Chapter 22 - The Ethereal and The Redeemer (Trance)

The Ethereal Dark Blade was shown by Aedan unconsciously in his fight against Iraven and Iraven got burned by the Ethereal Flame that came from Aedan's power. Now Iraven will proceed to tell Aedan about the power he possesses, The Trance state.

"What is the Ethereal Dark Blade?" Aedan asked Iraven

"It is a blade which acts as a counterpart for the Redeemer. It brings eternal darkness to the one who uses it and it endows the user with limitless power." Iraven replied. "To be honest, I was quite shocked that you had it because in the first place, Nerzhul had that sword forged for himself" 

Aedan was shocked when he heard this.

"What the hell is going on?...." Aedan asked.

"I don't know man but dang it this goes against on what a Guardian is supposed to be man." Iraven said to him.

"The story goes on though." Iraven adds. "The legends say that even though Nerzhul had that sword forged for himself, he never actually found the sword because its maker hid it from him." 

Aedan had a sigh of relief because he was thankful that Nerzhul did not utilize the sword he possesses.

"It's weird however because it has the same mechanism as the Redeemer. Its skill the Trance state." Iraven said.

"Yeah. Every time I'm in trouble when fighting, I hear a voice saying that "I'll take over now" " Aedan said.

"Which leads me to conclude that it is the Trance state of the Ethereal Blade. Not of the Redeemer, because my former student Elrond told me that in the trance state of the Redeemer you don't actually hear a voice if I remember correctly, it just acts as a protector to its master." Iraven replied.

"When did you start hearing this voice?" Iraven asked

"In my fight with Glyndwir. I heard it too." Aedan replied.

"Have you used the trance state without hearing a voice?" Iraven continued to ask.

"Yeah once. When I first used the Redeemer and oh yeah there was another one when I fought this guy back in my old world. His name was Sefir." Aedan said

"So you have experienced the true powers of the Redeemer." Iraven said.

"I don't get it though. In my trance state against Glyndwir I was still using the Redeemer's powers. How can that be the Ethereal blade?" Aedan asked

"It's the fighters motive I suppose." Iraven replied.

"Motive?" Aedan asked.

"I think that even though you were using the Redeemer, your motive was to win and destroy the opponent and I think that feeds the Ethereal blade to use its trance state against the Redeemer. It manipulated even the Redeemer to do its bidding. Where as in the Redeemer, the motive is to protect the ones important to you. It is a clash of Purity and Avarice." Iraven explained.

"So in more simpler terms, even if I am wielding the Redeemer but if my motive is not for others I am still under the will of the Ethereal Blade? It's like the Ethereal blade is using the Redeemer's power then? Is that it?" Aedan asked

"Somewhat like that, but we can never be sure. The only hope we have is to track the forger of that Ethereal Blade as well as the forger of the Redeemer. That is the only time we can be sure of our assumptions." Iraven said.

"It's like what you said, Personal Gain vs. Absolute Gain. Crap why am I always put in situations like this." Aedan said

"Maybe this is a test for you. On how you are going to handle both the blades. After all you are the Guardian of Ivalice therefore you must restore the balance in this world. Well whatever the reason is I might as well teach you everything I know." Iraven said.

"But I didn't land a clean hit.." Aedan replied

"This is a special case." Iraven said. "You can try to land that hit once I teach you everything I know about blades and the Redeemer. Training starts tomorrow on the Fields of Alsirune. You better get some rest." Iraven said.

Aedan got inside the inn and went to his room in the Inn to get some rest for tomorrow is going to be a rough day for him.