Chapter 518 The Reason
Chapter 518 The Reason
It didn't take long for Alex to realize that the overwhelming number of artifacts came from a powerful faction, leading him to two possible conclusions about the boy standing before him.
Either he was a fool who had sold his loyalty to a powerful faction, or he was someone of great influence with a loyal faction working for the good of his world within the ancestral realm.
In either case, the boy was a potential threat, and while he had no issue in testing his strength against him, even at the cost of a law token, wagering his sword was out of the question, no matter the price or at least, that was what Alex wholeheartedly believed at the moment.
"Why do you want my sword when you clearly have many great artifacts in your possession?" Alex asked, shifting his attention back to the boy.
"It is not I who wants it, but it's her," The boy said, pointing towards Alex.
Alex quickly turned around, even though he had not sensed any presence behind him, but he felt the boy wasn't pulling a prank on him and there she was, floating behind him, a little girl.
The girl appeared no older than ten, standing around 3.7 feet tall, with flawless features framed by pitch-black hair and eyes mirrored the same abyss-like darkness.
She wore a plain, single-piece gown of pitch dark with cloudy gray accents, and seeing her cold and collected little face made Alex think of a certain someone.
'This is a strange coincidence, but if we changed her hair color and gave her oceanic horns and wings, she would be the carbon copy of Aqua,' Alex thought, instantly seeing the similarities in her and the appearance of Aqua.
Aqua was the anomalous girl Alex had bought from the yearly auction at the demand of his elders, and the reason they did it was the anomalous barrier that protected the little girl from any physical or spiritual harm.
Alex was a bit surprised by her appearance but didn't think much of it because he was more concerned about why she was after his sword.
"Adventurer, my name is Gula, and I am the spirit of the Tesseract Collection," The girl said, her voice sounding cheerful and excited.
"It is a pleasure to meet the holder of Asr, the great blade connected to a pivotal moment in history, the one that carries the blood of its forger and the legacy of the killer,"
"It is a magnificent blade, and it fits you well, but maybe I can offer you something much more compatible, seeing your connection to the certain someone whose name should not be spoken," Gula said as she cheerfully floated around him, examining his blade from every angle.
Alex was about to correct her that his sword's name was Umbris and not Asr but stopped as multiple blades manifested around him out of thin darkness.
Each blade was a masterpiece, with a pitch-black appearance that seemed to reflect their nature. Despite not being interested in what she had to offer, Alex unconsciously looked through the floating swords.
One, in particular, caught his eye, causing him to freeze in place and feel a sudden surge of emotions ranging from happiness to grief to loneliness.
However, these emotions stayed only for a fleeting moment, short enough that Alex did not properly register them.
It was a long sword forged from the pitch-dark metal in a single piece, and between the hilt and the blade, where there should be a guard, was a circular hole, and suspended inside of it was a small point of darkness.
Alex recognized this sword well, as he had seen it wielded by the entity named Dark in a dream when he had consumed the evolution fruit.
While he had been nearly certain that his dream was a creation of his own imagination, seeing the sword now made him think it might have been more than that.
'This encounter is getting stranger by the moment,'
'Who is she, the spirit of the Tesseract Collection? Is that some sort of treasury? What did she mean by my connection to someone whose name should not be spoken? Is she referring to Dark, the entity from my dream?'
'More importantly, does my dream hold any truth, and if it does, then is this sword the real deal,' Alex thought, as many questions flooded his mind.
"I will not trade or wager my sword, but tell me what it will take for you to sell me one of the swords in this lineup," Alex asked after moments of silence, controlling the urge to go ahead and pick the blade in question.
"Gula, I think that is enough yapping from you," The boy said, his expression somewhat irritated.
"Sir Aeon, you see, I am her master, and while I can not freely take items from her, she also cannot give items without my permission, also if the needed conditions are met,"
"If you want this sword, then you need to either kill me and remove my authority over her and the hope you are lucky enough to find her in this vast realm or agree to my wager and bet your blade,"
"There is no other option," The boy said, and the nameless dark blade appeared in his hand like he precisely knew what Alex wanted.
'I like to have this unknown blade, but it is not worth risking my legacy sword for when I don't even know if it is the real deal and, even if it is, what value it holds,'
'I suppose I can not just steal that sword, so for now, let's leave this place and get more information about him,' Alex thought as he moved his arm, decapitating the boy in a smooth motion, who just smiled at him, not also attempting to resist.
Gula did not say anything and vanished, along with all the weapons, followed by the body of the body, leaving behind the loot he had dropped and the darkness.
Alex stored the law token in his space ring before slicing his own head off to get out of this, and moments later, he felt his senses getting engulfed by pitch darkness, only to return to normal as he was teleported to the resurrection hall, build in the center of the city.
Alex's translocation caused many reactions from the present adventurers because he was a recognizable individual because, till now, he had won every battle he had participated in, so his death raised many eyebrows among both the inhabitants and the adventurers.
Alex could concern fewer if, in the eyes of the masses or also in reality, his record was no longer perfect because he was here to grow and not build an unbeaten record.
After leaving the resurrection hall, Alex headed directly for the city library, aiming to learn more about the Tesseract Collection and also find intel on the boy, who was so hell-bent on taking away his legacy sword.