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9:50 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

Hektor, sweating profusely, panted heavily as he examined his right arm. A terrifying tribal mark occupied the entire arm, pulsating with power that greatly shocked the young man. He finally understood what the sword spirit meant when it said he had not received the full inheritance. Comparing the presence of the current mark to the previous, was like comparing an elephant to an ant, or the heavens to the earth.

Hektor circulated his ki, and to his surprise, the moment his ki flowed through his right arm, a stream of information piggy-backed on the ki flow to his brain, giving him a full understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of the mark. Hector immediately closed his eyes to digest the information, seemingly momentarily forgetting about the two realm-shaking figures waiting on him.

The light frown on Sram's face deepened when she saw this. "He's truly just like him when he was young," she muttered, and although she did not look at the sword spirit, they both knew who she was talking about.

The sword spirit shook its head and turned its attention to the struggling youth. However, his concentration was once again broken by Sram.

"Why are you helping him?"

The sword spirit turned to look at the war goddess. "I am afraid I do not understand your question. The child is taking a test like everyone else. I am not helping him."

"Liar," Sram snorted with a snort. "You might be able to fool him, but not me. These bones," she said, pointing at the tiny mountains. "Even though hundreds of years have passed, I can still sense powerful mana and ki in some of them. These people were surely top warriors when they were alive. Do you expect me to believe there's a test they can't pass that this kid can?" Sram folded her arms and glared at the spirit. "You failed those people on purpose, but you are letting this child have a go. Why don't you drop the pretense, and surrender. The outcome's going to be the same anyway."

The sword spirit raised a brow. "You must have been lonely the past millenia. I do not recall you being this talkative."

"You!" Sram bellowed as a duanting aura exploded outward. Luckily, she managed to retain the presence of mind to isolate Hektor from its effects as she glared at the sword spirit. "You want to die!?" She roared through gritted teeth.

The sword spirit's red eyes flashed with excitement and clear bloodlust as it challenged, "It's not clear which of us will die."

Sram absolutely lost it. To think a mere sword spirit would be this cocky in her presence! Furthermore it was the sword spirit of the man she hated most! "Die then!" She roared and had already thrown the first punch when Hektor suddenly grunted.

The young man's grunt as he opened his eyes awakened the war goddess from her rage. Sram's fists abruptly stopped inches from the sword spirit's chest. At the same time, her eyes narrowed as she looked to the side and saw the fist that had stopped inches from her face. As expected of Razznik sword spirit. It didn't hold back in the slightest despite facing a woman. Sram knew that if Hektor had not interrupted them, she would have been forced to eat that punch.

Of course, the sword spirit would also be forced to endure her punch, and in terms of damage value, her punch would definitely be much higher than the sword spirit's. However, there was something intrinsically humiliating about being punched in the face compared to the chest, and that was what the sword spirit had been aiming for.

Its thought process was clear. Even if you kill me, you too will die of humiliation and shame.

Sram harrumphed and returned to a neutral position as Hektor opened his eyes. She glared at the sword spirt who had similarly returned to his previous posture and sent a mental message. "I see you're still good at provoking others."

The sword spirit shrugged and said out loud, "It's a handy skill."

"What is a handy skill?" Hektor asked, finally fully awoken from his rumination.

"Provocation," replied the sword spirit as it looked at the youth. "During your lifetime, there are people you'll meet whom you want to fight, but do not want to fight you. It can be because of cowardice, perceived class difference, or all around indifference. At that time, if you are skilled enough to anger them into attacking you first, you can claim self-defense and happily go all out."

Hektor could not help but grimace when he heard the sword spirit's explanation. What's worse, there wasn't a single hint of shame on its face. Was this Razz guy a troublemaker? The young man could not help hating the fact that his memories were blocked. Hektor took a moment to recollect himself and then replied, "Will you teach me that too?"

The sword spirt shook its head. "Provocation isn't something that is learned, but rather experienced. Do not worry, I will slowly beat it into you over the next few days. More importantly, what effects did the mark bestow on you?" [Mark of the Gods] manifested differently in individuals. High class marks like the God of War mark usually had a foundation skill which all its users learned, and unique skills which differed from one user to the next.

Hektor nodded and explained what he got from the mark. Just like Razznik did all those years ago, he got the [Weapons Master] skill. It functioned like Lunette's [All for One] attribute which she got from her mark. With weapon master, all Hektor had to do was focus on one weapon of the three main archetypes, bladed, blunt and bow and his proficiency on those weapons would scale to every other weapon he touched.

What this meant was that, if he trained his sword to the master level, he would automatically become a master with a spear even if he had never touched it before. Furthermore, his proficiency with all weapon types escalated to Beginner Level 7, meaning a situation where he picked up a weapon and was not able to bring out the best of its abilities would never happen.

Hektor then explained the effects of his unique ability [Battle Thirst]. It was a strange art which absorbed a portion of the enemies ki to supplement his own during battle. Currently, the amount of ki it could absorb was very small, and almost insignificant, but Hektor knew that if he trained this skill to the peak, perhaps he would be able to end any fight on the first blow.

The sword spirit nodded. "Good. You passed the first test."

Hektor's eyes narrowed. "First test?"

"Yes" the sword spirit confirmed. "The Unique skill in a god's mark is a reflection of the bearer's true personality. If you had gotten something defensive, I would have turned you to ash right here. I have no interest in becoming the property of someone who would hide and let someone else do the fighting for them."

Hektor did not know why, but he thought of Kashi at that moment. Someone he felt the two were similar. Always rushing to the frontlines. But contrary to the sword spirit's arrogance in its strength, Hektor felt that Kashi did that because he had the confidence to trust his back, and his people to others.

The young man did not know where the courage came from, but Hektor gritted his teeth and looked at the sword spirit. "You might as well turn me to bones now. Otherwise, just as you become my sword, I too am a sword for someone else. I will cut down whoever he asks me to cut down, and protect whoever he asks me to protect, even if it means my sword collects dust as a result."

The sword spirit's eyes narrowed. It reached out and grasped the handle of the devil blade buried in the rock. Following a light snort, the blade was slowly pulled out of the ground.

Hektor's eyes trembled as the cavern trembled from a heavy earthquake. A monstrous aura burst out from the sword spirit, engulfing the young man and threatening to break his spirit. However, despite the heavy storm clashing against his heart, and the fear that turned his knuckles white, the young man's eyes maintained their resolve without a hint of regret. If he was to die here, so be it. But he would not shame Kashi by breaking down.

Sram, noticing the situation taking a turn for the worse, immediately stepped in front of Hektor. "I just gave this child my mark. Do you think you can kill him in my presence?"

"Kill him?" the sword spirit mocked with a terrifying grin. "Step aside Sram. This child's training is about to start." It looked at Hektor with a terrifying gaze that locked the young man in place. "Try not to die, kid."

Sram swallowed hard when she saw sword spirit's grin. She recognized that toothy challenge anywhere. It appeared at the only time one could spot anything close to happiness on Razznik – the moment when he met an opponent he deemed worth fighting.

Sram looked at Hektor with pity in her eyes. She did not know what this child had said to ignite the sword spirit's excitement, but even if Hektor survived, this experience would surely be traumatic. No one had faced that grin and emerged the same afterward.

Sram had no intention of watching the torture that was sure to follow, besides, she had already remained in the world for too long. The war goddess looked at Hektor, and then after a moment of hesitation, finally stepped into the void and disappeared.

The sword spirit, upon noticing the goddess' absence, approached Hektor with its battle intent on full blast. "Alright Kashi, let's see just how strong this sword of yours is..."

A/N: A bit on the short side, but I didn't have anything else to add to this chapter. Didn't want to artifically inflate the word count with pointless filler. Anyway, the stage is being set for the fated showdown. 

The sword spirit knows about Kashi's existence. What does that mean, and what therefore are his feelings toward Kashi and Suzuki. We'll find out soon enough... :)