916 Dawnbreaker

'Hmm?' Aria tilted her head. She couldn't see either the energy and the sword's beautiful appearance, so it was such a shame.

Suddenly, a light ball was formed on top of the sword before turning into a child. He wore a cute short and a shirt with black stripes. The tall circular magician hat made him look very cute.

"Welcome to my humble abode. I am the sword over there, and my name is Dawnbreaker. You can call me Dawn." He smiled from ear to ear. "You can say that people might find this place if they have enough sensitivity toward the change of Sword Qi, so I am a bit surprised to see both of you coming here."

"There is someone there?" Aria was confused. She could sense the sword, but it was the first time she felt something like this.

At the same time, Alex also remembered a certain thing. "Are you this sword consciousness?"

"Ah, I almost forgot that not many know my real name. Anyway, I was the sword that the one you knew as Peerless Sword God wielded." He grinned as if he was proud of it. "And you can say that I am its consciousness, but I prefer the term of the Sword Spirit."

"The sword of the Peerless Sword God?" Aria opened her mouth in surprise.

"Hmm? I have noticed this from earlier, but are you blind, girl?"

"Ye-yes." She hesitated for a second before taking off her mask, allowing him to see the condition of her eyes.

"I see. That is a shame, but I can see a great future from you. And I feel that you have found your path, so believe in your path."

"Thank you," Aria answered with a bit of a hesitant tone. It felt weird to be praised by a sword.

He then glanced at Alex and pointed his finger. "Hey, you. Do you want to be my next master?"

"!!!" Aria immediately turned around while opening her mouth in surprise. If the sword was indeed the sword that the Peerless Sword God had in the past, it could be said the peak Divine Weapon. To wield such a blade would surely invite many things, from fame, glory, or even pursuers. Unfortunately, Alex was a person who didn't have a need for this thing.

But whether he accepted it or not, it would depend on his heart. After all, the temptation of wielding the sword was far too good.

"Nope. Not a chance." Alex shook his head, blatantly rejected the sword.

"Eh?!" The sword looked at him with a weird expression as if thinking how foolish he was. "I am a powerful sword, you know."

"I know, but I have my own sword."

"Hey, I am a Sword Spirit born from an original sword technique, you know. I can help you fight."

"Wait, wait! I have sensed a bit of your Sword Qi since I am a Sword myself. It's so powerful that I can't help but feel surprised. That's why I want you to be my next master, and I shall support you to the best of my ability."

"Yeah, I don't doubt that. But I can't do it." Alex shook his head with a long sigh. "Just like you said to her earlier, I already have my own path, so I am not planning to abandon it."

"Is that the reason why you have Spear Qi?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Eh?!" Aria drew a gasp as she was baffled by the sword's statement. 'Spear Qi?'

"Sword Qi… And Spear Qi…" He looked down, falling into deep thought. Suddenly, he remembered a certain person in the past. "Don't tell me, you…"

Alex immediately appeared in front of the sword and closed his mouth, making Aria curious. The sword was going to say his identity, so to shut him up just like that made her pout.

"Mhmmmhmhmm (I won't say anything)." The sword looked at Alex pitifully, asking Alex to release him.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Alex finally released him and walked back.

"To think I would meet you again, but you feel different…"

"I am not him."

The sword narrowed his eyes and sighed. "I see. I can summarize what happens, but it's still unbelievable to see you again. Well, I won't say anything about your identity, and I understand why you don't want to be my next master."

"If you only want to talk about this, we will return immediately."

"I know you have a test. I am the one suggesting it, you know, so I will be giving you a reward for finding me. As expected, I am still curious what will happen if you are the one wielding me." He grinned.

"No thanks."

"Tch." He let out a long sigh. "Anyway, your reward is twenty thousand points and a special prize from mine."

Suddenly, Alex saw a wisp of energy coming to him and immediately burned it with his fire.

"Ouch! Hot, hot!" He screamed and glared at Alex. "What is that flame earlier? Wait! That intensity. Why do you have Phitrus's Godly Pure Fire?! That's the only fire that can burn me."

Alex shrugged. "This is the second reason why I don't want to have you. Within two minutes, you have blurted out so many secrets. I wonder if I should burn you right now."

"Ah! I won't say anything anymore, dear sir." He raised his hands as if telling him he gave up. "What I wanted to give you is a wisp of my power. I can nurture the consciousness of your weapons for you."

"…" Alex narrowed his eyes. "I think I don't need it. You can give it to her, I guess."

"Hmm…" He narrowed his eyes. "Well, not many of what I have will entice you. And even fewer that will suit you. Since that is the case, I will just give the points to you and give the special reward to her…"

"Sure." Alex nodded and handed the token. With a single touch of his energy, the zero on the token turned into twenty thousand.

After that, the sword looked at Aria. "You have a good talent in the sword. Although it's not the best, I am confident you are one of the top talents. Anyway, it's only your sword. There are many talents that need to be considered, including your cultivation speed and other things, so I won't say much.

"And because you are blind, I have something suited you. I don't have any plan in giving you this at first, but since the almighty person beside you has given his reward to you as well, I will give it. Go and touch the sword with your forehead."

"Ye-yes." Aria was still confused with everything, especially with Alex, but she tried hard to not show it and acted according to the instruction.

The moment her forehead touched, certain energy flowed inside her head and moved toward her eyes.

"Hmm… I have given you the qualification to use one technique, but the rest will depend on my former master. If you find his remaining soul in one of his inheritance palaces, he will understand that energy. What will it do? I won't tell you. But it will surely make you happy."

"Thank you." She nodded.

"Still, to think you are with him out of all people. You are blessed." He grinned and gave her twenty thousand points as well.

"Luck?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Since he doesn't want you to know, I won't say anything unless I want to get burned. Just get stronger, and you will know everything." He nodded. "Now go. May fortune bless you with presence… Wait, it's already blessed you. Gahaha!"

The sword waved his hands and saw the two leaving.

'Thank you.' Alex didn't forget to give his thanks to the sword with a thought transmission.

'You are really not him, but it sounds like you indeed. I know that your true aim is to strengthen your Sword and Spear Possession, so I can only say good luck to you.'

'Yes.' Alex smiled and came out of the secret cave as they continued their journey.

Aria kept glancing at him, swearing to get stronger and know more. The curiosity was killing her, but it wasn't like her goal changed. She wanted to be a peerless expert, so she needed to get stronger either way.

Because they got distracted by that cave, they needed to catch up.

To their surprise, Aria felt a bit more comfortable in facing this suppression and informed Alex. "I think we can go a bit faster. The suppression feels a bit less than before."

"Hmm?" Alex immediately thought it was the work of that Sword Spirit, especially when he asked her to touch the sword with her forehead.

That energy remained in her body, specifically her eyes. Although he didn't know what it would do to her, it wasn't like he couldn't remove it. Just like the sword said, his Pure Fire was able to burn that energy before it completed.

Knowing that, Alex and Aria continued for a few more hours, passing many people. They even passed the so-called Gasha Grayfig, who was in fourth place. Unfortunately, he became the sixth when the two passed him.

Not long after that, they finally found the light, meaning the time in the cave would soon come to an end.

'Nyx, do you think we should stop here and try cultivating?'

'It will depend on whether we can go back here or not. This is a kind of psychological test. You have many options but can't win everything.' Alex thought for a moment. 'Still, we have the luxury to stop the contest, but the more we wait, the more people will pass here. At that time, we can't get a good hunting place as well.'

'Ah. The main test will surely be the second one because it won't be easy to reach that many points. We have gotten twenty thousand, but we might be able to get a few things in the town, so I guess we can skip this one.'

'That's my plan.' Alex nodded. 'With this, we are fourth and fifth.'

'Yeah.'

The two came out of the cave, instantly sensing a presence in their left.

The presence came from the elder that was in front of the town a few days ago.

"Hyo-ho. To think I would meet you two again. And as expected, you two are still together. I don't know if I have put too much expectation on you two, but to think there are already three people in front of you... I am speechless."