing it.

"I cannot let myself fall behind," he muttered.

While Ceresta’s techniques were fundamentally perfect, it’s precisely because of this perfection that they had a paradoxical amount of predictability. Rakna was confident he could keep up with her for whatever long he needed to grasp the pinnacle of Spiritual Intent.

"I’ve decided..." He flipped both swords, catching them in reverse. His body began to distort and mix with the violet hue. "My Intent; a radiant ghost."

Those words rang in Ceresta’s ears and on cue, her eyes widened as they momentarily failed to apprehend what she was seeing. The Formula became an illegible blurry line. As for Rakna... the image was difficult to rationalize.

She couldn’t discern his torso from his limbs or his hands from his swords. As if smudged, he had become a blend of colors, and this phenomenon swiftly demonstrated its risk. The ground under his feet distorted and pulses of Sword Intent traversed the room.

The air itself began to sharpen. Yet, Ceresta smiled with purity only she could exert. Her flowers shimmered and grew in size until they were splashed with white, exuding a soft light.

No words were exchanged.

She stepped forward and her War Crest trembled, embracing the opposing force.

Rakna leaned forward and his swords blurred until they were indistinguishable.

In the next instant, a shockingly silent clash occurred.

Up above, in the skies of the Fifth Plateau, without warning or destruction, two images branded themselves into the clouds.

A flawless white lily and a nebulous, four-pointed violet star.

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