It had been a full week before Lyners body came back into working order. He shared his goal with Cassius, and to his surprise Cassius provided him with a letter of recommendation to join the Venerable Sword Dojo. There was no fancy words or red tape bullshit, just Cassius Nethandriel recommending the head of the Venerable Sword Dojo to take a gamble on Lyners innate talent, Everlasting Sword Path.
In the time it had taken Lyner to fully recover, Cassius himself went to the village mayor and "cough" ransomed "cough" skill books, gold coins and a map of the area out of the mayors hands. Lyner had been fully honest with Cassius, and to show his sincerity he had shown his status page with Cassius. Nothing was hidden from the man he viewed as a father figure.
Cassius was gobsmacked and said numerous profanities it had shocked Lyner, and would make a French fisherman blush. Cassius was blunt and said things the way he saw fit, but to hear him curse dozens of Saints, Devils and Buddha for good measure. It was a sobering experience. Lyner resolved himself not to show his status page going forward.
Now at the entrance of Harmony Village, Cassius gathered all those who treated Lyner like a proper human being. It was only a small gathering of six people, but each of them were irreplaceable to the running of Harmony Village.
"My boy this be a big day for you, and a sad day for us old folk. But its important for yourself to push yourself and keep going forward. Here are somethings to make your travels easier." Cassius passed over a ring to Lyner and explained briefly. "This is a spatial ring, all you need is inside. Bind it to yourself by dropping a drop of blood onto it."
Lyner did as he was directed, and his eyes widened at the amount in the spatial ring.
[The host has gained 3,000 Gold Coins, Pickaxe, Axe, Shovel, Tent, 70 units of cooked meat, 150 units of fruits, 80 units of rice, 160 units of water. Skill Books: Chop, Defensive Sword, Wind Blade, Light Blade, Darkness Blade, Thunder Slash, Mana Blade, Seraphic Thunder, Sword Breaker, Flame Burst Slash, Shadow Blade Armament, Void Breaker form 1-4]
Lyner looked up at Cassius with a fright at all the items he had just gained. Cassius smiled and ruffled Lyners hair knowing full well what the kid in front of him was thinking.
"The Village Mayor has been hoarding some good things for quite sometime. It's the least I can do to support your journey my boy." Cassius then slipped Lyner a map when no one else was looking. "This map leads to a Beast Flame of the Thunder Dao. With any luck at all you'll be able to upgrade your Thunder Dao, but it will not be easy to claim. You are far weaker then when fighting that mutant Beast King, you will have to face a level 80 sentient Beast Lord. Tread carefully my boy, only do so when you have become strong enough. Bring all those skills up to level 10, and upgrade your Sword Dao seed to peak before you attempt the challenge."
"Thank you, old man, everyone." Lyner looked up with conflicting emotions in his eye.
"Cassius told us you cleared the Beast Tide 11 days ago Lyner, it is the least we can do to thank you. You were nearly dead when Cassius came bursting through the village gates with you over his shoulder. We're sorry the others of Harmony Village did not welcome you with open arms. We hope you can still see Harmony Village as a home to come back to after your travels. We will clean your home and have it ready for you when your ready to come back." Loretta the Village Alchemist said with sincerity and sadness in her voice. She had seen the hell Lyner went through.
"Thank you everyone, now enough of this sappy shit alright? You old people can't be planning to send me off like this right?" Lyner smiled as he started walking towards the gates of Harmony Village. Waving his hand up in the air behind himself. Lyners voice echoed out just loud enough for Cassius, Loretta and the others to here him.
"Make it a little bit more homecoming for me alright?"
Cassius smiled at hearing Lyners last words, and when he made sure that nobody was looking at him, he wiped the corners of his eyes with a speed that defied his burly figure.
"Awww look at that, you're just a big ol teddy bear inside of that 'I'm a badass exterior' you walk around with." Loretta chuckled but then gave a knowing smile. "It be hard to watch them little bastards leave the nest innit? Even if they ain't yours its a prideful feeling to watch them go." Loretta patted Cassius boulder shoulders then winked at him. "You know... they say a good way to relieve stress is to ravish in the sheets."
Cassius had a face splitting smile as he replied back. "Aye that be the case." Then he slapped Lorettas ass once for good measure. Walking off mumbling to himself something about how that ass could bounce a gold coin off it.
Five hours passed in the blink of an eye, nothing exciting had happened. By that, there was not a single enemy that could give Lyner any stimuli in a good fight. Everything was just so.. goddamn weak!
Lyned had experimented with a couple skills so far, mainly Chop, Wind Blade, Light Blade, Darkness Blade, Thunder Slash, and Mana Blade.
Chop was fairly simple in the fact that it was a skill meant for attacks against a single enemy, but he could make a work around with that. Depending on how much Mana, or Qi that he put into it. The blade elongated from as little as 2 meters, to as long as 20 meters. Meaning he could put all his weight behind it in a single attack to break a stronger enemies defense, or he could turn it into an area of effect skill, despite not being meant as such.
Light Blade and Darkness Blade were actually superimposing skills with extremely high synergy. Lyner had already combined the Light and Dark Dao in his past life into the Twilight Dao. He could stack the two separate effects of both blades. Light Blade being a slow heal over time for the user, and able to cause increased damage to enemies of a dark attribute. And Darkness Blade having an effect that weakened an opponents six senses, and slowing the circulation speed of both Qi and Mana.
Both of the skills had the advantage of being toggled on and off. When toggled on, Lyner could leave a Light and a Darkness Blade in an active state. With his soul being stronger than majority of soul cultivators, with the exception of those that major in in it. Lyner could control both of the skills simultaneously, doing damage over time, slow but constant healing over time and a constant debuff to his enemy.
Wind Blade was fairly simple, it temporarily increased the movement speed of the user, but it also had a lasting passive effect on increasing the users attack speed by 5% as long as there was a steady stream of Qi to allow its passive effect.
Mana Blade was something Lyner could already do without the skill, but it did make the effect about 1.5x stronger and he could push a maximum of 3x the Mana. The bonus with it being a skill, he could then push his Qi into it. In his past life, he had mastered both his Internal and External Energy. With a little bit of time to grind it out, and find that fine line to combine Mana and Qi. All of his skills could put out a truly terrifying output of damage.
Thunder Slash made use of his Thunder Dao, it had a stunning effect of a beasts nerves and muscles, paralyzing them. It was slower than a normal attack of his and the other skills. But it's true selling point was the Thunder he imbued from his Dao, traversing the inside of the beasts body zapping all its energy, and sending constant shocks to its nervous system. Lyner waited a good 2.5 seconds after landing Thunder Slash on a level 65 beast, before it died by being charred from within the inside.
As for the remaining skills, one of them stood out in a terrible way. Defensive Blade, Lyner could not begin to understand or explain it. But when he first read the description of the skill, somewhere deep in the core of his being, he had felt disgust. A disgust so overwhelming Lyner believed if he learned the skill and actively used it, his Sword Dao itself would slowly disperse before just un-aliving itself. It was as if the very thought of being "defensive" was an offense to his Sword Dao, or maybe even something deeper. But Lyner currently did not have the means to understand, or know how to even begin understanding why Defensive Blade was like oil being added to a ravenous flame that lost control.
Putting the useless thoughts to the back of his mind, Lyner continued on throughout the day. His level was pathetically low, and he would have to kill mountains of enemies to start moving up in levels. But that was fine with Lyner, who reveled himself in the chaos and bloodshed of battle. Nothing excited him more.
Six more hours passed in the blink of an eye, and Lyner had finally gained his first level up, 500 beasts in, all ranging from the levels of 30-70. There were no injuries across his body, or tears in his clothes.
Lyner had completely annihilated anything that came after him, or anything that he came across. Currently, Lyner was sitting on a hand-crafted wooden chair, with an open fire and six big thighs of beast meat roasting over the fire.
The greases from the meat dripped down, sizzling and making the fire spit more. The only regret he had was the lacking of spices and drink to go with it. Lyner had yet to learn what plants and fruits were or weren't poisonous in this world yet. While he could have done a herb and fruit crust to add extra flavor, he did not want to take the risk and end up with bouts of diarrhea throughout the night.
Seeing the meat start to get the skin crispy and still remain tender, Lyner leaned forward to rotate the meat. He was now a bonnafide white person, who does not season the meat. A culinary fuck you with less of a better way to say it.
"SNAP" "SNAP" "SNAP"
Lyners ears twitched, he could hear the snaps of twigs and the crunches of boots falling on brittle leaves in all directions around himself in a 650 meter radius
"Ambush!" Lyners eyes sharpened, there was no fear but a cruel smile crept up on his face.
Activating his Dao of Shadows, and the Dao of Fire, Lyner stoked the flames of his bonfire fueling it to light up the tress around him. His figure then receded into the shadows the trees cast around him.
He could hear a quiet but annoyed "Fuck! The target has vanished, search the premises!"
But that was far from the truth, Lyner imbued a paper-thin Mana barrier around himself and was standing in front of his now blazing bonfire shrouded in the shadows.
Fifteen people reached the bonfire within 20 seconds, Lyner used his Dao of the Void to superimpose the fluctuations of his Mana. His Mana Blades grew out to a whopping 25 meters long, with the blade being as thick as 6 inches.
Slashing out in circular motions with both his arms simultaneously, the heads of the fifteen poor bastards plopped to the ground. Lyners Mana Sphere already mapped out a kilometer around him, there were exactly 30 scrubs, and one person giving the orders that might make him give a shit in a battle.
The fifteen decapitated heads were wrapped up by Lyners Mana and shot out in multiple directions. Screams of horror that were short lived sounded out as Lyner watched the Mana signatures of 15 more individuals wink out in an instant.
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Lyner then vanished from the shadows, appearing behind the distraught leader who was now clasping his crescent moon Axe with white knuckles. Lyner smiled as kindly as he could, then he coughed behind the leader, making his presence known.
"Good evening, I'm not sure we have made proper greetings with one another." Lyner held his hand out to the man separate of him. "I'm called Lyner, or those that are comfortable around me call me Lynnie Paz."
The man chopped down with his Axe, Lyner pinched it between his thumb, index and middle fingers respectively. "Easy there muscles, I only cleaned up the garbage that encroached on my evening meal. But you, you are different. You are the head honcho who gave the order to the garbage. Let's talk peacefully, maybe?" Lyner hinted with a questioning tone, but still made it obvious he wouldn't mind making another head roll.
The man tried yanking on his Axe to get it out of Lyners grasp, in which Lyner simply moved his arm up, then swung it down slamming the man off of the earth beneath them, then for good measure did it a few more times. At the same time of doing so, all Lyner could think about was how much fun he had as a kid playing whack-a-mole.
"That's nowhere near enough to kill someone like you, now you can introduce yourself, or I can spit roast you overtop an open flame. It's your choice."
The man got up rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck side to side. "I haven't been manhandled like that since I was a wee bastard. I'm Luther, a squad captain of the Barstowland Kingdom. My king sent me on a peace keeping expedition to the Nethandriel Empire to ask for support in an Orc outbreak. The Orcs worship an evil cult and have gone through a weird mutation. Once dumb beings, are now capable of intelligence, can form formations, learned how to farm and raise livestock. It's a terrible situation, the Barstowland Kingdom is close to being overtaken by those enhanced green bastards!" Luther spat in disgust.
"A man of your caliber must be one of the royals, please I beg of you. My King was severely injured by the Orc Chieftain who has broken through into the Soul Palace realm." Getting down onto his hands and knees, placing his forehead onto the earth, Luther begged. "I beg of you your royal heir, please be the sponsor of the Barstowland Kingdom to Emperor Nethandriel. We can only hold on for one more month."
Lyners eyes twitched, he was no royal heir and had no relationship to Emperor Nethandriel. Then it struck him, he was an absolute idiot. Emperor and Empress Nethandriel themselves came bearing gifts on his 8th birthday for having exceptionally high aptitudes in Sword, Comprehension and Mana Control.
With these thoughts in his mind, Lyner started becoming vindictive. "I can take advantage of this situation to embarass my family and gain merits for the Nethandriel Empire. My 16th birthday is in 1 week the family throws a competitive tournament for the younger generation every year."
Lyner buckled down with the plans in his mind. "Luther, I am no royal heir to the Nethandriel Empire, but I do have some connections with the Emperor and Empress as long as they still think the same way as a few years back. I cannot promise you anything, but I can escort you the capital and arrange for a meeting for you."
Luther looked up with surprise in his eyes. "You say you are not a royal heir, but you have an awakening Emperors Cultivation Manual, that cannot be true, Lyner. An Emperor Cultivation Manual is only given to a successor, or someone with such high talents they become the Empires Guardian in the future."
Lyner remained silent, whatever he said would not change Luthers beliefs. And even if he wanted to, there was no true explanation to the Emperors Heart Sutra. At least if there was any connection somewhere, Lyner was too weak to explore it. And now it was time to address something that brought that internal disgust Lyner felt.
"You wield an Axe, yet you have, or I should say had a Sword Heart. What's the business there, why do you disrespect your Sword Heart and Sword Dao. I can feel the sadness of your partner within your Dantian."
Luther froze and his eyes narrowed, a killing intent so vast that it even trumped Lyners by not a single, but dozens of margins exploded out. Lyner could feel from within the core of his being, his Sword Dao felt threatened like seeing a primordial predator stare it down.
Luthers seething killing intent kept expanding to the point it made Lyner crumble to the earth below him.
"I will only give you a single warning, do not pry into another Cultivators business or it will get you killed kid. Until the day you stand in defiance of an overwhelming enemy. Until the day you watch on as the Kingdom you watched grow over 25,000 years, crumble as it's king is fatally wounded. When it's citizens are massacred by the hundreds of millions. The Barstowland Kingdom only has the city it was founded upon remaining. All of our territory has been razed to the ground. Men slaughtered old and young. Women kidnapped, eaten by the Orcs and raped of all ages! The elderly citizens that survived and can no longer work their battered or scarred bodies to protect their homes, watched as their families were eaten and defiled in front of their own eyes. The Orc Chieftain nearly split our King in two like he was peeling a goddamn banana! I shed my blood, I sacrificed both my arms, I lost my daughter who was only two years old less than 4 months ago! I lost everything! I couldn't protect the Kingdom that raised me, the Kingdom that I call home and gave me my strength!"
At the end Luther had charged Lyner, grabbing him by the scuff of his shirt. Bellowing in Lyners face with such ferocity that if looks could kill, Lyner would be squashed into meatpaste under Luthers gaze.
"WHAT HAVE YOU PROTECTED? WHAT HAVE YOU EVER LOST!?"
Lyners eyes were unfocused as he had taken sight of two mechanical arms attached to the flesh of Luthers shoulders.
Feeling the disgust build and a fury of his own. Lyner smashed his head into Luthers nose. "I understand what it's like to watch your comrades die. I understand the hopelessness you feel as you can't protect them. I understand what it means to watch your family break apart! But unlike you, I have never turned my back on my companions! I have died once, I'm even living my second life right now as we speak!
Golden specks of light started to float about Lyner, a majestic aura bore down on Luther suppressing him. Two of the Optimization Cores in his Dantian started to resonate with Lyners entire being. The intensity of his Sword Dao seed kept mounting in pressure, pride, arrogance, brutality, but most important of all life.
"Lightshadow. Nightingale. Come to life!" Lyner shouted as his eyes roiled with golden flames inside of his pupils. The golden flames inside Lyners eyes solidified like amber encasings. The aura of an Emperor descended, and the command of an Emperors will was enacted.
The Dao of Light and Darkness resonated with Lyners orders. His peak Dao Seeds spun as their truths and enlightenments formed two vortices, encasing two Optimization Cores as the majestic and golden aura kept increasing at a tremendous pace.
"Lightshadow. Nightingale. Come to life!" This time Lyners voice resonated with the Dao itself, and the two Optimization Cores inside his dantian opened up. Two incomplete Swords materialized on the right and left of Lyner. It was just the sheath, the 'container' of his companions. But he felt it now, more than ever. It was subtle, and Lyner knew it now, he felt two newborn infant spirits residing within his companions. The two young spirits nudged Lyners soul ever so lightly, he could feel their emotions. Happiness, joy, excitement, and pride.
For fifteen years, fifteen whole years they had been separated. Lyner ran his index fingers across the sheaths of his beloved companions. "Soon my friends, soon. We will wreak havoc in this world and climb to the top together. Again!" Lyner said with such emotion and love for his companions, it stunned Luther who had wide opened eyes. Looking into the mans eyes, Lyner commanded.
"Luther. Listen to the calls of your companion. Listen to its... dying wish. Do not let it wink out in sadness and feeling like it has been abandoned. Face it once last time, listen to its voice and send it off with pride. And a promise that you will correct your Cultivation path."
Luthers hand reached above his Dantian, a magic circle sprung to life, Luthers hand pushed through the magic circle and grasped the hilt of his companion, and drew it from his Dantian. The Sword was double bladed, it was 8 meters long, and the thickness of the blade was half a meter wide. It was a icy-blue long crystallized Katana wreathed in flames of both Ice and Fire Dao. It was beautiful, but just looking at it Lyner felt as if his Soul Space was almost cut in half.
Paying a closer detail with his Mana Sphere, Lyner saw the streamlined cracks, and chips in the beautiful Blade. It had both a majestic and melancholic beauty to it. Lyner felt a nudge at his Soul, a feeling of appreciation and departure greeted him. Lyner used his Soul to confidently send a message back to the Sword Spirit to be at peace. Within that brief second of communication, Lyner felt the exhaustion of the Sword Spirit, and how weak its "life" had become.
Luther loving stroked his fingers across the length of his Sword one last time. His eyes became cloudy but he steeled his heart. "I have left you in the dark far too long my treasured companion. When I abandoned you, you never lost your trust in me. Every single day for 5 years, I ignored your calls and please for me to answer you. I am so sorry for abandoning you. But today, is not a day of sadness. Today is a celebration, a promise to show you the real version of me one last time. This is... farewell my partner." Luther steeled his heart, even as the tears rolled down his eyes. Slowly raising the Sword up with both of his arms. The majesty of Luthers Sword Qi, Sword Heart, Sword Dao and Daos of Fire and Ice congregated.
A crystalline icy-blue Phoenix wreathed in blazing and frozen flames appeared. It's eyes showed sentience as it looked down on Luther, with fondness and sadness in its eyes. It's icy-blue wings wrapped around Luther, hugging the man as he held his companion with pride, and a new flame blazing inside of his heart.
"Farewell! Eternal Flame!"
Luther rotated his posture, crouching at a parallel 45 degree angel to the ground. Eternal Flame held parallel to the ground, pivoting his core releasing all his momentum. Luther slashed his blade upwards into the sky. The icy-blue crystalline Phoenix soared into the air. Letting out a high pierced screech.
Snowflakes fell from the sky, and as the Phoenix slowly started to disperse into motes of lights. So did Luthers Sword begin disintegrating into motes of lights, the wind gathered them up and scattered them like ashes across the land for hundreds of kilometers.
"Farewell my friend, my partner. You've been the biggest part of my journey. And this is where we say our goodbyes." Luther held the Sword in front of his face, watching as it disintegrated slowly bit by bit. The motes of lights danced around Luther like fireflies in the dark of night. Then the Sword wholely disintegrated, leaving nothing behind but the handle. Luther held onto it tightly, staring at it with unspoken emotions.
"Lyner, thank you for opening my eyes and letting me send my friend off before it was too late. She would have gone sad and scared. I was able to show her who I truly am one last time. So thank you. I promise to the Dao, and on my life from this day onwards we are brothers. Whatever struggles you have, become my struggles. And if one day you lose your path like I have, I will be there to kick you in the ass until you get back onto the correct path. Her real name is Lascelas. It's the name of the spiritual flame of my Kingdom."
Luther looked unwilling at first, but after deliberations he held the handle of Lascelas out to Lyner. "It was the final thing she asked of me. When you made me open my heart up to her and hear her voice one last time. Lascelas requested me to give you the last vestige that is proof of her existence."
Lyner reached out and held the handle of Lascelas carefully. Then he said to Luther. "When there is departure, sometimes there is also a welcoming. Since it was Lascelas' last wish, I will do what I can to nourish the burgeoning sentience left behind. When my Blacksmithing increases in level, and my Mana becomes of a higher tier. I will recreate a proper Sword for you Luther, one that will follow you for the rest of your journey."
Luther smiled then patted Lyner on the shoulders. "We have already said our farewells. I appreciate the sentiment in your words, but Lascelas asked me to give you what remains of her form. It is with your hands you will make her existence eternal. Even if that new sentience is not Lascelas, it was her wish that you are to carry on her existence. Don't let Lascelas be forgotten Lyner." Luther looked Lyner in the eyes. "It's been a while since I have had a proper rest. Let's crash here for tonight before continuing to the capital of the Nethandriel Empire."
Luther walked away from Lyner and then sat with his back against a tree, watching the snowflakes fall and letting them drift onto his body. Lyner could see the deep sadness of loss in Luthers eyes. But where there was once a broken belief in his own path. There was now conviction and a relit flame in the once lost pair of eyes.
"Lyner, tomorrow training starts. You have an astonishing foundation for your Sword Dao, but there is no substance to it. I can see you have no formal training, and what skills you have fit your current Daos, but you do not yet have a path of specialization. Before you hit level 25 and can get your first class, you need to work on what you want your main Daos to be to fit your class. The rest can be used as a supportive structure and for specific situations. But if you dabble in too many different areas without specializing, you will get classes that are just shit and do not suit the path you envision yourself walking. Your personal talent is exceptional and one I have not seen the likes of across the Barstowland Kingdom. The Sword is already engraved to be a path you take, but you can still branch and expand your Sword Dao. As for your other Daos, there is no synergy except for Light and Darkness. Shadow and Void. But even still, the Shadow Dao is currently far too weak to match your Void Dao. With such disparity between their ranks, if you tried a fusion it would fail and in the end you'd lose access to both Daos. It's just some food for thought. I will personally teach you the different Sword schools and techniques for you to learn, breakdown then create your own set of skils much later on. But you need to find teachers that can point you in the correct direction with your Daos."