Chapter 13 - Relics Of The Present
The sword was decorated with dark blue designs and had a black appearance. It also had blue aura pouring out of it.
"T-That is... Not possible." He said in surprise.
"Now then, come at me" I beckoned to him.
He remained still, his body refusing to move.
"Oh, have you finally realized... Just how worthless your Relic is?" I mocked.
"Shut up..." He said in a low voice.
"What was that?" I asked in a mocking tone.
"I said SHUT UP!!!" He yelled as he rushed at me.
I smiled as I watched him wield his blade and dash toward me, ready to strike.
"Sword of Rupture" I said.
The dark blue sword hummed in response. I raised it slowly.
"Strike"
Immediately, the knight before me was engulfed in blue energy which consumed his body. His entire self was immediately torn apart in the highly dense slash of my sword.
"The final reason why I believed your blade could ignore distance and evasion... Is because that is one of my own sword's abilities. How disappointing" I said in a bored tone.
Before he fully vaporized, I touched his head and got the information I wanted. Ignorant and weak things like him have their uses after all.
His entire self faded away, clothes and all. His blade fell down, surviving the hit.
"It must be pretty durable" I said, picking it up.
"Root" I called.
"Store item inside Treasure Space" I said.
"Confirmed" It said, absorbing the blade.
"Item is too weak to be kept as a Special Grade. Reconfiguring. Item is too weak to be kept as a Failure. Reconfiguring. Reconfiguring... Item will be kept as a Miscellaneous under 'Junk'" Root said.
"Harsh" I winced at The Root's bluntness.
If only Gwain could hear how useless his Relic is. For it to be placed under Junk. How hilarious.
"Eeek" I heard a squeal.
It came from the downcast noble. He had seen his noble knight die in a single half assed hit. His only chance of survival, dead, just like that.
"Oh yeah, the Noble" I said, remembering he was still in the room.
Well, I was bored already.
"Consider yourself fortunate" I said to him. "I've had my fill of fun for tonight"
"Oh... You, You'll spare me? Thank you! Thank you!" The noble said, even bowing to me.
Desperation and the instinct to survive drive even the proudest of men to stoop as low as possible at the slightest glimmer of hope.
"Well, I'm not entirely unreasonable" I said to myself, exiting the room.
The Noble wheezed as I walked past him, and finally breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I was out, he was truly happy to be alive.
"Oh wait" I said, popping my head back to the room.
"Eeeep" The Noble said, startled.
"Crap, I almost forgot..." I spoke, walking back into the room.
"W-What is it?" The Noble said, still scared of my presence, but more relaxed knowing I had spared his life.
"Anything I can do for you?" He said, straining himself to smile, nervously.
"...Your memories... All of them!" I said in a grim tone.
His eyes immediately switched from hope to despair as his entire face contorted into fright as I used my hand to collect what I wanted.
"ARRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!" His scream filled the manor.
I exited the manor after I was done with my business there. I saw the damage I had caused since earlier in the night.
"Wow, I must have really been stressed." I said, surprised at how much damage I had caused.
However, this much is nothing.
I remembered something I had taken, the Jewel that caused the barrier around the manor. I brought it out of my pocket and looked at it closely.
"Looks like a Grade 4 Treasure, or should I say Relic?" I said with a grin.
Of course, to the gods and owners of these Relics, they are known as Treasures, like the ones I possess. However, humans have given them the title 'Relics'.
Relics are divided into several categories. They are ranked from Grade 9 to 1 and then there is also the Ultimate Grade. Grade 9 is the weakest Grade, while Grade 1 is the most powerful. Ultimate Grades are even more powerful, however they are rare and as such only royals or equivalent powers possessed them.
There are also the Irregulars. Irregulars are Relics which do not fall under any of these categories and their full properties and uses remain unknown. Of course the most powerful of them are the Ultimate Relics, whose power, according to the memories I collected, are akin to the gods. I guess these Ultimate Relics would be the weapons or personal effects of the gods I killed and the ones who were destroyed during the war 3,000 years ago.
I wonder what Grade my own Treasures would fall under if I were to classify them by the human standards.
Most likely my Special Grade would be Grade 2 or so Relics. My Divine Treasures would be their Ultimate Grade Relics. Primordial Grade Treasures should be non equivalent to any relic since all the Primordials are good and well, if there are any, it'll be my own Treasures. Even then, I doubt any human possesses any Primordial Treasure. If one possesses such, then this world would have been long destroyed.
"Well, for a Grade 3 Relic to be classified as Junk by The Root, maybe Relics aren't so big a deal after all." I found myself thinking.
Though, it could have been that the humans who have been using it did not consider refilling the Relics with Aspects in order to maintain its original power. If that is the case then the Relic could have been more powerful some time ago.
"So the more time passes, the more the proficiency reduces, after all humans don't know how to refill Relics with Aspect properties" I said.
This means I can't underestimate any Relic as long as I don't know its abilities. After all, some might be trickier than the ones I faced tonight and can also contain more Aspect concentration.
"Root." I said.
"Store this one also in the Treasure Space" I said, talking about the barrier jewel.
The Root absorbed that too and also put it in junk.
"As expected..." I smiled awkwardly.
Needless to say, I have to research these Relics and learn more about this world. Thanks to the memories I collected from those two, I have a better knowledge of this world. Their sacrifice wasn't in vain.
"Well, this just got needlessly complicated" I said to myself.
According to the memories I collected, I'm in it for the long haul.
[MEANWHILE]
"What did you just say?" A man, appearing to be the one in charge yelled.
"Sir, errm... We lost Sir Gwain. His life signature has vanished." A Knight said, flustered.
"...And the Relic?" The man said impatiently.
"Also gone. We sent men to check his last known location. There seemed to have been a huge slaughter there. It was Duke Northenheim's manor." The nervous knight said.
"Tch... And Sir Gwain's body?" The Commander asked.
"Nowhere to be found, most likely it was taken by the perpetrator." The Knight said.
(P.S His body was entirely obliterated by Hexarion's sword actually XD)
"Any survivors or witnesses?" The Commander said, calming himself.
"A-About that... There appear to be two..." The Knight said a bit nervously and unsure of what to do.
"Spit it out! Who are they? What are their conditions?" The Commander bellowed impatiently.
"W-Well, it's better you see for yourself" The soldier said, leading the commander to the shelter where the two survivors were kept.
"We had to place them here since they seemed to be unresponsive. We restrained one though... His behavior was too erratic" The Knight said, leading the Commander to the room where they stayed.
"Gahhhh! Arghhhhh! Wiooohnkadhbdalhbedylblawww!!!" Unintelligible words came out of one of the two who were in the room.
The other looked lifeless, his mind was completely broken and only drool dripped from his mouth. A living vegetable.
"My God... Is that who I think it is?" The commander said, walking to the madman who was bellowing loudly, flaunting his fat body and screaming.
"Yes sir, initially we were unsure of what to make of him, but after proper identification we confirmed his identity." The Knight said.
"Duke Northenheim" The Commander said, shocked to see a member of High Nobility in such a insane state.
"Who could have done this?" The Commander gritted his teeth.
"Most likely the perpetrator behind the slaughter of the Duke's household and also Sir Gwain's killer" The Knight behind the Commander answered.
"I know that already!!!" The Knight shouted, silencing the nervous knight.
"But who... Just who... Would have the mind to do this to the Emperor's distant relative... His cousin?
[MEANWHILE]
"Atchooo" I sneezed.
Maybe the cool breeze of the night gave me a cold?
"Nah, I'm immune to that" I smiled, lying down on the bed in the inn I rented and looking at Talia who slept soundly beside me, completely unaware of the incident that had just taken place.
"Now then.... What'll happen next?" I smiled in anticipation and closed my eyes to sleep.