Chapter 140 - Hope! Consumption!
"So this is what compatibility feels like…"
Being immersed in the relaxation brought by interaction with the core fragment, Leo's mind felt liberated as he focused on his search for the sense of familiarity within the depths of his memory…
'This is… the Sword Pearl?'
The fragment he held naturally wasn't the Sword Pearl, nor did it gather the nonexistent Sword Breath as it did, but that wasn't what Leo was considering. Rather, he felt like the core fragment contained a hint of the Sword Pearl's aura, that was why he didn't recognize it immediately!
Most importantly, his mind kept telling him that the core fragment was emitting something, but his actual senses transmitted nothing of that. In the end, Leo felt that he was stuck in the limbo of hallucination, telling what was real was hard.
He couldn't help remembering the cartoon that he used to watch as a child, the silly characters would always imagine anything as food when they were starving… So, was that what he was suffering from at the moment?
"The function of a core fragment…"
A fragment missing another wasn't enough reason for him to be in his current state. This was something that Leo didn't feel despite standing in front of the Progenitor Sword itself, the core fragment's function had to be very close to the one he had.
'Conduction?'
After wrecking his mind under the constant temptation of the fragment, Leo came to a bold guess. Wasn't nurturing and producing Sword Breath the main function of the Progenitor Sword?
Wouldn't the core of such an artifact have the ability to do so? Why wasn't it showing any signs of that if so? The only reason Leo could think of was that it lacked an outlet!
If the core fragment was the production machine while the part he had a fragment of was the conductive outlet, then it made sense for both parts to desire each other! It wouldn't be on the scale of the whole Progenitor Sword, but joining together made them practically complete!
"This checks out!"
This was just a theory that Leo based on what he read in the Holy Sword School's record. However, the more he thought about it the more it made sense. The Sword Pearl's nurturing was merely just an aspect of what the core fragment should be able to do, making their similarity much more understandable.
If the Sword Pearl was just the icing on the cake, then the core fragment was the whole cake! The Sword Seed's reaction to the pearl had been so strong despite its lacking ability, so it naturally had to react this strongly in front of the real deal!
"Would it be possible?"
The Sword Pearl that was originally in his body had already fused with the fragment, losing its original function, and even if it worked, the barren Earth didn't possess any Sword Breath to give. However, if the core fragment could really 'produce', then there was hope to change his unchangeable grade!
Nonetheless, the main issue behind doing so still persisted. To begin with, the Progenitor Sword was originally a foreign item, knowledge of the world that the Sword Demon came from was more or less nonexistent on the Sword Continent, even Ray only saw a glimpse at the very end of the novel.
Whether it was 'Intermediate Smithing' or the nonsense he read about in novels, re-forging fantasy artifacts wasn't something Leo was capable of. Yet, he still believed there was a way out…
'Should I eat it?'
A naive thought floated in Leo's mind, one which he naturally disregarded. Regardless of whether it was the Sword Pearl or the Sword Seed, both items were largely treated with various methods so they would be consumable for him. Eating the distorted piece of metal was more likely to kill him by tearing his esophagus rather than fusing with his fragment.
However, Leo didn't completely abandon the concept behind the thought. He couldn't eat it, but what if he were to 'consume' it?
"I just have to 'spit' it out if it doesn't work!"
Hesitating no further, Leo immediately applied his idea. With the core fragment in hand, he started his 'absorption' process. He couldn't even guarantee it being absorbed since it was but a fragment of a sword, he was only giving the last option a try.
The quick 'swordification' process felt exceptionally slow as Leo expectantly observed the sword trying to form around the core fragment…
"It worked?"
Leo carefully turned his 'Hand Sword' around, seeing that there was no rejection from either his body or the core fragment hidden within it. He decisively retracted back his hand's transformation!
The familiar sensation of a 'meal' becoming part of his body as a whole didn't occur this time, similarly, there was no buff added to his statistics. It was as if nothing had happened at all…
'This…'
However, the moment his hand fully restored its original shape, something felt stuck like a lump. Rather than there being no 'meal' at all, it felt like he was suffering from indigestion!
There was no pain to be felt, but he had something that didn't belong to him in his body. At this point, Leo was already contemplating taking the shard out. It was then that his hesitation let him understand what was truly happening!
"True consumption!"
The reason the process wasn't smooth was simple, his treated fragment had no intent to simply 'equip' the core fragment. Instead, it wanted to truly devour it! With every passing second, the foreign sensation in his arm was gradually fading away!
'It's now or never...'
The current process obviously meant that there was no going back. Whatever the result of this consumption, it would be irreversible.
At the same time, as Leo understood more and more about the abilities could exert on Earth, he also understood that there were bound to be more individuals or phenomena that strayed beyond reality. Giving up now could guarantee his safety temporarily, but it wouldn't last forever.
Since he had a path towards breaking his stagnancy, he might as well give it a shot!
"Let's keep going!"