B2 Chapter 17: Spoils of War

B2 Chapter 17: Spoils of War

When Luke came to, he was back in his room in Cyzicuss castle. In the same clothes he had fallen unconscious in.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he immediately shot to his feet a moment later, a protective talisman appearing in his hands and encased him in a golden bubble. His heart thumped in his chest in panic as he reconciled the last thing he remembered to his current situation.

It was only upon seeing the familiar surroundings that he gradually began calming down. He took a deep breath, just taking a moment to bask in the magnitude of what had happened.

Holy shit, he whispered.

A grin slowly formed on his face.

He had killed a Hero, avenged Sophia, upgraded his sword, and to top it all off earned hundreds of stat points. In the span of a couple of days, taking him from the beginning of the Warrior-tier to around a quarter of the way through.

Not bad at all. He thought to himself approvingly. Super dangerous, but when everything works out that well, I cant really complain. No risk, no reward and all that. He clenched and unclenched his hand. Taking a moment to just bask in his new found strength.

A single stat point in the Warrior-tier, went much further than one in the Mortal-tier. With a ratio of one to one-hundred, he had known that intellectually, but feeling it only made that more real, and left him eager to test his strength.

Soon. He affirmed to himself, already planning on challenging every Warrior he could think of. From Clite, to Nel, and even Heracles. He wanted a true measure of his abilities.

The prospect made him both excited and nervous. He was impressed and satisfied with how much he had grown, but knowing the distance he had covered, and what still remained Well, it was hard not to feel insignificant in the face of powers so much greater than him.

Even so, he was happy with what he had. The gains he had made were nothing short of astronomical, and cultivation was a marathon, not a sprint mostly.

Lets see He felt for the Seed planted in his soul, and went to open his status.

Instead, a glint of gold caught his eyes, and his gaze immediately locked onto his sword Maximus, resting on a polished wooden rack on the other side of the room. Almost in a trance, he flew towards it.

It looked different.

Since he had bought it in the Luminous Sky Society, Luke had lost count over how many hours he had spent staring at the beautiful blade. He was intimately familiar with every nook, edge, and bend it had. Then once he had killed his first Sky Serpent with Nel over a month ago, he had right away noticed the thin blue line that ran down the groove in the center of it.

The changes this time were much more significant.

The blade had gained a foot in length, and looked both graceful and menacing where that extra length came from, he didnt know. Considering all the other ridiculousness he had borne witness to since he arrived on Theos however, the added mass didnt concern him too much. Chalking it up to another mystery of mana to be looked into at a later date, he resumed his inspection of his upgraded blade, while making a mental note to start keeping a journal full of his questions, lest he begin forgetting all the questions he needed an answer to.

The gem encrusted in its pommel shimmered a little brighter than he remembered, and the blue line in its groove appeared to have deepened a little. As if the color had sunk a little further into the blade.

It looks like an entirely different sword. He nodded to himself, feeling a tad relieved.

He didnt expect to run into anyone from Carim or maybe one of the handful of people from the Society who might recognize the sword. Nor were blades made out of gold uncommon among cultivators, but it was something he had been concerned about in the past. Not enough to never use his sword again, but enough to give him minor bursts of anxiety at night when on the rare occasion he didnt exhaust himself enough to fall asleep the second his head hit his pillow.

I probably should have changed my name when I got here though. He sighed deeply. It is what it is. Luke is a fairly common name, so its not like anyone will be able to track me just based on that. Moreover, I look completely different, and now with my sword looking nothing like it used to Im even more in the clear.

Of course, Elder. Ill inform the Emperor that youve awakened. She said hurriedly, and then before he could respond, rapidly pulled the cart back, and disappeared down the corridor.

Shaking his head in amusement, he found a sheath for his blade, and strapping it on he slid the sword into it. He had plenty of time to learn of its new capabilities, especially with the tournament months away, but now wasnt it.

Taking another deep breath, he looked around his room again, and touched down onto the ground. It was time to face the music. Striding towards the door, he rested his hand on the knob, before suddenly stopping in his tracks.

A single thought rang in his mind. The final part of the quest.

The Rebels storage ring.

Patting himself down, he reached into his pocket and sagging in relief, he pulled out two rings. One belonging to the Hero and the other to the Warrior he had killed.

Thanking whoever it was that had moved him for not taking them, he turned them both over in his hands. It was obvious which one belonged to who. Both were simple, unmarked bands of metal. One gold, and one silver.

The silver one belonged to the bald teen he had killed, while the gold one belonged to the Rebel that was the real prize. Whether they belonged to a Warrior or a Hero though, both of them were dangerous. Booby-trapped if what he knew was right.

I guess I could just give them to Cyzicus or something, and see if he can get into them. Its not like anything thats in there is going to implicate me in any way.

But

An unwilling expression spread across his face, before he shook it off.

Ive been cautious so long that its becoming a habit Thats not good. They left the rings with me, and Im the one that killed her. I cant really speak for every Argonaut, but I dont think any of the people here would rob me anyway.

Besides Cybele probably took the one thing of value that was in the ring anyway Maybe even what the Seed wanted me to get. I wonder what that circlet was? A crown of some sort. She mentioned Clan Skyscar being descendants of Ouranos which is wow and then said something about him imprisoning his wife here. If I remember my myths right, that would be Gaia.

Gaia, a crown, and the descendant of a hopefully dead god, trying to rule over where another hopefully dead goddess was imprisoned eons ago.

Considering that the island is attacked by Earthborne I doubt its a coincidence.

Is that the curse? He absently wondered, lightly rubbing his thumb over the ring, careful to keep his mana fully contained. Was the circlet something to do with the Island? Is that why the Rebel was trying so hard, and going so far to dethrone Cyzicus.

Resolving to bring up the issue with the man himself, he put the two rings back into his pocket, before stopping once again.

On a whim, he activated his inventory, and attempted to send both objects inside. Fully expecting to fail, like he had every other time.

Instead, they both went in.

Huh.