Kevin was a bit confused so he asked ignoring everyone's shocked look after he revealed those Stats : "Alan, since you're a mage you don't have chakra, so you can't use the fire attacks of your sword, right ?"
Alan picked up his sword and answered mechanically because he still had a hard time believing that his cousin had given him such a powerful weapon : "Wrong ! Of course I can use it ! And it's even better for me, I wouldn't need to use a lot of Soul force to activate the fire attacks of this sword."
In front of Kevin's puzzled gaze he said : "Let me explain. Mages are not supposed to fight with weapons because they can already use spells to defend themselves and attack.
An artifact is a weapon where we have introduced so many particles of an element inside, that they can reproduce on their own and can therefore be used at will.
But to launch an attack with it, a fighter will have to provide a minimum of chakra, and for a mage, it's enough for him to concentrate the particles which are inside the sword to cast a spell."
Kevin then asked to be sure he understood correctly : "So, it's like this sword is a reserve of fire particles for you, is it ?"
Alan nodded : "You got it right, by using the fire particles that are inside this sword I will also save a lot of Soul force for casting spells.
However, to be able to use this artifact at its full potential I would need to test it to find out how long the particles take to reproduce."
Kevin then thought that what Alan had just told him sounded like the special attacks in the virtual reality games he had played in his home world, which needed a cool down to be usable again.
Alan had frozen, he finally realized what he was holding in his hands, he said then looking at them : "I hadn't even noticed that this sword was an artifact, as long as the blood pact isn't created, I cannot feel the particles of fire that are inside it."
Erik then said to him : "What are you waiting for then, do it my love !"
Alan looked at him and then said : "Take it sweetheart, I can take another sword, it doesn't matter for me."
Erik looked at him surprised then he shook his head and said to him : "What are you talking about, I remind you that this is a gift from your cousin, and Kevin has already found for me powerful weapons."
He added to appease his man : "And he was right you know, I'm much more comfortable with axes than swords to fight, you'll see, you're going to be blown away."
Kevin smiled when he saw that Alan wasn't very happy that Erik refused to take this sword and he couldn't help but think that Axel had tried to do the same thing to him yesterday and that he had reacted exactly the same way as Alan.
He then said to Alan : "Don't worry about Erik, he will become very strong trust me, and this sword is perfect for you, the fire element is one of your elements so you will be able to use very powerful spells thanks to this sword."
Axel finally said to help Alan to make the final decision : "Kevin is right, this sword is perfect for you and you are aware of it, so make a fucking blood pact with it, and after that we will leave."
Alan eventually capitulated, and he cut one of his fingers with the blade of the sword.
When the sword has absorbed enough of his blood, a red glow enveloped them both and that glow disappeared after only just a few seconds.
Kevin was a little skeptical and he asked : "Is that all ?"
Alan looked at him puzzled and asked him in turn : "Yes that's all, why ? What exactly did you expect ?"
Kevin saw that they were all looking at him strangely so he explained to them : "Well, it's just that when I made the blood pact with the book, two golden beams appeared.
The first one hit my chest and make the pentagram mark appear on it, and the other one hit my forehead and I guess that it was to create the link between the book and my mind, and that link is represented by the System.
And for me it lasted 5 minutes while your blood pact with your sword lasted only a few seconds."
Axel then frowned and said : "You never told me about it … Alan, golden beams … Are you thinking at what I'm thinking."
Alan nodded quite shocked and he said : "It would explain why his uncle killed his father so he could take it over."
Kevin then asked them because it could feel that it was something important : "What are you two thinking about ?"
Axel then said to him : "This book was surely a divine artifact, it's the most powerful grade of all the artifacts, and that's probably why your System is so useful and why it continues to evolve."
Alan and Erik exclaimed at the same time : "It has evolved !"
Kevin scratched the back of his head and explained to them what he had discovered this morning and the change in his menus.
They were both speechless and Kevin took the opportunity to activate his perception skill, he was too curious to know if he could see the Stats of Alan and he said to him : "Alan, I will try to see your Stats, but I don't guarantee anything because in my opinion you are too powerful for me to see them in detail, but it's worth a try anyway."
Sword : High grade artifact, Fire element spell level 7 maximum.
Mastery of the elements : Fire element level 8, Wind element level 7.
Crafting potions : hight grade potions.
Kevin immediately exclaimed : "Wow, you are so cool !"
He immediately read Alan's Stats to them and Alan looked at his sword like he couldn't believe it, he repeated : "Level 7… I can use a spell of level 7 with this sword … It's completely mind-boggling."
Axel was really satisfied, thanks to that, no matter what was inside that purple dungeon, he was confident that the four of them would be enough to deal with it.
He motioned for Kevin to get onto his back and he kept his two swords in his hands so that Kevin could find a comfortable position for this trip, then he said to Alan and Erik : "Kevin is still too slow and he doesn't have enough stamina to be able to follow us on such a long distance, but you two try to follow me and not slow me down too much."
He had said that last sentence in a playful and provocative tone on purpose to motivate them to give their best, and he said when he saw that they were ready : "Let's go !"
They both nodded and started to follow Axel when the latter started running through the forest, today he couldn't use his wolf form to go faster but thanks to the Stats of his weapons his speed had increased a lot.
He was careful not to outrun Alan and Erik too much and after 3 hours of running at full speed without stopping, they finally arrived in front of the purple vortex.
When Kevin got off Axel's back, he immediately took out two Mind Protection potions high grade, one for himself and one for Erik, that would save them from being hypnotized by this unknown force for the next 2 hours.
Apparently, Axel was immune to this influence and so he assumed Alan must be too.
He gave the potion to Erik and explained to him what it was.
Erik took it and drank it without hesitation, he knew that he wasn't strong enough yet and he didn't want to be a burden for his friends and especially not for the man of his life.
Kevin then saw the same messages as the last time appeared in front of his eyes but this time there was the countdown with it.
[ OPTIONAL QUEST 1 ]
Warning : the dungeon will close in 18 hours 12 minutes 49 seconds.
Team up with Axel and 2 other powerful people and kill the dungeon boss.
- Reward 1 : 30 Stats points
- Reward 2 : 50 000 gold coins
- Reward 3 : Choose 4 high grade items in the System's Store
[ OPTIONAL QUEST 2 ]
Warning : the dungeon will close in 18 hours 12 minutes 49 seconds.
Kill all the demons inside the dungeon : 0 / 320
- Reward 1 : 50 000 gold coins
- Reward 2 : Legendary grade box × 1
Kevin gave them the remaining time to loot this dungeon and he saw Alan walk towards the vegetation that was dead around the purple vortex.