[Jack's POV]
It's a sword... forged by Sol.
"t-th-that's im-possible," I muttered.
Kion looked at me and asked, "What?"
I stayed silent as hundreds of thoughts clouded my mind.
Zareth looked at me and asked what was wrong.
Not looking at him, I asked, "Do you not recognize that sword's magic?"
He looked confused and said, "No? Should I?"
I let out a shaky breath and felt Ark grab my hand.
I looked at him and saw his worried face.
I took another breath and said, "That sword was forged by S—"
*Crack*
I paled and looked up.
"Shit!"
A crack midair, no, a crack in the barrier from [null invocation], a crack in space itself.
"Put that sword away NOW!" I shouted at and hoped Kion would listen.
I closed my eyes, put my hands together, and started chanting in the language I hoped I wouldn't have to use for at least a few centuries.
"ᎧᏰᏝᎥᏉᎥᎧᏁ, ᏂᏋᏗᏒ ᎷᎩ ፈᏗᏝᏝ ᏗᏁᎴ ᏒᏋᎮᏋᏝ ᏖᏂᎧᏕᏋ ᏇᏂᎧ ᏇᎥᏕᏂ ᏖᏧ ᏕᏋᏋ ᎥᏁ. ᏰᎩ ᏖᏂᏋ ፈᎧᎷᎷᏗᏁᎴ ᎧᎦ ᏖᏂᎥᏕ ᎮᏒᎥᎷᎧᎶᏋᏁᎥᏖᎧᏒ ᏗᏁᎴ ᏋᏁᏉᎧᎩ ᎧᎦ ᏦᏁᎧᏇᏝᏋᎴᎶᏋ, ᏕᏂᎥᏋᏝᎴ ᏬᏕ ᎦᏒᎧᎷ ᏖᏂᎋ ᏕᏬᏁᏕ ᎶᏗፚᏋ."
*Crack-Tschk*
More cracks started to form around the room. Zareth was waving hand signs, preparing to isolate us.
I released my aura, knocking him and Kion over and causing the others to pass out.
"ᎷᏗᎩ ᏂᏋ ᏁᎧᏖ ᏕᏋᏋ ᎥᏁ ᏁᎧᏒ ᎷᏗᎩ ᏂᏋ ᏦᏁᎧᏇ. ᎩᎧᏬᏒ ᎮᏒᏋᏕᏋᏁፈᏋ ᏋᏒᏗᏕᏋᏕ ᏖᏂᏋ ᎷᏋᎷᎧᏒᎩ ᎦᏒᎧᎷ ᎦᎧᏒᎷᏗᏖᎥᎧᏁ ᏗᏁᎴ ᏒᏋᎮᏗᏝ ᏗᏁᎩ ፈᎧᏬᏁᏖᏋᏒ."
Kion tried to get up but couldn't because of the weight of my aura, and Zareth looked at me with absolute terror.
"ᎷᏗᎩ ᏖᏂᏋ ፈᏒᏋᏗᏖᎧᏒ ᏰᏋᏁᎴ ᏰᏩ ᎩᎧᏬᏒ ᏇᎥᏝᏝ, ᎷᏗᎩ ᏕᎧᏝ'Ꮥ ᎴᎥᏉᎥᏁᏋ ᏋጀᎥᏕᏖᏗᏁፈᏋ ᏰᏋᏁᎴ ᏖᏧ ᏖᏂᎥᏕ ፈᎧᎷᎷᏗᏁᎴ, ᎷᏗᎩ ᏂᏋ ᏁᏋᏉᏋᏒ ᏦᏁᎧᏇ Ꭵ, Ꮧ ᎦᏗᏖᏋ ᏰᏒᏋᏗᏦᏋᏒ, ᏂᏗᏉᏋ ᎦᎧᏬᏁᎴ ᏂᎥᏕ ᏕᏇᎧᏒᎴ."
*VWWOOOOMM*
*Crack-tschk-crackle-...*
...
I opened an eye and looked around.
The cracks had stopped.
*HHOOOOOOHHH!* I let out a long and relieved sigh. "I'm so glad he, no, they... it?..." i shrug. "It heard my request." Not worrying about it for now.
I pulled my aura back in under my control and checked on my friends while Kion and Zareth lay there, awake but not moving.
Thankfully, everyone was okay, just knocked out from the full weight of my aura.
I pulled out a lavender flower. "Lavender."
Lavender's purple mist formed. "Jack, what happened? Volt nearly had a heart attack from his vision, and he doesn't have organs."
I put up a hand and said, "I will explain later, but know that I'm okay and I fixed the problem. But I need you to make sure they don't remember why they passed out."
She nodded, floated above their heads and got to work.
I let out a sigh and checked on Kion and Zareth.
Neither of them had moved at all.
"Still trying to understand what happened?" I asked.
Kion looked up at me and asked, "How... how is your aura so strong? Even a dragon's aura isn't that powerful."
I smiled. "Aura is composed of two things: mana and soul. While I have a very low mana capacity, my soul is massive, and any spell that uses the soul has a much more powerful effect on spiritual effects in spells and the pressure in aura.
What you felt was the pressure of a soul, not my actual power, so you don't need to feel like I am stronger. You could probably kill me with ease in a fair fight."
He nodded slowly, still trying to understand what I just said and slowly getting up.
Then, when I turned to Zareth, I saw him completely still with a terrified expression, though I couldn't blame him.
As a devil, he is aware of how souls work and how they affect aura, power, and the mind. But as an incubus, he feeds off small soul fragments when having sex with people.
He also knows that the souls of summoners like me are larger than normal, as contracts with spirits are bound to the soul.
However, my soul is comparable to a rank 5 spirit, and when my aura is released, the true size of my soul was revealed to him. And with Zareth being a rank 6 demon, he is fully aware of how powerful I am when fighting Etherials.
not to mention that if he fed off my soul, it would probably crush his own.
But it's not just that. As people go about their lives, their souls can become corrupt or marked based on their actions, like small specks of dirt on a white shirt. It can be washed off if done correctly, but if you continue to make it dirty, it may stain permanently.
My soul, however, is completely pure, which is normally impossible. No one can keep their soul completely clean, especially if you have killed before, like I have.
And with a soul as pure as mine, I could easily overpower even rank 7 Etherials, though at a cost to myself, I should add.
"You good?" I asked.
He stayed silent and didn't move.
'Did I damage his soul by accident?' I wondered.
I moved a trace amount of my aura over him, and he flinched but didn't do anything else.
'Ok, so it is just shock,' I thought, a little worried.
I pulled out my wand and cast [shock], sending a small amount of lightning into his body, shocking him.
He jumped and looked around.
When his eyes landed on me, he paled and asked, "W-... was that really your aura?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I guess you noticed why it's so strong?"
He nodded too and slowly got up, even though his legs were shaking a bit.
Kion, who had already walked over, helped him sit back on his chair and looked at me. "What just happened?"
My face darkened as I thought of a way to explain.
Thinking of only one way, the truth, I let out a sigh.
"Your sword was made by a very specific and powerful person. The sword would normally try and make a connection with its creator, as they are the source of its magic.
But when you pulled it out inside this room while [null invocation], a spell that blocks any interaction from things on opposite sides of the barrier, was active, it caused the cracks."
I gestured around at the still-visible cracks that were actually repairing themselves — which was surprising even to me, as I thought I would have to reapply the spell.
Leaving that for later, I continued, "Since the spell prevents things like that from happening, the sword had to try and break the spell to forge the connection."
Zareth looked at me in fear. "That spell is based on the outer laws. Even at low levels, it's comparable to a rank 9 spell. How could a legendary artifact break through it?"
"Because the sword was forged by and belongs to the being we know now as Sol, the Sun God."
Kion and Zareth paled in realization. Even Lavender stopped moving upon hearing me say that.
Kion looked down at the Katana with shock, fear, shame, confusion, and several other emotions.
"I have been using a sword forged by the being responsible for the deaths of so many beastfolk," he said.
I shook my head. "No, you have been using a sword abandoned by its creator and given it a new and redeeming purpose."
Kion looked at me and asked "What do you mean?"
"This sword was known as [Sanburēdo], back when Sol was a spirit. But he abandoned his post for power and renounced any claim to this blade."
Zareth jumped in. "JACK! You can't say that. The rules do—"
"I know the rules," I interrupted him with a glare. "I am bound by the same rules as you. However, as an envoy of the Librarian, I can teach people the knowledge they need to know."
"T-the Librarian?! That is your primordial contract?" he asked, shocked.
Kion looked up at us, only partially listening as he was stuck in his own thoughts.
"Who is the Librarian?"
Zareth shut his mouth, looked at me, and shook his head.
I smiled and said to Kion, "A spirit with a vast library of knowledge. I can't say anything more — at least not yet."
Kion nodded slowly, not really caring, and instead asked, "What did you mean by 'when he was a spirit?' I thought Sol was a mortal before he ascended to godhood?"
I shook my head. "That is just what he claims, but like mortals, gods can lie. Really, Sol was once known as the Primordial Spirit of the Sun. He was the Sun since the beginning of Primus itself. However, he became greedy and power-hungry.
He tricked the Librarian into giving him some information he shouldn't have, abandoned our world - causing the Sunless Year - and slowly began the process of becoming a god.
When he returned to Primus, he also returned with the sun; he made up that story in order to trick the desperate people into worshiping him. It's why Solaria is so powerful compared to the dwarven kingdoms, which are ruled by the dwarven god."
Kion nodded slowly, not fully realizing everything that I had just revealed. His mind is probably still a little hazy from exposure to my aura.
"So Sol used to be a spirit and became a god. And this sword was forged before he became a god?"
I nodded.
"Can he track me with it, and does he want it back?"
I slowly nodded my head. "He could track its location if he wanted, but since he hasn't, I doubt he wants it. But honestly, he might not even know it's still intact. He might think the power you draw from him with the sword is actually one of his high priests."
"..."
"If you are hesitant to draw more power from the sword, I can break the connection."
They both turned to me in shock.
Zareth spoke first. "Jack, if what you say is true, then this is a Divine Grade artifact at least! How can any mortal break a bond between it and its creator?"
I turned to him and said two words, "The Library."
He shut his mouth and said nothing else.
Kion spoke next. "I get that you two know more than me about spirits and such, and can't say much. I have the same problem with the army, so I won't ask what you can't say. However, I will ask if you can give me some time with it."
I nodded. "Of course. If you do decide to remove the bond, please have Zareth message me, and I will learn how to break it, but it would take a few days."
He nodded.
I smiled and looked at the others who were still unconscious, but thankfully, Lavender had also finished.
"As for this situation, they will not remember my aura but will question why they passed out."
Kion looked at them and said, "I do have a sleeping mist potion. We could say that I offered to use it to knock out Aaron, but someone opened the stopper, causing some of the mist to leak out and knock them all out."
I nodded. "That works. They know I am tougher than they and won't really question that I, along with two S-Ranks, were not affected. Araki is the most rash, so we will say it's him."
Zareth raised an eyebrow. "Don't you feel bad about blaming something like that on your friend?"
I shrugged. "He has done some weird or impulsive things in the past, so he won't question it. Plus, I like to mess with people sometimes. Besides, I will tell him the truth eventually when they realize how strong my aura actually is. They have already noticed my aura isn't like others."
The two nodded, and we all sat down.
"Now, while we wait for them to wake up, how about we discuss how I will exorcise the shadow?"