At the end of the mountain, the waterfall split up into several streams filled with delicate silver fringed water, each heading in separate directions. One of the winding streams took steep a turn and dipped into a valley near the base of the mountain where Rudolph and Aryn hid behind lush thickets, eyeing the pack of Steel Hide Hyenas drinking from it.

Though Rudolph looked straight at them, his thoughts were in an entirely different place. A deep frown was etched across his forehead as he contemplated the several matters plaguing his mind, his bloodline skill being one of them.

Except for the Apocalypse Fireball skill which he couldn't use, for now, his Unruly Acquisition skill had been his biggest gain. Though he could use the skill, it came with the risk of affecting his personality, something he was deeply fearful of.

But the question was where did his bloodline come from?

Neither his father, nor his mother had ever talked about something regarding a bloodline or another world but it was normal since they never talked about anything, or anything useful. The chances were that they didn't know or even if they did, they wouldn't believe such things existed.

Him getting teleported to a different world and then coming to know that his bloodline carries a skill that is considered evil can't be just a mere coincidence, right?

Since he had such a skill that originated from his blood, does this mean he has the tendency to turn into a mindless killer, a psychopath at some point in his life?

He had contemplated telling Aryn that his skill was a bloodline skill but the thought of his only friend in this world looking at him with disgust changed his mind.

The unanswered questions made him pull out his hair in frustration.

"What are you thinking, Rudy?" Aryn asked.

"Nothing, I was thinking about the katana I had before I got teleported. I can't remember where I lost it." Rudy said, half lying. This was also one of the questions on his mind.

"Some weapons can bind to their users. They will hide on their user's body and show themselves upon being summoned by them," he explained.

"Try doing the same or check your equipment menu. If you do have it on you, it must be listed there." he continued.

Rudolph took this as a chance to look at the equipment menu, something considering his dilemma, he hadn't had the time to do so.

 

---

♦ Equipment

[Black Impermenance] (Basic) (Sealed, 11/11) (Requirement: Soul Stability: 500)

Description: Sword forged from the combination of Orachilum and horn of an Elder Demon.
Provides a small dexterity and strength buff.
Currently placed under 11 seals that greatly restrict its power.

First Seal Unlocking Requirements:
• Kill 50 beasts Ranked Basic V or higher.
• Learn Aether Manipulation (Basic)

---

 

Additional ability: Aether Disruption — Every wound caused causes the opponent to lose 1% control over their aether. Can be stacked with other debuff skills.
Activation cost: 2 Aether/ Second.

Rudolph's face turned to surprise as he read the katana's description. He had no idea what the standard of a powerful weapon was in this world, but he was sure that even If his weapon wasn't a good one, it wouldn't be that far off.

He followed Aryn's instruction and thought of having Black Impermanence in his hands. Soon, a cloud of black smoke rolled out from his body and took shape of a black sheathed katana which now lay in his extended hands.

"If I am not wrong, that's an aether artifact," Aryn said as he laid his eyes on the shimmering black katana.

Before Rudolph could ask what an aether artifact was, Aryn continued, "An aether artifact is a weapon or an object that can handle aether integration. Normal weapons would corrode as they come in contact with the aether but aether artifacts remain undamaged. Some excellent crafted ones could even hold an additional skill or two that can be utilized by pumping aether into them but I doubt yours is one of them. Though I cannot see its description, the white glow it emanates means that it is a Basic Ranked weapon, and even outstanding basic ranked aether artifacts aren't able to hold an additional skill."

"You can't see its description?" Rudolph asked as he stroked the black scabbard. It had some kind of charm that made Rudolph calm and forget about the matters troubling his mind.

"No. I cannot. Nobody can unless they are an appraiser possessing a high-ranked identification skill. Even they have to ask for their owners' permission if they want to study their artifacts. Generally, the only way to find out the rank is from the glow they radiate. Basic artifacts have a white glow, iron has a metallic grey glow, orange for the bronze, silver for the silver ranked, and gold for the gold-ranked. Diamond ranked weapons have no glow and there has yet to be an artifact above that level." Aryn asked and took out the antique wooden staff off his back.

"Guess what rank this staff is."

Rudolph concentrated on the staff and found a grey glow emanating from it. He was sure it hadn't been there the previous time he had seen it.

"Iron ranked?" Rudolph asked, skeptically.

"Yes, this staff is an iron ranked aether artifact," he said and then murmured some words that made the silver glow vanish from the staff.

"What about now?" he asked.

"Diamond ranked?"

Aryn had to stifle his laugh after hearing Rudolph's answer and then seeing his clueless face, lest they draw attention from the pack of Hyenas.

"Surely you just Rudy. How can I have a Diamond ranked artifact? Even in the whole Arabor Empire, the only recorded Diamond ranked artifact happens to be the Amulet Of Kings, which happens to be in possession of the King himself." Aryn let out a small muffled chuckle. "This is just a basic skill that blocks the glow emanating from an artifact."

Rudolph nodded his head and looked to the Steel-hide Hyenas near the stream. He would have taken them for steel statues if it wasn't for their movement.

"What's the matter with that lot?" Rudolph asked.

"Those are Steel-hide Hyenas. They usually have a combat ability between 100 to 200 points but their main advantage lies in their defense. Their metallic fur is hard as steel and normal weapons would be hard pressed to leave a wound on their body. You can either use brute force to squash their internal organs or get a weapon sharp enough to cut through their hard fur and the weapon in your hands happens to be one." Aryn said.

"Can I have a go at them?" Rudolph asked.

"Oh, you want to face them?" Aryn was surprised upon hearing Rudolph's request. He had planned to take a detour around the stream to avoid facing the Hyenas, not because he was scared of them but because he didn't want to waste his time, fighting such low-ranked beasts.

"Hmm. I want to know how I fare against beasts of the same rank as me." Rudolph said and stood up from his hiding spot.

Chuckling, Aryn said, "Same rank? Not anymore buddy, try checking your archives again."

Rudolph gave him a long stare before opening his soul archive.

 

---

Rudolph Foster

Overall Combat Ability: 350

Soul Stability: 680

Human (Basic II)

Origin Essence: 0/5

Class: None

Profession: None

Health Points: 30/30

Stamina Points: 24/30

Aether: 30/30

♦ Mechanisms

♦ Equipment

♦ Miscellaneous

---

 

"How?" Rudolph asked. "I didn't receive any notification for ranking up."

"Because the overall combat ability is superficial at best. It's a measure of your stats and skills, not your actual combat prowess. It doesn't account for the effective utilization of skills. Believe me, I have seen many upsets where a low-ranked person has defeated a higher-ranked person. It isn't rare. It's your utilization of skills that matter the most. Soul record doesn't highlight anything that is indefinite." Aryn explained.

Rudolph understood what Aryn was trying to imply. The combat ability was just a ranking of the sort that only saw the rank of a person's skills plus his stat. Even low-ranked skills if effectively utilized can be helped to overpower an opponent of higher rank, if they suck at utilizing their skills effectively.

"Still I want to see where I stand," Rudolph said.

"As you wish but I will only let you fight one Hyena at a time. I will restrain the rest of them and intervene when you get beaten up." Aryn said.

"Thanks for the encouragement," Rudolph said and rolled his eyes at Aryn.

SWISH!

Rudolph unsheathed Black Impermanence and stepped out of the thicket. The pack of Steel-hide Hyenas, when they saw Rudolph, growled at him and started to form a circle around him. Before they could succeed, vines and roots of the nearby plants entangled around the four of them to hold them in place, leaving only one of them for Rudolph to face.

The feral creature paid no heed to his trapped comrades and growled at Rudolph who was only several meters away from it, inching closer with a sword raised over his head.

The Hyena growled once again but this time it lunged forward, aiming to bite Rudolph's neck with its foaming maw.

Its jagged teeth only found empty air as Rudolph rolled to the side, barely escaping.

'This critter is fast!' He thought.

Rudolph had no experience in fighting or hunting wild animals. Though he had learned some Kendo, the technique was far different from learning how to wield and fight with an actual sword. His experience in sword fighting only came from anime and mangas but surely that wasn't going to help him in this fight.

The Hyena didn't give him any respite and continued to chase after him, sometimes lunging, sometimes clawing and every time Rudolph would dodge by a hair's breadth.

His movements were getting sluggish and the Hyena was still hearty as ever. The Hyena took advantage of this situation and pounced at Rudolph, who wasn't able to step aside in time and earned a gash across his thighs. He also didn't let this chance go in vain and delivered a slash across the Hyena's side, leaving a long cut across its exposed side.

"Fuck!" Rudolph cursed as he limped back. He knew he couldn't kill the Hyena with his lack of combat experience, wounding it was the best he could do.

The Hyena also whimpered and stepped back. Blood leaked from its wounded side, dying the grey fur red.

Rudolph checked his stamina and found it was close to running out. The gash across his thigh had also him lose 5 points in health.

His resolve to kill the Hyena was still sky high but his stamina was at the bottom. He was about to signal to Aryn to intervene so he could recover his stamina and fight the Hyena after that when a new prompt appeared in his vision.

 

---

DING! Inbuilt sword tutorial activated!

Stillsword Art:

Completion rate: 0%

---