Fire Mage (Web Novel)

Chapter 697: Strange Spear

'Wow!' Charles was impressed by Runeth's words and hurriedly spoke.

"That spear is more than enough for us." Charles pointed his finger at the sealed spear in the glass box and asked further.

"But do you know how it got here?"

Although Bishop Orion didn't find anything special about that spear, he sensed that there must be a secret to it.

'But I can't even refuse his request.'

"You can take that spear, Exhaled One. As for how it got here, multiple rumors say that it was a spear personally used by Sun God during his beginner days and was later given to a warrior named Leon. Years later, Warrior Leon put this weapon in the auction, claiming that it was used by the Sun God once. We also investigated it and confirmed that the Sun God indeed used a spear during the last planar war at the beginning and decided to buy it for 400 Sacred Gold Coins. From that day onwards, we stored this weapon in the Church and almost forgotten about it."

As Bishop Orion was speaking, Runeth touched the glass case and stored it in his spatial ring.

On the other hand, Charles focused on the empty notebook and started writing important information about each layer. He also wrote about the guardians, the secret inheritance place he explored in the first layer, each layer's boss name, their abilities, and so on. He also wrote information about the Hall of Stars and even mentioned the fifth layer's boss being a Demi-God Rank.

"This is all the information you guys needed. Also, it's better to send Mages and normal mystics than fake origin class mystics."

"Yes, Exhaled One." Bishop Orion listened to his words and soon got the notebook from him.

"Then, tell my father that I'll be going away for a while and return after a year or two," Charles said coldly and turned his gaze towards Runeth before asking.

"My work here is done. What should we do next?"

"Let's rest for a while. And I also want to listen to a detailed answer about that Evil Goddess you released and the Titan woman." Runeth responded calmly and started walking towards the Room's exit.

Charles also followed after him, and soon both left the Sun Church.

After that, they moved to the Central Borough through a chaise carriage and soon arrived at the front of the Mermaid's Inn.

Charles and Runeth entered the four-storied building and arrived at the reception desk before booking two rooms.

After getting the room keys, both moved to the second floor and walked on the long corridor.

While walking, Runeth thought of something and spoke.

"Charles, I'll be studying that spear for a while. Meanwhile, you should finish all other work in this city and find me here."

"You seem to be so attached to that weapon all of a sudden." Charles narrowed his eyes.

"Humph, what do you know? As long as I research about it by peeking into the past, I'll be able to awaken it from its long slumber. Although it may look more like a scrap metal, I have a vague feeling that this weapon will become one of the most powerful weapons in the whole universe." Runeth said with a hint of excitement.

"You do imagine a lot. It may become a powerful weapon like Grace one day, but becoming one of the most powerful weapons in the whole universe isn't even funny. Are you exaggerating too much?" Charles couldn't help but give him an odd look.

"You have no idea about the evolution-type weapons, lad. Well, you will find out soon enough." Runeth spoke as he arrived before a wooden door, inserted the silver key into the keyhole, and unlocked it.

Before Charles could even say anything, he walked inside and locked it.

"Haa! Whatever." Charles shook his head and started walking towards the next Room before taking the silver key out of his pocket.

He quickly entered the Room, locked the door from inside, and went towards the large bed placed at the center of the Room.

Then, he removed 'Grace' from his waist and placed her on the bed.

After that, he sat on the cold floor, took out the 'Genius' darkness affinity potion vial, and opened it.

After a slight hesitation, he moved the vial towards his mouth and gulped it in one go.

A feeling of swallowing dirt water appeared in his mind, causing his face to twist.

At the same time, a burst of dark essence entered every nook and corner of his body and strengthened the link of darkness with his soul.

At the same time, his understanding of the 'Shadowstep Dance' Sword Technique had reached another height.

Charles remained in the same place for the next two hours while observing every little change within his body and finally opened his eyes.

He soon noticed that a bunch of notifications had appeared before his eyes.

...

[Host's Darkness Affinity has been increased from 'Extraordinary' to 'Genius' Rank]

[Host's Mastery over Shadow Stealth skill has been increased!]

[Intermediate Level Shadow Stealth Skill has been upgraded to 'Advanced Level.']

...

Charles was about to open his eyes, but suddenly, a giant suction force came out of Grace and pulled his consciousness somewhere.

A second later, he found himself standing before a single-storied house with a barn house attached to its side.

The house was surrounded by nothing but empty grassland, few trees, a small carriage, and a well.

Only a few cows and a horse tied inside the barn house, causing him to furrow his eyebrows.

'Where am I?'

He also looked at himself and noticed that he was actually in plain clothes and holding a wooden sword in his hand.

What startled him deeply was that he couldn't use any of his skills or spells!

"What kind of strange dream is this-?"

Before he could mutter, Charles's attention was swiftly drawn to a wood-hitting noise from behind.

He slowly turned around and saw a well-trained young man in his late twenties standing before a dummy made of pure iron and hitting it using his wooden sword. He appeared to be around 165 cm tall, with broad shoulders, fair skin, a triangular face, monolid hazel eyes, and long black hair. He wore a plain linen cloth and kept swinging the sword like a madman.

But whenever he slashed his wooden sword, his sword movement was perfect, fast, and silent, like a shadow.

'Hitting a metal with a wooden sword to practice swordsmanship?' Charles was baffled by this situation.

But as soon as the wooden sword reached the target, a strange sense of cruelty and savagery replaced the previous sword movement.

As the sword collided with the iron dummy, the wooden sword managed to leave a small scar!

'I didn't even see any sword aura. If he even used the beginner's sword aura, he could've cut the iron dummy like nothing.' But this young man achieved this with a simple sword swing without any technique or aura!

'Wait, isn't that Grace?' Only then did Charles see a familiar sword with a hexagonal symbol sheath hanging on his waist and came to a realization.

'Is this what Azoth mentioned about linking oneself to the sword? But she also said that it's more like a nightmare. If I didn't manage to fulfill the requirement, I might end up getting swallowed by Grace!' A grim look appeared on his face.

Charles quickly shook his head, walked closer to the young man, and followed his movement.

As the young man practiced the same movement for the next two hours while trying to increase the range of the cut, Charles also mimicked his every action and tried the same.

Alas, he barely made any improvement.

On the other hand, the young man went inside the barn house, released the cows into the empty field, and continued to practice.

Charles continued to observe the man's swordsmanship until the darkness descended and soon noticed that the young man had tied the cows again and started milking them.

Once he milked all the cows, he poured them into a large barrel and transported them using the small cart somewhere. Although Charles tried to follow him, he felt some invisible force obstructing him.

'Hmm, it looks like Grace is showing this man's past with her skill and allowing me to learn sword arts from him.' Charles looked in the direction where the cart went by and slowly turned his gaze towards the iron dummy.

Then, he raised his wooden sword and tried the young man's sword movement.

Although he mimicked the first part directly and moved his sword swiftly and faster, he couldn't copy the similar ruthlessness and savagery from him.

In a blink, his sword directly crashed into the dummy and broke into two pieces.

Strangely, the wooden sword disappeared a moment later and reappeared as good as new in his right hand.

'Wow, I now feel at ease.' Charles took a deep breath and tried the same technique hundreds of times.

But all those times, he ended up failing miserably, causing him to feel frustrated.

Three hours later, that young man came back to the single house and continued his training in the darkness for another three hours.

Then, he went to his sleep and started taking rest.