Versatile: Alternate World

Reading the details of the Versatile Weapon, Merlin frowned. He has seen the Versatile Weapon in action before but this is the first time he has read the details of the Versatile Weapon.

Because the Versatile Weapon has yet to devour any significant weapon upgrades that would change its structure and even details, it's looking the same as it was before. Yes, it has devoured some weapons while in this state but it only stops there and no longer gives any updates or anything it devours.

Even some of my Elemental shard enhancements did not even register for some reason which can only be opened if inspected while fusing it with Elemental shards again which I hated to see again as it just brings bitter memories of upgrade failures.

"Where did you get this?" Merlin asked still trying to inspect it fully.

"Pardon?"

"This weapon is something that should not exist in the human's hands and yet, you seemed to have tamed the beast within this thing."

"You can sense the shadow dragon?"

"Shadow dragon?"

"Oh, sorry, it looks like a shadow before when I first received it and due to that, I remained calling it shadow dragon even though it had already changed a lot of its features and it no longer resembles the shadow dragon he once looked like."

"Understandable. But still, to think you have been able to tame it, grow it, and make it obedient enough is something else. Still, I realized now why Cath Palug is a little bit afraid of this entity. This young one has the potential to devour the whole world if not controlled. Right now, it is obedient to you but be careful and keep yourself aware that this thing can potentially devour you anytime if it somewhat has some problem with you."

He then handed me back the Versatile Weapon.

"Don't lose sight of what is ahead of you and keep it close to you. Don't let it corrupt you when the time comes. This is just a warning and not a prediction, little man, but nevertheless just listen to my advice. Nothing will disappear from you if you followed it."

"Well, I understand, but do you know what is the main origin of this thing? I have doubts about the one giving this to me and the description of the weapon itself is something vague and continuously unlocked every time it gets powerful."

"Unfortunately, the weapon you have is much harder than anything I have faced before and I can't peer past it. If what you said makes you know what it was and its origins by making it stronger, then that's the only thing you can do for now. My puny magic is not even enough to deal with it."

The Versatile Weapon has been my partner ever since I returned to the Alternate World the moment I returned to the past and I didn't even question how its abilities are pretty interesting and why it has a creature living in it as well. Just how much does Nobuhiko, the one who gave me this gift knows about it?

Is it really something that would help me in the future or it is just one of his tests running and currently I am the tester? I don't know but that is pretty much a plausible theory. But since this weapon has its locked entries and missing skills, I will have no proper idea what it was actually meant to do.

"Anyways, let's get back to the topic of this little beast. I can see that he is indeed trying to tamper with the seal I placed on his body and is slowly absorbing his old powers slowly but surely. If you didn't come back here after a few more years, then this guy will easily strip the seal, try to act nice, and find a chance to escape from the captivity. Since I can easily see through his lies and plans due to how simple-minded this guy is, we can repair the old seal again, plus, add another few of these seals. That should do the trick."

DANG DANG DANG DANG!

Four magic circles with different shapes landed on Cath Palug's body, wrapping his little body four times and fading into nothingness. Cath Palug can only sulk and frown after the magic circles landed on him as Merlin waved his staff and smiled saying, "Done!"

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We were still discussing what good ways to properly maintain Cath Palug for him to be able to break out in the future when the sign at the top of the tower started glowing in red, which means the Lady of the Lake is now done with her latest work. Merlin returned with me to the top floor and I sighed in relief that I don't need to climb the stairs once more just to get back to the top which is going to suck.

Reappearing at the top of the tower, the Lady of the Lake is already holding the Galatine, flaming hot like the sun during the hot noon or perhaps even hotter than that.

"The Galatine's former powers have been absorbed too much by that curse that has been plaguing the weapon for too long. The moment I restored its blade and removed its cursed property, its former destructive power is diminished and its power is almost half of its former power. If it was not restored a little bit later, maybe it will lose even more of its power."

"Really? But it still does look powerful to me."

"That's because it is still indeed a weapon that will need to recover from its previous injury. Once it recovers, the previous power of this weapon will return once more."

The Lady of the Lake then faces me and handed me the sword to my hands.

"Even though you are not the same person as the one who wielded it in the past, and you are not as knightly as him, your journey alone is enough for me to say that you are pretty qualified to use the weapon and become its new owner. However, once everything is over, please return them to their rightful resting places. Even if they are heroic weapons, they too shall have their rests as well. But it is not yet time to rest, so this weapon will be undergoing its new journey. Find the other weapons the previous Knights wielded, even if their armor and accessories, and bring them back to me if they harbor the same thing as the curse as before, the more we have an idea of what it was, the more we can easily track and find the perpetrator of this and his real motive of doing so."

"Do you have a slight idea of why he is doing this and why target the previous weapons the Knights of the Round Table previously used?"

"I have an assumption but it was not a concrete one therefore this is not something that I am confident is his real motive. However, the weapons that the knights previously wielded are something connected to the balance of this world. If they are destroyed or lose their ability and foothold in this world, the world will also slowly collapse and die as well. With this task that I am giving you, not only you are getting the weapons and experiencing how to wield them, but you are also saving this world from its ruins."

After the little speech, a quest line pop up in front of me,

(Mandatory Story Quest)

Recover and Repair

Info: The Lady of the Lake tasked you to find the scattered weapons of the Knights of the Round Table for she feared that the worst has fallen to these weapons. If they are destroyed or have run out of its power, the power balancing the fate of the world is going to be destroyed. Collect as many weapons, armor, and accessories connected to the Knights of the Round Table as you can and give them to the Lady of the Lake. Once she finally knows the truth, this quest will complete itself.

I don't have any choice about this as well because there is a chance that if I just leave this world's fate to its destiny and just leave whatever remaining remorse for them down to the trash, there is also a chance that the real world will be dragged along as well and the instead of one world, the two worlds will collapse and everyone will die. All because I didn't fulfill a task like this.

Giving my farewells to the two, I left the tower and thankfully, Merlin helped me to go down without the need to use the staircase. Leaving the Island of Avalon, I have the very big urge to ask them about the Tree of Life and its current whereabouts but due to the main reason I still needed to be secretive about it, I still can't do it. However, I don't need to rush. I needed to lay down all of the plans and outsmart Nobuhiko, before he outsmart me.