It took Vale three more days before he decided to try the Soul Bonding Method with the Divine Sword or what he would like to call the Lightning Sword.
After reading all the books he got, he concluded that his bond with Lotus, Yvaine, and his system was already an experience in itself.
It means that perhaps, he no longer needs the hands-on experience that Professor Evans wanted to happen between them before he tries it on his mystical item.
After his class, he immediately went to the Training Hall and rented a room. He brought several things with him, including the wrapped Lightning Sword.
He chose this place since it already has a Formation Circle that isolates and protects the room from any outside interference.
He took out his Sword and unwrapped it.
He placed it in the middle of the room and looked at its gorgeous design. Its silver blade and black hilt have intricate marks and a faint glow.
Even without using his Spirit Vision, he could feel its power while holding it.
He touched its blade gently and felt a surge of energy from it as if it was alive.
'Well… It's probably the lightning energy I'm feeling…' Vale thought.
He then closed his eyes and entered his Phantasm State. He tried to connect his spiritual energy to the Sword, creating a bridge between them.
This technique was not new to him… This was quite similar to how he does his Focused Extraction. He would first connect to the Spirit of the person he was targeting before he begins his Extraction if he wanted to extract their Intelligence Attributes.
However, this time, he wasn't going to extract Intelligence Points but to Connect with it!
As he felt the Spirit of the Lightning Sword, he opened his eyes, and this time, he focused on his Soul.
The Soul was a complicated 'thing' on his body that he didn't know how to utilize.
However, thanks to the books he read, he knew a few things about the Soul and Spirit.
The Spirit was considered the breath of life. It was described as if it was a flame of life that was in all living beings, including plants and animals. It was also the food of Evil Creatures!
On the other hand, the Soul was considered to be a man's inner nature. With regards to the dead bodies, the book even mentioned that the Soul was actually the one turning into a ghost by Evil Spirits, if the corpse was left untreated.
'This is harder than I thought…' Vale silently thought as he attempted to connect with the Sword.
He wanted to communicate with the Sword's Essence or Soul, creating a link between them.
After some time, he spoke softly to the Sword. He wasn't expecting an answer, but he wanted to familiarize himself with it until he got a response.
"Hello… I'm Vale Chambers. I know that you have an Essence. You may not have sentience, but I know you can respond to your wielder…"
He waited for some time, but there was no reaction whatsoever
"Can you hear me?" he asked. "Can you understand me?"
Vale started talking to it while he connected to its essence. He continued doing this a few more times before he stopped.
He didn't feel too disappointed after being ignored since he knew he wasn't wasting time forming a bond with it.
"Well… That's a failed attempt." Vale muttered as he decided to do the Soul Resonance Test. After reading the books, he had been preparing for this over the past three days.
The books said that before attempting the Soul Bonding Method, one had to find out if one's partner or target was compatible.
To learn whether it was compatible with him, he had to do the Soul Resonance Test. But he decided to skip this process a while ago since doing this test would cost 3,000 zen.
However, now that he had failed with his first attempt, he had no other choice but to do it.
This is the only way of measuring their compatibility.
The Soul Resonance Test was easy to perform. One only had to use a Resonance Crystal that cost 3,000 zen each.
The resonance could be measured by counting the strands that would appear in the crystal. It could be rated on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.
He needed to get at least five strands to confirm their compatibility.
Vale held the crystal tightly and pressed it on the Lightning Sword.
"Begin…" Vale muttered as he hoped to get a high resonance with the Sword.
After five minutes had passed, he realized that there was no reaction on the crystal!
'Did I get a crystal with a factory defect or something?' Vale frowned, but he recalled that it was tested before it was given to him. So the crystal shouldn't be broken.
However, since he did not see any strands appearing, hear any sound, or feel any reaction, he wondered what he was doing wrong.
'Did I miss something?'
He looked at the books again, and after some time, he realized that he had skipped a small detail.
The books said that before attempting the Soul Resonance Test, one had to prepare oneself and one's partner… It sounded simple, but it actually meant that he had to cleanse his body and mind, as well as the Mystical Item's condition.
The books even gave exaggerated examples of how to prepare oneself and one's partner, such as taking a bath or a shower, using water infused with herbs or crystals; meditating or praying, using candles or incense; and chanting or singing, using words or melodies.
'What the…' Vale sighed as he understood why he skipped this part while reading the book for the first time. It feels too superstitious and unreliable.
Unfortunately, even if he wanted to do it, he did not have much time or resources to do this now.
He also had other classes as a Second-Year Student in the Academy. The classes like Magic Circle Fundamentals, Ethical Spellcasting, Introductory Alchemy, Intermediate Spirit Law, and others have provided some assignments that he needed to work on, so it was tough to study the Soul Bonding Method on top of that.
He had to balance his schedule and budget and hide his activities from others. He did not want anyone to know what he was doing, especially Professor Evans.
It took him another week before he managed to find some spare time to buy the requirements he needed, like the herbs, crystals, candles, incense, and better materials for a formation circle.
This time, he used them to prepare himself and his Sword in his room instead of the Training Hall.
He tried the Soul Resonance Test again and again, but he still failed. He saw no improvement in his results.
However, as he was losing hope, he felt a surge of energy from the Sword, as if it was alive.
'What happened?' Vale was shocked as he realized that the Lightning Sword was doing something different for the first time.
Then, he realized that Yvaine was already beside him, looking at him pitifully.
"Your Soul is different… You still have a faint connection to the Spirit World, so it won't work. Let me help you." Yvaine said while looking at him like he was a miserable man.
"Y-you…"
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