Note: 「」This means the sword, "The Eye of the Storm" is speaking to Leon via his mind.
Lucia just looked annoyed.
"Could you stop calling me darling, it is really misleading and unprofessiona-"
She almost fell out of her seat as she realized what Leon said.
"Y-You want to what now?"
Leon merely leaned on the table and nonchalantly replied.
"I said, I want to sign up for the E Tier Rank up."
Lucia stammered.
"Leon, I always knew you were naive and foolish, but even you have never asked for a tier-up test."
Leon gave Lucia his best puppy eyes impression.
"I know in the past, I never tried because I was weak. But things are different now, I feel stronger and confident. So could you pretty please sign me up?"
Leon could feel his sword doing a mind facepalm as he saw and heard everything.
「To think my wielder would do such a thing, how I have fallen.」
Choosing to ignore his sword, Leon merely continued his act. Lucia tried to see if Leon would budge, however after a lengthy three minutes of silence. She caved and eventually signed Leon up.
As Leon happily skipped out of the Guild Hall, Lucia made sure to give Leon a piece of her mind.
" I don't know how strong you think you are, but don't be full of yourself and get your ass kicked! It would look bad on the guild and Guild Master Erik. Also, don't forget this tier rank-up test is in Verin and is scheduled at the Main Arena tomorrow at noon."
Leon merely gave her a thumbs-up as he left the entrance.
"Don't worry, I won't disappoint."
While Leon's confidence was high considering he had only faced low-level goblins and had been destroyed by an Ogre, his confidence was not unwarranted.
-Earlier that morning-
Leon had spent a lot of the morning conversing with his new sword buddy. He learned a lot of things from the sword as he discussed.
First off, the sword had retained previous knowledge of his past wielders and had in-depth knowledge, however, it had been hundreds of years since he had last been summoned/wielded.
Secondly, the sword, due to their minds and souls being linked, could see and understand all of Leon's knowledge and memories. The sword also had its own mind and actually had quite the intellect and cunning attribute. He could even sense what Leon was doing and what was going on around him, as long as they were within a certain distance.
Thirdly, even though he didn't want to admit it, the sword was technically a servant and Leon was his master. Even though, Leon was by far the weakest person to ever wield him.
After finding all this out, Leon curiously asked the sword.
'What shall our next plan of action be?'
After sensing the sword ponder for a while, it merely replied.
「I have assessed all our options. There are many choices you can take, however, I believe doing the E Tier rank-up test is the best course.」
Leon's jaw went slack.
'I thought you understood everything I did and more? You know why I never tried to rank up.'
The sword coolly replied
「I know Guild Master Erik always told you to never do the rank-up test since you were never ready for it and it might affect the guild's reputation. However, with your current powers, my understanding is that the test will not be too difficult.」
Leon sighed, as he remembered his defeat.
'Do you realize, my specialty is in assassination and that most likely whatever the test is will be confrontational? Even though the Ogre is powerful, I couldn't even move let alone try to attack it. I am not ready.'
The sword calmly replied.
「While you did require backup and even my full current strength, you are actually stronger than what you believe. Your decision-making and instincts are still in their infancy, however, they are not too shabby. Your speed is impressive and I am sure your new powers shall be able to overcome any enemy, plus it should compensate for your lack of sword fighting experience.」
Leon looked in confusion.
'New powers?'
The sword sent the image of its vague form of a face, which was like a wind-shaped blob that loosely resembled a face, nodding.
Leon saw the blue bell flashing and realized he was so focused on recovering he never noticed it. He clicked on his stat sheet and his eyes went wide.
Level:16
HP: 122/122
Experience: 218/1115
Title: The Liberator of Gods
Class: Wind Walker
Mana: 58/58
Vitality: 42
Strength: 40
Intelligence: 36
Agility: 65
Luck: 31
Blessing: Ultimate Blessing from ??????
Stat Sheet: Hidden
Unused Skill Points: 9
Skills: Backstab(2), Dash(3), Stealth(2), Slash(2), Wind Blade(1), Wind Slash(1), Dagger Throw (1)
Passive: Sword Knowledge(1), Dagger Knowledge(2), Monster Language(1)
Leon stumbled backward.
'What happened here?'
The sword calmly explained.
「Well, I am not sure if you remember, but we did technically speaking, kill the Ogre. Well, it was mostly me, but I indirectly caused a strike that collapsed the cave, killing the Ogre. Even though you didn't do it, since I am an extension of yourself, strictly speaking, you gained experience. Also, those new skills of yours are the first-class skills you have received, since your class is a very unique one just like my past wielders, I know all the skills and what they do. This is why I was confident in your abilities.」
Leon felt awkward to keep calling his new partner a sword.
'What shall I call you? It feels weird referring to you as sword, every time.'
The sword finally got a bit excited.
「Just call me, Ensis.」
Leon was satisfied with the name.
'Alright Ensis, what are the chances we can succeed in the test?'
Ensis replied.
「I would almost guarantee it.」
-Present-
Although Leon felt confident with Ensis's words, he still felt obliged to make preparations. So gathering the monster core bag he had on him, he went to the shop and went to sell it to Dominic.
When Leon walked into the shop this time, Dominic who was quite bored examined him with his monocle and almost fell out of his high stool.
Leon rushed over.
"Are you okay Dominic? I just came here to sell you some more monster cores. Not to see you die from falling off a chair."
Dominic, who was one of the few people in the entire kingdom to possess and max the rare skill 'Ultimate Appraisal', saw the power Ensis possessed and merely got back up.
"Oh no, it is truly nothing. I just have very bad balance since my height makes things hard."
Leon was satisfied with the answer and plopped his hefty bag of magic cores on the table.
Dominic inspected each of the forty cores.
"These are all quite common cores with the exception of some more unique ones, although some of them have slight nicks, it shouldn't reduce the price by too much. I am willing to offer one silver and forty bronze pieces for them all."
While Leon silently cursed the Ogre for damaging his cores, he still gladly took the deal and left the shop in a joyous mood. Previously Leon never had more than a handful of bronze coins, let alone a silver coin, which was equivalent to a hundred bronze coins.
After Ensis suggested buying some new gear, seeing his torn-up or completely missing leather set, Leon went to a random shop and browsed. The collection they had was mostly for more powerful and richer adventurers, however, they did sell some scrap metal armor for cheap. Leon was delighted to find out it was only forty bronze coins since the shopkeeper was desperately trying to get rid of the stain of his collection. Leon who had never had more than leather had now upgraded to scrap metal armor. No matter how small of an upgrade it was, Leon was overjoyed to just be able to experience the Adventurer's life.
With this, Leon had decided to spend the day exercising to get ready for tomorrow. After consulting with Ensis about their plans for combat, Leon went back to the inn he previously stayed at and bought another room. Leon decided to retire early and somehow fell asleep despite his excitement to finally be progressing.