Chapter 379: A mighty clash (1/2)
As the light faded and the legendary armament was once again shown to the public, the crowd turned dead silent. The old man was holding a majestic-looking broadsword in his hands.
Its long blade was double-edged, neatly sharpened on both of its sides. The entire metal had a silvery shine, a royal hue to it, all of its almost meter-long length. From the rain guard to its sharpened tip, it was clear it was not made from any ordinary metal.
The hilt was also quite extraordinary. If Rygintarth's hilt was a dragon's head, then Sir Arthur's exquisite sword's hilt was akin to his namesake, a Roaring Lion. It had a pure golden shine, it's luscious mane served as both the cross and the handguard two in one.
Another thing that whilst not many noticed, Aiden, Ryg, and surprisingly, Drake also did. As soon as the exquisite-looking blade appeared, a new presence could be felt, albeit quite faintly.
Unlike with Ryg's case, this presence was very faint, more like an intent than a full-fledged spirit. It was similar to Mort, Drake's royal blade. Like an infant soul, that hadn't completely grown its consciousness, but was definitely sentient, and not just a coalescence of essences.
Another fact to note was that these infant souls, inhabiting these artifact-level weapons, that they all had a dominant will, a ruling intent if you will. In the case of Mort, while it may not be something that was usually present in these cases, it was Empathy, but in the case of this unnamed intent, it was Pride.
An aura of arrogance emanated from the blade, a hollow, light-blue hue coated the weapon's entire length.
Aiden's wide-eyed reverie was put to an end, when a loud guffaw, a peal of boisterous laughter filled the arena. Suddenly the eerie, dead silence broke, surprised yelps, wondrous hoots echoed in the balcony.
”Ahahaha, what is it boy, do you like Lornathiel?” The old man chuckled once more, as he slowly lowered the blade in front of his body.
While the name didn't cause any reaction, the old man still continued.
”As you may have guessed, it is of elven origin. Lornathiel or Lorn in short was a gift to our family quite some time ago…” He reminisced with a happy smile before he lightly shook his head and returned his piercing turquoise gaze on the boy ahead.
”Anyway… Are you ready? Don't worry, as I said before, I will match my strength to only be slightly above yours, so you will be constantly pressured and the little miss behind you will need to go all out to keep you stable.”
Shifting his eyes, Sir Arthur glanced at the masked lady a few steps behind the black-haired youngster.
”Missy… Since this is your test, let's say… hmm… We will go for five minutes. Your task will be to keep your partner up during that time. If he falls to the ground, goes unconscious, or for any reason would be deemed unfit to continue to battle before the time is up, your test will be considered a failure.”
He donned a gentle, warm smile before he asked the girl.
”Are you fine with that, little lady?”
Though not speaking, Galina nodded after a moment of hesitation at the old man's words.
Seeing that they have come to an agreement, Sir Arthur donned a happy smile, his focus slowly shifting to his main opponent.
”Perfect! So then… Aiden…”
His expression suddenly turned fierce, suddenly the wind around him erupted, howling ferociously. Heavy battle intent, his aura cultivated through countless hardships has unfolded, turning the air in the spacious hall increasingly colder.
A strange, mysterious glint flashed in his eyes as he transformed from his gentle, kind grandfather stance into the veteran warrior. Still, the growing grin on his face was speaking tales of the usual expectancy, betraying his previous display… There was something more in his visage than just wanting to test the boy's limits.
”…show me your power boy!”
Without wasting any more time, Sir Arthur jumped forward, instantly crossing the small distance between him and the boy, and struck down with his sword that was instantly raised above his head.
A vertical strike, a silver hazy blur whistled through the air with intense momentum, aimed to instantly cut the youngster in two halves if he weren't careful. There was no warning, no warming up, the old man instantly attacked with a shocking ferocity and viciousness.
Still, whilst this surprise attack could have been dangerous, or even fatal for most of the local adventuring community, it was nothing too difficult for Aiden to react to. Before the old man's blade could reach him, the obsidian blade of Ryg was already raised sideways, thwarting the silver lion-headed broadsword without much effort.