The Sulking Magic Sword

Under Azer's control, the Black Furnace Magic Sword directly reverted to its Activation Device state, its blade completely dismissed.

Feeling the weakness emanating from the Black Furnace Magic Sword, Azer could not help but say something.

"You were too reckless, Black Furnace."

Azer had not expected that he had merely complained about lacking Star Power, yet the Black Furnace Magic Sword had actually chosen to sacrifice its own strength for his sake.

This really was... too reckless.

One had to know that although an Exclusive Armament bound through Authority could merge into Azer's body and recover even if damaged, different degrees of damage would affect how long the Exclusive Armament took to recover.

A situation like the Black Furnace Magic Sword depleting its own power would be fine if it was merely ordinary consumption. But if someone drained it completely dry, recovery would become very troublesome.

Moreover, the recovery speed of an Exclusive Armament depended on its master's abilities. The stronger Azer was and the more power he possessed within his body, the faster the Exclusive Armament would be nourished. The reverse was also true.

Under such circumstances, with Azer's current strength, if the Black Furnace Magic Sword's power was drained dry and it suffered severe damage to its foundation, there was no telling how long it would take to nourish it back to health.

"Clang..."

Under Azer's reprimand, the red Omni-Response Crystal on the Black Furnace Magic Sword's Activation Device flickered with a faint light.

Azer immediately sensed the Black Furnace Magic Sword's will.

It... no, perhaps he should call it "her"?

She was actually dissatisfied with him stopping her!

"You..."

Azer suddenly did not know what to say.

Pure Star Radiant Armaments all possessed independent selves.

Since they had selves, they naturally had their own personalities.

Some Pure Star Radiant Armaments had decent personalities, while others were extremely vicious. They could entirely be regarded as an alternative form of life.

The Black Furnace Magic Sword's personality was actually one of the better kinds.

Her temperament was somewhat unpredictable, and she could be quite contrary at times, but she would not interfere excessively with humans. Even if someone offended her slightly, so long as they did not truly anger her, she would probably choose to ignore them.

Just like earlier beneath the Equipment Bureau, she had clearly discovered that Azer, who held her, possessed remarkably mediocre abilities and could not meet the requirements to wield her. Their Suitability Rate was not even 10%, yet she had not done anything to Azer because of it and still allowed him to hold her.

Unless someone tried to force her into submission with an overbearing, harsh attitude or treated her disrespectfully, the Black Furnace Magic Sword generally would not take the initiative to make things difficult for others. She would only ignore them.

Compared to some Pure Star Radiant Armaments with utterly dreadful personalities, she was already exceptionally well-behaved.

Of course, the Black Furnace Magic Sword's temperament truly was unpredictable, and she was especially contrary.

Although she would not favor anyone who disrespected her, once she acknowledged someone, she also did not want her wielder to treat her specially.

What she demanded from her wielder was neither respect nor trust, but something beyond such things: they only needed to regard her as a sword.

In other words, in her eyes, she was a sword, a tool.

A sword existed to fight, while a tool existed to provide its master with convenience.

This way of thinking, this inclination, had caused the Black Furnace Magic Sword to unhesitatingly choose to sacrifice her own power to fulfill Azer's wish after sensing it.

If it had been another wielder, the Black Furnace Magic Sword would not have gone this far, because those people would only have been passersby in her life. As a weapon, she could change masters at any time. Unless there were special circumstances, she would never contribute this much for one of her masters.

But Azer was different.

The Black Furnace Magic Sword clearly understood that she had already become one with this person, inseparable from him.

She had already become something that belonged solely to Azer.

For the rest of her existence, she would serve Azer alone.

Once Azer died, then as an Exclusive Armament bound to him body and soul, all of Azer's Exclusive Armaments, including the Black Furnace Magic Sword, would shatter alongside him.

They would grow together, become stronger together, face every opponent and every enemy together, and welcome death together as well.

Since that was the case, then as a sword, there was nothing to hesitate over. So long as she could be useful, what was wrong with sacrificing herself?

That was the will Azer had felt.

But...

"If I want to become stronger, I can train myself or think of other methods. It does not necessarily have to come at someone else's sacrifice."

Azer also had his own thoughts, his own convictions.

"You're my first Exclusive Armament. You still have to fight alongside me in the future. How can you bow out over something like this?"

The Black Furnace Magic Sword was immensely powerful and possessed highly unusual abilities. She could be extraordinarily useful in battle.

Rather than gain that little bit of strength at the cost of losing such a powerful Pure Star Radiant Armament as the Black Furnace Magic Sword, Azer would rather maintain the status quo.

"From now on, without my permission, you are not allowed to do this again. Understand?"

Azer did not want to keep using forceful methods to control the Black Furnace Magic Sword in the future. He hoped even more that he could fight side by side with her.

That was why Azer spoke these words with particular seriousness.

"----"

The Omni-Response Crystal on the Black Furnace Magic Sword immediately withdrew all its radiance.

She seemed to be sulking.

Azer could not help but laugh.

Still, he knew that the Black Furnace Magic Sword had probably taken his words to heart and would not do such a thing again.

After putting away the Black Furnace Magic Sword's Activation Device, Azer suddenly fell into thought.

"Since I can't absorb Black Furnace's power, what about something else?"

That was right.

Although he had no intention of absorbing the Black Furnace Magic Sword's power, Azer had turned his attention to another possibility.

"Black Furnace can release the Omni-Response Element within an Omni-Response Crystal to interfere with my abilities as part of the Star Vein Generation. Then other Omni-Response Crystals should work too, right?"

"Even if I can't obtain other Pure Star Radiant Armaments or Omni-Response Crystals right now, aren't there still ordinary Huang-style Armaments and Omni-Response Ore?"

"Those... should be able to accomplish the same thing, right?"

There was no need to bind them through Authority. So long as he touched a Huang-style Armament or Omni-Response Ore, with the perfect control he could display over any armament, he should be able to release the Omni-Response Element within them, right?

As long as he could release the Omni-Response Element contained in Omni-Response Ore, could he not use the same method from earlier to increase his strength?

Even if he did not know how to use Omni-Response Element to interfere with his abilities as part of the Star Vein Generation and thereby achieve the goal of increasing his strength, did he not still have the Black Furnace Magic Sword?

Absorbing the Black Furnace Magic Sword's own power was not a viable method, but if the Black Furnace Magic Sword cooperated with him to control external Omni-Response Element and improve his abilities, then there would be no problem, right?

"I'll give it a try."

Thinking of this, Azer could no longer sit still. He directly took out the Huang-style Armament he had used earlier.

"Black Furnace, cooperate with me."

Azer held the Huang-style Armament's Activation Device in one hand and the Black Furnace Magic Sword's Activation Device in the other. He began controlling the former, extending his consciousness into the Omni-Response Ore on it and releasing the Omni-Response Element contained within.

Clang!

Even though the Black Furnace Magic Sword had been sulking, she stopped sulking now. Red light spilled from her Omni-Response Crystal as she helped Azer control the released Omni-Response Element, directly injecting it into Azer's body through their connection of Authority, just as before.

Before long, the Omni-Response Ore on the Huang-style Armament in Azer's hand shattered.

Yet Azer smiled.

His physical capabilities and Star Power had increased again out of nowhere.

The increase was far less than the power the Black Furnace Magic Sword had just provided, but that was only the improvement brought by a single ordinary piece of Omni-Response Ore.

Omni-Response Crystals might be rare and precious, but Omni-Response Ore was far more abundant. Otherwise, the Six Academies would not allow students to collect it freely without conditions.

"It looks like I need to find a way to acquire a large quantity of Omni-Response Ore."

How should he do that?

If it was only a small amount, it would be easy enough to handle. But if he wanted a large quantity of Omni-Response Ore, the academy likely would not approve it so easily.

Even if they did approve, they might want to know what Azer needed it for.

And Azer did not want his secret exposed.

No matter how he thought about it, Azer still could not come up with a foolproof solution.

"No choice..."

He could only ask someone for help.

On the top floor of the High School Building, in the Student Council Office.

"You need a large quantity of Omni-Response Ore?"

Claudia, seated behind her desk, revealed a surprised expression.

"Yes."

Azer stood before Claudia with a serious expression and nodded.

Claudia was not surprised in the slightest that this made her curious.

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