“Uh… Hey, there Helena…” Cain awkwardly walked to her side. She was fiddling with one of the items up for sale. It was a small knife with a wooden handle. If one looked at it from a glance, there wouldn’t have been anything wrong with it.
However if one examined it in clearer detail, one would be able to see that this little knife meant for carving was actually a Higher Rank 10 item. Looking even deeper into the store, most of the items hovered from Rank 10 to Rank 11. From the most mundane kitchen knives to the imposing greatswords carefully displayed, everything was a work of art.
“What is it?” Helena continued playing around with the small knife.
“Has any of them sold yet?” It had already been three days since he had set up shop and by the looks of it, nothing had sold yet. This was heavily weighing on Cain’s mind.
“Nothing yet. Go back downstairs and make something more interesting or you could relax for a bit. Not every store suddenly gets a massive amount of customers. People will eventually come in if they like what they see.”
“But there hasn’t been a single person that has entered so far! What if we go bankrupt!” Cain was extremely worried.
“Bankrupt? Where did you even learn that word?” Helena was more surprised at Cain’s vocabulary than anything else. “Don’t worry about it too much, we still have a lot of time.”
“Nue just ate everything in the supply room.”
“Oh, damn. You should’ve told me earlier. Uh… we might need to find a buyer soon, haha.” Helena was now starting to feel some of the burden. “Alright, I got it! Which one’s… there. How much did you spend on this one?”
Helena took out a staff. Rather than seemingly looking extremely sturdy, this one was engraved with such precision that looking at it felt as if you were facing against the vastness of the forest. There wasn’t anything unique to this stick except for its beautiful decor.
“Wait a minute, what even is this?” Helena examined it in even more detail and managed to uncover a neat little trick. A small handle grows when you insert mana into it. The only problem was that the required mana to activate it would've taken the entire mana pool of a Rank 8. It was very dubious as to whether anyone could properly use this item this early on.
“Well, as you can see, it’s a walking cane.” Cain proudly said. “I made it really lightweight and sturdy. What’s even better is that when you don’t need to use it anymore, it will naturally retract the handle so you can store it more easily. It’s a good idea, right?”
“And the price?”
“I think I spent around…” Cain wanted to say 400 Points yet he caught himself before saying that. “400 Low-Quality Mana Stones.”
Of course it is! Damn it, why do I even bother asking? Of course, something this expensive costs only 400 Low-Quality Mana Stones to make. Helena internally mumbled.
“Now for a buyer. I wonder who’ll… oh, there’s something fun happening on the horizon. That looks interesting, an open field while you’re completely surrounded… oh, ha… hahaha! Perfect!” Helena’s vision saw a very interesting scene in the distance.
“Quick, what’s your worst sword?” Helena immediately hurried up Cain.
“Oh, this one. It’s not as bad as the previous-” Cain didn’t even manage to explain when Helena took it and immediately ran off.
“I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t let Nue eat anything in the store! I don't want to come back to a ruin.” Helena ran as soon as she could. though she had a significant amount of power back, she still couldn’t do anything as insane as fly yet. She couldn’t form a portal either nor teleport directly on the battlefield due to her body being unable to handle the force of doing such a thing. It wasn’t as safe as predestined teleportation circles.
What Helena could do though was travel through the ground at an extremely fast pace. “It should take me around half an hour to get there. I hope I don’t miss out on anything important.” As Helena traveled, an imperceptible shockwave was emitted as she broke through the sound barrier. She limited the damage to the surroundings as much as possible. Most of her power had been sealed yet it didn't diminish her as one would expect.
“Dammit! If only I reached Rank 10 then I could actually handle teleportation!” Helena felt dissatisfied being this weak for so long. Back in the otherworld, she had already managed to reach a realm well above her current one within the same timeframe. “It really is the greatest civilization… Earth really has nothing going for it.”
Back at the store, Cain was left alone to hold down the fort. “Well, I guess I’ll just sit here. Waiting…”
Nue popped out her head from the living area, “Food?”
“Nue, you already ate everything we don’t have any more food left.”
“Well, can I eat the bad guys?” Nue was referring to Oisho and his group but Cain didn’t know that.
Even though Cain had no idea what Nue was on about, he still felt something fundamentally wrong with that statement. “You can’t eat people.”
“Well…” Nue’s senses had heightened up a fair bit. “Can I eat monsters?”
Since they were in Pioneer City, the first city that had been established on top of a dungeon entrance it only made sense for there to be monsters near them. Thinking about this, Cain almost agreed to it but there were still things that Nue might misinterpret. He had to set a standard so that Nue wouldn't wreak havoc like before.
“You could but I would have to supervise you. But if I do that then no one would be watching over the store. Harry’s here but he’s still depressed. I don’t want to bother him too much right now.” Cain tried to explain in a way that would let Nue understand.
“If Harry watches over the shop then we can go?” Nue clarified with Cain.
“I guess so, yeah… where are you going?” Cain felt like something was about to unfold.
“Nothing.” Nue proceeded to go upstairs and knock on a door. Though Cain wanted to interpret it as a knock, there was a massive thump as the door was knocked wide open. There proceeded a short conversation followed by Harry getting dragged by his collar.
“He said he’s going to watch over the store.” Nue proudly posed as Harry weakly tried to get up. He had sunken eyes and pale skin, he didn’t seem to look all that great.
“Are you alright, Harry? You don’t have to if you want to rest.” Cain went over and supported Harry back up.
“No, Master. I’m fine. Nue’s right I can’t be moping like this for too long. I need to start working on myself.” Harry showed a smile and sat on the counter.
“I see. Oh, this is for you.” Cain took out a strawberry milkshake from his storage system. Although it had been a while, it looked extremely fresh as if it had been made just now. “You holed yourself up in your room so I couldn’t give it to you. Enjoy.”
Harry grabbed the drink and smiled, “Thanks, Master. I feel better now.”
“Mine-” Nue was immediately dragged by Cain away before she could steal Harry's share.
“Nue, we need to go hunt some monsters right?” Cain knew that Nue liked that drink very much. Enough to eat her own words and break her vow.
“W-Wait! Cain, if I can have that then we don’t have to-” Nue was trying to go back but Cain forcefully dragged Nue out the door. Nue desperately clung to the door, trying to reach out for the drink in Harry’s hand. “Harry! I’ll let meet my sister if you give me that!”
“If she’s a freak like you then I’d rather not.” Harry wasn’t tempted by Nue’s appearance since he knew the truth. Even if what Nue said was correct, then she must be another abomination as well.
“She’s human-” Cain couldn’t handle it anymore and finally forced her away. Nue’s hands were cuffed. “Cain? What’s this?” A long chain was latched unto her cuffs, the other end of the chain was in Cain’s hands.
“A leash. To make sure you don’t run away doing god knows what.” Cain bluntly said. He had to make sure that Nue didn’t go overboard while they were on their way.
“Oh… Bite, ow!” Nue raised the cuffs to her mouth and tried to bite it off only to hurt her teeth. She hadn’t thought that this would ever happen, a material she couldn’t eat. “Cain, this hurts.”
“Nue, I can't let you go outside this freely. What if you go out and make trouble for me?” Cain looked straight into Nue’s eyes. She awkwardly smiled and said, “Busted.”
“I’ll let you out when we get to the hunting grounds.” Cain casually took the chain in his hands as he walked on the streets of Pioneer City. He hadn’t thought of this through at all. Nue, on the other hand, looking like a flower that had to be protected started bringing in trouble for Cain.
With Nue’s breathtaking golden eyes and very feminine figure, it was quite easy to assume that she was one of a kind. Adding on her frilly clothing and slender limbs, any man would look her way at least once. Ignoring her skillset, she would've nicely fit in to be the damsel in distress. If only Nue's appearance was how she acted then Cain would've had an easier time blending in society.
It was safe to say that Cain was about to have a very interesting experience.
~~~
In an empty field, two men stood in front of countless powerhouses of the current world. A single man with hair covering his entire body and another man bearing two swords faced against the current generation. These two were going against the current rulers of the world. The scale of this battle would surely change the development of the world.
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“Sval, there is no need to be like this. Despite our differences, I still value your skills greatly! We will acquire that method regardless you live or die so why fight back?” Amelia shouted out, leading everyone on a hunt. A hunt for the secret that could possibly change the entire game. "You'll needlessly die."
“Guild Master of Dominion! There’s no need to die like this. I’m sure you’ve faced countless dangers in the otherworld yet you must understand that you may be able to revive for as many times as you wish there but not here! This is your final life, you should value it!” Another guild master shouted out.
On Amelia’s side, except for Epitome, every other force was targeting Dominion. This truly was overkill. Only the guild masters of each respective guild appeared on this battlefield. This was for one simple reason, any other people would simply die off far too easily. There was no reason for their people to die a dog's death.
Sval’s expression didn’t even change despite being faced with certain death. He took his stance and readied his fists, aiming to die on this hill. As much as Sval didn't want to admit it, he was only acting out of his own personal pride. The only thing forcing him down this path was himself. “This is the secret of how to quickly regain your peak! I’ll keep it inside this spatial ring.” Sval then proceeded to consume this spatial ring.
A simple but effective statement. The other side no longer needed to hold back since Sval's life was now irrelevant. All they needed now was to take that spatial ring out of his stomach. A bit gruesome but nothing any of them couldn't handle.
“If you want it! Come and pry it from my cold dead corpse!” Sval’s roar completely overshadowed every other person’s presence. At this very moment, Sval was going to burn the brightest. One of three guilds' guild master was going to lay down his life for his own beliefs.
“Child, it’s still not too late. Your talent with the blade is far too valuable to be wasted here.” Miyamoto sighed in regret. As for Miyamoto’s question back then, Sval had completely rejected it. He wanted to see through this to the very end.
“Old man, I told you. I won’t ever bend down to anyone.” Sval’s bloodthirsty appearance made it so that one would be struck with fear looking at him. Even so, the tone he spoke of right now was one of righteousness.
“I understand. I’ll bury your corpse intact. That’s the only thing I can do to commemorate your talent.” Miyamoto started walking away, going forward at a safe enough distance. “With this, another potential candidate is lost. Such a pity.”
“Haha, if you really want to make me indebted to you then look after my guild after I’m gone. Those rascals are a little rough around the edges but they are all good folks.” Sval smiled.
“I’ll take those who have potential. As for the rest, at most, I can do is give them some wealth. The stage I'm called for is not here.” Miyamoto honestly stated what he could do.
“That is more than enough, thank you old man. I wish we could’ve met at another time, at that time I might’ve accepted.” Sval took a single step forward, then another, slowly walking up to finally battle to his heart’s content.
Miyamoto nodded and proceeded to watch from the sidelines. Though others might think that what Sval was doing was completely stupid, when you grow you eventually learn that some responsibilities are much more valuable than your life.
Sval kept his peak form, inhaling and exhaling large amounts of air. Amelia watched this and looked at his current forces, “I ask, do any of you have any confidence in taking him alone?”
These guild masters looked at each other before a certain female guild master raised her hand. “I do.”
“Oh, quite the brave soul. If you do manage to kill Sval, the guild leader of Dominion, then there will be a suitable reward awaiting you. I wish you the best.” Amelia calmly said. Her words were alluring yet the coldness behind her eyes was frigid. Calculating everything accordingly.
This female guild master was a Peak Rank 7, a relatively well-known mage. She specializes in space magic, a major power that could completely and utterly lock down a physical fighter like Sval. She ran up to the front, intending to face him alone bravely. The advantage she had was immense giving her the confidence to do something so rash.
She didn’t hesitate at all as she brought out her own grimoire, uttering countless incantations that affected her surroundings. The field around her completely and utterly looked warped and rigid, even the ground around her started compressing down.
Sval didn’t say anything but kept slowly walking, “Is that it? If that’s the case, you should run away.” Sval looked at the female mage’s domain and casually entered it, not showing any kind of stopping, much less slowing down.
“Huh? That can’t be! Quadruple-cast, Gravity Well!” The female mage started enchanting even more, the power of the gravitational field all around her increased even more than before, exponentially increasing in power.
“I told you. You should've run away.” Sval retained his composure as he still continued on, ignoring the pressure that was weighing him down. Spider-like cracks appeared beneath Sval's feet yet he his steps didn't waver.
“No effect?! Fine! Pentuple-cast, Gravitational Decree!” It had to be said that the spell from earlier was still there, placing this spell on top of it continued to exponentially increase the power. Still, Sval was completely unaffected. If not for everything around Sval tearing down on itself then she would've thought that she didn't properly cast it.
The ground all around him started to warp and distort, even the very air around him started to fall down, creating a vacuum that started to shred everything into dust. The ground was starting to tremble even harder. It was already a meter lower than when it started. Yet compared to Sval's appearance he was still prim and proper, the difference was vast.
“Hah… how?! So be it! Sextuple-cast, Gravitational Will!” The already completely dense surroundings turned into a vacuum. To even be able to stand there was an amazing feat in itself. To handle the burden of the power of a vacuum and be unaffected, truly showed off just how terrifying Sval’s body was. He wasn't a guild master for nothing after all. He had the strength to singlehandedly hold Dominion together.
“You won’t be able to handle this!” The female was starting to worry, even though she didn’t expect to stop Sval with her previous spells, she had expected him to be slightly affected. For Sval to ignore everything she had thrown at him made her worry for her safety.
“Septuple-cast, Gravitational Rift!” This was the highest spell tier she could cast as a Peak Rank 7 expert. The exponentially increasing strength of the gravitational spells caused the initially 1-meter deep trench to immediately go down an entire kilometer into the earth.
This wasn’t normal dirt either. This was dirt that had been transformed alongside the world, the sheer density and durability of it was well beyond what a normal lump of iron could compare to. It might not be comparable to the walls of the dungeons below yet it was still something to be noted.
A few other guild masters finally felt a tinge of fear, realizing just why this female mage had this much confidence to face Sval by herself. The power she showcased was something that they would even be wary of. A few other guild masters immediately gave up trying to compare themselves with her. Not everyone returned equally and this simple showcase of power was evident before them.
Finally, this female mage felt a brief moment of relief. “It looks like Sval’s gotten taken care of. Lady Amelia, I hope you can uphold your words.”
Amelia retained her calm smile, “I will, that is if you could actually handle him.”
“What? Didn’t you see him get flattened like a pancake? He’s obviously dead!” She was confused as to why Amelia was acting like this.
“As I said if you… oh, why hello Sval. A bit too brutal don’t you think?” As Amelia was speaking, trying to properly inform her, Sval suddenly appeared with a head in his hand. From the distance, a headless corpse wearing a mage’s robe and holding a grimoire kneeled down and fell to the ground. It had all happened within a blink of an eye. Sval had easily disposed of her like it was nothing.
In Sval’s hand, the female mage’s head could be seen with the still angry look on her face. Sval’s expression didn’t change as he threw her hand into the crowd. “Who’s next?”
“Hmm…” Amelia looked at the people by her side and saw the tinge of fear slowly forming within their hearts. “Testing you out anymore isn’t worth it anymore. Well then, shall I lead everyone to battle?” Amelia’s tone made it seem as if she was merely going on a stroll, a casual stroll.
“I’ve been waiting. Let’s see how strong you actually are, Amelia. I’ve been curious for an extremely long time now, how a girl with your personality could reach the top.” Sval didn’t bother hiding his aura anymore as he fully unleashed his Peak Rank 8 mana. The pure density and purity of his mana made for an extremely worrisome show. The oppressive power brewing within him had finally been unleashed for the world to see. And the world did see.
A few guildmasters stepped back, feeling the threat staring at them. They were nothing more than prey for Sval to consume. This mindset completely solidified itself as Sval came closer.
“My, oh my, it really is much grander than our method. Truly a genius, if I do say so myself. I wanted to do this the easy way but you just had to force our hand.” Amelia also fully unleashed her strength and it hovered around Peak Rank 8 yet it was clear that she had just arrived there.
In comparison, while Amelia had just gotten to Peak Rank 8, Sval had already reached Peak Rank 8 an extremely long time ago, just that tiny bit off from reaching Lower Rank 9. If one were to accurately say where he stood, one could say that he was a half-step into reaching Lower Rank 9.
Now it was clear for everyone to see. It was obvious that the top guilds had their own respective ways of regaining their old strength as quickly as possible yet it wasn’t easy to determine if they truly had the most efficient method. This method centered around the highest echelons of the guild, preventing the lower-tier members from finding anything about it.
With Amelia, the guild master of the strongest guild, Eye of Magic, leading the charge, they could just follow her and gain another guild’s research. With Dominion being ranked third, they thought that Amelia just wanted to get rid of a competitor, never did they expect that it was actually due to the fact that Dominion’s method was much better than theirs.
“Dammit! We’ve been tricked!” A guild master finally realized what was happening. “Sval, we will retreat! Don’t-”
Amelia raised her hand and an invisible thread cut off that guild master’s head. “You know, deserters are often punished with death. Your choices are either, face me alone or face Sval as a team. I’m confident that you all understand your positions right now.” Still, Amelia’s face showed as if she wasn’t in any kind of danger right now.
“We can join Sval’s side and-” Another head was cut off.
“My, inciting rebellion is very dangerous, isn’t it? Please take this seriously, you are only hurting our chances here.” Amelia faked a sigh, moving her finger, showing a terrifying scene. Countless guild masters had razor-sharp wires hanging around their necks, a single swift motion was enough to take their lives. Like a puppet master, she had strings connected to her dolls.
“Dear Sval, I’m sure you have noticed what our method is now, yes?” Amelia’s threads started taking the mana from the people she had captured and integrated what she took for herself. Her power rapidly rose to immense heights as she sucked the life out of everyone here. Bodies began to fall down on the ground as they all withered away into nothingness. There was not a single survivor.
Even if Sval wanted to do anything, he didn’t have an opportunity to do so as there were a few traps before him. Rushing in would’ve caused him great harm. Those razor-sharp threads would've sliced him apart if he wasn't careful with it.
From being at the beginning of Peak Rank 8, Amelia’s strength rose to that of being almost Lower Rank 9. The same cultivation realm as Sval. It had turned out that her words from before were merely lies. She was only buying enough time so that her threads would've taken control of their bodies.
“As quick as it is, it’s really troublesome! Forty Peak Rank 7s could only give me this much! Now, where were we? Ah, yes. A duel.” Amelia’s threads slithered around her like snakes, waiting for Sval’s next move.
“Amelia, you know, I’ve always hated you.” Sval understood that it was finally time to start, he immediately transformed as his body started to condense, focusing on compressing his muscles into mechanisms of pure power. He had no pity for those who had fallen. The moment they had designated themselves as his enemy then they were to die regardless of how they did so. The only problematic issue here was that Amelia had actually become stronger. She had become a danger that he had to be careful about.
“Well, since we are being honest, I’ve always thought you were handsome. Though it pains me to know that one of us is dying here.” Amelia retained her calm smile despite everything that had happened. “It’s not too late to give us your method. Perhaps you could join us. There’s a seat beside me that recently opened up and I would like you to be by my side.”
Sval moved like lightning, directly appearing in front of Amelia and striking her down. His eyes had already managed to figure out a path within this web she had created. Little did Sval know that this path was directly something that Amelia had specifically created.
It was then that the traps that previously stopped him were finally ignited, and countless explosions blew up the entire battlefield. If these traps were activated before then it was safe to say that the outcome for the other guild masters would be the same.
“Now that the battle has begun, let’s start paying attention.” Miyamoto, who was previously meditating opened up his eyes and started watching.
Within the dark thick smoke, yellow lightning and blue formless slashes kept echoing out.