Ketlyn gulped as she approached the sword floating near Marcos and attempted to touch the handle, but her hands retreated reflexively the instant they entered the area where the majority of the sword's energy was concentrated. - "How am I supposed to control this blade with such ferocious energy?" Ketlyn's eyes widened in surprise, she never expected the sword to be so powerful, Ketlyn was certain that she couldn't even control 40% of the power that Henry used.
Dozens of guards not far from Henry and his party saw the commotion and began moving in that direction, the leader of this group was a young man with silver hair. - "What exactly is this energy? Why does it feel so much like the one in my new sword?" As he approached the aura, the silver-haired young man was taken aback when he realized that whatever was releasing this energy was even more powerful than his sword.
-" Pick up the pace, there is a magical treasure going berserk there, we need to evacuate the area!" The silver-haired youth instantly ordered the guards behind him and went to the source of the energy.
It didn't take him long to get to the place and figure out what was causing this phenomenon. The youth gritted his teeth as he felt his sword resonating with the energy of the berserk treasure, he grabbed the hilt of his sword and tried his best to control it, after all, one sword going berserk was already enough problem for him.
Ketlyn sighed in relief as she noticed the man approaching the sword, it appeared that the city guards had finally arrived. -" Hey, I need help! Can you control this sword?"
-" Control it?" The silver-haired youth swallowed as he came to a standstill and faced the blade, memories of this afternoon flashing through his mind.
His father, Abel Whitelock, had summoned him to one of his family stores, and when he arrived, he was given a peculiar sword. It was old and rusted, but when he grabbed it, he instantly realized how powerful the sword was.
What startled him, even more, was the arcane element on the sword. He had been looking for a weapon that fit his tastes since graduating from the Royal Academy, but he had never found one until now.
He immediately fell in love with the sword, but when his older brother arrived at the store, his chances of obtaining the sword faded, as he knew that between him and his brother, his brother would be the one to obtain the sword.
As he wallowed in his misery, he watched his father take another identical sword from his spatial ring and deliver it to his brother. As if this wasn't shocking enough, his younger brother and sister also received the same blade as the one he was holding.
When did it become so easy to find a fifth level sword in this part of the continent, especially an arcane element weapon? He truly believed his father had plundered an ancient tomb or something, as this was the only way to explain how he amassed so many of those swords.
The silver-haired youth was so eager to put his new weapon to the test that he decided to do it right away, at first, everything went fine. However, he eventually lost control over the sword as he kept increasing its power, narrowly avoiding disaster because his father was nearby to assist him. Of the four, only Silas, the older brother in the middle of the tenth cycle, had complete control over the sword.
Ketlyn's face paled as she saw the man freeze, and in desperation shouted once again.- " Hey! Can you control the sword?"
-" Control it?" Alden, the silver-haired youth, stared at the sword, his head shaking. "There is no way, maybe if I had arrived earlier, I could have done more. The only thing we can do now is to evacuate the area."
Alden was about to tell the guards behind him to begin the evacuation when he noticed a man approaching the sword. He couldn't feel any mana coming from him, so he assumed the man was ordinary. - "Hey, step away from the sword!" Alden screamed at the man, but his warning was too late, and the man seized the sword's hilt.
Alden's eyes widened as he noticed the man gripping the swords as if nothing was wrong, he expected the man's arms to explode, but nothing of the sort happened, on the contrary, as the man gripped the blade, the frenetic energy began to quiet down.
As the energy died away, silence fell over the area, Alden suspected it was a prank, after all, there was no way the man without a single ounce of magical power could handle that sword.
He turned to face the girl who had been speaking with him earlier, only to discover her face frozen in amazement as well. Alden was about to approach the man with the sword when he overheard him.
- "Hey, thanks for letting me win, I didn't expect you to be that polite." As the man concluded his sentence, the aura of the blade surged once more, but this time it was absolutely serene and tranquil.
The stars that appeared previously reappeared and adorned the sky above the square. The tumultuous mob around them began to calm down and stared in awe at the beautiful sky. Even Alden and Ketlyn thought the phenomenon was stunning.
-" So? Did I win the bet?" Henry asked Marcos, who was agonizing on the ground, with a cynical smirk. Henry's grin enraged him so much that he coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.
-"Don't pass out now, what about the bet?" As Henry was about to wake Marcos up, Ketlyn held his hand.
-" It's obvious that you won the bet, don't worry." Ketlyn felt her face burn with awkwardness, just a few seconds earlier, she was jealous of Marcos, but now she only felt pity.
"Could you please explain the situation to me? My name is Alden Whitelock, and I'm a captain in the city guard." Alden moved forward, waiting for the group to explain themselves.
Henry winced as he realized his small bet was likely to cause problems with the guards. -"Oh, I'm sorry for the trouble, this was simply a squabble between me and this guy, he wanted my sword, so we decided to make a wager." Henry apologized and bowed to Alden.
-" Is this your sword?" Alden was astonished, and he gave the man a closer look with a suspicious stare, Alden couldn't help but be wary of the man as he didn't have any mana on him, but he could still control the sword with ease.
Was this man, which looked to be younger than him, a hidden expert? Why didn't Alden sense any mana or Qi flowing through him? Aldren swallowed in anxiety as questions began to pour into his head.
Henry also became nervous, and he became even more concerned as the captain drew his sword. In terror, He was about to run away when he suddenly noticed a familiar energy from the man's sword.
He scowled as he examined the sword more closely. -"This sword?" The sword blade was made of bright blue metal. and looked eerily similar to his own, but, the sword that the man brandished looked to be in a way better shape. "How come they're so similar?"
-" I just received this sword today, and while I'm not sure how it got to my family shop, may I hold your sword?"
When Alden mentioned the family business, Henry's eyes lit up. -" Ehhh? Are you related to Jonathan?" Henry wasn't just startled because the sword he sold earlier was already in the hands of someone, but what surprised him, even more, was the condition of the weapon he sold.
When he sold it, the sword looked exactly like the one he was holding now, chipped and rusted, yet the sword now looked brand new. -" How can this be the sword I sold to Jonathan?" Henry was left speechless as he stared at the beautiful sword.
Alden's eyes lit up as the man mentioned Jonathan. - "You were the one who sold him the swords? Wow, I was wondering who was the one that found them!" Alden was thrilled to meet the man and extended his hand in a handshake as he introduced himself again. "My name is Alden, son of Abel Whitelock."
Henry accepted the handshake and introduced himself, feeling at ease as the man didn't seem to care about the incident.
Henry and Alden talked for a while longer, Alden was especially courteous to him because Jonathan had already spoken with Abel, Alden's father, about the swords' seller.
Henry was relieved that Alden didn't take the betting incident too seriously and let him off easy, in fact, Henry had feared that Alden would seize Henry's sword and keep it for himself.
-"I'm on duty today, so I have to leave, I hope we can talk more later." Alden was about to walk away when he suddenly remembered something and added it. "If you want your sword restored, go to Jonathan and tell him I sent you, and he'll do it for free!"
Henry accepted the gesture, as he thought his sword appearance was quite poor. Henry and the rest of the group continued to enjoy the festival after Alden left. Throughout the rest of the night, Ketlyn kept staring at Henry with a strange expression on her face.
They stayed at the festival for a few more hours before heading back, Makayla offered Isabella and Ketlyn a ride because the carriage had plenty of space.
Ketlyn sat directly in front of Henry on the way back, staring him down. She was suspicious of him. She was aware of his mana problem, and as she considered his situation, she could only come up with one theory.
He not only discovered a treasure that helped him overcome his mana deficiency and allowed him to cultivate, but he also discovered a way to conceal his cultivation.
-" Hey, Henry? It's okay if I visit your store?" Even members of the famous Whitelock family treated him with respect, so Ketlyn thought getting to know Henry would be a good idea.
-" If you want to spend money there, why i would stop you?"
Ketlyn felt awkward because Henry had misunderstood what she was saying, but she didn't mind. The carriage soon arrived at Isabella and Ketlyn's house, leaving only Makayla and Henry on board.
Henry sighed as the night was finally over, he never expect to gain so much tonight. " It's best if you don't use the sword I gave you for now." The system had already finished the analysis of all the items he got from Marcos, so he decided to pass the dagger to her sister. " You can use this dagger until you are in the fourth circle, have this spatial ring too."
Henry already had the spatial pouch he received from Jonathan and the system's inventory, so he didn't have any use for Marcos's ring.
Makayla accepted the dagger without hesitation, this night showed her that she need to be careful not only about the sword's incredible power but, the allure it caused in people. " Isn't it better if you hold the sword for now?" Now that she had another weapon, she didn't even mind keeping the sword.
-" Don't worry about it, just don't go around showing off the Star Tainted Sword too much." Henry trusted his sister and knew that she wouldn't do anything stupid with her magic weapon.
-"But you could at least put them in the store, I'm sure people would buy them if you put those items there."
-"I have enough money for now, and as I said before, I'm going to get some items to sell in the store as soon as possible." Henry recognized that for now, the most important thing for him was to analyze treasures so that the system could store even more energy signatures.
-" If you insist." Makayla felt it was like she was dreaming as she placed the spatial ring on her finger, every beginner cultivator dreamed of obtaining their first spatial item because it was a must-have treasure, and she even had another two magical weapons. "Thank you so much, Henry." Makayla hugged her brother tightly, she couldn't believe the turn of events in her life. Makayla thought even her teachers would be envious of her treasures.
"Hahaha, no problem, just remember what I said about going over your limits and showing off." Henry finally left like a true older brother. "Oh, I'll send our swords for repair tomorrow, so remember to pick them up before you return to the academy."