To reach the crest of the waterfall, Basil naturally needed to climb it. Surely, he didn't really climb it. There were many stepping stones up to the crest. Although the distance between each of them were quite far, it wasn't a problem for the current him.
After advancing to the early stage of Red Core, his strength along with his stamina had risen significantly. Although in the early stage Mage was superior to Knight, the gap would be closed when Knight advanced their Core. The power it brought after a single advancement was simply mind-blowing.
Therefore, despite being the least popular out of the two, Mage had never underestimated Knight. Unfortunately, in the current period, the strongest Knight fell below the strongest Mage. It all happened because of bottleneck.
They didn't know how to break through the bottleneck. Rather than their improvement being stagnant, it was that they could no longer advance. Luckily, many of them managed to reach that bottleneck.
Therefore, even though the strongest of the Knight fell below that of the strongest Mage, with their number, they could overwhelm even the strongest Mage. Just like that, the rivalry between the two continued on.
Upon reaching the crest, Basil took a deep breath. The air was full of Mana, even by breathing in, he felt his body was cleansed. When he released the breath, instead of an exhale, it sounded like a sigh. It was because...
"You! What kind of a man are you!? Why.. why are you ignoring me?!"
Vagus kept pestering him all the way up. He didn't respond it not because he needed to concentrate on his way to the crest. It was because he found it useless. He would gladly respond her if the conversation was about something beneficial.
However!
— Where are you going right now?
— What is there at the crest?
— What is your favorite food?
— What do you think of my beauty?
— Hey! Answer me! Why are you ignoring me?!
— Hu-hu-hu... You are so cruel!
It had never been something beneficial. It was nothing more than a child tantrum to Basil. Therefore he kept ignoring her. However, ignoring someone's voice that was directly transmitted to your head was a lot harder than it seemed. Thus, Basil had no choice but to respond.
"What is it?"
"Uhu-hu-hu.. eh?" As if a lie, her teary voice disappeared in a blink. With an elated voice, she spoke, "Y-Yes! I was asking you what were you going to do. Although I reside in your mindscape, I don't know what are you thinking..." She kept chattering like a chatterbox. Basil, naturally, ignored most of them.
"...you know what I mean? Since we will be together for the rest our life, communication is an important thing, so-"
"Huuh... I get it. I am going to make a Catalyst." A sigh escaped unconsciously. If it was the feeling of having a child, he wouldn't want one.
"Oh! I see! So, what are you doing here?"
Instead of answering, Basil looked ahead. There, he could see a big weird shaped stone with a half of it submerged in the water. At a casual glance, there was nothing special about that stone. However, he knew more than anyone, what secret it was hiding.
"There was the source."
It was cryptic, however Vagus knew what he meant. Filled with anticipation, she stayed quiet and observed the scenery through his eyes.
Basil quickly dashed toward the stone. His footstep was steady. None of his feet stepped on a stone. He was stepping on the water! It was the basic Movement Technique he had personally created, [Feather Step].
While dashing his way toward the stone, he unsheathed his machete and channelled his Qi into it. The machete shone in blue light, and destructive aura could be felt.
[Lesser Technique: Mountain Cleaver]!
He lightly muttered his technique's name. The technique belonged to Knight. Surely, he had modified it, so it was different than what Knight used. Originally, this technique was usable to those in Yellow Core or above. Therefore, he needed to downgrade it, before using it. Thus, the Lesser Technique was born.
He swung down his machete. The strike was powerful enough that the impact split the water below apart. However...
Clank!
The stone managed to stop it. The vibration was transmitted to his body. His ear was ringing, and his hands trembled ever so slightly. He didn't manage to cut the stone. Only a vertical scratch could be seen on it.
"Huuh.. as expected. I can't do much with an ordinary weapon."
A sigh escaped from his mouth. However, he didn't feel discouraged. He was determined to split the stone, no matter how many swings it took. He was about to ready his machete once again when Vagus spoke.
"Why don't you use me?"
It was a question that could cause misinterpretation. It seemed that she was also aware of it, since she stayed silent and crouching in his mindscape as if ashamed of her word.
"W-wait I didn't mean it that way!"
Basil quirked an eyebrow, and asked, "What did you mean that way?"
"Th-that is..." She turned even more embarrassed. However, Basil didn't seem to notice it, as he said, "How would I be able to use you? Right now you are no more than a Sword Soul." Luckily, Basil didn't get the wrong idea.
Upon hearing it, Vagus sighed in relief.
"Huuh.. what I mean is, you can pour my soul into the machete. Although it won't be able to hold me long, it is enough for you, isn't it?"
It was true, he didn't need much time to split the stone given the right weapon. However...
"Is that even possible? What would happen if somehow the machete broke before I managed to retrieve you?"
"Don't worry, our soul is bound already. If the machete broke, I would naturally return to your mindscape."
He wasn't particularly worried about Vagus or whatsoever. She could disappear whenever she like, however she could only do it after he paid his debt to her. Basil was a man of dignity. He would return the grace someone had bestowed upon him.
Nodding his head. He quickly opened the Mind Gate. Vagus in turn left his mindscape through the Mind Gate and entered the machete. The machete instantly quivered as if it was about to fall apart. Basil, in the other hand, felt like a part of him was missing. It was unpleasant to say the least.
"Don't worry, I am here."
As if a mother comforting her child, Vagus spoke to Basil. Instantly, the unpleasant feeling he felt was soothed. A chill ran down his spine. He was extremely bewildered. Just how did it happen? He couldn't figure it out. However, he chose to ignore it for now.
Quickly channeling his Qi into the machete, he could feel the same feeling of wielding Vagus in the past. It was comforting. Positioning his body in a stance, he executed the same technique as before.
[Lesser Technique: Mountain Cleaver]!
A destructive aura far more powerful than before could be felt from the machete. If the water was split previously, right then all of the water left the stream. There was only him and the stone.
Clink!
When he swung down his machete, the stone gave little to no resistance. It instantly passed through it. The stone was perfectly cut in two, along with the destruction of the machete. The two parts of the stone fell on the side and finally revealed the thing it had hidden.
"Solomon's Mana Amulet."
He muttered the name of the thing quietly.
Who was Solomon? Solomon was the genius Mage whose prowess was the closest with the Four Heroes back then at the Age of Chaos. He was the only person who went missing together with the Four Heroes.
Luckily, before he disappeared, he left many of his legacies behind. His legacies were sought by many. Even amongst his legacy's hunter, there were a lot of other races. That was how awesome Solomon was.
Mana Amulet was one of Solomon's lower class legacies. It had a function of gathering Mana naturally. Inside the gem of the amulet was a complicated Mana gathering rune that was personally carved by him.
The carving technique and the rune formula had remained unknown even until Basil's untimely death. That was the proof of how lacking the current Mage compared to the Mage of the Age of Chaos.
The amulet ability was simply awesome. Even though it had been there since 2000 years ago, it was simply unthinkable that a mere lower class artifact could be the source of Clear Water.
"Ah..."
Vagus who was already back inside Basil's mindscape, sighed in amazement. She knew of the amulet. She could feel the trace of profoundness from the amulet.
"Do you know it?"
"Yes. Although I haven't gained my conscience back at the Age of Chaos, I had heard it from Zepar when I have been awakened. He talked many things about Solomon."
"He talked to a sword?"
"No, why would he talk to a sword?"
"???"
"???"
An awkward silence befell upon them. Surely, the only one who felt awkward was Vagus. Basil was simply amused by her words. As if to clear the awkwardness, she coughed once.
"Kuhum. Back then, he didn't know that I had been awakened. Due to his arrogance, he had never done more than swinging me pointlessly."
Basil didn't really need that information, however he nodded at her in appreciation. He quickly took hold of the amulet and wore it on his neck. He could instantly felt the Mana in his surrounding, gathered around him.
Although it wasn't comparable to when he was practicing [Star Withering], it was only the passive ability of this amulet. Currently, he couldn't use any Mana. All of the Mana he had absorbed to his body had already been processed by his Core. Therefore, it was no longer natural Mana since it had been molded to suit his body.
It was the reason why the processed Mana called Qi. Once the Mana was converted into Qi, it wouldn't be able to be used as magic fuel. Therefore, to use the active ability of Mana Amulet, he needed to awaken his heart.
Luckily, he could do another thing with the amulet. It was binding it to himself. He took out a small knife he had hidden in his clothes and used [Reinforcement] on it. It was necessary, a normal knife could no longer hurt him.
That was the difference between Knight and Mage. Body Forging literally forged one's body. Therefore, even without [Reinforcement] one's body was inhumanly strong and durable.
Basil quickly pricked his finger and dropped the blood on top of the gem of the amulet. The red gem shone briefly, revealing the rune it had hidden. Basil didn't bother to inspect the rune. It was too small and complicated. When he felt a bond was formed, the gem stopped shining.
"Alright, now it is time to make the Catalyst."
Basil moved his body out of the stream. Strangely, his clothes remained dry. It was thanks to his Qi Barrier covering his body. It was no longer sloppy like the time at the Saberwolf cave. However, it wasn't perfect yet. There were many he could improve.
By the time he reached the ground, he sat himself down. He was feeling extremely tired. He had just advanced to the early stage of Red Core, there was no way he could remain alright after using [Mountain Cleaver] in addition to controlling Vagus' soul.
Therefore, he inspected his surrounding before deciding to have a shut eye. However, he couldn't rest that easily. He couldn't guarantee that no beast would walk on him on a whim. As he was about to stand up —
"Don't worry. I will guard you while you sleep."
— a reassuring voice was heard.
Once again, he felt a chill ran down his spine. For some reason, he felt comforted. That was admittedly the weirdest thing he had ever experienced since coming back in time. However, he soon ignored it and shut his eyes. He quickly drifted off to sleep.