The next few days passed in a blur. I trained, although only with my Celestial Bronze knife when I was in the arena. My suspicions had been correct; I could wield that knife just as easily as I could use my throwing knives. Speaking of those, I had learned several things about Stygian Iron since I first got my knives. The biggest difference between it and Celestial Bronze was that it killed monsters differently. When Celestial Bronze comes into contact with a monster, the monster usually explodes into dust; its physical form is destroyed, and its essence is sent back to Tartarus. With a Stygian Iron blade, however, the monster’s essence is absorbed by the blade. I suspected that that was why I was able to control the two throwing knives; since I was a descendant of Death, I could control the “dead” spirits trapped in the blade.

Another big difference that Stygian Iron has is that it can be used to harm mortals as well as monsters, demigods, and immortals, while Celestial Bronze can only harm the second group. And there is one last thing unique to it, which is why I have to keep my possession of the daggers a secret. Because the process of making blades from Stygian Iron involves dipping it in the River Styx to cool it, only descendants of Hades or those of Underworld deities can use it; and that’s a pretty big giveaway about my ancestry.