609 Testing the Weapons

*Fwoosh!*

The wind blew Alex's hair the moment he entered the portal. Kai looked at Nelson, who was right behind him and winked at him. 

'Don't worry, Young Master. There should be no monsters around this area, and you can trust this person. At the very least, he wouldn't attack you without reason.' Nelson didn't know what Alex wanted to ask, so he answered with everything that Alex might worry about.

Alex shook his head and sighed. Without giving his reason, Alex just clenched his sword and spear.

"This is Netro Forest… The forest that was filled with monsters had long gone." Atlas introduced the forest. "In fact, the monsters in this realm are mostly from this forest. That's why we are using our Rune Tower to fend them off."

"!!!" Nelson was the one who got shocked by his words. Hearing the Rune Tower, Nelson instinctively turned around and saw the tower he had seen earlier. He realized that Alex was asking him to look behind. 

"The Rune Tower has one purpose when it's activated. It's to relay energy and use the Runes that have been stored inside it. Just like earlier, I used the Teleportation Rune to create a gate from my palace here."

Alex nodded, knowing the concept. What shocked him was actually the knowledge in his brain and the golden lightning tribulation. He remembered where he used some knowledge about forging to understand that the weapons that Teodross gave him were a weapon that shouldn't exist in this world.

Yet, his knowledge still stored that information. The same with Rune. Alex was utterly speechless when he thought about it, wondering what the real reason for the Lightning Tribulation was.

Alex asked inwardly, "System, do you know anything about the Lightning Tribulation."

[I know to a certain extent, but not everything, including the real reason for your Lightning Tribulation. Besides, knowing the real reason might kill the purpose, so you should just enjoy the privilege, Host.]

"True enough. Maybe I will know the reason in the future. But I need to get stronger and stronger for the time being." Alex nodded. 

"Now, how about going inside the forest and testing the weapons? Or you can even use it from here…" Atlas stretched his hand, giving the opportunity to Alex.

"..." Alex fell into silence for a minute before nodding his head. "Since the Undying King has given me permission, I shall test the weapons."

"Please."

Alex raised his sword first, feeling the weight of the sword. It was slightly heavy for him unless he carried it with his Spiritual Energy. However, being heavy would also mean it carried a deadly weight that could be turned into power. 

Alex slashed downwards and struck the ground with only his sword and strength.

*Bam!* 

The dust kicked up, and the loud sound resounded across the forest.

In front of him, a fifty meters deep hole appeared as soon as Alex struck the ground. The hole continued to a hundred meters away to the front.

"As expected from a rank 8 weapon from Yuda. He is indeed a master of forging." Atlas acted like he always believed in his former friend.

Alex waited for a minute and thought. 'This sword is powerful… According to my memory, a rank 8 sword would only be able to create half of this. However, this sword has become something like this before it's even completed. There are two more enhancements left, which was the fusion and recognition ceremony. This might be my main weapon if it's complete.' 

Alex thought for a moment and looked at Atlas's expression first before pulling the second weapon. 

He also struck the ground right beside the hole, and it also created the same cut hole, unless a bit smaller. It was normal, considering he used it as a spear, not a sword. Its main purpose was to thrust, not cut or shatter."

"Hmm… the runes are perfect, and this weapon should be indestructible." Atlas nodded in confidence. "How about cutting some trees or shattering a mountain over there?"

Atlas pointed his finger toward the trees in front of him and the mountain behind it.

Alex accepted and raised his sword. Spiritual Energy slowly enveloped it as the Sword shone in red-colored light like his fire color. However, Alex had yet to infuse his fire element, so the sword only contained his Spiritual Energy and Domain. 

Wanting to see what kind of power would this sword show him, Alex slashed it downwards.

"Blade of Conquest."

The shockwave flew from the sword and moved through the ground. It continued moving while slashing every tree that the shockwave encountered.

Although there was nothing that could be a challenge for this sword strike, Alex could still observe it through his Spirit Eyes, and the sight shocked him.

There wasn't a single difference in terms of energy. Yet the power was far stronger than his usual Blade of Conquest. At the very least, he should be able to fight 3-Star or 4-Star Martial Monarch with this sword alone.

Alex felt his confidence in dealing with the Fire God Clan raising. 'If only the Blackwade Clan doesn't help them, I might be able to make war with them when I reach Martial Saint.'

"Judging from your domain earlier, it seems you have become a weapon emperor. Whether it is Sword Emperor or Spear Emperor, I am sure you have made your Original Skill. Why don't you test it to see whether the rune can complement your original skill?" Atlas asked. 

"Hmm?" Alex tilted his head, unsure if he should actually do it in front of Atlas or not. After glancing at Nelson one more time, he agreed to it.

Alex raised his sword first and waved it simply. But just like how it broke the rule of physics, his normal swing suddenly turned into three. A trace of surprise even appeared on Atlas's face. 

Although he saw that the movement only had a simple three swings that could be easily blocked, he felt there was something behind those three slashes that he couldn't shake away. In fact, he would be super careful if he met Alex's attack.

Yet, another surprise when Alex pulled his spear to the back like pulling a bow. The intense Spiritual Energy began gathering on the tip of his spear.

"Fu." Alex took a deep breath before thrusting onward. 

Like releasing an arrow, the spear charged forth and released a shockwave. The shockwave charged forth similar to a laser, but it blew everything in front of it away instead of melting it.

The trees cut and flew to the sky, with most of them having a circle round mark, showing that Alex just blasted that spot to smithereens.

And the effect wasn't finished yet. It showed clearer when the trees had fallen to the ground, but Alex and Atlas weren't someone who would leave such a detail. They saw a huge bowl-shaped trail on the ground.

"I think it's better to stop here." Alex already used both of his Original Skill. Although it wasn't everything he got, Atlas should have seen more than enough. Doing more would be making him at a disadvantage.

Atlas also understood Alex's intention. "Indeed. We shall stop here." 

He fell into silence, pondering something over. "Actually, bring this to Zekhram. He might even let you see our ship."

Alex tilted his head in confusion. It looked like a normal key from Earth. A round head and some serration in its body. However, there were still a few blue lines in this key. 

"This is a key that I wish you to bring to Zekhram. If you have this key, he should let you enter that place and learn from his story." Atlas said, handing him the key. 

Although the key had a shape similar to the key on Earth, its size was different. The size alone was slightly bigger than his body.

Alex stored the key in his Space Ring but was rejected by the array from his ring. It seemed to have a certain incompatibility with his space ring… specifically with the array. He muttered to himself. 'I see. The rune on the key and the array on the Space Ring is rejecting each other.'

He didn't say a single thing about this and stored the key inside his Inventory.

Atlas already knew that the rune would clash with the space ring, preventing it from being stored inside. He also believed that Alex's Space attainment wouldn't be so low that he couldn't store this key. Hence, he only watched his movement and nodded. 

"Tell him that he can come over and use the Soul Tower to fuse the gem and birth the soul to this Spiritual Weapon." Atlas nodded. 

"Yes. I will tell him that and might bring him here because it will take a few days if we travel by flying."

"Yes. I shall wait for you to return to my palace." Atlas nodded with a smile, but only Undead would know that he was actually smiling. As for Alex, he could only see him as normal without having any expression. Even his tone was still the pacifying tone that made him a bit more mysterious.

Atlas bowed his head once more and waved his hand, creating a portal to his palace. He crossed the portal and closed it.

Alex looked at Nelson. "So, what are we going to do? Go to Zekhram?"

"Yes. We should finish this matter as soon as possible." Nelson nodded. "Besides, we still need to check Rose's condition and the situation on Heavenly Continent, from the general situation, Blackwade Clan and Fire God Clan alliance, and Letizia's whereabouts." 

"You are right. We need Nicole to update us on whether the successor of Blackwade Clan actually stops the alliance or not. It will be very important to Rose and us since they might attack Rose, thinking I am still on that continent. If we know about their status, we can ask Ngina to inform Rose to hide in our base." Alex nodded and thought for a moment.

"As for Letizia's whereabouts… I don't know to be honest. At a time, I am thinking about releasing her, and at another, I feel that she might become our sword…" Alex let out a long sigh. "I am not treating her like a chess piece or an object… I am just… how do you say it? Pity?"

Falling into silence for a few seconds, Alex shook his head. "Whatever. I will check her condition together with Evelyn."

Nelson nodded. "Should I actually summon Anna and the others?"

"Hmm… I don't think we need to have a fight in this realm, so I don't think we shouldn't. After all, we are mostly moving back and forth." Nelson said their experience since coming here. In fact, they had yet to pass a single day in this realm, and they already met the two rulers of the races and learned much information at once.

"Yeah. I should use the time to make some array instead. It might not be much, but we can get a nice amount of money later. Then, I will prepare for a breakthrough. I should be able to reach the 10-Star Martial Emperor in a month while using two months for consolidation. I will then create a small Special Realm and breakthrough in this place." Alex nodded.

"The huge barrier itself should be able to hide the tribulation from outside people while your Special Realm will hide from these three races. Although I know their races, it's still better to draw some line with them." Nelson added. 

"That's the point. I don't know about forging, but it will surely take time. The knowledge tells me so." Alex shrugged, planning to use that time to advance.

"Yes. We need to finish this first." Nelson nodded. 

Alex didn't say anything more and snapped his finger, creating a pink array beneath their feet. The two then disappeared.