Infinite Realm

'Come.'

With a thought, Sato retrieved the black sword from the storage dimension within the space ring.

In less than a second, a black gleaming sword with a metallic look appeared in his hand. From the angle he stared at it, the sword looked to be crystalline but felt metallic to the touch. As he slid his hand across the blade, Sato felt the sword vibrate in his hands.

[[ System notification :

[Drakken] is delighted at your touch.

]]

'...what a strange sword. Don't tell me that you're a female sword?!'

After receiving a slight shock from the notification, Sato then held the sword in front of his face before using the [Appraise] skill.

[[ Cursed Sword Drakken : Low Tier Rare-Steel Rank : Level 15 : Durability 55

Forged with extremely precious dark element materials as well as the purest of Dragon's breath being used as the flames, and Rainbow Dew used as a catalyst, the true power of the sword isn't what you see now. Due to the unprecedented level and rank of the sword, it has been sealed with a ton of high-level runes and spells and the seals can only be unlocked as the wielder becomes stronger. The more seals unlocked, the stronger the sword gets. However, there is a risk. 

As the sword has a unique sword spirit formed from the original sword spirit and a soul fragment of an asura, the wielder stands the risk of getting possessed by this special existence, which is predominantly controlled by the soul fragment. The more seals unlocked and the stronger the sword gets, the higher the chances of being possessed by the fused sword spirit. Continuous use of the abilities of the sword also increases the chances of getting possessed, though only by a very small figure.

There are currently ??? seals and 0 have been unlocked.

Requirement : The user has to be recognized by the weapon's sword spirit to wield the sword.

[Strength] +20

[Dexterity] +8

[Agility] +2

Penetrative abilities increased by 25%

Skills :

Hopeless Hope : Passive Skill : As the wielder's HP decreases, attribute points increase. For each 10% decrease in health, once HP is below 30%, Secondary attributes increase by 10% of base values. 

Black Flame Slash : Active Skill : Release a long-range attack with a 30 metres attack range and 140% of Attack Power as damage. Upon contact, the skill would explode into a blazing black fire that would wrap itself around the target and deal flame damage alongside mental damage both wielding 120% of Magical Attack Power. The mental damage has a slight chance of sending the opponent into a [Stun] state. Cool-down : 7 seconds.

Dark Veil : Active Skill : Release a 5 metres wide darkness domain with a duration of 3 seconds. Any target within the domain would have their available skills disabled and inactive. Skill doesn't affect an attack that has just been used. Cool-down : 20 seconds.

Shadow Movement : Active Skill : Teleport to the nearest shadow within a 5 metres range or a previously marked shadow within a 15 metres range. Cool-down : 20 seconds.

NB : The full potential of this sword hasn't been awakened yet. As the wielder gets stronger, the sword too can be improved alongside them.

This sword is bound to the user and can't be dropped, sold, exchanged, or used to its fullest by another.

System description : Born from some of the most precious Dark-type materials as well as having a soul fragment of an asura fuse with the sword spirit, the value of this sword is beyond any simple definition. Be careful with each time you wield this sword or else, you will get devoured. ]]

"Another Rare-Steel rank..." Sato couldn't help but take in a deep breath.

'Has my ancestor's grave finally started spewing out green smoke?'[1]

Finding one Rare-Steel rank gear, even if it were an accessory or equipment, was very difficult. Yet, within a short time, Sato had gotten two of them, with one being an accessory while the other was a weapon.

'The attribute boost is really amazing. It even surpasses that of [Astral Blade] in some ways.'

For a while now, [Astral Blade] had been Sato's main weapon since the bonuses from the sword were unbeatable even when considering a couple of other Upper-tier Mortal rank weapons. This was because, unlike those 'factory-made' swords, [Astral Blade] was formed by the system after Sato had cashed out in one of his rewards from the emergency mission that popped up while battling Sygrart.

Apart from the increase in attribute points, there was also the increased penetration effect, which would make the sword more effective even when facing metal armours. In other words, compared to the [Astral Blade], Sato would be capable of dealing more damage to MTs with [Drakken]. Once he equips it, it will increase his overall fighting prowess and bring it to another level.

'However, this talk about the sword spirit...'

Sato had managed to ask Meson what he knew about the rumored Denon God's son sealed within the depths of the Hall but Meson didn't know much about it. As such, Sato couldn't confirm that whether what he faced was the Demon God's son or not. However, from the system description, he knew that it was a demi-god rank monster at its peak too.

'The sword can grow with the user but continuous use of it increases the chance of losing one's self. Even upgrading the sword or unsealing it does the same. No wonder it's called the Cursed sword.' Sato thought. However, he still kept on scrolling through the stats.

The piece of advice only said that continuous use of the sword's skills would increase his chances of falling to depravity however, the increase factor was too small so Sato could still take the risk.

'Also, as the sword increases in power, so will I. In that case, as long as I get stronger, I should be able to handle the backlash or even find a way to eliminate it.' Sato made up his mind. He just couldn't afford to reject the sword just because of a slight scare.

'This sword is just too good to miss out.'

Unlike most regular weapons Sato had seen, the Low tier Rare-Steel rank sword had 4 skills attached to it and one of them was quite similar to berserk skills. As one's HP decreases, their attributes increases in turn. The skill, [Hopeless Hope], just as its name implied, was a passive skill that allowed one to turn the battle around. In some ways, it could even be said to be much better than a berserk skill.

The silencing ability, [Dark Veil], was one Sato found very interesting and useful. It could help him to either end a battle very quickly or at the very least, deal severe damages to his opponent. It could also be used to turn the tables on one as no player would expect their skills to suddenly be silenced in the presence of a [Swordsman].

There was also the [Shadow Movement] skill that could be used as an escape skill, a life-saving dodging skill, or even used to pull off a quick assassination. While this skill was better suited for [Assassins], it was still valuable to Sato. If used properly, it could also become a table-turner like the other two.

Finally, there was the [Black Flame Slash] which Sato guessed would be quite similar to [Astral Blade]. The only difference, apart from the essence of the attacks, was the fact that [Astral Blade] could only be used a limited number of times while [Black Flame Slash] could be immediately the cool-down goes off. In a fast-paced battle, [Astral Blade] had the advantage, but for whittling down the opponent, [Black Flame Slash] was more useful.

'Luckily for me, I finally got the double sword-wielding technique. I can enjoy the best of both swords.' Sato smiled as he recalled Saimon's gift to him.

'The world should be prepared for my reappearance. With the increase in my level as well as this new sword and the double wielding technique, the World Class BOSS' head is pretty much mine.'

All that was left was for Xue Yan to exit her trials and then the team could return to the Kobold lair for Round 2.