Sasuke and Xiaotao each opened a box.
Perhaps by some unspoken instinct, neither of them picked up the wrong one. Xiaotao opened hers first.
Her weapon... It was less a sword than a long whip made up of countless blades.
As Xiaotao picked it up and channeled Ripple into it, the whip suddenly stiffened, becoming a serrated sword.
"Depending on how much Ripple you channel into it, it can shift between a serrated sword and a whip. Its maximum range is ten meters in every direction. And when you don't need it for a fight—"
The swordsmith gestured for Xiaotao to tap the weapon against the ground.
All the blades folded over one another, until it became a staff-like rod, better suited for defense and concealment.
A staff, a whip, a sword.
Those were the weapon's three forms.
Compared to Xiaotao's weapon, Sasuke's was much more understated: a straight katana, still unsharpened.
At Blade Master's prompting, Sasuke channeled Ripple into it.
A thin glimmer of silver appeared along the blade. Blade Master casually tossed over a bar of iron. The blade swept through it, slicing it cleanly in two.
Blade Master, now over sixty, sat in his chair, smiling as he watched Sasuke and Xiaotao hold their weapons.
Lin Qing had told him about the children's pasts.
Xiaotao's mother had been murdered. For a girl walking through a cruel Ninja World, another way to defend herself meant another measure of safety.
The weapon Blade Master had designed for her was made using the material from the former Thunder Blade: Tusk.
As well as greatly increasing its wielder's speed and affinity for Lightning Release, it had several additional functions.
Sasuke was different.
Lin Qing had already avenged Xiaotao.
But Sasuke's grudge over his entire clan was far too complicated and far