Chapter 43 The Cursed Sword, Grace
The cursed sword, Grace, was found by three students of the academy. They were in the second year of their class, all three of them had made an adventure team and took on a request to make some money.
The academy supports their students in any way they can, with their influence which almost reaches anywhere in the first continent providing a student with an adventure guild card was easy.
There are many guilds which are spread all over the three ruling forces. The adventure guild, the mercenary guild and the information guild.
The adventure guild mostly works in subjugating monsters and scouting monsters' den or places with unnatural phenomenons.
The mercenary guild takes up the job of guarding or protecting anyone who offers enough money, mostly merchants are the one who use this guild the most.
The information guild just as it sounds collects information about anything. They have their hands in all the political issues of the kingdoms and empire.
All these three guilds have a headquarter in every city, village and capitals.
There is another guild named the assassin guild but its existence is not confirmed by any of the three ruling forces. But almost all aristocrats have a connection with the assassin guild without exception.
The three students from the academy where all boys, they had accepted a request to check the reason as to why the people of the villages who died near the hills started becoming a undead. There were mysterious occurrences of monsters or animals turning into undead and attacking the villages too.
Different kinds of plagues hit the villages killing tens of people.
The three students of the academy were able to find a cave near one of the hills.
There were three items within the cave, a sword, earring and a bracelet. All three of the items looked expensive. The three students of the academy could not control their greed and decided to distribute the three items evenly between each other.
They quit the request of the adventure guild and went back to the academy. The two people who took the earring and bracelet lived their student life happen but it did not last for long.
The student who had taken the sword started acting weird, he became short tempered with his eyes becoming bloodshot as the day passed by. After four days, he stopped attending the classes and never came out of the room. f𝐫𝑒𝗲𝙬𝒆𝚋𝐧૦𝘃𝗲l.c𝚘𝘮
In the sixth day since he got the sword, an unbelievable level of blood thirst rose within him. He hugged the sword and kept mumbling.
["this is my sword..my sword...my sword.....my..... kill, yes I should kill anyone who come near it."]
With a smile on his face which made people doubt if a smile like that is possible, he went out of the room. The corners of his lips started bleeding as they tore apart the more he smiled.
That day he killed eight students in the academy before being killed by a professor. After investigating, it was found out that the sword was found in an unknown cave. The earring and bracelet was confiscated by the students as it might be something dangerous.
The sword was sent to the sun god temple to be purified of the curse but the pope said it was impossible to purify or destroy the sword. Even the whole sun god temple was helpless against the sword.
Zick has been having problems with his sword for a while, all his sword would break easily or just couldn't handle his black mana anymore.
Zick remembered there was another line written in the novel while it said about the cursed sword.
[In the end, no one knew that only when all three items are used together can they bring out the sword's real power.
The destined person waiting for the sword would never get any salvation.]
Though Zick didn't know who this destined person was, he knew that using the earring, bracelet and the cursed sword at once was the correct way to use it.
The location of the cave was a mountain point which is filled with nothing but hills and a few villages. The place name is grerse point.
Zick controlled the wyvern to go through a way which would not gather any attention upon him.
It would have usually taken 3 days if Zick had travelled like before but he was able to reach there within a day using the wyvern.
Mountains upon mountains appeared as far as Zick could see, there were villages between the mountains with people moving around in it. Some people were able to see the wyvern flying in the sky. Children pointed at the wyverns and showed it to their parents.
The villagers became hectic seeing the wyvern but Zick ignored them and searched for the hill mentioned in the novel. It was a hill near this village, it was craggy and steep and very difficult to climb. He found it easily as it was the biggest hill around here.
The wyvern landed upon the top of the hill, getting down, Zick looked around. The hill was covered in fog with cold winds blowing past his cheeks. He was able to feel everything on the hill with his senses so he found the cave in no time.
"Guard the two dragon eggs and stay here"
Releasing more dragon fear, Zick ordered the wyvern.
Zick started heading towards the entrance of the cave, it looked like a normal cave with nothing special. But Zick knew that this was the place where the student found the cursed sword as his instincts gave him an uncomfortable feeling.
'Even my instincts have been enhanced after eating the dragon heart.'
Zick was able to see what was within the ruin easily, it was the same as described in the novel. It was totally empty with only the three items in the end of the cave.
Zick entered it without any hesitation, reaching the end of the cave he was able to see the three items. A sword was stuck in the pedestal, it was plain with nothing special or unique to it, the only thing that can be said to be unique to it is that it was black in colour, it felt like it was only made to complete its task of being used as a sword.
Zick felt uncomfortable staying near the sword. A jewellery box and a bracelet was kept above a stone table attached to the wall. f𝙧𝒆𝚎𝑤e𝚋𝓷o𝘷𝗲l.c𝐨m
'I should first wear the earring and bracelet then take the sword.'
Zick walked towards the rock table and picked up the jewellery box. Opening it there was a single earring within it, the earring was small with only a red jewel stuck in it.
'I should have pierced my ear before coming here.....well whatever.'
Bringing the red earring near his ear, he directly pierced it on his ear.
Drip.
A drop of Zick blood fell on the ground, he checked his body for any difference but nothing changed even after wearing the earring.
The bracelet was made of a brown metallic material, a red gem was attached in the middle, there was a black sun emblem in it. Putting on the bracelet, he still found nothing happening within his body.
'...lets try picking up the sword'
Zick got up the pedestal and looked at the sword warily. It was still a cursed sword which can make a person become crazy for blood so he was wary of it.
Extending his hand, he caught the hilt of the sword but still nothing happened.
"Haaaaaa..."
Breathing out loudly, Zick pulled out the sword from its pedestal.
SWISH!
The sword came very easily without any resistance. Zick still looked at the sword warily, not letting his guard down. He tried circulating mana into it but that's when changes started happening to the earring and bracelet.
Both the bracelet and earring turned into red mana particles and flowed into the gauntlet he was wearing on the palm of his hand. A burning sensation appeared at back of his palm.
'Really....there is nothing that doesn't hurt these days.....'
With a lamenting feeling rising within him, Zick beared with the burning pain in his palm.
The pain vanished after a few seconds almost like it never happened. Taking off his gauntlet, Zick looked at the back of his palm. It was the same hand from which he had held the cursed sword.
A black tattoo had been imprinted there, it was round shaped with a black sun in the middle.
Zick could feel a weird connection with the sword the same as the two eggs. He could feel where the sword was located just like the two eggs. This would help if he ever lost his sword or the two eggs in the future.
(Ohh so someone was able to become the master of this cursed sword)
Suddenly Zick heard a voice in his head, a surprised look appeared on his face. He could not feel any presence near him, a weird thing had entered his head without him noticing.
'Who?'
Zick asked suspiciously.
( Don't be so suspicious now, my name is Shevror Mertis, I was once the owner of this cursed sword. this is just a remnant soul that I left within this sword so I can't harm y-)
His voice was cut off as Zick started using dragon fear. The dragon fear affected the remnant spirit in Zick's head and weakened it further.
(Wait,wait, wait! I just wanted to ask you a question and...wait, were you a dragon but you are so weak.....wait are you a dragon slayer.....?)
'What is that?'
Another word that he had not read in the novel appeared from this remnant spirit mouth.
(Dragon slayer are people who have eaten a part of a dragon body and made it their own.....but they were all killed by the dragons a long time ago.)
'I see....so what did you want to ask me?'
Zick decided to hear out the remnant spirit after weakening it enough.
(....I just wanted to hear out the reason to why you chose to wield this cursed sword.....I can tell the truth apart from lie so don't try lying)
Though he said it like this, it felt more like he was pleading to Zick.
'I just wanted a sword which won't break, nothing more'
( You chose a cursed sword because you wanted a sword which won't break?)
The remnant spirit sounded absurd.
(hahaha...really you must have something wrong with your head. don't you know someone wielding a cursed sword becomes the enemy of the whole world?)
Zick frowned hearing him, there was nothing like this in the novel. But an assumption appeared in his head.
'...they don't hunt people with a cursed sword anymore'
(What...? just how many years have passed since the day I died?)
'Don't know'
Zick hadn't heard the Shevror Mertis in his whole life So he did not know anything about him.
(This.....how can no one find this cursed sword...)
The remnant spirit voice sounded more and more distant by the second, then Slowly it stopped speaking.
Zick destroyed the fragments of the remnant soul in his body with dragon fear. Putting the cursed sword within his space ring, he started heading towards the wyvern.
'well I did get what I came for...'
Zick didn't care about happened to the former wielder of this cursed sword. Just knowing the fact that this belonged to him now made him feel lighthearted.