The main problem Theron had with all of this, though, was that there were still too many questions… and too much of it was still vague in his mind.
The reason he wanted to observe [Luminescent Rain] first was because he wanted to feel that aspect of taking and control that [Songful Blade] embodied, manifested in another form. The fact it was raining and Beifong was stripping him of control over Water Mana was even more important.
When Theron took it back with Veinsong activated, that layered it once again.
But…
Why could he only use this ability in Veinsong? What were the reasons he could control a weapon through a Water Imbued Resonance? What did this have to do with his necklace?
If it was a bloodline, why couldn’t he sense it already? Could it be his bloodline had still yet to actually activate? But in that case, how could it already be so powerful?
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Bronze Awakened bloodlines could be of vastly different strengths, assuming their ceilings were also vastly different. But Theron had never heard of an unawakened bloodline displaying such prowess.
Theron didn’t like the feeling.
While it sounded like it made “sense” for this to work, [Songful Blade] didn’t actually resonate with a blade; all it really did was explosively increase his strength.
And that made sense to Theron.
But the leap between strength to controlling an external item in his blade did not. There was a linkage here that he was missing.
Theron absentmindedly swung his swords, immersing himself in those memories. He didn’t dare to use Veinsong right now, but he went through the motions, imprinting his new blade style into his muscle memory so that he could begin to use it in part even without Veinsong active.
It wouldn’t be nearly as strong, but the blade style was far better than any he had ever used before, and most importantly… he had a shocking affinity for it.
Until now, Theron had never dedicated himself to any blade style techniques outside of the very basics. He had drilled them again and again until they were like extensions of his body, but compared to Flux Mancers—especially ones as skilled as Beifong—he was still too inferior.
There were Water Mancy blade techniques out there, but he found them all to be unworthy of his time. But this…
’It feels like I’m using a Silver Resonance technique
It was hard to describe, but the gap between Bronze and Silver Resonance techniques was in their control of the environment and their ability to influence one’s surroundings.
This didn’t mean area-of-effect techniques, but instead take something like [Water Bullet], for example.
The reason everyone was always so shocked when it suddenly manifested from the air was that Bronze Resonance techniques had very short ranges when it came to their activation zones.
Bronze Resonance techniques manifested near the user, and then crossed distances to impact elsewhere.
The only reason Theron seemed to be capable of ignoring this rule was because he was actually cheating.
When his techniques manifested “out of nowhere,” they were actually the product of spells he had already cast earlier that collapsed. It was just that he never gave up control of the Mana, while his opponents couldn’t understand how someone could continue to control a shattered technique. Ṙ𝔞ŊỖ₿ƐS̩
Silver Resonance techniques, because of Third Eye, were far more flexible.
Somehow, this Water Imbued Resonance of Theron’s was capable of not just mimicking, but even faintly surpassing what only Silver Resonance techniques should be capable of.
He had truly felt like he and the sky itself were one and the same in those moments.
The water spontaneously fell into his control, and he formed [Water Scythes] and other techniques from a far-off distance with nothing more than a thought.
Then, one after another, without the slightest hint of effort…
All of his techniques reached Consummate.
’I see
Theron slowly lowered his arms, steam rising from his body as his bandages were coated in rivers of sweat.
He finally understood it.
’This Mana of Life indeed doesn’t have just Water Mana alone… so that’s why
Through this Mana of Life, Theron could pull on the other Manas stored in his body, Mana he had no affinity with whatsoever. But through his control of Water Mana, he could—.
’No. I’m not controlling other forms of Mana. Instead, the character of my Water Mana is changing to embody them, making it seem like I am… because of this, I was able to implant the Soul Tie Jade into Kai’s soul like a Spirit Mancer… because of this I could pull my sword to me like I was a Soul Mancer… because of this I could wield this blade style as though I was a Flux Mancer
Steam continued to emit from Theron’s body, the cool air rushing over him.
There was a very important distinction here. He wasn’t controlling Soul Mana, Spirit Mana, or Flux Mana, he was tweaking his Water Mana to embody aspects of them.
He couldn’t just control any treasure like a Soul Mancer could. But, he could shift around the blood in a dead man’s body to force it to accept a new Soul Tie Jade.
He couldn’t just control any weapon, but he could resonate with it and force it to embody the fluidity and patience of water.
Even after all this thought, Theron still felt like he was missing something, like there was something he would either never understand without guidance, or he would have to reach a far higher level to grasp.
But, he knew that no matter what, understanding this path forward would be his path toward true strength.
And he also knew that those who watched his battle would be doing their best to understand just how he had done it.
Luckily for him, today was his wedding day. He had been given more Water Mancy techniques than he could study in a lifetime.
Why not take advantage?