A mouthful of breath suddenly escaped his mouth. Alexander's whole body was drenched in sweat as he jumped from the wall he was leaning against. The strange dream he had had had stressed him out, even if he didn't realize it. This was quite unusual because the last thing that had frightened Alexander had happened just a few days before.

When he jumped off the cliff, he didn't even frown or show any concern.

But for some reason, he was worried sick right now.

What was going on?

At that moment, their blood-red swords glowed and smoke billowed out of them. The black wisp of smoke, about the size of two fists, floated in the air.

"Do you realize how long I've been waiting for you-"

He hadn't even finished his question when he was suddenly cut in two. Alexander swung his sword as soon as he appeared and cut him in two with his sword blows.

But the black patch of smoke coalesced as if nothing had happened.

"Calm down a little. I'm not your enemy."

Alexander frowned, it was an all-out attack. Even someone like Cloud Demon couldn't meet it with his naked body.

"What are you?"

Alexander continued to stare at the billowing black smoke without reacting. He was not frightened or surprised by it. His restlessness was slowly passing.

"I am a piece of soul, fufufu."

The dark soul vibrated and began to fly inside the cave. It was like a bird that had been in a cage for a long time finally breaking free. Alexander did not stop it and focused on replenishing the energy in his body.

After playing for a while, the dark soul stopped and looked at Alexander. A pair of red eyes, shining like rubies, curled up as if reading Alexander's insides.

"You can't kill me or run away from me. But don't worry, I am your friend. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Were you waiting?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You should have had spiritual enlightenment and reached a level where we could communicate. Only then will you be able to utilize all the weapons at your disposal."

Alexander did not understand what she was saying, but he was sure that she had a relationship with his katanas. So he was not afraid or worried about her.

"Weapons that have reached a certain level develop new selves within them. These are usually closely linked to the mindset of the owner. I am one of these selves. My previous owner called me the Dark Soul. He was the first owner of the Asura Katana and the creator of Rise of the Asura."

"Does that mean I'm the second generation? Hmm..."

Alexander thought. He knew that some weapons had a self. A weapon made from a dragon's body, for example, would have some of the dragon's self. But that was because the building block was a dragon.

Creating something out of nothing was much rarer. Because this was not something that could be done with materials. To create a soul, one had to have reached at least the Sword Spirit level. That was the limit of what a martial artist could reach.

There were only a few of them in Elysium at the time.

Their identity was also classified as a military secret, and the highest level of secrecy protocol was applied by their federation. However, there were some who did not hide. For example, the genius swordsman George Mondred was nicknamed the Marquis of the Sword.

The more Alexander looked at the dark soul in front of him, the clearer his understanding of the situation became. There were four known levels of weapon mastery: Weapon Qi, Weapon Blast, Weapon Heart, and finally Weapon Spirit. It was very difficult to reach any of these levels. Regardless of the level, it was a sign of understanding.

"You're kind of a weapon spirit, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"All right, then I'll call you Dark Soul."

Once Alexander realized what had happened, he didn't bother with him anymore. He had to get well quickly and leave this place. It didn't really matter where.

"Your pursuers are closing in, Alexander. If you don't get out of here quickly, they will find you... and you can guess what will happen next."

"Can you sense them?"

Despite his heightened perception, Alexander had not yet detected them.

"Yes. With my current power, I can sense every living thing within a radius of three and a half kilometers. In short, you need me now."

Even the perception of the most powerful masters of perception was not much higher than that of the Dark Soul. Even if Alexander pushed himself, he could only reach a radius of one kilometer at most.

The perception was more important than any other skill when it came to escaping. If Alexander wanted to mislead the others, or if he wanted to escape from them, he had to know where they were.

"I need to get out of here fast."

---

It was then that Declan and his research group, led by a few higher-ups, set foot in the cave where Alexander used to stay.

"Is he still alive? And he seems to have renewed energy."

Declan bit his lip and tried to follow the tracks. But there was no presence that caught his senses, or the senses of the animals he had brought with him. Had they kidnapped him?

"I don't care how long he ran or hid! I want his body!"

Declan ordered with eyes red with anger.