True Love's Seventh Kiss

Ch.36 Starbrands

"On that note, shall we start." Novak snapped his fingers and Kaliban brought a silver tray with several strange objects that reminded Marion once again that this wasn't a standard fantasy setting.

"I have already taken the liberty of scanning your weapons and uploading the crystals with your information, you need only choose your preferred style of operating device." Kaliban stated.

Displayed before Marion's nerdy eyes were what could only be described as Steampunk Lightsabers. They were rods and hilts that each had its own aesthetic sense. Some were brass with gears, others used glass to show off the inner workings, and a couple were steel or silver.

"As you may know this is the pet project that your uncle is working on. They are called Starbrands, they use projection and Gravity magic to generate a facsimile of a chosen weapon." Novak pulled one that had his name on it. He opened it by breaking it in half like he was loading a shotgun and put a glass cylinder containing a mana stone inside it and he snapped it closed.

When Novak pressed the button activating it a sword sprouted out of the top of it with a hand guard and all. It resembled the one that he had taken with him into the forest and wore on his hip to the party. Marion realized why Novak called it a Facsimile though. The outlines of the shapes seemed to glow with a light blue light as if it were outlined and the rest of it was semi-transparent and ethereal. When he moved it around the inner shape distorted in a ghostly way but the hard lines remained fixed relative to the position of the hilt.

"Since the way we used to do the Seven Star Spar, or rather the intended purpose of the game is to be highly dangerous since it's designed for sword master, Ivan created these." Novak swished it around and instead of making a deep whoosh sound, it made a crisp whistling sound like a reed being flicked in the wind. "They are resistant to mana, spells, and aura so you can't hurt someone with those kinds of means. The blade itself is warm to the touch but if you strike someone with it will noticeably burn their clothes and deliver a sharp shock through the skin."

Novak turned it off and tossed it to Gurrand, "try to use your aura with it or enchant the blade with magic."

Gurrand caught the device and looked it over. Once finding the switch he swung it around a few times with great force but couldn't manage to do more than make it whistle. "Nothing, but I am impressed. For something that looks so fragile it is surprisingly sturdy." Gurrand then slapped his hand with the blade. He flinched and then turned it off and did some "Stress Test" by slapping it on the ground.

Novak flinched and whined just a bit but calmed down when the device activated like normal again when he was done.

"Impressive, where may I get my hand on one?" Gurrand tossed it back to Novak who caught it gingerly and sighed with relief when there wasn't any real damage done to it.

"I have one for you already you brute." Novak sighed. "But it has one more feature, there are commoner-brand ones that are dull iron gray in the color the protection glows. The nobles however have the choices of Yellow, orange, purple, white, dark blue, green, and black. That way they can show off the god that they worship. But thanks to a favor there is a hidden color that can only be unlocked by Ivan and one other person if I am guessing correctly." Novak handed Marion the device.

[Unlock hidden feature for: Corsair's Devotion?]

[Yes/no]

Marion pressed the button on the starbrand. When he did his hand dipped with the new weight caused by the gravity magic. The sword extended and still shined a bright bluish light but when Marion unlocked the feature with his authority the blade fizzled and then turned red.

'Mom and Dad really hopped on the Corsair boat full steam, didn't they?' Marion thought to himself, but he was happy and a bit proud of it. Corsair was their God from the future that had come back in time to save them. Why shouldn't they be this devoted?

"A red sword. My oh my you are going to turn your son into another Villain of the Court just like you and Irina." Gurrand remarked. "How fitting."

"In this world where heroes are no longer needed, we can only survive by being better villains. My ancestor may have been a hero who defeated the demon king. But there are no more great wars for heroes to fight. Only villains playing political games trying to undermine each other with plots. I thought that I would never be suited for their games, so I hid myself away to survive. But now we can fight back or rather we have to." Novak said solemnly. "With the seven star spar method, we will create a new generation of sword saints surrounding Marion. With this Starbrand's stress tests in the imperial knights training grounds showing exceptional results, the next phase of production and implementation has begun."

"This year Ivan is moving to begin production and has been... coerced to make his facility here in Cliffgard, and in a year when Marion turns fifteen, they will be implementing in training at the Academy along with standardizing the Seven Star Spar as an official training method."

"You're shitting me!" Gurrand exclaimed

"Language Gurrand!" Irina shouted from the loft of the second floor overlooking the green.

"I'm not, you are looking at the first line of premium model Starbrands designed by the creator. An artist is going to help him fit the needs of the nobility better as he starts to really mass produce them. But since they are resistant to aura and magic, part of their selling point is as a defensive weapon safe for students and children to use. So we predict it will become a hot commodity as word gets around. Ivan custom made one for me and the other sword saints. And he sent these ahead of him for this purpose. So you will be the first to choose their own starbrand. Choose your partner wisely and trust your instincts." Novak pointed at the tray.

None of the starbrands had any kind of guard on them which seemed intentional since it might get in the way of the projection. There were some that had gold inlays and others that had an obscene amount of decoration. Since Corsair was not interjecting it seemed like this was completely up to him. Although only one really spoke to Marion. A slightly curved black one with spiraling ridges and some copper accents. It was the only proper black one and it seemed to him if he were going to be a sith lord in this new world he should have a lightsab- a starbrand that properly reflected that.

Marion didn't hesitate to open it up and put his crystal in it. When he finished unlocking the hidden feature, he pressed the button to ignite it.

Click. ZXhaaang.

A red cutlass roared from the starbrand and Marion's eyes shined as it hummed in front of him. Its hum was much deeper and more menacing than his father's. Marion whipped it about with a smile. It was the spitting image of his cursed cutlass with even the elaborate handguard replicated without a single missing detail. When he checked the handle, parts of the handle seen through some glass windows glowed red as well.

[Cavalier Corsair impersonates a certain villain saying: You do not know the power of the dark side.]