The monster was at least nine feet tall, standing on dozens of green tentacles spread across its massive lime-coloured, black striped torso like some kind of twisted spider. Two heads, both with one emerald eye each, stared at Adriel and Ethan blankly. Neither head had a mouth to speak of, yet the tentacles' claws looked ready to tear them into bite-sized pieces.
"Sheesh, that thing is fugly," Ethan whispered.
"Oh, it's just a Green Strangler. How boring," Adriel said at a normal volume, unimpressed.
Ethan was dumbfounded. "That thing? Boring? Bro, you need to get your eyes checked."
Adriel casually strode up to it, raising Ethan up and pointing him toward it. "Time to see what you can do, Ethan. Go on, don't be shy."
Before Ethan could even yell, he felt himself being yanked harshly as Adriel leapt high, higher than Ethan knew was even possible. He freaked out, not knowing whether Adriel would simply use him to damage the monster, or if he had to proactively do something, as the weapon itself.
Air whistled past his--well, not ears, however he was hearing--and the slimiest, most revoltingly sticky, warm thing slammed into him, then was ripped away like a bandage, before coming back in for a second strike.
"Gross!!" he shrieked. "No no no no!! Get it off, get it offfff!"
As if reacting to his disgust, a wave of cold burst from Ethan's body uncontrollably. The tip of the monster's tentacle, and the others that were creeping up, instantly shrivelled into black stubs.
Then, Adriel was back on the ground. "What the hell was that?" he demanded. "You didn't even cut anything! All you did was turn cold! Are you a sword or a glorified wand?!"
Ethan gasped as the monster reared back, giving an ear-splitting screech despite its lack of mouths, as though it was sounding directly in his mind.
"Did you see that?! I did do something!"
Adriel ducked below some stray swipes, his eyes widening as he saw the black. "Whatever that was--do it again!"
As Adriel swung him back at the monster, spirals of green filled Ethan's vision. "Wait--Don't make me touch that thing again--!" he barked crossly.
Brilliantly bright sparks flew as sword met tentacle, and heat radiated from Ethan's body.
Is Adriel just so strong his swings are making sparks? Seriously, he's way too overpowered!
"Hey, sword!" Adriel hollered over the monster's wail. "You're as useless as a blunt spear! Even a bent pole could do better!"
A surge of anger swept through Ethan. "You ungrateful little bi--"
Flames engulfed the monster in front of them, spreading along its chaotic body and heads like wildfire. It howled in fury and pain, smoke rising from it in massive puffs.
Adriel laughed. "So this is what you can do! Incredible."
"Huh?" Ethan started, confused. As far as he knew, Adriel--at least at this point--couldn't control temperatures or light fires. He was just a swordsman.
I did that? I thought the cold was what I could do…
Ethan watched as the fire slowly burned out, and strange tremors began flickering near it. He couldn't make sense of what just happened.
"Time for the finishing move," Adriel announced. He pushed himself forward off the ground, flying towards the charred green beast, seemingly breaking the laws of physics with such speed.
With both hands, he thrust Ethan violently into the monster's just, just below its necks. Ethan recoiled at the sudden pressure of his hands and the pure slicing of flesh he felt.
BOOM.
Monster guts and blood exploded, covering the cavern with dark red and bright green.
"Haha… this is great," Adriel panted, wiping the remains of a stray tentacle off his left glove. "Maybe being stuck with a cursed sword isn't the worst thing after all…"
"Ew--! You better wipe this stuff off me and tell me exactly what just happened," Ethan demanded, as he realized he still had his sense of smell.
Aw, come on! Swords don't even have noses. How come I didn't know I could smell before? Who the hell designed this system…
The overwhelming, ironish smell of spilled blood filled the air. For Ethan, who'd never seen anything like it, he would've been sick on his knees if he was still human.
Adriel calmly shook the monster goop off Ethan, then made sure the monster was really dead by viciously stomping on the thing its heads used to be.
"Good, all dead," he said, satisfied, then he turned his gaze to Ethan. "Seems like your power and abilities are tied to your emotions."
"Great. Uh, yeah I knew that already."
"You could've told me. I only realized because some mages are the same. Never thought a sword would have that."
"I'm no ordinary cursed sword," Ethan said, proudly.
"Whatever. Let's keep going."
The whole fight had lasted only a few minutes. The Green Strangler didn't have a chance.
So cool…! Finally, some real fantasy action vibes!
Ethan had finally learned something about powers. He thought there'd be some kind of transmigrator system, that would go [Fireflame Megaburst Activated] or something like that, and he'd have to hide it from the world.
But no. The Strongest Doomed Swordmaster was just a plain old medieval kingdom fantasy, no fancy SSS-class systems to guide anyone.
What a pity.
So, Adriel said my powers were emotion-based. Of course he'd figure that out after a grand total of two swings. The author of the novel just loaded him up with all the genius-ness and strength in this world, didn't they?
Anyway. So I felt disgust at touching the monster, and suddenly, I turned cold. Then anger, 'cos he didn't listen to me, and there were sparks. And lastly, when he insulted me out of nowhere, I was so pissed I made a fireball?
Such a strange set of powers.
Adriel continued walking through the seemingly endless array of tunnels. Every so often, they would hear a noise coming from far off. Adriel would get excited, hoping for another monster to fight, but each time, they found nothing.
As they were surely getting closer to the exit, Ethan expected to hear the voices of other students. There had to be plenty, considering that Zarodei Academy was one of the largest and most prestigious in the kingdom.
Even as the tunnels sloped upwards, Adriel said not a single word of concern for his friends, who were probably also in here somewhere. Maybe he didn't want to say anything to the "evil" sword. Ethan would surely meet them--or at least see them--soon enough. Or it could be that being bound to a powerful cursed sword was just taking up most of Adriel's headspace.
It had now been at least a couple of hours since Ethan had transmigrated, but to him, it felt like days. Dying was no big deal, which was a surprise. He'd expected it to be some kind of massive traumatic event.
Or the shock might just be delayed and I'll feel it later. Who cares?
At long last, light filled the path ahead, and Ethan could hear a chorus of voices further along. The tunnel straightened out, and the two of them emerged into the late afternoon light.
Adriel stood there for a moment, eyes adjusting to the brightness. Ethan had no need to, so he took in the environment around them.
Dozens of people were gathered all around, the buzz of conversation filling the air. Everyone stood against a backdrop of lush, rolling hills. Behind Adriel and Ethan was a dizzyingly high mountain above the opening they had emerged from.
An older woman close to them turned sharply. "Adriel Kaen! Where have you been? You were supposed to return ten minutes ago. Everyone else is already here," she said disapprovingly.
At her words, the entire group fell silent, eyes locking on Adriel.
"Sorry, Professor Liffey," Adriel said, his polite words a massive contrast between the rude tone he had used with Ethan. "I went a bit too far into the cave and got distracted."
"This will be noted in your evaluations for this semester."
"Yes, Professor."
Ethan half expected Adriel to argue back, given his actions so far.
The old woman's eyes flicked to Adriel's right hand, where he was still holding Ethan casually.
"That isn't your sword."
Oh, crap! She's already on to us!
"It looks awfully similar to some… cursed swords I've seen in the past. Where did you get that, young man?"
What are we gonna do now?!