"Good morning, Zyra. Do you still have the eight wind crystals I gave you?" Thalion greeted Zyra trying to play the nice guy.

"Yes, of course. Why are you asking?" Zyra asked, puzzled looking up from her work.

"I need them back, but only for two days. Then you can have them," Thalion lied, hoping that she wasn’t good at reading people.

"How about I give you five? I really need three," Zyra argued clearly, not liking where this conversation was going.

"I am sorry, but I have to insist I need every single one," Thalion said in a serious tone, leaving no room for arguments.

"Okay, do you also want the other plants with an affinity for darkness?" Zyra sighed in defeat.

"Yes, please. I also need all the elixirs you currently have." Thalion stated while smiling on the inside.

"Of course," Zyra muttered, giving him twenty-four bottles of elixirs.

Thalion put the wind crystals in his spatial ring with the help of the rune Zyra attached to them and left the shop. He spent over an hour collecting everything the alchemist had, even the materials. They were of high rarity and he could eat them as an umbral predator, so it was totally worth it. He reassured the alchemist that it would only be for two more days, which was good enough for them. At the moment, he had a bit more time since his sword needed to rest or the risk of destruction when fused with the crystals would be too high.

So that's how he ended up in the training hall with guards shooting lightning at him, but he could only handle a maximum of seven guards since they all were close to Level 50. Nothing he could do about that now. After two hours of body tempering, he went back to Lucan's forge to do some more preparations. It took him five hours to make a hole for the crystal in the sword hilt. Now he had to let the sword rest for a bit. He would use the time to work on the crystals. He wanted to fuse the eight crystals into one.

Lucan had already left when Thalion entered his cellar, which was essential since he didn't want him to know what he would do to the crystals. Not that he didn’t trust the man, but better safe than sorry. In the middle of the giant cellar was the formation placed that would alter the size of his crystals.

Downsizing the crystals was necessary to combine before the integration in the sword. Thalion placed the first crystal in the middle and activated the formation, which was powered by six magic circles. The formation awoke like a machine, and powerful mana strings wrapped around the crystal, forming runes.

The net slowly contracted further and further, pressing the crystal together until it was only the size of a small cherry, now radiating concentrated power. This had worked perfectly, and Thalion repeated the process with all the other crystals. Now came the most difficult part: combining all the crystals into a big one and infusing his blood in the process.

For this process, he had made a special template that he now placed on the anvil and started his work. He covered every crystal with a layer of blood and started his work. Every blow of his hammer moved a bit of the blood essence into the crystals. The first problem was the slow progress. The crystals were so powerful that it took much longer for his blood to alter the crystal.

It took a lot of blood and over four hours to complete the process, but it was worth it. In his hand, a crimson red crystal hummed with the power of blood. His blood had made the crystal even stronger than before, and he couldn't wait to finally finish his sword. Now, for the final process, he carved runes over every surface area of the sword, even the blade.

They would be the veins of his sword and would give the energy of the crystal direction. Thalion was exhausted from blood loss, but he couldn't pause now. He didn't have much more time until Lucan came back. He poured more of his blood on the blade to completely fill up the veins of the sword, then he pressed the crystal in the socket while also covering the crystal with his blood.

The crystal attached itself perfectly in the socket, and the whole blade hummed with energy with the beat of the crystal, which shot power through the sword like a beating heart, increasing in frequency with every second. The whole blade started to glow brighter and brighter; if he had done anything wrong, it wouldn't contain the force and explode in his face. Thankfully, it didn't happen, but he had to infuse more of his blood to fuel the whole process in which the crystal would finish the last step of the protocol he had carved in the socket.

It was the same as with every magic staff, but the staffs Lucan had built didn't wield such power. Then the sword released a shockwave, blasting him against the wall behind him. "Ah, shit," Thalion muttered while slowly standing up, his damaged back already healing. Did I fail?"

You have forged a weapon of rare power

Blade of the Blooded Templar (Legendary)

Forged with your own blood, the sword resonates with your very essence, granting you unparalleled mastery over its power. This sword is an embodiment of your unshakable conviction. It grows in power with each battle, consuming the life force of your enemies to strengthen its edge.

More than just a weapon, the Blade of the Blooded Templar can channel powerful skills, acting as a conduit for magic like a mage’s staff. Skills cast through the blade are not only unleashed with devastating force but are also amplified, increasing their potency and effect beyond normal limits.

Bloodbound

The Blade of the Blooded Templar is uniquely tied to its creator. You alone can wield it to its fullest potential.

"Okay, it worked," Thalion murmured in pain. He was drained and needed to do the whole blood tempering all over again. Time to see if the sacrifice was worth it. He could feel the weapon, and with a thought, it flew into his hand, unleashing a pulse of power through his body, regenerating his blood and washing away any sign of doubt or tiredness. "Ah, yes, finally," Thalion said while looking up at the ceiling. It had taken so long to finish the sword, and he couldn't wait to test it. Sadly, that would have to wait a bit longer. He admired his sword; the blade alone was one meter and fifty centimeters long, with the power rushing through it, almost like it had its own heartbeat. Thalion wrapped the handle with the prepared leather for a better grip. Thalion held his weapon up; it looked like the silver sword Gerald had in the witcher, just a little larger, and in red with vein-like runes curving up the blade. Thalion looked at his sword with pride—not bad, not bad at all, he thought with an exhausted smile. Than he put it in his spatial ring.

He had one more day here in this city before his former comrades would try to kill him, and he wanted to use that to his advantage. On the way back to his room, he felt how with every beat of his heart he became stronger and stronger. He opened the door, and an exhausted Zyra came out. "Oh, hello, Thalion. I finished the magic circle in your room."

"Thank you for the help," Thalion said with a big smile on his face. This was the perfect timing. The magic circle would help him greatly in recovering some of the lost strength.

"I even did it on the carpet, so you can take it anywhere in case you are traveling in the future," Zyra said with a smile.

"What a bitch; she just wanted to use it after he was dead," he thought while he replied, "Thank you. When I am out hunting, I will bring you some special materials for all the hard work."

"Thanks, that would be great. See you tomorrow," Zyra replied in a sweet tone, knowing that would never happen.

"See you tomorrow," Thalion said to the leaving Zyra, while focusing on staying calm.

Back in his room, Thalion sat down in the middle of the magic circle. He took his blade out of his spatial ring and held on to it while he started his blood cultivation. The power of the sword and the magic circle assisted him. The last day of cultivation started with him sitting in the big magic circle until the sun rose. Then he made his way over to the training hall to get blasted by lightning. This was something he couldn't do outside the base. After an hour of body tempering in the hall, Kaldrek entered the room, the magic warrior Kael had introduced to him.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Kaldrek said while putting on his gear, making himself ready for a sparring session.

"I am good," Thalion answered while getting blasted with lighting. "How was your day? You look exhausted."

"Yes, I had to hunt a murderer," Kaldrek answered with a loud sigh. "Can you believe that?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"That's tragic. How did you find the guy?" Thalion asked curiously, he had never heard of a murderer getting hunted down before.

"Kael can see the exact location of every token or crystal he had given out," Kaldrek explained and pured some mana into the armor he was warring, making the runes glow with power. "I followed the communication crystal that was near the victim when his life force disappeared."

"Wait, what do you mean when his life force ran out?" Thalion responded after a nasty lightning bolt hit him in the face and he almost lost his concentration.

"The crystals and tokens are powered by your mana. When you die, they also stop sending," Kaldrek explained, stretching his muscles. "Do you mind if I shoot some lightning at you? I could use the practice."

"Sure, go ahead," Thalion mentioned for the guy with one of his wings.

This information came at the right time; he had to get rid of the stuff Kael had given him, and he probably had to give up on killing Zyra. He wanted to pay her a visit tomorrow, and after killing her, take all of her stuff. That he could forget now. So, was there even a reason to stay any longer? He got multiple swimming pools worth of blood and multiple hills of enchanted dark affinity plants.

Then Kaldrek started blasting him with lightning bolts and that he was not good with lightning was a fucking lie. It became difficult to absorb all the lightning and he had to pause from time to time, when it got too much or responded with a lightning bolt. Sadly, the man was an expert, losing no time attacking after he had dodged with a quick roll to the side.

Yeah, he really didn't want to fight that guy, not to mention that Kaldrek was over fifteen levels above him. For body tempering, he was perfect. After the other guards left, the two had a lot of fun blasting each other with lightning until the evening arrived. Back in his room, he made his plans for tomorrow. He would pay Zyra a visit and leave shortly after. Hopefully, he would be able to contact Evelyn, Kargul, and Jakob before he left.

He still didn't know what exactly to tell them, but he would figure something out. There were many issues with the tokens and crystals he got from Kael. Throwing the cyrstals away would mark him as dead and not doing so would alert them that he was leaving the base while he should be working on improving the sanguine thorn.

Neither of those options were good. If he could just put them in someone else's spatial ring, but could he pass through the shield from the inside without the token?

He had never tried that before, and now was it too late? If Kael would go to such lengths as to kill him for an advantage, one of his former friends was definitely observing him on the last day. If that was possible, this base was a giant trap. Since the last system shop, the shield had evolved to a dome covering the hole base. He couldn't just fly over it. The dome was just surrounding the fortress, not the two ring walls around it, so if he exited the dome, he was free. He should still have enough time to find something out tomorrow. The best way was to switch tokens with someone.

Thalion spent the whole night with blood cultivation and with the help of his sword and the magic circle, he was almost at his former strength. "Let the games begin," he thought while putting everything he owned in his spatial ring.

He got enough blood to fill three Olympic pools. Kael had really mobilized everyone to get this much blood.

Thalion did his daily routine of visiting the alchemists one by one. Then he stood before Zyra's shop one last time before he could finally flee.

"Hello, Zyra, what a beautiful day," Thalion greeted her with a pleasant smile. Oh boy, was he looking forward to making the bitch give him all her materials.

"Yes, indeed! How is your preparation going?" Zyra asked in a sweet tone, which with the help of his title, was in fact an evil one for sure. She probably couldn’t wait to get rid of him.

"Better than I could have hoped. I might be able to do it tonight," Thalion answered, trying to sound proud of his accomplishment.

"That's great! Kael did ask me earlier if you could message him when you are starting, just in case something goes wrong," Zyra asked with an innocent look in her eyes.

There was no way they were not talking right now through a crystal or token, Thalion thought, so they were watching his every step. Not good, have they already noticed anything?

"Of course, I will tell him when I am ready," Thalion answered a bit too quickly, but Zyra started to draw some runes, so she hopefully hadn’t noticed.

After a few more pleasantries, he took all the materials and left the shop. It felt good stealing all the materials from Zyra. He made his way over to the living district to find some nice fellow for some proper token switching. Thalion knocked on the door of a house that looked a bit worse for wear, and a young woman opened the door.

"Hi, I am Thalion. Can I come in?" Thalion greeted the woman in a businesslike tone.

"Oh, what an honor to meet you! Yes, of course, please come in. I am Maike," Maike happily said, stepping to the side with a wide smile on her face.

"Great, I was searching for you. I already knocked on the wrong house once," Thalion lied while stepping inside. He closed the door behind him so no one else could hear their conversation.

"Searching for me? Why would you search for me?" Maike said surprised and a bit of fear.

"No worries, you have done nothing wrong. Can you please give me your tokens and crystals you got from Kael?" Thalion said, still with the played authority of a guard.

"Yes, of course. I got those four," Maike said quickly, clearly very nervous and handed over three crystals and one token.

"Ah, it's as we thought. They have been damaged too," Thalion said while holding one of the tokens up. Looking at it like he had spotted a small crack on the surface.

"Here, we made you new ones, but the communication function will take a while to work. It could happen that you will listen in on some conversations of Kael, but this should be fixed in a few hours," Thalion explained while handing over all his tokens and crystals he got from Kael.

"Oh, thank you very much," Maike said, putting his stuff in her spatial ring. Maike was a nice woman, almost a bit obsessed with his persona. She reminded him a bit of a detective with all the questions she asked him. From cultivation to what he did before the system.

Thalion left the house shortly after answering most of her question and made his way to the wall.

If the plan with the switched tokens wouldn't work, he could still pay 50,000 credits to teleport to the next stage. If he had thought of that earlier, the day wouldn't have been so stressful, but whatever, it was almost over. He regretted that he was not able to say goodbye to the others because the three were out hunting the whole night and hadn't returned yet. He walked close behind a group of hunters and passed through the dome shortly after them.

"Hey, how did you get through the gate, Thalion?" He heard Sylas voice from above.

"With my feet; why shouldn't I get through?" Thalion shouted back while turning around to see Sylas landing on the top of the gate.

"Well, I thought you would be busy with body tempering," Sylas responded, trying to keep a neutral expression. This was not the nice, smiling guy he had known the past few weeks. Sylas immediately jumped again and landed directly in front of Thalion, blocking the way.

"Yeah, but now I'm going for a little hunt. Do you want to come along?" Thalion asked, trying to stay calm. It was clear that this meeting was no accident.

"So you knew; you even switched your token," Sylas exclaimed in surprise after a short pause. He was most likely talking with Kael and the others at the moment.

"On that topic, why do you want to kill me?" Thalion asked interested. There was no reason to hide it now. The group of hunters just looked perplexed at both of them.

"Mostly divine reasons. The gods have looked into your future and you have no potential," Sylas sneered, completely dropping the mask of the nice guy. "I am sorry, but someone as weak as you can't be allowed to own equipment this strong."

"What the fuck?" One of the hunters screamed, which was also Thalion's expression. Was that guy doing all this to get his amulet of the soulwarden, or did Sylas know of his sword?

"Silence!" Sylas shouted and unleashed a wave of flames at Thalion and the hunters. This was not the Sylas that had come to him drunk because his girlfriend left him. Had he played the nice guy all the time?

The wave of flames crashed against Thalion's mana shield, driving him back a few meters. When the flames stopped and he looked around, the other hunters had unwillingly transformed into burning corpses.

"How did I never see that side of you? Was I really that blind?" Thalion exclaimed with sorrow, expecting an attack at every moment.

"Because you weren't my enemy before, and there can't be any witnesses," Sylas said with an emotionless expression; "this will be our dark secret and it's necessary for the survival of the people living in this base."

Before he could respond, he got a sense of danger and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding an arrow shot from a guard on the wall.

"Don't worry, Sylas. Reinforcements will be here soon," the guard shouted from the wall.

"Idiot, I got the message too," Sylas hissed back.

So there was an extremely powerful mage at level 59, blessed by a mage god, standing in his way and the others were coming too. He could teleport to the next stage, but being only at level 41, it probably wasn't a good idea, so the only way was to fight until an opening appeared.

"Just let me kill you. I promise to make it quick. You can’t escape Thalion," Sylas offered with a lazy wave of his hand. Sylas staff appeared in his hand and started to glow in green light; additionally it began to radiate a strong aura. Was this to intimidate him? No way something like that would work on him. Time to let lose, Thalion thought while fully focusing on his goal to escape his former friends. If he got injured badly, he could still teleport out even when it was not the best idea.

Thalion summoned his sword and swung it at Sylas, using mana slash, the active ability of his mana blade, but Sylas was fast, and with a wave of his staff, a wind wall rushed toward him.

The power of his legendary weapon really showed off. First of all, his mana slash was red in contrast to the normal blue color, and with triple its normal might, it ripped apart Sylas's skill like it was a piece of paper.

"Holy shit," Sylas exclaimed with wide eyes, turning into wind and appearing ten meters in the sky, dodging Thalion's horizontal slash completely.

"Where did you get that weapon from?" Sylas shouted angrily, his face turning red.

Thalion didn't answer. Instead, he dodged to the side with telekinetic dash, avoiding another arrow. Thalion continued using his movement skill, rushing in the direction of the ring wall.