Dawn- An age of Darkness

We reached the castle in due time. Just inside the castle gates, our minister was waiting for us and so was Zack. There were some other people here too but I just ignored them. 

Alisa and the minister talked in hushed whispers. 

It was almost like I was watching a drama. But oh well. 

"Daarc!"

I heard a shout from my left. 

Apparently, the pretty boy had arrived and he seemed pretty happy to see me.

I kind of wanted to punch him, but in the end, decided not to. 

"Hey."

"Thanks for the other day." He looked at me with admiring eyes. I kind of wished he didn\'t. "I\'ll lead you to the showhouse."

Gorgon was dressed pretty nicely today and he had a rather dashing smile- the kind you\'d want to punch him for.

"Show-house?"

"It\'s a royal room filled with our treasures and we show it to the high nobles and royals from other countries."

Apparently, it was a museum for the rich. There weren\'t any museums in this world though. So, this was new.

"Sorry, don\'t really have much time."

Yeah, so said the guy who literally spent the last day sightseeing. I almost felt like a hypocrite- oh wait…

Gorgon chuckled. "I know. Your sword is there, so we\'ll take a look and after that, we\'ll travel to the Alablaster and get the land, how\'s that sound?"

I guess then it was fine. 

"Very well. Lead on!" Now the half-elf was really excited. 

We\'d probably be saying our goodbyes soon. After all, our deal was to just get the land and ensure nothing happens to that land. 

"Let\'s go I guess," I whispered to my right where Alisa was. 

And so, we went to the fancy museum or rather the showhouse. 

***

"You sure seem to be in a good mood," I whispered. 

The castle wasn\'t as busy as yesterday. There were still people running around but this felt more like Moire, than a capital. Oh well. 

"Oh, you see." He blushed. "She spent the last night with me." He looked like he was about to melt or something. 

I just rolled my eyes. "Good for you, but are you sure? I mean won\'t it become a problem?"

"I\'m the son of an earl, so technically, I\'m a noble, so it shouldn\'t be a problem."

Didn\'t see that one coming. 

But he had an older brother, didn\'t he?

I had so many questions, but this wasn\'t my problem, so I proceeded to ignore all of them. Besides, he seemed happy enough. 

We\'d reached the museum.

Well, it certainly was fancy. 

The floor was black marble, reflecting our blurry images. The ceiling was two-story high.

There was a massive chandelier. I was a sucker for chandeliers so it kind of instantly drew me in. 

"What would it feel like it that fell on us?" I wondered aloud.

Why did I have this crippling urge to be crushed by that chandelier?

"Stop being cynical. And let\'s go!" The elf grabbed my hand and pulled me along. 

There was plenty of things here and most of the people were just nobles. The rest were guards. 

Important gems, knives, swords, staffs, and even armor on display: this place was packed. And these guys actually had glass too, protecting the stuff. Gold was everywhere. \'Well, this is certainly fancy if nothing else.\' 

But there was just one thing in here that drew my attention and that was in the back, a black blade. I still liked the chandelier more though.

The sword was totally black and it almost felt like it was sucking the light out of its surroundings.

"So, that\'s the sword?"

We went closer and Gorgon removed the glass. 

The sword was pretty much the size of the mystic blade. But there was just one problem.

There was no handle. 

Yup, the whole thing was a curved black blade with a very, very sharp edge. It only had one edge.

"How the hell do you even hold this thing? And shouldn\'t we create a handle for it?"

"Someone actually built the building centering this sword. It was said that a demigod once wielded this blade, fell in battle, and from then on the sword had stuck to this very spot- not responding to anyone but the worthy. And so far, the sword has cut through anything that tried to touch it be it alive or not- all except this stone it\'s under."

Well, that wasn\'t good. I had a history with Ashirnae and if this thing decided to deem me unworthy then what?

The sword was just resting on top of a stone. The bottom part was also sharp and it didn\'t have a handle. But I got the feeling I could hold it at the bottom- and a handle might appear? I sure wasn\'t betting on that though. 

"Should I just go about and pick it up?"

Because if it could cut through anything, then yeah, I wouldn\'t be having an arm anymore. 

"You could try," Ve said.

Well, she wasn\'t confident. 

"Let\'s get this over with so we can move on to the next," the half-elf said. She wasn\'t confident either. 

"The sword would determine whether you\'re good enough or not, not the gods, not the mortals, no one. Just the sword, so relax," Alisa said. 

Yeah, no pressure. 

Anyway, I touched the sword, and a jolt of pain of run through my fingers as they fell on the floor. Yeah, I was missing three fingers on my left hand now.

Blood rushed out and I- "ARHGFHHFGH-"- screamed in pain. This was unbearable but- it wasn\'t over.

The blood stopped about a minute later as I kept on sipping on hi-potions. 

"Well, that was something." I breathed hard. The fingers weren\'t growing back. "That\'s a no, I guess?"

My companions were quiet. 

Some of the nobles had run away from here while some others just stared at us with fright and awe. 

But if I wasn\'t good enough for this thing wasn\'t then how come Xerphas told me to get it? Then why the hell did I spend so much time on this thing?

I took a deep breath, covered myself in Imbuition, and grabbed the sword- my whole hand fell down. 

I writhed in pain and screamed but- I had another hand. 

\'I\'m going to die anyway, right?\'

I grinned. "Yeah, I ain\'t backing down, you little shit!" I pulled out the mystic glove or whatever it was called, wore it, and immediately used every stone I could- my whole body glowed and my arm regrew. 

"Daarc you can\'t!" Alisa screamed and Ve dashed for me, but I ignored them. 

They\'d actually given me about ten meters of space.

I had about ten seconds of this power and I knew using this would surely make my curse activate this time but! But! I knew I was going to do this sooner or later- so- I held the mystic blade with my left regrown hand and this black blade- the mythic blade with my gloved right hand. 

I could see the aura\'s fighting- I could see the black blade absorbing- stealing my mana, but I wasn\'t stopping and I used my stones and the pendant too. 

Ve and Alisa were just in front of me, but they couldn\'t do anything now.

The glove was being cut and healed at the same time. I was being cut and healed too. This just went on!

I was out of breath and I was out of time but- "YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!"

As soon as the words escaped my lips- the world came to a halt.

And everything turned black!