Blade Over Magic

Epiphany

Xander’s paths converged into a singular path, just like when he fought against the ant, and by following it, his sword went through the paths of "ferocity", temporarily severing them.

He felt a sizeable dip in his Mana, and he also felt a sudden sharp headache hit him, but perhaps it was because he was in an optimal state at current, it didn’t really hurt that much compared to the first time he attempted something like this.

Rather, he focused on the results of his strike with a bated breath.

He watched as the moment the feral paths were severed, the rational ones quickly surged forged, and Curtis, who’d been growling, stopped, his eyes regaining clarity.

’Wh-Wha... Xander, what’s... ugh.’ Sensing that he couldn’t move, Curtis tried to communicate with telepathy, but he immediately winced as the Feral paths quickly came back with vigor, crashing against the rational ones, and Xander saw the former start to fight back, making him say quickly.

"Don’t fight it. Try to coexist with it. Fighting it will only make it worse." However, his warning was to no avail as ferocity soon got the upper hand again, once more suppressing rationality, and Xander saw as that feral light once more filled Curtis’s eyes, the growling from before returning with full force.

Xander exhaled.

’Alright, let’s try that again.’ Raising his sword again, he repeated his actions, making his paths converge to slice through the ferocity.

Once again, he felt a dip in his mana accompanied by a headache that was marginally worse than before. And once again, he saw Curtis briefly regain his senses.

Before Curtis said anything, Xander explained quickly.

’Curtis, the reason why your rationality and ferocity are at odds is because you’re treating them like individual things. Either one is present or not. But that’s not the case, not with you. Both of them are a part of you. You need to stop suppressing one and allow both to exist simultaneously. Otherwise, you’re just going to be at perpetual conflict with yourself forever.’ He sensed Curtis wanted to reply, but he could already see the ferocity encroaching on his rationality.

’When I bring your rationality back next time, focus on achieving balance. Again, they need to coexist, not suppress each other.’ As soon as he said that, ferocity once more took hold, and Curtis began growling again.

Xander sighed and rubbed his temples.

’Hopefully he understood. Phew, alright.’ Xander raised his sword again. To alleviate the headache, he decided to see this as him training what he believed to be the highest expression of the Swords of Myriad Paths at current.

Then he took that half literally as he actually began pondering on the process. Rather than just swinging over and over, he began looking at the problem in its entirety.

’In the first place, why does this hurt my head? I can understand the Mana cost but why does it cause a headache? It didn’t cause any headaches when I attacked the Ant’s armor integrity, or when I was cutting its energy. So why is cutting Paths the thing that causes backlash?’ As he had this thought, his sword once more sliced through the feral Paths, and once more, Xander felt a splitting headache, his mana reducing a bunch again.

At this point, it was nearly half gone, and that was just after three slashes. Needless to say, this specific application of Myriad Paths was no very energy friendly.

Xander visibly winced, but he still committed to his task and leaned down over Curtis. He hadn’t tried to communicate with Xander, rather, in his brief rationality, his eyes took on a look of concentration, and Xander watched as the two Paths began to compete. However, it seemed like Curtis had understood what Xander had said, and this time, rather than the rationality fighting with the ferocity, it acted akin to a solid wall that the ferocity crashed against.

This time, it seemed to hold itself up a bit better, but Xander immediately knew that this wasn’t quite right either.

He took a breath and began explaining again.

’That’s a bit better, but not quite. You are creating a wall against the ferocity. That’s not suppressing it, but that’s not coexisting with it either. Remember, the two are a part of you. Don’t fight that fact. Don’t create a boundary against that fact. Accept it.’ He said, his tone almost gentle.

Curtis was evidently still struggling, but Xander just sighed.

’Let go, we’ll try again.’ As soon as he gave the go ahead, the wall of Rationality collapsed, and Ferocity once more took hold. However, interestingly enough, when it did, Xander noticed that the suppressed Rationality was no longer resisting, and surprisingly, this caused the ferocity to be less... overbearing.

It was still on top, and Curtis was definitely still growling, but the altercation was significantly less violent.

Xander decided to take that as progress.

He straightened and raised his sword again. At the same time, he continued to think about why he only ever received backlash when he made his paths target other paths.

’Think. What is it about Paths that makes them special enough that cutting through them is problematic? Typically, one can receive backlash from an action when it is either far beyond their current capacity, or the action goes against how something is meant to be. Assuming this situation is the latter, why is cutting Paths going against how something should be?’ He once again cut the ferocity, and the headache this time made him sway a bit, but he quickly caught himself, his expression warping slightly.

At the same time, he saw as the Paths representing rationality rose up again, but rather than gearing for a fight or making a wall, they were simply... there.

Soon after, the ferocity returned and slammed into the rationality, forcing it down, however, the lack of resistance almost caused it to... pause?

Almost as if it were unsure, like it had been expecting a resistance, and the lack of it temporarily made it unable to figure out how to proceed.

Hence, its usual suppressing seemed weaker, and the Rationality attempted to rise, and for a moment, the ferocity didn’t resist it, like it was contemplating whether it should force it down again.

In the end, though, it did, but this time, it wasn’t a full suppression, almost like it was waiting to see what the rationality would do. Whether it would attempt to suppress it again like all those times before.

But it didn’t.

Xander watched as slowly, tentatively, the Paths representing rationality reached up. Not forcefully, not threateningly, and when the ferocity lashed out, it immediately pulled away, as though giving it space, waiting until it was comfortable.

It strangely felt like watching one kid who was constantly abused by their sibling slowly allow them to get closer when they tried to prove themselves to be non-threatening.

This fascinated Xander. When he saw things like this, the Paths felt less like geometric lines made up of numerous parts and more like... living things.

Xander paused.

’... Isn’t that what living things are?’ He asked himself.

Humans, and pretty much all life was incredibly complex, but they were fundamentally made up of countless smaller parts that, on their lonesome, weren’t that complex or technically as valuable as life. Just like how everyone was made up of countless atoms, and individually, an atom wasn’t worth much.

But did that mean life was worthless? Some people certainly treated it as such, but in reality, it was one of the most valuable things out there.

And so far, Xander noticed that the only things that had Paths were living creatures, or at least creatures capable of making actions, be it instinctual or not.

As he watched the ferocity and rationality slowly ’reconcile’, and Curtis’s gaze slowly turn clearer, he wondered.

’To get to this point, I had to rediscover my passion for swords and have it exist in conjunction with my obsession. This also revitalized all my swords, allowing them to represent ’new’ possible paths rather than ’dead’ ones. Each path is a possibility made up of countless smaller parts that, individually, may be inconsequential, but together, are valuable. In essence, Paths, which represent possibility, are valuable.’ He looked at the sword in his hand, something beginning to click in his brain.

Unbeknownst to him, Mia, who had been watching with blank eyes, sat straighter, and she immediately snapped her fingers, creating an invisible layer of isolation that stopped anything from interrupting Xander.

’When I cut Paths, I’m using my own valuable Paths to cut other valuable paths. It’s no different from me saying that my way is inherently more valuable than the ways of others... But is that what the Swords of Myriad Paths are about? I believe that swords carry endless possibilities, not that they are inherently superior to those of others. Why do I need to cut down the Paths of others to prove that mine is superior? Is that any different from what Bellion did when he declared channeling a dead path.’ As he had these thoughts, he suddenly felt as though the surrounding Paths had become much clearer. Not brighter, clearer.

He looked at his sword again, and he recalled something.

’Swords aren’t only for cutting. They can also be used to block, parry, guide, or redirect.’ With this thought, he looked back at Curtis’s paths, the rationality and ferocity still feeling each other out

With profound intent, he swung his sword. But this time, he did not cut.

Instead, his own paths weaved around his sword, and when they met the two conflicting paths of Curtis, they did not forcefully sever anything.

Instead, Xander’s paths acted almost like a third party. A mediator.

As Xander’s sword passed, his paths interacted and guided the two conflicting ones together, and when this pass by completed, the ferocity and rationality finally merged together. No longer acting as independent parts with the same source, but coming together to create their own seamless Path.

Curtis stabilized immediately, and Xander smiled. He felt his Mana reduce, but not only was the cost not as much...

There was no backlash.