"Radiant Armament…"
Staring at the light blade in his hand, Aize's eyes trembled slightly.
In this world, the weapons commonly used by people were no longer cold weapons made of metal or hot firearms.
Due to the meteorites brought down by the Falling Star Rain, a substance called Omnimatter had arrived on Earth. In addition to influencing the birth of a new generation of humans known as the Stellamancers, Omnimatter could also crystallize naturally into a special ore known as Omninite.
With the use of this Omninite, many scientific fields in this world had achieved breakthrough developments. One of the most representative among them was the Omnimatter Conversion-Type Energy Weapon, which used Omninite as its core.
These weapons, powered by the Omnimatter within Omninite, achieved both recyclability and zero consumption. Simply activating a device embedded with Omninite would allow it to materialize pre-recorded elemental patterns and further condense the Omnimatter into beam-like blades, arrows, bullets, and more.
These Omnimatter Conversion-Type Energy Weapons were called Radiant Armaments.
Radiant Armaments not only allowed users to adjust output and power through manual control, but when inactive, they were merely the size of a handle, giving them a huge advantage in terms of usability. As a result, almost all personal handheld weapons nowadays were Radiant Armaments. They had even reached the stage of civilian use—whether as self-defense tools or children's toys, they were practically ubiquitous.
Naturally, in Asterisk, a place built for the purpose of dueling, and in the six academies that nurtured participants for the Festa Stellae, such convenient Radiant Armaments were indispensable.
Students enrolled in any of the six academies of Asterisk could, during their time at school, apply to the Equipment Bureau for Radiant Armaments without any conditions. They could even request modifications or adjustments to suit their own capabilities.
At this moment, what Aize held in his hand was precisely a Radiant Armament.
And then—
"———"
Gripping the hilt of the Radiant Armament tightly, Aize could only describe the feeling as unbelievable.
Before this, he had never come into contact with any kind of weapon. The sharpest tools he'd held were kitchen knives and fruit knives, with scissors and nail clippers being the only others.
Under such circumstances, he should have felt unfamiliar with the weapon in his hand. He shouldn't have known how to use it at all.
Yet, the moment he grasped the Radiant Armament, what surged up in Aize's heart wasn't a sense of unfamiliarity, but rather a strange, almost omnipotent feeling that was hard to explain.
It was as if that sensation was telling him...
"The thing in your hand is your hands and feet."
"The thing in your hand is an extension of your senses."
"You have already mastered it perfectly, knowing clearly and thoroughly how to use it."
"It is your vassal."
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, Aize swung his sword.
His eyes were tightly shut, as if he had entered a mysterious state, and he naturally began to move with the sword.
The radiant weapon in his hand seemed to truly become part of his limbs, causing his body to move in sync with it as if by instinct.
Despite having no prior experience wielding a weapon, and although his body had only become younger and stronger, there should have been no way for him to swing a sword so fluidly. Yet in this moment, Aize seemed as if he had been practicing swordsmanship for decades, moving like a seasoned veteran of the blade, wielding the light sword with extreme proficiency.
"Buzz!" "Buzz!" "Buzz!"...
With the vibrating hum of the energy blade, Aize's sword movements became faster and smoother, until he was creating countless streaks of sword light, weaving a dense, impenetrable flurry of flashing blades.
"Slash!" "Slash!" "Slash!"...
As the sword lights grew sharper and swifter, marks began appearing across the ground. Flowers and grass in the nearby garden swayed violently under the gusts from the sword wind.
"Boom!"
At last, Aize suddenly opened his eyes and slashed forward with a powerful strike, unleashing a surge of sword wind that swept across the lawn in front of him, directly ripping it apart.
In an instant, dust filled the air, dirt and stones scattered, and the meticulously maintained lawn was shredded like it had been cut by countless sharp blades, bursting apart in all directions.
"Was… was that me?"
Only then did Aize come to his senses. Looking at himself still holding the sword in a striking pose, then at the mess of sword marks and chaos on the lawn before him, his newly opened eyes widened in shock, his face frozen in disbelief.
"What was that sound just now?"
"That was a loud commotion..."
"Could someone be dueling?"
"Let's go check it out!"
It turned out that the commotion just now really was a bit excessive—it had even drawn the attention of nearby people.
Aize noticed several figures rapidly approaching, and without a second thought, he quickly deactivated his Lux weapon. The energy blade vanished, leaving only the activation unit, which he hastily stuffed into the holster on his belt before turning and fleeing the scene.
Fortunately, he was fast enough. By the time those people arrived, the area was already deserted.
They could only point at the mess Aize had left behind, chattering among themselves, discussing who knows what...
"Whew..."
On the other side, Aize had sprinted away from the scene at top speed. Only after reaching another deserted corner did he finally stop and let out a breath of relief.
"Wait a second—why am I running?"
A sudden realization hit him, and he smacked his forehead.
He had almost forgotten—this place was Asterisk, the city of duels, where battles between students were commonplace. Whether inside the academy or out in the city, duels were a regular occurrence.
In other words, even if some public property got damaged, the responsibility wasn't nearly as serious as it would be elsewhere—there wasn't even a need to pay compensation in most cases.
Of course, that was only if there was a legitimate reason.
"I was practicing swordsmanship in an open space. That should count as a legitimate reason, right?"
Aize shook his head with a helpless smile, but before long, he had already put the matter behind him.
Recalling the feeling from earlier, Aize once again pulled out the activation unit of his Lux weapon and activated it.
"Sure enough, the feeling from before wasn't a coincidence, nor an illusion—it was real."
As he gripped the activated Lux weapon again, Aize finally confirmed that he truly could wield the weapon in his hand with perfect control.
No need for practice. No need for arduous training. As long as he held the weapon like this, he could naturally display the most perfect technique, unleashing the same powerful sword skills as before anytime, anywhere!
"So this is the effect of the Authority?"
Aize felt a surge of excitement.
"No—the power of the Authority isn't limited to just this."
He could clearly feel that the Authority allowed him to take further control over the weapon in his hand.
"I... I think I can even make this weapon recognize me as its master?"
Trusting his instincts, Aize vaguely confirmed this.
As long as he held the weapon, he could fully master and wield it—that was just the most basic function of the Authority within him.
If he wished, he could use the power of the Authority to imprint the weapon with his mark, making it unconditionally acknowledge him as its rightful owner.
In doing so, the weapon would become his personal exclusive armament. It would gain enhancements based on his strength, grow alongside him, and even if damaged, it could be stored within his body for nurturing—after some time, it would automatically repair itself.
Even if the weapon were lost, as long as it had recognized him as its master, Aize could summon it back to his hand with a single thought. No one else could ever take it from him by any means.
"So this is the true power of the Authority!"
Realizing this, Aize's mind began to race with possibilities.
He didn't make the Lux weapon in his hand recognize him as its master.
It was just an ordinary standard-issue Lux weapon. Even with some adjustments and modifications, it still couldn't be considered powerful.
Now that he had confirmed the true function of the Authority, there was no way he'd be satisfied with binding such a common weapon to himself.
If he wanted to become stronger quickly, he needed a more powerful, more unique, more formidable weapon!
With that thought, Aize turned his head and looked toward the school building he had just left.
"There's no other choice... I have to go."
Pressing his lips together, Aize put away his Lux weapon, then stepped forward, heading in the direction of the school building.