The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1007: Haint

Karl picked up the blade, and immediately felt the resistance from the Blade of Champions.

It had been some time since he tried to use another weapon, and he had totally forgotten that the blade was actually intensely territorial. With its effect, Karl wasnʼt sure that he could properly bond the weapon at all.

Everyone waited, wondering what Karl was doing, and not privy to the silent objections of the Blade of Champions.

After a few seconds, Karl relented.

”It seems that I offended my other sword. I will have to find a proper home for this one later.” He explained.

Dana gave him a strange look. ”How do you offend a sword?”

”Attempt to cheat on it with another sword? One with a longer blade and a fancy skill stone.” Karl replied with a shrug.

Dana resisted the urge to facepalm as Karl took out the Blade of Champions, which now pulsed with Totem Rank power, as if staking its claim.

”Didnʼt it let you use the maul without any issues, though?” Tessa asked.

Karl nodded. ”Yes, the Maul wasnʼt an issue. Just swords, as far as I can tell. I guess Iʼll just have to work on a skill to improve my one-handed blade work. Or maybe learn to fight with a shield.”

[Rae can make you an excellent Crab shield. Well, once sheʼs done with the one that sheʼs making for whatever sheʼs doing.] Cara suggested.

Rae looked up from her sketchbook. [That one is just for art. Itʼs not for function.]

It was part of her new decorative line of equipment. She had already planned out the whole set for Dana, and now she was just waiting on the proper method to dye the shell portions black.

She had plenty of reds, but she wanted them to be glossy black to go with the stripes in the fur of Karlʼs beast form. She could paint it, but that just wasnʼt the same as properly dyeing the shell so that it was the right colour all the way through, and the looks couldnʼt be chipped away.

It took a few more minutes of searching her memory of Leatherworking skills, but she eventually came up with a plan that would work on orange chitin, and began formulating the dye to make properly black shields out of the crab shells.

While Rae worked on plans to make new armour, Karl set out his assortment of weapons on the table, so he could form a plan to create something to fill the gaps in his abilities.

Looking at them all side by side was easier for Karl to compare than just going over the System Interface, but it really did highlight how far he had come since acquiring the maul.

A single moderately powered attack would cause the formerly prodigious weapon to explode now. He should likely put it on display somewhere or see if he could release the bond and trade it to someone less powerful.

Out of habit, the Epic Guard picked up the Haint Claw and let it equip over her hands, then the whole body, which transformed the black drake scaled construct to a ghost - bodied Treant nearly identical to Overlord Leafa.

For a moment, the Guard looked at the two less used weapons, and then picked them up.

It looked hilarious, as both weapons were designed to be wielded with both hands, and the Epic Guard was smaller than Karl by quite a bit.

Lotus smiled at the semi-intelligent construct.

”Did you want them?” She asked.

The construct nodded, and Karl shrugged. ”I donʼt see why not. But be careful trying to actually use the maul. It canʼt handle Overlord Rank power, and even Monarch Rank is pushing its limitations.”

The Epic Guard nodded happily, then both weapons simply melted into its body.

”What the hell was that?” Dana exclaimed, while the Epic Guard strutted around proudly.

{Weapon upgraded} [Haint Claw] has become [Haint].

The Epic Guard seemed to split, and the original body stepped back, leaving the Leafa copy, in all her ghostly glory, standing in front.

[Living Weapon: Haint] Artifact Grade Living Weapon. [Soul Steal] [Soul Link] [Spirit Shift] [Teleport] [Life Steal] [Force Slam] [Ghostfire] Deals extra damage when merged with a construct or wielder.

Everyone stared in shock for a moment, then the Haint vanished. It reappeared behind Lotus, and picked the little cleric up in a princess carry, so it could pet her with its hair branches.

{HA! The tables have turned.} Tian laughed as he came out to watch the show.

The Epic Guard smirked at the show. Without the Haint, its intelligence wasnʼt nearly as high, but it was well aware of Lotusʼ love for all things plant and animal.

”Well, thatʼs one way to deal with excess weapons. But I must say that creating a second Leafa was not what I had on the bingo sheet for today.” Tessa joked.

The Haint smiled at her.

”Who is Leafa?” She asked.

”Oh, thatʼs the Haint that broke off a bit of its own hand to make the Haint Claw that you evolved from. She named herself Leafa because she looked like an ethereal Treant.” Tessa explained.

The Haint nodded slowly. ”Interesting. I would say that we look more like a Tree Revenant. But perhaps she wanted to be seen as a friendly creature?”

”Did you not want to be known as friendly?” Tessa asked carefully.

The Haint shrugged. ”I am Pack Master Karlʼs weapon. Whether my presence is friendly or not depends on his mood.”

This living weapon didnʼt have the rebellious spirit that Leafa had, Tessa realized. It still respected the bond with its wielder, and didnʼt have any inclination to rebel against his authority or go off on its own.

Perhaps that would come with age, but for now, they probably didnʼt need to worry about a rebellion.

[I wonder if it kept its combat instincts.] Cara wondered.

The Haint turned to face her. ”Indeed. I learned much about combat as I grew. Including the first lesson that you taught me. Gouge out the eyes and then claw off the delicate bits.”

[She can hear me!] Cara cheered, and did a little happy dance on her hind legs.

”I can hear what Karl hears. So I hear everything.”

Lotus poked the ghostly looking body of the Haint, and found that it was actually warm and squishy.

”Can you put me down now?”