The Weapon Academy arena was packed with participants.
Thirty children stood in formation.
Ten metal pillars stood before them.
Each pillar had a human-shaped target.
An instructor stood at the front.
“The first examination is simple.”
“Use your Weapon Spirits to destroy the targets.”
“The faster you destroy them, the higher your score.”
One participant after another stepped forward.
Flame Sword.
BOOM!
The target was destroyed.
Thunder Spear.
CRACK!
The target split apart.
Darius’s War Hammer.
DANG!
The target was crushed instantly.
The participants cheered.
Then Kael’s name was called.
“Kael Ardent.”
Kael stepped forward.
Several participants began to laugh.
“Grade F.”
“He really brought that sword.”
“How does he expect to destroy the target with a broken sword?”
Kael stood in front of the target.
The instructor raised a hand.
“Begin.”
Kael gripped the Broken Sword.
He attacked.
CLANG!
The target merely shifted.
Laughter erupted.
“Completely useless.”
Kael paid no attention.
He studied the target.
Its material was Black Iron.
It had three protective layers.
The first layer was hard.
The second layer was flexible.
The third layer contained an energy core.
Kael closed his eyes.
Then he attacked again.
Not the center.
A tiny point to the left.
TING!
Nothing happened.
Several people laughed even harder.
The instructor shook his head.
“Next.”
Kael did not move.
He saw a tiny crack in the target.
Then...
he struck the exact same point once more.
TING!
CRACK!
The crack spread.
Everyone fell silent.
Kael struck it a third time.
BOOM!
The target shattered.
The arena went silent.
The instructor stared at the result.
“How?”
Kael looked at his sword.
“I just found its weak point.”
Someone from the back row whispered,
“That wasn’t the Broken Sword’s strength.”
Lyra watched him intently.
Kael returned to the line.
Darius grinned broadly.
“I knew you could do it!”
Kael shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“What?”
“That was too easy.”
And he was right.
Because when the Broken Sword struck the target...
Kael sensed something.
It was as if his sword were reading the structure of the material.
That ability was more than simple observation.
The sword itself was giving him information.
A shadowy Rune briefly appeared on the surface of the target.
Kael saw it.
Iron Resonance.
Then it vanished.
Kael furrowed his brow.
He didn’t have a Rune yet.
So how was that possible?