Silence filled the entire hall.
"Forgive me for asking, but what exactly are we supposed to be looking at?" Mircalla inquired.
The same question echoed in everyone's minds as several sets of eyes looked at him.
The second ancestor ignored them completely, focusing solely on Valdis.
Valdis was confused as well, and who wouldn't be?
The box was filled with a silvery, blob-like substance. The surface rippled constantly as if attracted to something, but that was all.
The blob had no aura, no presence, and didn't look capable of harm.
"All of you should be quiet," the second ancestor said.
As soon as his voice faded, it felt like all sound in the hall was instantly sucked out.
Grand Elder Mircalla wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
"This is my greatest creation. It might not look like much now, but the base material I refined it from was Orichalcum."
"You used the metal of gods to make this?" the third ancestor suddenly blurted out.
Even the first ancestor looked shocked.
Orichalcum is the rarest and most precious metal found in Eldoria, revered for its near indestructibility and magical qualities.
"But that's not all. I also used soul steel to house a soul powerful enough to control all the intricate actions of the weapon," he explained.
Hearing this, the first ancestor asked, "Why would you need to house another soul in a person's soul weapon?"
Soul weapons are in a class of their own.
They are almost always stronger than any other weapon in the same tier and are bonded to their owners in a way other weapons can't mimic.
Regular weapons must be carried or stored in spatial pouches or rings, which makes theft possible.
Soul weapons are different; they bond with their owner's blood and require a small piece of the owner's soul for proper function. Since they fuse completely with the owner, stealing one is nearly impossible.
Even if stolen, the weapon is merely a very durable sword because only the owner can truly wield it.
Attempting to kill the owner and loot the weapon is worse—soul weapons are semi-sentient and might decide to self-destruct upon their owner's death, as the split soul won't last long without the main soul.
If the weapon doesn't self-destruct, once the split soul dies, all runes carved into the sword vanish, leaving only a useless chunk of metal.
They can only be passed on after the previous owner retrieves their split soul, allowing someone else to claim it.
But a soul inhabiting an unclaimed weapon is unheard of.
Faced with the first ancestor's question, the second ancestor chuckled awkwardly. Noticing his odd behavior, the third ancestor asked,
"Second, I hope you didn't do anything foolish."
The third ancestor knew him well and understood he would do almost anything to achieve his goals as long as it didn't go against his principles.
Seeing the tension, the first ancestor asked, "Third, what did you do?"
In a no-way-out situation, the third ancestor cleared her throat and explained,
"Well, the weapon I created was so powerful that it needed at least half the soul of someone from the saint realm to work properly."
The first and third ancestors looked at her in shock, understanding the gravity of what she just said.
Saint realm powerhouses are viewed as gods.
When someone breaks into the saint realm, all the laws they've mastered fuse with them, making them physical embodiments of those laws.
Any move made by a saint realm individual is often catastrophic. The top powers are all in the saint realm because threats requiring more than that are rare.
A hand suddenly raised, drawing everyone's attention, as three ancestors looked in that direction.
The one who raised his hand was Draven, still seated on his throne. Since the meeting began, he had been silent.
Seeing it was Draven, the third ancestor waved her hand, breaking the silence.
As soon as the silence was broken, Draven began to speak.
"Since the weapon needs at least half the soul of a saint realm individual to function optimally, why give Valdis such a weapon?" he asked.
The third ancestor sighed again.
"That was how the weapon was originally designed. But after fusing a soul strong enough to handle the weapon's intricate demands and reforging it, the demands on the owner's soul were greatly reduced. The size of the soul fragment needed is less than with normal soul weapons."
Hearing this, Draven nodded and said nothing more.
But the third ancestor sensed something was wrong. She thought for a moment and then asked, "Whose soul did you put inside that thing?"
She looked sternly at him and continued,
"Because, although I'm not a blacksmith and don't have as much knowledge as a typical one, I know you can't leave a blank soul to control all the runes and mechanisms in the sword. You need something with consciousness to take command."
That's the main reason a soul fragment is required—so the sword can communicate with the owner's soul. It also helps fuse the sword with the owner.
After a pause, she asked again,
"So, I'll ask once more, whose soul did you put inside that thing?"
Everyone in the room quickly understood the implication.
If the soul inside the sword harbored malicious intent, Valdis would be an easy target, as he wouldn't be able to resist.
Any soul with enough strength to lessen the burden on the soul weapon—at least at the immortal ascension realm—would be dangerous to gift to the family's newest prodigy.
But both the first and third ancestors knew she wasn't stupid. They believed the soul inside that weapon would never harm its owner.
Their concern was that soul enslavement was taboo in Eldoria.
The third ancestor hesitated and then sighed, saying,
"It was Nyxaria's soul. Before she died, she asked me if I could find a way to keep her alive. She had another vision—one with two potential endings—and she wanted to secure the future of the Ebonhart House."
"Don't tell me..."
"She was dying, and I was desperate. When she told me her soul could stabilize my creation, I jumped at the chance," he explained.
"So, Nyxaria's soul is inside that thing?" the first ancestor asked.
"Yes. Her soul is the stabilizing component of that weapon."
Everyone's mind exploded with shock—they couldn't believe the soul of the Ebonhart House's oldest guardian beast was inside that so-called weapon.