War

**War** is an enchanted longsword given to Lith by Orion in absolute secrecy since its creation without permission is considered treason. Orion's rage at his own country for their treatment of his daughter Phloria is imbued into it, and the presence of wrath can be felt from its inferior will. It is the completed version of Ruin, with superior elemental control. War only has pseudo cores, but it has learned how to handle them as a power core would, exceeding the abilities Orion had imbued it with.

War isn't sentient and the only feeling it inherited from Orion is an unquenchable thirst for destruction. Due to its unique imprint, War will die along with Lith - it had been meant for one master and one purpose, not to be passed down. Their rage is their bond and it makes War an extension of Lith's being the moment he unsheathes the blade from its bloody scabbard.

War is able to hum despite all the blood seals as they block only its blade, not its will.

## Appearance

It is a plain bastard sword with a silvery blade, cross-shaped guard, and pommel as well as a black grip. Numerous purple crystals line the blade's groove. When War talks, the latches of the weapon opens and closes like nimble fingers, forming intelligible words with their clacking, though the inhuman sound lacks a tone. The blood that comprises the sheath slithers and writhes in a hypnotic way.

## Abilities

War has a semi-sentient pseudo core and can affect the emotions of the wielder. It carries two wills, or in Lith's case, maybe even three if Solus can handle it. Whenever it strikes or it employs its skills, the lingering willpower of its maker will fight alongside him. War both teaches and learns from Lith. Their blood bond allows them to communicate without a mind link.

The blade can fly around on its own to attack the enemy, though without its master War can only put so much strength behind each attack.

### Blood Scabbard

When imprinted, the blade's grip shapeshifts into small spikes that prick Lith's skin, sucking the blood along with the mana. The blood flows through the metal, activating its pseudo core and revealing the runes under the surface. The blade turns red and the hilt black, the guard shapeshifting from a simple cross into upward hooks. The round pommel turns into a spike while the blade becomes wider and the runes arrange themselves along its surface before becoming invisible again. Without a full cover, the raging flow of energy that courses through the angry blade makes it impossible to store it in the pocket dimension.

### Devour

Allows the sword to convert foreign energy into its own. After Kulah, Orion modified his crafting method so his loved ones would never be cornered by a construct again. Both Ruin and War are capable of absorbing mana from nearby spells, which includes the arrays that animate golems. War, however, is much more efficient so that the moment it strikes a construct, the earth magic that makes it impervious to all kinds of damage falters. This allows the sword to cut deep inside the golems' stone thanks to its enchantments scrambling their defenses.

### World Mirror

Allows the wielder to return a pure elemental attack with extra power. War is able to sense its owner's intentions and can activate World Mirror on its own. The ability is boosted by both Lith and War's willpower.

### Counterflow

The ability to twist energy on contact, making it possible to turn the very body of its victims against themselves. It allows the blade to infect with its own energy signature any means that a powerful creature might employ to mend their wounds and use them as a weapon. This ability was designed to keep the events that had led to the Gatekeeper's destruction from repeating themselves. When covered by Abomination blood, the black blood turns against itself, evaporating before it can deal War any damage, and against its owner.

### Reverse Imprint

The enchantments imbued in it and the Adamant of the blade allows War to always find both its marks and its master. However, the safety protocols don't discriminate between friend and foe - once unsheathed, it will refuse to return to its scabbard until it draws blood.

An unplanned ability/pseudo core that somehow appeared after Orion finished Forging the sword. When someone other than the imprint's owner holds the blade, spikes erupt from the hilt and digs through the victim's flesh before turning into hooks, making it impossible to remove them without amputating the limb. War then unleashes all of its enchantments right inside the usurper's body, bypassing all kinds of protections they wear. In what can only be described as a reversed imprint, the angry blade floods the enemy with its energy signature, causing mana poisoning.

### Soul Weaver

Invented by War after observing Lith's Demons bloodline ability. The blade combines its pseudo cores for Devour, World Mirror, and Counterflow to emulate a power core and manipulate souls to gain mass and cores.

### Repair

War can absorb Lith's mana to mend any damages, though slowly.

## Background

War is given to Lith by Orion Ernas in secret during Jirni's birthday gala as thanks for saving his daughters in Kulah and rage against the Kingdom for their actions against his family.

The surge of world energy and Lith's mana during the battle of Kolga allow War to speak its first words. War observes Lith absorbing his Demons of Darkness that have absorbed Kolgan soldiers. The sword takes for itself the energy the dead Kolgans release and combines the powers from its pseudo cores to imitate Lith and cast Soul Weaver - Devour allows War to convert foreign energy into its own, World Mirror to take control of the Demons of the Darkness, and Counterflow to alter their wavelength. The Demons of Darkness wrap themselves around War, making it grow in size until it matches the size of Lith's hand.

War covers its surface with the eyes from the Demons, to not rely solely on Lith's perceptions. The eyes on the hilt, pommel, and fuller of the blade achieves a 360° vision just slightly inferior to Full Guard. War uses Lith's own Spirit Magic not only to control the Demons, but also like an artificial nervous system. The magical neural network works like a huge mind link that doesn't just relay orders from War to the Demons, it also allows the parts away from each other to communicate between them and move as one.

When Lith is confronted by a group of mercenaries at the Hot Pot Inn during a vacation, Lith subdues them and orders War to watch them to make sure no one leaves. War silently kills several who try to escape.

When Qisal the Wyvern provokes Lith during his formal introduction to the Awakened Council, Lith draws War from Solus' omnipocket and it speaks, shocking of all those present including Salaark who begins investigating Orion.

## Quotes

* *"Don't worry about me, Master. I know what I have to do to serve you."* (War's first words to Lith, Chapter 1252)
* *"Again."* (War when talking to Lith about genocide, Chapter 1257)
* *"Make me feel it. Make me feel alive again!"* (War when drawn against Qisal, Chapter 1355)
* *"Debatable."* (War to Athung Soranot, Chapter 1501)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 926
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 1355
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Chapter 1253
4. ↑ Chapter 1299
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 1300
6. ↑ Chapter 1033
7. ↑ Chapter 970
8. ↑ Chapter 1257
9. ↑ Chapter 1315
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 927
11. ↑ Chapter 1505
12. ↑ Chapter 956
13. ↑ Chapter 980
14. ↑ Chapter 1107
15. ↑ Chapter 1164
16. ↑ Chapter 997
17. ↑ Chapter 1202
18. ↑ Chapter 1252