An army of abominations marched beneath the gray skies, sheer resolve in the depths of their abyssal eyes.
Caleb had explained the situation in detail to Sigrun, and surprisingly, she was all for it, spouting sothing along the lines of modern-day royalty like her setting an example as a champion of humanity.
While her tone remained politely condescending, Daru admired her reason for helping Egress, definitely not because she just couldn’t bear to wait a month in Limbo.
Yes.
Elara Skov, as she had introduced herself, had also very willingly shared her abilities even with Lesha — sothing the Veshari definitely didn’t expect.
As it turned out, her sword, Sigrun, had an affinity with souls of the Underworld, or more accurately, with the afterlife.
She was currently looking for the first of her six Soul Avatars.
She would then gain the abilities and passives of the said soul...and stir their hidden potentials, at least that’s the extent of what Elara had figured out about her soulbound weapon.
The problem was that once a soul was chosen as an Avatar, it could not be replaced.
So, she must choose a worthy one that does not exceed the first slot’s level cap of 80, not just a random abomination’s.
Not to ntion, she cared about the appearance of the soul, too.
Elara stated that they must be as noble, elegant, and gorgeous as she. This was why she was in a hurry to leave Limbo.
This was, apparently, already her fourth attempt, and while she had been to other regions, the Swordspawns in them were either too strong for the current her or too ugly.
As for those in Limbo, they were both too weak and too unsightly for her tastes.
There was also the issue of the cooldown of her sword’s ability to open portals.
The higher the levels of the spawns dwelling in the Underworld Region were in relation to her own, the shorter the cooldown of the return portal, but she could only open a portal to a new, random region every month.
This was why she hadn’t succeeded in acquiring her first Soul Avatar yet — basically due to a mix of her high standards and her helplessness in the randomness of the portals.
Elara seed certain that things would eventually get better for her, though. She stated that her sword was simply a late bloor.
She didn’t miss the chance to jab at Daru, declaring with certainty that if not for her special circumstances, she would’ve left him and the three others in the dust.
He only smiled appreciatively at her confidence.
"Then maybe I should challenge you once you’ve acquired your first Soul Avatar..."
Caleb, anwhile, blinked in intrigue at the conversation. In fact, he was dying of curiosity.
It was already made clear that Daru and Elara sohow knew each other, since they were from the sa generation, but hearing that they were rivals was quite...unbelievable.
Sure, the forr was an anomaly of an S-ranker, but the latter was an untouchable SSS-ranker.
He couldn’t help but wonder why Elara even considered Daru a rival, and his interest in the matter was written all over his face.
Spotting a chance to gather more information, Lesha fanned the flas of the conversation topic.
"You look like you’re about to explode, or sothing. Why not just ask if you’re so curious?"
Elara heard Lesha’s words.
Strangely, she seed very enthusiastic in explaining the rivalry.
"Indeed, the little Veshari is correct. Why not just ask? A timid man isn’t too well-liked by won, you know?"
Lesha didn’t quite like Sigrun, but she was truly delighted by what the latter just said, letting out a stifled laugh that caused Caleb to blush slightly in embarrassnt.
"H-Hey! Watch it, I’m well-liked by won, too!"
"Hmm? Sohow, I doubt it, but no matter. The discussion is about this princess and this guy over here. I shall begin my explanation, so you guys better listen."
Elara cleared her throat, pausing for two monts before throwing light on how Daru beca this year’s duel representative, how he had thrown Valmaris into disarray after actually winning despite having received no assistance from the top powers of humanity, and how mysterious he was.
Caleb shuddered while Lesha whistled, both impressed in their own ways.
"So basically, this clueless guy here is sohow another champion of humanity like you? And that he’s an actual celebrity who sohow managed to hide his pretty face from your entire race, including the top dogs?" the latter asked.
anwhile, the forr broke out into a cold sweat.
He was not a stranger to the matters of the governnt, so he had a rough idea how rely ntioning Daru’s na to the SSS-ranker could have been a catastrophe.
This...wasn’t this a chance for the governnt?!
No one knows Daru’s true identity, and although he’s an S-ranker, he’s quite the glaring anomaly.
While Caleb dared not claim the younger bladeborn would be able to achieve sothing even remotely close to what Sword Saint Caladbolg was able to, what if...what if he could?
His eccentricness, at the very least, seed to be on par.
No.
Caleb could claim that Daru had a few more screws loose, and maybe those few extra would allow him to, even if not stand toe to toe, then at least be a reliable pillar for the governnt to preserve their authority for a while longer, giving the top dogs more ti.
Perhaps the two of them together could replace the mighty Caladbolg...
He was from a family that had served the world governnt since its establishnt, and he would and could never be loyal to another force.
Naturally, due to this, he was a wee bit more privy to the deeper matters compared to others his age, especially since he was once supposed to be the declining authoritative faction’s hope...until he got stuck in this god-forsaken realm.
’I must seek Daru out once we’re back to the Surface and rope him in before the Seven Sword Guilds could extend their invitations...’ Caleb grimly noted to himself.
Sigrun only knew Daru’s face, while he knew his na.
He had a small advantage that he must capitalize on before the rival factions extend their difficult-to-refuse invitations.
None the wiser about what was going on in the cherry blossom-haired SS-ranker’s mind, Elara only proceeded to nod in agreent at Lesha’s summarization before adding:
"Well, I’d say he was, but honestly, after discovering his rank, I’ve lost interest. This rivalry is probably only temporary."
She had been trying to provoke a reaction out of Daru since the beginning.
However, she was failing ti and again, and strangely, this boosted her hopes.
Perhaps the young man could do better than his soulbound sword’s rank suggested?
Unfortunately, the conversation couldn’t go on for much longer.
The Stone Castle was in view.
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