Chapter 382: Swordstaff
Ryu fell into his thoughts.
"The swordstaff…"
As a Ruin Master, there were very few staples of history that Ryu wasn't aware of. The swordstaff was an ancient weapon that didn't get much attention during later Eras.
In the past, polearm weapons were the norm, at least for the Shrine Plane. This was because beasts were the rulers. Facing enemies with such large bodies, humans had to take advantage of whatever they could. As a result, polearm weapons were created.
Over time, the swordstaff evolved into the spear, glaive, halberd, and other more common polearms. As for the reason it was forgotten, it was quite simple. The swordstaff was good at many things, but not perfect at any one thing.
It wasn't as good as the spear at piercing. It lacked in the cleaving prowess of the glaive. And, it was a worse hybrid in comparison to the halberd. In addition, due to the change in blade design that came with the halberd, a swordstaff couldn't match its power either.
For all of these reasons, the swordstaff was eventually abandoned. But, it seemed that Ailsa wanted to bring it back.
"There are a few reasons why I want you to choose this weapon.
"The first is its versatility. It is a jack of all, master of. However, it's exactly because of this that it's perfect. This is why I said I only wanted you to abandon the Tatsuya Saintly Weapons as presently constructed. I want you to pave a new path that fuses the three, succeeding where your great grandfather failed."
Ryu's gaze sharpened, a twinkle hidden within their depths.
"The second reason I want you to take this path is because a Great Swordstaff would make it far easier for you to dual wield. With your dexterity, it will almost be no different from wielding two swords rather than two polearms. This will give you far greater control and the disparity between your dual and single wielding strength won't be as exaggerated."
Even to this moment, Ryu was much stronger when single wielding. When he used a weapon with a single arm, he could at most exhibit a fifth of its strength.
The good news was that when he used two weapons at once, the effect was multiplicative. So, when he dual wielded, rather than only being able to display 40% of his strength, he was closer to 80-90%.
This was exactly why Ryu didn't want to give up dual wielding. If he could have such results with just a fifth of his strength, what if he could exhibit 100%? Wouldn't his strength reach an all new level? He might be even ten or twenty times stronger than he was now.
But, there was more bad news than good.
For one, Ryu hadn't made any progress in his dual wielding in a very long time. It was as though he had reached a plateau he couldn't break past. But, the second piece of bad news was even worse.
Ryu had never dual wielded the halberd before. Whenever he dual wielded, it was always with the glaive or the spear. If he brought out the halberd, he would always single wield it.
There was a very obvious reason for this: he couldn't dual wield his halberd, no matter how hard he tried.
The stronger his comprehension of the halberd became, the further away from dual wielding it he got. This became a perpetual cycle he had been stuck in for years already.
Ailsa took another deep breath.
"Little Ryu, what you're fighting against is more than just yourself. The same way Names carry Fate, so do weapons. The more powerful a weapon, the stronger the convention around it, the more difficult it will be to break past what it has become used to.
"Every time you battle, you're not only trying to increase your own strength, but you're essentially swimming against the tide of the world.
"Everyone who picks up a spear will do it with two hands. Everyone who picks up a glaive will do it with two hands. Everyone who picks up a halberd… will do so with two hands.
"The halberd is especially like this. There might be some rarer instances of soldiers wielding a shield and spear at the same time, but this will never happen with the halberd. It's a weapon of power, of oppression, you don't defend when you use it, you attack, you destroy. This is the embodiment of the halberd, and it's especially so for the Tatsuya Saintly Weapons.
"From this, I'm sure you can understand the third reason I've chosen this weapon for you…"
Ryu nodded slowly.
Ailsa smiled. "As a rarely used weapon, the Faith around the swordstaff has dwindled down to near nothing. As for the modification I have in mind for you, it's even more unfettered.
"Little Ryu, this isn't only about not being restrained by convention. Pioneering the Faith of a new weapon will give you added strength no one else has access to. While others will have to pull from the same reserves of Essence the world has to offer, you can pull from your own. The restrictions will be far less and the benefits far greater."
Ailsa steadied her breathing.
"So, what do you think?"
Ryu stayed silent for a long while, his irises flickering. For the first time in a long while, Ailsa didn't peer into his mind, patiently waiting to the side.
"… Show me this Great Swordstaff." Ryu finally said after a long while.
Ailsa paused for a moment. She thought that this was maybe the most important image she would ever project. If she did this wrong, maybe she would lose Ryu's potential acceptance of this matter.
Deep within her soul, she felt that this was a necessary step Ryu had to take. If he didn't abandon his current path, he would never reach his full potential.
However, Ailsa wasn't a weapon's smith. She didn't know what she should do…
Ailsa closed her eyes, calming herself once again. She never thought that such a matter could be so stressful.
Since she couldn't rely on her expertise, she would force it. If there was one thing she did have expertise on, it was Ryu. In that case, she would show him something she felt reflected him to perfection.
"Alright… This is it."