Anduril disappeared from Eren's hands after a while.
His Dagger Arts weapon comprehension kicked in when he held Diceros' set in his hands. In the next moment, a series of piercing and sharp flying weapons attacks wreaked havoc inside the isolation barrier.
Some flying weapon attacks were concentrated at an illusory point of mass, giving them exceptional piercing potential. The other types of attacks released by the Diceros set were so brutal and deadly-- they could butcher a bunch of Adept rankers' bodies in seconds, turning them into minced meat.
Eren let his mind wander off to wherever it wanted to be. He operated on autopilot while handling his weapons. After such a long time handling them, he developed core muscle memories. There were some crucial reflexes that were unique to him. As such, he could think of various topics while practicing weapon comprehension.
Eren let go of the Anduril swords all at once, and they disappeared into thin air before they could hit the ground. A solid runic rod appeared in Eren's hands which he gripped with both hands. The water-element runes etched over the rod came to life as Eren channeled his mana into them. In the next moment, a hammer head made of water-element mana appeared out of thin air.
Eren was unable to adapt to a specific Weapon Arts for his hammers. He could only handle it effectively because he had digested some of his victims' gains and experiences. All he did at this point was make those experiences more his own. Basically, he was busy creating his own Hammer Arts.
The water-element hammer head and handle grew to absurd levels after a while. The butcher used his victims' experience and weapon comprehension to operate the hammer.
Eren decided to go with the flow when it came to weapon handling. The size of his hammer got excessively big at one point, sending threatening mana pulses. In the next instant, the size reduced drastically, allowing him to move his hammer suddenly while moving it around.
This was the weapon art Eren had absorbed from Krista– an ether-sub element elf member of Blood Punisher Force who he had fought with some time ago. Eren couldn't extract a complete Weapon Art from Krista. So he filled the gap with his own understanding.
Eren applied his newly acquired compound elemental fusion to the hammer after a while. Alephee had modified the weapons to allow him to do so. As a result, the weapon started harnessing fire-infused water and looked like it had been dipped in a pool of lava. It started having fire and water element mana properties.
The attacks launched under compound elemental fusion were heavier and compressed with more mana. One could tell they could not be countered using simple anti-fire spells. Plus, they were difficult to dodge because of their spatial manipulation.
Eren carried on with his inner monologue as his hammer blasted everything around him.
'Intent!
Demonmir had used an Intent against Altair to bridge the gap between their powers. That's how he survived. His weapons hummed with distinct intentions. I could feel their Intent with my soul sense.
Demonmir didn't use the same Intent on me. I don't think he held back because I was an Expert ranker. That's not his style. It never will be.'
Eren was retrospecting his fight with Ottoman in his head. He liked to learn all the things he could make use of whether they were from his allies or enemies.
The butcher had a feeling that even if he was a Master before the time of clashing with Demonmir, the chances of him actually killing Demonmir were low. He could have defeated the guy just fine. But killing him was a different matter altogether.
Eren also considered Demonmir's fight with Altair while retrospecting the Edinnica battle scene. The rankers present were in awe of Altair's ferocity as he killed Grandmaster rankers like nothing.
The crowd had cheered for Altair again because he had manhandled the most hated traitor in Edinburgh's history– Demonmir. But what the butcher focused on was not the Grandmaster ranker but the man he fought at the time.
'Demonmir's clash with Altair.
Not just weapons and overall offense. Demonmir could use his demonic Intent to bolster his defense as well. He used Intent when fighting against Altair because he needed it the most at the time. Without his demonic Intent supporting him, he would have been burned to death by Altair's attacks.
It means that Intent can't be used always. Demonmir had certain limitations or apprehensions about using Intent.
It confirms a few things for me. Or rather, they are my assumptions based on my experiences. But I think they are true for the most part.''
Eren stopped suddenly and closed his eyes to digest the practice he had been doing for hours on end. Since he had sealed his ranking status, his body sweated a lot. He breathed hard and his heartbeat was still high.
The butcher came up with a conjecture related to harnessing Intent.
'First, Intent can recede. Emotions can't always be at their peak all the time. Thus, the Intent that is derived from them follows the same logic.
Intent can exhaust after being used for a certain amount of time. And there's no fixed countermeasure to prevent it from happening.
Second, Intent can only be fully utilized when one feels an urgent need to A life-and-death situation is an ideal scenario to use Intent.
Third, post exhaustion, Intent can only replenish after one takes a time off. And no amount of potion or other means could reduce the required time.
Overall, intent-driven magic is very potent and radical. Its groundbreaking powerups and unpredictability stem from the very emotions users harness in their magic.'
Eren stood still with his eyes closed as he processed various thoughts. His emerald green eyes shone when he opened them and looked straight. With a smile on his face, he took out Diceros Left and Right once again.
Eren applied his dagger Art to operate his katars. But his moves started having agility boosts as he kept on moving them around him. Slowly but surely, the agility of his weapon handling increased to an absurd level.
Eventually, the isolation barrier was destroyed because it couldn't counter Eren's attacks anymore.
Unlimited Weapon Works!
Eren made Sage Lufthansa's Ability his own. What's more? His Intent also revealed itself.
