Nico became scared. He wanted to step back. Everyone around him started to gather, and they wanted to watch. Some even said, "Come on, take it!" They seemed to be challenging Nico to pull it out, and they were sure that he wouldn't be able to. It wasn't their fault though, because Nico had been pulling out all the swords around there carelessly and nothing responded to him.
Geralt then appeared among the crowd of people who were watching him. As soon as he saw Nico there, he half-screamed like Nico was a little child crossing the road without guidance. He immediately went into the crater and prevented Nico from walking any further.
"Nico. What are you doing here? This sword is dangerous. Do you see the smoke and the vibrations? It seems like this sword will be active soon. I don't know who it belongs to, but the owner will be coming soon. We have to stay away."
Nico stared at Geralt, who looked worried like a parent concerned about their child. Although his words were often firm and sarcastic, in reality, he was kind-hearted.
"Err... I'm not sure. But it seems like I activated it," said Nico.
Feeling sorry for Nico, Geralt whispered to prevent others from hearing, "What do you mean? It's impossible. Judging by its shape, this sword is at least a named sword. Not a cheap sword that you can just pull out carelessly."
"Named sword? Really?" asked Nico.
"If this is your sword, you will definitely feel its heartbeat. Didn't anyone tell you?" whispered Geralt.
"But the sword did beat towards me," replied Nico.
Geralt was surprised. "Huh? What did you say?" he murmured in confusion.
But because Nico never lied to him and his face looked serious, Geralt eventually said, "then be careful. Walk slowly and don't stumble. If something goes wrong, call me immediately."
Seeing all their reactions, this sword was clearly a special sword. Nico's courage dwindled. What if Nico tried to lift it, and the sword didn't budge? That would be so embarrassing! However, after thinking that he could be sent home because he didn't have a sword, Nico had to be brave and take every opportunity that arose, whatever happened.
Nico then stepped forward into the crater. But it wasn't just the smoke; the entire valley was now vibrating strongly. The ground there shook as if there were hundreds of bulls passing by. Moreover, the weather slowly changed, with strong winds blowing and dark black clouds appearing above them, accompanied by the sound of a distant storm rumbling.
Nico then stopped in his tracks. The shoes Arfin gave him now felt very hot. Nico lifted his foot and saw that the sole of his shoe was melting. No wonder his feet quickly grew hot, as if there was boiling water beneath the soles. Nico was confused. Since when did pulling out a sword become this terrifying?
There was no turning back. It was too late. Nico quickened his pace. As Nico approached, the ominous sword trembled and emitted sparks of fire in all directions.
Finally, when Nico stood next to the sword, the sound of cracking earth echoed throughout the valley. People started running and jumping because the ground they stood on was no longer stable.
Nico swallowed his saliva and froze. He felt that if he dared to pull it out, something bad would happen.
Suddenly there was a loud, thunderous cracking sound throughout the valley. The voice echoed loudly, using ancient language, "TAKES MY CROWN!"
The voice seemed to have its own law stream, forcing Nico's right hand to quickly reach for the golden hilt of the sword and draw it out. The blade was embedded deeper than Nico had anticipated. The sword turned out to be a giant four-meter-long sword, yet to his surprise, his small hand could easily pull the heavy sword.
Suddenly, like a mountain erupting, the crater surrounding the sword collapsed, then spewed out the sword along with the glowing red lava into the air. The next second, the sword exploded and made a very loud noise, knocking down everyone who was standing and making them fall to the ground. The sword shattered into thousands of pieces of light. The pieces shot off in all directions and formed an ancient mystical circle that spun around Nico, lifting him into the middle of the sky.
The next moment, a pillar of light shot from the sky and slammed into the earth like a meteor, striking Nico's body. In the blink of an eye, Nico screamed in pain as every particle in his body was filled with an enormous and incomparable amount of energy. Like a lightning bolt striking, his whole body convulsed and couldn't move at all.
Faintly, Geralt's voice was heard in the distance, "This is dangerous. Run! Get away from here!"
Thousands of swords that were normally still and planted in the ground suddenly began to tremble and were lifted into the air. Slowly, they rotated around the pillar of light, as if participating in this phenomenon. The ancient mystical circles that had surrounded Nico before changed color from golden to red, then shot beams of light onto Nico's hand and began to form a glowing sword that matched his hand.
The sword graveyard was initially shaped like a valley, but now its surface was cracked up and down everywhere, and many chunks of earth were thrown into the air, causing the cliffs to crumble and collapse in chaos.
The people there ran out of the valley, afraid of being swept away by the unexplainable phenomenon. Many people screamed and cursed in fear. Geralt was the last person to leave, carrying Arfin who was crying on his back. As soon as they left, a towering cloud of dust and smoke billowed up behind them.
The people who were sitting leisurely in front of the valley all stood up, confused. The pillar of light appeared only a few seconds ago, but it had cleaved the sky of Erteria with a tornado wind accompanied by a giant black storm cloud that covered the entire land.
"This is impossible," Lady Ephelia said, watching outside the valley. She had lived for three hundred years, but she had never witnessed a natural phenomenon like this before. Even her famous sword, The Ruler of Destroyer, had never caused any significant events when pulled out except flying around her once.
"Summon all the Aurora leaders. Quickly!" Lady Ephelia shouted. Her voice thundered like a lion's roar, making the people around her tremble.
The Guardian Knights who were gazing at the scenery snapped out of their daze and began to follow Lady Ephelia's instructions. Some led the wooden knight away, and some ran toward the castle to ask for help.
Lady Ephelia ran into the valley without hesitation. She then unsheathed her sword. Six sword blades flew out on their own and sliced through the ground in front of her, shattering it.
Sir Arman also emerged from the dust and ran quickly behind her. He used Lady Ephelia's strength to clear the way in front of him.
"I had said it before! I felt something very ancient in that kid. Something very powerful and legendary!" Arman exclaimed loudly.
"I thought you were joking," Lady Ephelia yelled back, countering Arman's voice amidst the deafening thunderstorm.
"My bet wasn't a joke. You owe me five coins of the order of knights!" exclaimed Arman, with a satisfied smile.
"You are so petty," Lady Ephelia grumbled, raising her index finger and swiping aside the stones in the air that blocked her way with the blade of her sword, which was circling around her.
"Wait, let me take back my words. This is worse than I thought," said Lady Ephelia. Her running steps suddenly stopped. Now that she was closer, she saw what caused all of this. "I'll even give you fifty coins!"
Arman's eyes widened as he realized what Lady Ephelia meant. "That's impossible!"
A giant storm had appeared, accompanied by spinning tornadoes around the pillar of light at its core. The storm produced lightning that struck all around the area, creating a terrifying lightning tornado. Thousands of swords were seen floating in the air and spinning clockwise around the pillar that contained a small figure at the center of it all.
"Of all the legendary swords, he drew the cursed Storm bringer!"