Eason's POV
I was walking home after witnessing the most heated fight I'd ever seen. *So this is how real awakened fight... it was incredible.* But what amazed me even more was seeing that young man switch mid-fight, suddenly turning into a bloodthirsty demon.
Before long, I had already reached home, walking in with an absentminded expression.
Denim stared at me for a few seconds and asked, "What's wrong, Eason? Did you get hurt anywhere?"
"Dad, what are bond weapons?" I asked with a confused expression.
"Bond weapons are weapons that have sentience and cannot leave their bonded master," replied Denim as he made me sit down.
"Do all bond weapons make their masters go berserk and start killing or hurting people indiscriminately?" I asked, recounting the events that occurred earlier that day.
"Bond weapons are classified with the same grading system as awakened superpowers," Denim explained. "From Special Grade to A, B, C, D, E, and F, with F being the weakest.
"F-rank bond weapons have little to no influence over their master's mind. C to E-ranked ones exert a considerable amount of control over their master's actions when activated, while providing a 1.5 to 2 times boost in physical parameters.
"A to B-ranked bond weapons, however, almost completely control their master's actions when activated. They also enhance their master's physical abilities by three times and magic capabilities by two times.
"Special Grade bond weapons are peculiar. They can influence their master's behavior even without being activated, causing physical changes such as alterations in hair color, skin tone, or eye color. They increase their master's growth rate while providing a 3.5 times enhancement in physical and magical abilities when inactive, and an astonishing five times boost when activated.
"Your sister didn't have blue hair naturally—it was the influence of her bonded weapon, the Ice Dagger, that caused her hair to turn blue.
"Back to your question: once activated, Special Grade bond weapons take complete control of their masters. However, there are rare exceptions where the bond remains equal and balanced between master and weapon.
"The boy you described might not have originally had dark skin, red eyes, or even black hair. Based on what you said happened, I'd guess his control over his bond weapon is extremely poor—or the weapon is too powerful for him."
"Umm... he actually had *two* bond weapons, from what I saw," I said, my expression growing more complicated.
Denim froze for a moment, then asked with barely concealed excitement, "Wait... what color were his weapons?"
"Red and black swords—katanas, to be precise," I replied.
We both spoke simultaneously: "Oh my God, my nephew is in town and didn't come to see me!" Denim shouted, his joyful anger echoing through the room.
"Anyway, I think you should go and absorb mana because I can feel that you're close to awakening," Denim added, suddenly more serious. "I should probably bring him here soon," he muttered as he left the room in excitement.
Now, I was alone. Alone with my thoughts.
*What kind of superpower will I awaken? What impact will it have on my life, my plans, and my goals?* I pondered these questions as I made my way to the cultivation room.
Opening the door, I rid my mind of unnecessary distractions. I sat down in a lotus position and began absorbing mana as quickly as I could.
I'd suffered from mana overload a few times in the past, so I didn't think anything would happen to me now. Accelerating the rate of absorption, I felt the mana travel from every part of my body to the center of my chest, where an incomplete diamond-shaped core eagerly drew it in.
I waited as the core neared its final stage of formation. *I'm so close to awakening,* I thought, sensing the ambient mana pouring into my nearly complete core.
The last drop of mana coalesced into a sharp grain of sand and landed at the summit of the core. With a flash of blinding light, the room went dark.
I heard Denim opening the door in a rush, his urgency breaking the silence....