[You are within range of a Legendary Far Ji (Unique Quality)]

[Find its source and pay a fitting price to claim it for yourself]

The Incarnate was taken by surprise.

‘A Legendary Unique Quality?’ he thought. Where?

He strained a little and remembered the grading system he had seen for Far Ji. Apparently, there wasn’t much to remember. It simply went from Rare, Legendary to Divine.

From the moment it was made known to the Demonling the ranks for Equipment, Acquired Abilities, and Unique Qualities, he became able to comprehend the differences without needing to employ knowledge from his old world. This made all the difference.

‘Legendary… That’s nothing to scoff at.’

This was especially true when comparing what Legendary meant in the context of the grading system for Acquired Abilities, which went from Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Transcendent all the way to Divine.

The Incarnate gulped. He had had worries about whether or not a Far Ji would be useful, given how it was going for him with the first Kanva he acquired, but the word ‘Legendary’ lured his interest. He had to obtain this, right?

But that aside, Incarnate ^8001 couldn’t help but wonder…

‘Where is it?’

His best guess was that the Unique Quality was tied to the atrophied body stuck to the ceiling, but that was pretty high. The tablet had told him to find the source of the Far Ji. If it indeed was related to that corpse, how would he get up there?

‘Or maybe… Is it…?’

The Incarnate stripped his thoughts from the assumption that what he needed was to head for the flashiest thing in the room. His eyes instead honed in on the faint column of light coming from the ceiling. Maybe…

The Demonling vigilantly took steps towards the column and when he was barely two inches from it, he took a deep, shaky breath, passed Bash Brain to his left hand, and extended his right into the faint, defined light.

Right then…

[You have come into contact with the Legendary Far Ji, ‘Hermetic Vault’]

[To seize it as your own, a price of 10 Incarnation Points is required. Would you like to-]

Before the full text registered to the Incarnate, his vision got lost.

All his senses seemed to stall and sharpen, and involuntarily, his feet moved back three steps away from the column of light, which prompted the glowing screen in his vision to fade away.

The Incarnate gulped hard.

Sweat dripped from his temples all the way down to his jaw and chin.

His skin tingled in a more violent fashion than before.

A sword’s edge was at his throat, uncomfortably pressing against his Adam’s apple.

While the Incarnate was afraid to move his head, he was still able to see, from his peripheral vision, where the sword was coming from.

The sword – a katana – was very, very long, so long, in fact, that it was unnatural. Its blade came from one of the drapes on the walls of the ovular room which was pushed to the side, revealing a narrow, dark doorway. Somewhere past the dark interior hidden by this drape, was the hilt to the katana and its wielder, but at the moment, the Demonling couldn’t identify them.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Three hearts sitting in the aspiring Tyrant’s chest beat furiously.

‘What is this? What kind of sword…’ he struggled to rationalize what he was seeing.

Slowly, he reached for Bash Brain, which he had passed to his left hand whose extension housed the Valiant Subject’s Ward. As he did so, however, he felt the edge of the katana start to dig into his skin, which made him panic.

At once, the Incarnate dived backward and allowed himself to fall on his back on the floor. He thought this was the safest way to avoid being cleanly cut through, in case the assailant was actually trying to decapitate him.

Sadly, just as the Demonling met the floor, his eyes widened.

The partly rusted katana of faded cerulean which had been standing erect from his right… suddenly pivoted, its blade seemingly extending several meters as it shot down.

The Incarnate was shaken, but he still managed to roll to the side and hurry to a stand.

Unfortunately, his eyes hadn’t deceived him before. The enemy’s sword bent sharply at an angle before it hit the ground where he had been a moment ago. It then extended again and shot in his direction, ignoring his eyes which were livid with disbelief.

What in the world…?!

The Incarnate propped up his shield just as he realized he was too late in dodging to the attack. Yet, his kite shield couldn’t have protected him against an attack that was as flexible as a toddler’s doodles. The katana wound around his shield and jabbed into his left shoulder, right above his collar bone!

“Argggh!”

The Incarnate almost let himself sink into the feeling of pain for too long. Just as the katana ripped through the flesh in his arm, emerging on the other side, it pivoted backwards and headed straight for the back of his head.

The Incarnate’s skin furiously rippled like boiling water.

At this moment, he realised that it not only reacted to the supernatural but also warned him against fatal danger somehow. Better yet, as his skin reacted, his muscles also churned at his slightest desire to make a quick movement.

It was solely because of this that the Incarnate managed to turn his head away from the malevolent katana’s edge, avoiding certain death in time… but not before a sizable chunk of his cheek was ripped off in the weapon’s wake.

The Incarnate roared and knocked the blade upward with his shield where it penetrated his shoulder. The sharp edge tore through him, causing immense agony, but at least he was free.

While telling himself to ignore the pain, the Incarnate bolted towards the wall and pasted his back against it.

Thankfully, the katana didn’t hurry towards him then. It remained in its bountiful, angled stance in the air, his blood smeared on its surface.

The Incarnate panted.

His senses were bursting with life, but he was hardly convinced he would still be able to draw breath in the next minute or so. He had placed his body against the wall in order to not give the sword the option of attacking from his blind spots, though that probably wasn’t going to be too big of a boon.

‘What is going on here? Is this another enchanted weapon?’ he wondered.

His eyes remained on the sword. It was a bizarre item indeed, but shockingly effective. Though, as the seconds ticked by, the Incarnate started to dissect a lot more about it.

‘I don’t know if my assessment is correct or not, but I imagine this sword, as quick as it is, isn’t so fast that I can’t see its movements. Tenyen was faster, I think. Its ability to shift around on a dime is the most terrifying part. If it were faster in addition to that, I probably would have been dead by now.’

The Incarnate felt this was fair to say, but there was hardly any reason to be relieved by it.

After a little less than ten seconds, the katana started to recede, drawing back from its weird angles, and shortening in length just before it sank into the narrow space behind the drape.

This didn’t ease the Incarnate’s hearts.

His icy blue eyes instantly looked at the other six drapes. Behind them, were probably more narrow, dark doorways. Were they connected?

If they were…

His eyes immediately started to dart between the drapes trying to catch the slightest inch of movement. If he didn’t recognize an oncoming attack fast enough, he would probably die.

Propping up his shield, the freshly alive man waited.

…

The Incarnate’s skin vibrated, lighting his caution like fire.

‘It’s coming!’ he thought.

But the next thing to happen caught him completely off-guard.

A thin figure made the dust in the room whip about as they shot from the same drape the sword had come from.

Whoever, whatever it was, was incredibly fast!

The Incarnate didn’t register them in his sight until the force of their movement hit him like an angry breeze, and their shadow blocked the light abundant in the room.

Before he knew it, the Demonling’s head was smashed into the wall!

As he was made delirious by the slam, and choked by the dust from the impact, he felt a rough set of fingers grab his tunic… and fling him hard across the room!

In the next instant, the Incarnate sank into darkness as he spun, and his body crashed against a set of stairs continuously while making a descent against an unexpected slope!

He had been thrown into the area behind the drapes, and its interior was similar to the path he had come from leading into the ovular room!

A moment later, he felt the wind whistle, his skin ripple… and then a long blade pierced through his side!