‘Do not listen to him, son,’ Another voice, this time it was serene, spoke.

‘Hah hah hah, well, don’t listen to me if you want to die, boy,’ The first voice said. ‘But if you want to live, accept my power, my legacy.’

‘Don’t worry, son,’ The second voice told me. ‘I am using my power to heal you. You won’t die.’

‘Not now, but do you think you can escape the Lich without my help? Grasp the darkness, accept it, and you will be stronger than ever.’

‘There no need. The Lich has left, son. Do not listen to him. He will use your body as a vessel.’

‘Damn you, I was stuck there for countless years. Boy, you will accept my power of I will crush you.’

‘Don’t worry, he doesn’t have any strength to do so. Follow my light, and it will free you. You will be safe, son.’

“Ahhh,” I screamed in frustration. “Both of shut the fuck up and tell me what is happening.”

‘I apologize for my rudeness,’ The calm voice replied. ‘I am Elijah, known as the Saint of the Sword. This one is the Heavenly Demon that I trapped in my sword. You can’t let him influence you. Otherwise, he might be freed.’

‘Is already too late. The boy’s blood has awakened me,’ The Heavenly Demon spoke. ‘We already are connected. Neither you nor the boy can do anything to stop me.’

‘Yes, we can. Son, take the sword and wield it,’ The Saint of the Sword told me.

I did as I was told, light shone through the darkness, and I could see once more. The sword covered with my blood was near me. I reached it and grasped it. I could feel the strength coming back to me. My vision became clear once more, and I could feel my wound healing.

‘This sword is my will, a will that trapped the Heavenly Demon,’ I heard the Saint’s voice. ‘If this sword gets into the wrong hands, such as that Lich, they could acquire the Heavenly Demon’s secrets or its power.’

‘Bah, like I would give it to someone like a Lich,’ The Heavenly Demon voiced his disagreement.

“Well, you were pretty fast in offering it to me,”

I couldn’t help but comment. This whole situation was too bizarre to me. I was almost killed by a Lich and then healed by the same sword that penetrated my chest a couple of moments ago. It was too much for me to take for a day, so I slumped by the wall and lost consciousness.

…

‘Wake up, son.’

I opened my eyes after hearing the Saint’s voice. Looking around the empty, spacious room, I couldn’t see much as it was pitch black. But I felt the stone sword in my right hand and a light breeze from the cave entrance.

“So It wasn’t a dream?” I asked.

‘No, it was a dream,’ The Heavenly Demon said. ‘We are just your imagination. You, a poor boy, who felt alone, have imaginary friends now.’

“Oh, just shut up.”

I got up. The first thing I did was check my chest. The wound was gone. The only thing indicating what happened was the nasty scar on where the wound should have been and my ripped leather armor. Oh, and this stone greatsword.

“What should I do with this?” I asked, and the Saint responded.

‘You have to wield it. I have spent most of my energy healing you. Without your help, I won’t be able to keep the Heavenly Demon in check.’

“Wait, first thing, how can I hear you? Are you using some kind of magic?”

‘No, the sword is connected to you, and only you can hear us through it.’

“Are you saying that you can speak into my mind or something?”

‘Don’t be stupid, boy. We can speak through the sword, but only you can hear us. Now, do you understand, you fool, or do I need to give you an in-depth lesson of how human hearing works?’

“Can’t I just dump this sword somewhere and be done with it?”

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‘No, the energy from the Heavenly Demon will spill out of the sword if you won’t wield it. There are evil beings who will sense this energy and will come for the sword.’

“Damn it, I don’t even know how to use a sword, and it is useless. How can I cut anything with it being made of stone.”

The sword was too big to use with one hand, and even then, it was too heavy to swing it. I will probably get tired just from carrying it around. It was just a burden to me, and it had no benefit for me at all. So what if some demon overlord or whatever takes it? It wasn’t my problem.

“Well, sorry, but I don’t care. So see ya,”

I dropped the sword and started to walk out of the cave. But before I could take my seventh step, I felt pain in my chest. Looking down, I saw that my wound was opening up and starting to bleed again.

‘I am sorry, but as the sword is connected to you, you are connected to the sword.’ I heard the Saint speak. ‘Without the sword by your side, you will die.’

‘Well, you won’t be able to get rid of us so soon, boy.” The Heavenly Demon laughed.

“What bullshit is this?” I asked and picked the sword up again as quickly as I could.

‘The sword is made of my will, and the wound was healed by my will. So you have to keep the sword by your side if you don’t want to reverse its effects.’

“You have to be kidding me. Please tell me that there is a way to get rid of it. Of course, without me dying.”

‘There is. But it won’t be easy. First, you have to gather the blessing of three higher gods and at least five of lesser gods.’

It wouldn’t be hard to get the blessing from the Godness of the Light, but to get the blessing of the God of the Darkness and the God of Shadows would be a problem. Even if they were called the higher gods, their churches were rare. Maybe the empire’s capital would have them, but it was a long way to it.

The lesser gods wouldn’t be impossible. There are plenty of churches in their name. The problem was that people didn’t like to worship more than one lesser god at a time. So the churches of lesser gods are scattered all around the continent. And even if I find the churches, I need to earn their blessings.

After that explanation, I didn’t want to hear anything else that they had to say. Was I cursed by a witch or something as a baby? Was my life just a joke for everyone to laugh at? This was such bullshit.

I fastened the sword on my back and started to walk home. At least I can get my reward for the mission, and I did survive a Lich, so it wasn’t all that bad. I can only hope my optimistic mindset won’t disappear too soon.

…

My back hurt like hell. Just from one day of walking, I felt like my legs would break. I was overjoyed when I saw that the Raven Woods were empty, but that joy didn’t last long as I began walking back home.

I spent a whole day just to get out of the forest, and there was another day left of walking at this pace until I reached the main road. It was a nightmare to walk with a gigantic stone greatsword on my back. Still, I braved myself and walked, step by step.

As night fell, I made a campfire to rest. There was no way for me to travel anymore. As the fire burned, I gathered some berries and water from the nearby pond. After making tea for myself, I relaxed by a fallen tree.

“So, is there anything else special about this sword that I should know of?” I asked out of curiosity.

‘It is a sword created by my will to seal the Heavenly Demon. It is basically indestructible.’

‘And by basically indestructible, he means that anyone who knows a few tricks of black magic could easily found a way to free me and destroy this sword.’

“I feel that it isn’t something you should tell me,” I commented.

‘Bah, I know that most of them who want to free me will try to use me for their own purpose, so I don’t care if you know. At least I can insult the mister Saint over here. Hah hah haha.’

‘Everyone has flaws. Nothing is perfect or eternal.’

The Saint and the Demon an odd companions they make. As I watched the stars and twin moons lighting up the night’s sky, I felt tired and slowly fell asleep.

…

The following days, I felt my bones creak. On the other hand, my muscles didn’t want to move at all. What a life I have, barely able to move and hungry. I think being a beggar would be easier.

One step by another, I walked toward Iron Town. I could already imagine the fifteen thousand orens in my hands. After I buy the Stoneflesh skill and learn it, life will change for the better. If only I had a better weapon.

Still, if I could learn how to use this sword, I could hunt some bounties. It was even better to use blunt weapons on them as bringing them alive is worth more. With the money I will get, I could afford to take a few weeks of holiday and train myself.

Looking at my future brought a smile to me. It felt like I was lighter, and the sword didn’t bring me down anymore. It was a long time since I felt like this, and I intended to cherish that feeling for a while. And so, even tired and starving, I reached Iron town with a smile.

…

I somehow reached the town in four days after leaving the Raven Woods. Entering the Association building in the late evening, I got to the receptionist’s desk. Sarah had a polite and pleasant smile that she gave everyone.

“Levi, you look terrible,”

Those were her first words towards me. Indeed I looked terrible. I hadn’t washed for a week, and my back was hunched from the weight of the stone sword. Not speaking of the hunger I felt and dirt covering me. I couldn’t fault her words.

“You were wrong. I did survive a Lich,” I told her with a mocking smile.

“What? You can’t be serious.”

Sarah was in disbelief. Again I couldn’t fault her there. A Lich was something that only Gold rank hunters could take care of, and even then, it could be risky. I was lucky that the Lich that attacked me didn’t care to stay any longer after the statues broke.

“I would like to report it.”

“Of course, wait a moment. I will inform the higher-ups.”

I did as she told me and sat in a nearby chair. Looking around, I saw that the building wasn’t as full of people as I imagined. Maybe two dozens of hunters were inside, talking to themselves, not even batting an eye at me. I couldn’t wait to get my reward and go home.

Now thinking on it, I should have gone home first and then made my report, but a Lich was sighted. If a Lich is given time to prepare his undead army, it could start a war with any town by itself, so reporting was a priority. Well, all I cared about was if I would get a bonus for reporting it.