I looked at Ashryn and I could see her unwavering face. She was sweating from the overpowering aura coming from the skeleton, but she held her ground.

"It's a wraith," she said, turning to me.

I tried to appraise it but it yielded no results. The appraisal had a mind of its own. It worked some times and other times it was a dud. I sighed and readied myself.

The skeleton waited patiently, looking at us. It looked like it was inviting us to strike him first.

"Be careful. Magic doesn't work on them. Only physical attacks overlapped with energy will go through."

"I see."

I concentrated and a small amount of energy covered the tip of my sword. I looked at the wraith and it was still watching us, though I could feel the atmosphere around him becoming wary but not enough to warrant any real threat.

Since he invited us to strike him first, I took a step forward. The wraith took out his sword from the ground and faced me.

I rushed in swiftly, but my sword was easily blocked. Then he swung his sword in an arc. I jumped aside and saved myself but the sword gouged out the ground where I was standing. I applied energy to the sword again and sliced at him. This time, he jumped back, keeping his glowing eyes on me. Ashryn started chanting from behind me and a small ice circle was being formed behind the wraith. It began to expand and tried to restrict his movements by encasing him in ice. The wraith began to spin his sword and it glowed red, heat pouring out of it, melting the ice. This time he rushed at me. I tried to block him but he parried my sword and feinted to the right, thrusting his sword at my stomach. I tried to evade it but the force of the thrust was higher than I had anticipated and it gouged me. Blood started pouring out of the open wound.

(Master!!!)

"Rayce!!" Ashryn screamed.

I jumped back panting. I healed it with a basic healing spell I could immediately think of. The wound began to close, but I still felt lightheaded. I tried to strike him with lightning and a concentrated bolt fell on him but when the dust cleared, he looked unfazed, though the armour was singed a little. Ashryn moved closer to me.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. How do you defeat something like that?"

It was the first time I had faced someone so strong. Due to me neglecting my sword training, I hadn't moved past being a sword expert. So, I was having a hard time fighting on equal footing with him.

(Master, concentrate the energy from your heart and try to visualise the wall that is holding you back.)

I tried so but it was unsuccessful. The image evaded me. The wraith was looking at us with an amused smile. His demeanor made me feel like he didn't consider us a threat at all. Ashryn was panting beside me. The magic she used must have exhausted her.

I steadied myself and got into an attacking stance. The wraith began to move towards us and began to deliver quick blows with his sword. I signaled Ashryn to move back as I moved forward and tried to parry his fast swings. His sword became even faster with sparks flying from the clash of our swords. Parrying was the only thing I could do, with the strength of each of his strikes making my arm lose strength.

As I was about to falter in the face of such heavy blows, I throught of what would happen to Ashryn if I fell here. I steeled myself and tried to think about increasing the aura again. The 'all weapon mastery skill' I had, gave me the wielding knowledge of weapons, but didn't teach me how to rise in ranks above a certain level and it didn't increase my experience which became painfully evident as the fight dragged on. As I was thinking of moving past the barrier that was stopping me from evolving my sword skills, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. The blade in my hand began to vibrate. I jumped back as soon as a strong thrust came from the wraith. I could feel tremendous energy emanating from my body. It was as if the pores on my skin were opening up and it was sucking in energy from the surroundings. Feeling something, the wraith moved back as well.

(Master, that's it!)

I concentrated and now a bigger energy blade was being formed in front of my eyes. My sword coated in the blue energy glowed. The wraith became wary. I could feel the aura around him change. He moved further back and watched me closely, like a predator about to lunge at the slightest hint of weakness. As I looked at the wraith again, this time I didn't feel any fear. The fear I had felt before thinking of failure, began to fade.

I raised my sword, coated with the dense energy and rushed at him. The wraith tried to parry my strikes but he seemed slower than usual and my blows began to go through. Time seemed to stop in the chamber. As I increased the energy going into the blade and the speed of my strikes, the air near the blade began to distort the space, creating small sparks. I looked at him and he looked battered from my strikes. I took a swinging stance and swung the sword horizontally at the wraith. An energy wave left my sword speeding towards him. He tried to block the wave of energy but as he tried to parry it, his blade shattered and he was flung backwards. He crashed loudly into the throne and crumpled. I didn't want to give him any time, so I lunged towards him, the blade of energy concentrated on my sword. The sword pierced him, easily going through the armour. He looked at me with those glowing eyes and it seemed like he was sneering at me, but the glow soon faded and he soon began to shrivel up. The armour made a hissing sound and began to release smoke. The wraith evaporated along with the smoke, leaving behind only the armour.

I fell to my knees supported by the sword dug into the ground. Ashryn rushed to me.

"Rayce!!! Are you alright?" She asked in a trembling voice.

"Y-yeah I'm fine."

"Wow, that was crazy." I could see a smile form on her lips.

"Ahaha."

I tried to show that I was fine by waving my hand but the next moment the world became dark.

"Rayce!!"

(Master!!!)

Airi's voice was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.

---

I was in the same chamber and was fighting the wraith again. I kept parrying his sword but he kept mocking me and trying to slice me at the slightest gap. Behind him, I could see a black floating orb. It was observing me silently. As the blade closed in to cut my neck, I woke up drenched in sweat.

I looked around and I was lying on a makeshift bed made of clothes and was still in the same room we had fought the wraith in. There was no sign of the wraith. I sighed in relief. Ashryn was lying beside me, asleep. She must have fallen asleep, waiting for me. As I tried to get up, Ashryn rubbed her eyes and looked at me.

"Are you awake?" She raised herself to a sitting position.

"Y-yeah, how long was I out?"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Hmm, let's see. It has been around three hours."

(Master, that was dangerous! You unintentionally expended more energy than you could handle. A little more and your life might have been in danger.)

(Hmm, but I thought you said my energy was higher than most.)

(For magic, yes. But the energy used by swordmasters are entirely different. You need to train your body diligently to master and store that energy. This time, the body forcefully converted the excess magical energy into sword energy but it was extremely dangerous. Please be careful in the future.)

(I see. I guess I need to train myself.)

(Yes....)

Ashryn was looking at me, making a complicated face.

"I see. Are you hungry?" I asked Ashryn.

"Yes!"

"Haha. Then, let's eat before we heat out."

I bought a few cup noodles and after readying them with boiling water, I gave it to her. She seemed to enjoy them and was making a contended face.

I looked at my body and the cut I had received from the wraith had almost disappeared, though I could still feel the pain in that part where it gouged me. I took out a healing potion from my item box and gulped it down. I also gave one to Ashryn.

"What is that?" She asked curiously.

"Ah, it's a healing potion."

"Isn't that costly?"

"Ah, I'm an alchemist as well. I made these. Haven't you seen me make potions at home?"

"Ah, no."

"I see. Anyways, have this. I have plenty where that came from."

She hardly went downstairs to Revati's laboratory so I guess she hadn't seen me making potions. Most of the times, she would be training in the estate grounds.

"You intrigue me more and more," she said, taking the potion and drinking it.

"D-do I? Ahaha....."

After finishing the food, we got up, ready to leave. I looked for my sword but it wasn't with me. I couldn't find it anywhere.

(Master, the sword broke.)

(What?!)

Ashryn saw me looking around and when I told her I was looking for the sword, she made a sad face.

"The sword disintegrated as soon as you lost consciousness."

"I-I see."

I guess I'd need to make a new sword again. We checked for any loot the wraith might have left behind. But, there was only the armour and an Energon the size of a fist. After exploring the chamber, we also noticed a small stone chest behind the throne. I opened it and a small jewel lay inside of it. It shone brightly giving off a cool yellow light.

[Name: Jewel of Eve

A jewel that is said to grant courage to the user. It is best used with the armour set of Eve.]

"This seems unique," I said to Ashryn.

"What is it?"

"Ah, it called the Jewel of Eve."

"Hmm, never heard of it. W-Wait, you can appraise items?"

"Yeah, haha...."

Her gaze became even more intense.

"S-Shall we head out?" I quickly tried to change the topic.

"Yeah, we should....."

I turned around swiftly and retraced our steps back the way we came. We also salvaged the Energons from the monsters we had slain previously, although, I could see the disgust on Ashryn's face when I went near the spiders. She refused to come near me after that.

We walked towards the light in the distance and slowly came out of the dungeon. We were once again back to the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the forest.

Suddenly, without warning, a knife flew at me. Airi screamed at me so I was able to dodge it by jumping sideways. It lodged itself onto the wall of the cave behind me. As I looked around after getting up from the ground, I could see five people watching us, snikering. The guy in the front looked familiar, with a scar on his eye that covered half his face.

(Master, that's the person that was plotting to kidnap Ashryn.)

(Y-You're right.)

I jumped in front of Ashryn shielding her.

"Hand her over and I'll let you go," he said, smiling crookedly to me.

The rest of the guys behind him laughed.

"Who are you?" Ashryn asked, stepping forward.

"Umm, those people were trying to kidnap you," I said.

I told her about running into them and what they were talking about.

"Kidnap me?" Her face grew dark.

"Yeah, just come quietly with us and he won't have to die," The man with the scar said, pointing his sword at me.

Ashryn signalled to me and I assumed a defensive stance, witnessing her enraged face. I was still reeling from the wound inflicted by the wraith so I was a little drowsy. Even though I had taken the potion, it wasn't the concentrated one. I was only left with the diluted potions that I had been selling to the Kaerius company.

Ashryn quickly readied her bow and shot at the leader without giving them time to think.

'Twang'

The leader jumped aside with impressive reflexes, but the guy behind him wasn't fortunate enough. The arrow struck him right in the middle of his forehead and he fell down like a log.

"You said that she was just a C-ranked adventurer," one of the goons said to the leader.

"Stand back. I'll handle it," the leader said.

The guy with the scar took out two axes that were strung on his back and lunged at us.

Ashryn tried to protect me and parried the axes with her bow but she seemed exhausted. I began to grow angry.

I just wanted to get out of this damned forest and another hurdle comes up. I had enough of these goons and I began to visualise a sixth circle spell to obliterate them once and for all. I directed it at the place it should fall and a floating spark of fire appeared in midair. The goons were watching it as if mesmerized. The spark few in size and quickly burst, spewing fire in its entire surroundings. The three people behind the leader turned to ash. He jumped away in the nick of time and was able to save his life but his legs were charred and it didn't look like he would walk again.

I walked up to him. His eyes were going in and out of focus due to dealing with the immense pain. I figured he would die soon.

"Who was it that ordered you to kidnap Ashryn?" I asked.

"Haah, haah, I swear, I don't know. I know it was an elf because I could see their ear for a split moment when they turned around. But other than that, I don't know anything. Spare me. I'm telling the truth."

I looked at Ashryn. She seemed lost in thought after hearing our conversation.

The leader died soon after, taking his last breath. I didn't provide him any potions and Ashryn didn't seem to mind. One less person coming after us, I guess. Then, we got on the road that led to the outside and walked slowly towards the light invading the dark forest.

"Do you have any idea who might want to kidnap you?" I asked Ashryn, as we moved forward.

"Hmm, I don't know yet but i'll look into it. You don't need to worry." She said, smiling.

I felt like she was trying to dodge the question. I left it as it is. It might be personal.

"Please ask for help if you need it. I'm always ready to help you," I tried to assure her.

"Thank you," She smiled back genuinely. I could see her face relax.

We were soon out of the forest. I told her to hold onto me and we teleported to the mansion. I didn't want to teleport straightaway after fighting the goons since Ashryn seemed lost in thought. I wanted to give her time to get her thoughts in order.

Once we entered the house, a wave of exhaustion hit me. Elias welcomed us when we arrived. Ashryn excused herself and went upstairs.

"Master, are you alright?" he asked, looking down at my torn armour.

"I'm fine. I just need some rest. How's the construction going?"

"It's going well. They have brought in a lot of dwarves and Sir Reuben assured me that it will be completed within this week."

"I see. That's good."

I felt exhausted so I excused myself as well.

"I'm going to rest for a while. Please take care of anything that comes up."

"Certainly, Sir."

I went inside my room and plopped down on my bed. A strong wave of exhaustion hit me, even though I shouldn't feel like this because of my body.

(Master, It's due to you expending an extreme amount of energy through the sword. Please rest for now. Even souls get tired.)

I soon fell asleep and slept for a long time. When I woke, it was still dark outside, so I slept again.

The next time I woke up, it was already the morning of the next day. I went down and greeted everyone. The servants were a little worried about me but after I assured them, they happily went back to their duties. Ashryn came down with dark circles under her eyes. It didn't look like she slept much. I sent a questioning look but she shook her head. After breakfast, she went directly back to her room.

I wanted to look at the progress of the construction, so I slowly made my way to the construction site along with Elias. Once I reached, I saw that the dwarfs were working diligently. The number of dwarfs had exceeded twenty and everyone was using magic to speed up the construction. Sounds of nails being hammered and equipment being moved, filled the air. Reuben greeted me like always when he saw me.

As I looked up at the building, I wondered if it would be possible to install the magical elevators that I had seen in the Flaedan magic tower. I asked Reuben about it but he told me that the technology was only available to the magic towers. I asked him if there were any alternatives. He told me that he will look into it.

I requested him to construct an extra room the size of an elevator and leave it empty. I gave him the specifications. If I couldn't get my hands on the magical elevators, maybe I could install the normal ones, if I bought them from the shop.

I went back to the estate and talked to Revati. I showed her the elevator after buying it from the shop. I asked her if she could modify it. She told me that she had a better solution for that and she quickly inscribed a magic circle on an empty part of the ground and invited me to stand on that. As soon as I stood on that, I was instantly teleported 5 meters away.

"Wow, is that ancient technology?"

"Yes, but the range and the number of people that can be teleported at one time is limited."

"This will work. This will certainly work!"

It was much better than the bulky elevators. I told her to make a few of them so that I can install them on all the floors. I told her to cover the circle with metal so that it cannot be easily discovered. She told me that she had the perfect idea and went back to the laboratory. She also asked me to call a few of the dwarves to the mansion.