"Boy, you don't understand. You were supposed to fall unconscious at some point. I have never heard of a human staying awake for this long. That's some freaky shit right there."

Darius was not happy and began to try walking away. That's when he finally understood why the old man would say he would thank him!

"This! What the heck is this old man!"

The elder walked up with a smug grin and said, "That was a dantian made from the corpse of a Soul Force Flamengo Spirit. It has a rather odd trait where it immediately bonds with the spiritsmith smithing it unless the smith has bonded with one before!"

This was an incredible gift! The abilities he got from this fusion were superb. Darius thought about what the old man just said. 'Am I really some sort of prodigy?'

Darius doubted it, there must be an explanation for this. Darius was confident that he was born an ordinary boy, and he was right.

Darius could feel the surge of spirit essence within his body. He could now use his previously more efficiently in terms of energy output.

The old man then walked up to Darius and said, "I have skills to teach you, boy. Let's see how much you can learn. You never know, you might need this strength. Remember what I taught you, boy. Kill them before they kill you."

A lot of thoughts swirled around in Darius' mind, but nothing had as much desire as the will to get stronger. Darius knew that his chances at a simple life were gone, at least for now. So what he needed was power!

This old man was offering that power, and his intuition told him that this was a good idea. Not to mention that the old man's desires were clear and obvious. He was confident that he wasn't blind-sighted. This old man wasn't that kind of guy.

'Why am I so sure of this?'

Darius walked to the old man and activated Imperishable.

"I'm listening."

Ah, you didn't need me to tell you to activate Imperishable. Smart boy, you will indeed process information much faster and have more control over your body. I am pleased with your potential."

The old man laughed like a drunkard while an emotionless Darius stared at it.

"Now, first let me explain spirit essence in terms of quality, and quantity!"

….

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Lara had just dispatched her 8th wave. They were a wave of Iron Hawks. They flew down from the skies with their long and sharp talons, holding nothing back!

Lara won that battle by the skin of her teeth. The boost she had received from Darius was dying down. She wanted to turn around and swap with Darius, but his words caused her to stop.

"Is that it, your highness?"

Lara looked at him, anger visible in her eyes. She had surpassed her limits twice over! She was confident that she would be able to take a dantian, or possibly two with some extra training. Yet he said is that it? Who does he think he is?"

"Yesterday, I absorbed my third dantian."

This news shocked her to her core. She was almost a full step behind him.

Darius' gaze intensified as he looked into her eyes... "If you bow out now, you will always be behind me. The summit of your world would be the ground of mine. The most you would ever accomplish is being known as an acquaintance of mine. Is that what you want.?"

Darius' uncharacteristic words brought her mind to a full stop. This was true, she had no way of verifying this, but it was true! This wasn't what she wanted to happen!

She turned around and got ready for the next foes. Silverback Mandrils. Big powerful baboon like spirits that exuded killing intent that was a small level higher than the Hawks she had just battled.

Threading words, the ability to use spirit essence to someone's ear directly. Lara has felt it from her father and multiple powerful beings, but heard Darius' speak in that manner, "Breathe and focus, I'm going to impart on you the sacred creed of swordsmanship. The creed my own father followed!"

Lara paused a moment, allowing one of the mandrils to claw her arm. The arm was protected by spirit essence, but a massive claw mark appeared on her arm as a testament to the madril's power.

These beasts were like gorillas in the way they get riled up. Beating their chests while bellowing over and over again.

Previous waved had attacked straight from the front. But these mandrils were smart, they used the battle to shift Lara far away and isolate her completely.

When they saw that Darius did not follow they were even happier. Divide and conquer. This creatures were not fools and were able to apply this seemingly simple tactic.

Lara was hypnotized by Darius' voice. For some reason, she focused on it like it was her life's mantra. She wanted to know what his father had told him! This all as her belly started to heat up slightly.

The mandrils couldn't care less and attack in turns, trying to wear her out. She was almost out of spirit essence, and she was physically at her limit. They were sure that she would die soon.

"My dad was a lumberjack. But he wasn't your typical lumberjack. I remember as a kid looking at his tiny figure among other giants chopping wood. The giant men used enormous axes to match their size, but dad, he….He was doing his own thing.

See, dad was a swordsman through and through. You would even see it in his work. He would run past the tree as if they were enemies and draw his sword. Watching him was like watching an artist. Even the giant men were in awe at how good my dad was."

Lara listened as she fought for her life, that was when she started to feel the heat again.

"I asked him how he became such a strong swordsman. He said that he was actually weak, but he obeyed the Swordsman's creed through and through.

First, A sword is a weapon to kill.

Second, it shall never cut the back of anyone foe.

Third, a scar on the back is a swordsman's greatest shame!"

That's when Lara felt the heat spread to her back. Countless small injuries and scars filled her back. Indeed she knew the Swordman's Creed, but in their country, it wasn't taken seriously. But there was something about the way Darius said it. Like an ephemeral command from hell. Yes hell. Her body yearned for more power as the centre of her being.

"The power I gave you is permanent. It is powered by your resolve. You strengthen it through your will. Do you want to be Lara the sword wielder? Or Lara the Swordsman?" Darius' voice wafted in her ears and rang through her mind.

"I'm Lara The Swordsman!" she shouted, confusing the onlookers. Her body lit up in flames as fire adorned her body like a fitting gown. No one except a few knew what this was.