My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 112: Parasitic Weapon

As his vision cleared, he almost panicked. His hand was gripping the stave from his vision as it stood on a silver display podium. Silver chains fell from the weapon to the floor, giving Kace a fright. Glancing around nervously he saw five other weapons of different varieties on display in the same manner. 

Each one had a feeling of extreme anger and twisted grief emanating from them. Kace instinctively knew where he was at once. Though, he did not want to admit it to himself. A sudden rush of air washed over him as Sonja appeared in the doorway with a panicked expression upon her face.

"STOP!" She screamed, failing to notice that she was already too late. 

Kace gave her an apologetic expression as she looked from him to the weapon in his hand. The panicked expression shifted to one of disbelief as she confirmed what she saw once again. 'He hasn't been turned to dust!' She thought as she took a sharp intake of air to fill her lungs. 

Kace gave her a worried look and was unsure as to how to explain what had happened. It was not like he had deliberately broken her rules. 'I should put this down.' He thought this would be the best way to show his sincerity to her. Then maybe, just maybe, she might let him live.

As he let go of the weapon the purples vines on it suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of his arm. Kace leapt backwards and tried to shake it off as Sonja watched in amazement. 'Fuck! Get this off of me!' Kace was screaming internally as he swung his arm around. The weapon, Sylvan, used its vines to pull itself closer to Kace. 

Once it was almost in his hand again, its form began to change. The process was fast as it made itself into a bracelet. The vines acted as the cord that bound itself to his wrist while a silver wooden made up the face of it. Several small electrical blue feathers dangled from it, giving it a nature like look.

Kace tried to pull at the vines to remove the strange object to no avail. Sonja pondered the matter while she watched him struggle with it. 'There's no helping it then.' She sighed heavily as she understood she could no longer separate them.

"Kace." She said with a heavy tone. "Stop struggling, it's pointless."

Kace looked at her in bewilderment. 'Fuck! Is she going to kill me for this?' He looked at the strange bracelet once again, this time, his eyes were full of anger. 'You shitty thing! Look what you've done.

Sonja realised what he was thinking, but he could not be more wrong. Although killing him would indeed work to separate them. It just was not worth it. 'I'll have to properly warn him. Otherwise, that thing might just take over.'

"Kace, that thing is what's known as a Parasitic Weapon. Others call them Demonic Weapons." Sonja began slowly, "Once they have chosen and bonded with a host, they can never be removed while the host still lives."

"What the hell is this thing then?" Kace grumbled. Although she said it was basically a parasite, Kace wanted to know what exactly he was in for when dealing with it.

"Hmm, essentially, every weapon in here was created by someone willing to sacrifice themselves to leave behind a legacy. Their life force was used in a magic ritual to bind suitable materials together to create a sort of living weapon." Sonja said while casting a wary eye on Kace's new bracelet. "Can you tell me what happened when it chose you? Maybe then I can offer a proper insight into this particular piece?"

Kace took his time to explain every detail of what had happened to her. This was all new information to Sonja as this weapon had never chosen anyone before. It had never reached out or acted up. It had been a strange one in the collection. 'I see, he has gained a powerful ally though it's an extremely troublesome one at that.'

"By the sounds of it, this particular weapon was created with grief and rage as its core. In other words, it was made with the sole purpose of revenge in mind. It's a Hero Slaying weapon." Kace looked at the bracelet once again. This time his eyes were glimmering as though they had just beheld a priceless treasure.

"Kace, you must be careful," Sonja said sternly while making sure to draw his attention back to her. "They are called Parasitic Weapons for a few reasons. The more you use it to fulfil its purpose, the stronger the weapon and the consciousness within it will grow. Not only that, but it will slowly feed off of your emotions that are in line with its own creation. In time, it may very well try to possess you. Or influence your decisions to get what it wants." Sonja gave him a knowing look, she knew he relied on his instincts and emotions when fighting.

Kace, on the hand, felt appalled. It was like having a time bomb strapped to his wrist with no way to safely remove it or escape the eventual explosion. At this moment he really felt the need to keep it at arm's length so to speak.

"Wait, you said it was conscious? So should I be worried that it might just grow a mouth and start speaking at any random moment?" Kace asked her with a worried tone. There were a lot of things that could go wrong if it chose the right moment to open its mouth.

"Hmm, at first no. It will communicate with you mentally. However, I can't guarantee what will happen with it as it grows stronger." Sonja replied while contemplating his question, her finger tapped lightly on her chin. "It should have told you its name, right? Try talking with just now, maybe it will be happy to answer your questions on its own?"

Kace shot her a look that said, 'Yeah right!' He doubted such a complicated existence would be willing to share anything meaningful about its plans with him. 'Guess I should give it a shot anyway. She said it would communicate mentally, right? So at least I don't have to look like an idiot talking aloud to myself. Sylvan? Are you there...?'