Chương 476: Chapter 445: The Final Stage

The last stage was by far the smallest one, and only three hundred and five trial takers were still in it. Considering that this had started with almost three million, a bit over three hundred was crazy. As for the leaderboard, there had been a lot of shifting in the last stage, and the top had made far more leaderboard points than Thalion would have thought possible.

Eric, Chosen of Solarion – 101, 050, 850 Points Ethan, Chosen of Aeta – 100, 500, 670 Points Felix, Chosen of Eryndor – 100, 435, 170 Points Elara, Chosen of Isis – 100, 228, 450 Points First Daughter of the Hive – 98, 792, 560 Points Prince Varathis of the Vorakai – 97, 783, 352 Points Elowen Marquess, Chosen of Mazu – 97, 346, 684 Points Arelion, Chosen of Vaelthir – 95, 824, 572 Points Kaelir, Chosen of Pyrael – 94, 553, 256 Points Liraeth, Chosen of Lunareth – 89, 437, 843 Points Maeve, Chosen of Morgana – 88, 685, 425 Points Urgol Chosen of Ghor'Vhar – 88, 512, 176 Points Calen – 86, 434, 842 Points Ugra, Chosen of Zul – 85, 463, 747 Points Brak, Chosen of Gruk – 78, 146, 372 Points Zargaz, Chosen of Tenebrice – 76, 433, 752 Points Thalion was genuinely shocked when he saw those numbers.

A hundred million points were a lot. It seemed that the human chosen had done very well in the last stage. After the humans, Thalion only remembered a few characters, and it looked like a bunch of orcs were also on the leaderboard right now. All in all, it looked like he was up against a group of chosen, each one more terrifying than the next. He of course remembered Kaelir, the piece of shit. That beatdown would also happen—likely not in this trial, but on New Earth.

Thalion was sitting at position fifty-eight with roughly forty-eight million points. The additional bonus must have come from the sword he had currently placed in his spatial amulet. Thalion winced when he remembered what had happened. He really wasn't looking forward to talking it out with that sword. Yet he would need it if he wanted to have a chance. In this small stage, he was bound to clash with chosen. A lot of them already had him on their tier list, and the others wouldn't say no to his leaderboard points.

He still had the eight million extra points on his head from grabbing the fruit in the forest stage, which also wouldn't help. Then the next thought hit Thalion. The rewards of the stage were already massive, but what if someone managed to kill multiple chosen? Escape tokens were nice, but in this small stage you couldn't travel that far anyway. If one managed to kill five chosen, he would get the equivalent of killing the king after the ritual had succeeded.

There was also no one in the stage who had less than twenty-one million leaderboard points. Killing a trial taker was worth a good amount as well, and there would be a lot of shifts in this final stage. I better talk to the sword now. Best to have it out of the way first. I swore to her father to treat her well and never give it away, so I can't use it for leaderboard points—at least not if I don't have to… Thalion thought before taking out the sword from his spatial amulet.

Instead of clanking down before him like a normal sword, it hovered in the air, hilt upward and blade downward. The moment he took it out, the annoying woman Saranya appeared again.

"How dare you put me away like that. Now where am I? You have stolen me. How dare you…" Thalion used the moment in which her anger must have spiked so much that she was unable to form more words to address a certain issue.

"Like, can you be professional for one moment? I swore to your father that I won't give you away, and I always keep my promises. So can you stop your antics and do something useful? I am placed against the elite of a few planets. If you don't help, we both will be killed in this stage." This was maybe a bit overdramatic, but Thalion hoped that it would get through to that woman.

"Don't even think for a second that I believe a word you say. No, you stole me from my father, and now… now…" It seemed that being revived after so much time had really messed her up—or she had always been like this. For Thalion, it didn't matter that much. As long as she stopped the constant rambling, it should be fine. Thalion still hesitated to just grab the sword.

Even he, who had nothing to do with smithing when compared to Rurgaorus, could build in a failsafe where everyone gets damaged when holding on to his blade. He didn't even want to know what failsafes Saranya could activate. On the other hand, the woman was stubborn right now, and he needed to get going. Also, if he wanted to use the sword in the later battles of the stage, he needed to get used to it at least a little bit.

There was no doubt that this sword must be better than every other weapon anyone wielded in this trial. The problem was that he wasn't fighting the average joe here, but the absolute elite of multiple planets. Additionally, Thalion was behind in stats like agility and strength, which meant that form would be very crucial if he wanted to win a fight—or, well, survive. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Thankfully, it seemed that some sense of reason had entered Saranya as she began to think out loud.

"But why would my father just allow me to be taken? If he really was against it, he would have killed you…" She spoke very slowly, but in Thalion's opinion, this was going in the right direction. It could also be an aftermath of her dying and only waking up a few minutes ago. Still, her initial reaction didn't sound at all like this had been the first time. Minutes of silence followed until Thalion couldn't stand it anymore.

"Okay, I know this must be very confusing for you, but why not just make an easy deal? This is the last stage, and by how the quest is framed, this will be over sooner rather than later. Why don't you help me out here, and in exchange, I give you extra time to think about what you want to do with your life later?" Thalion hoped that this was a good compromise, because otherwise he would just put her in his spatial amulet until the trial ended.

"F-I-N-E… But you better be good. Also, what do you mean, consider?! Do you think I am unstable? I was a swordmaster. The sword was my life."

"Okay, okay, okay, calm down. Complain later. I don't have time right now. I have a lot of points to catch up on, and I don't accomplish that by simply wasting minute after minute doing nothing," Thalion tried to calm her down and grabbed the sword. It was like a lightning bolt shot up his arm that was holding the blade. From there on, the intense pain shot through his whole body, which led to him falling over and landing straight on his back, his whole body hurting.

"Oh, what was that? You accepted the deal," Thalion muttered, rubbing his head before slowly standing up.

"Don't blame me for your weakness. Bonding with a powerful weapon like me just has its price," she huffed, but Thalion could see that she was lightly impressed when he just stood up, even though his whole body was smoking. Thalion wondered if she would be keeping an appearance as a hologram beside him all the time, because that could get quite annoying fast. Anyway, I need to get going and get some stuff done… the sword actually feels amazing! Thalion's thoughts began to drift as he moved the sword up and down.

He just moved it a bit from left to right, and the sound and vibration it made made his heart jump. Thalion had never heard or felt anything like that. It was like a deep, swelling hum rolled outward, tight and restrained, as if the air itself was being drawn in. The sound alone gave Thalion a kick. Normally, he wouldn't have said that sound made much of a difference, because for him it all came down to how well it performed.

Yet using this sword compared to all the others he had used over time in the system was like switching from a bicycle to a V8 Mustang. You simply couldn't get enough. Thalion swung the blade a few more times, this time more seriously. On the other hand, sneak attacks with this weapon should be impossible—but who cared? His ecstasy was broken by a very unfair comment.

"You are not serious, right?" Saranya's tone was filled with so much disbelief that even Thalion felt offended, and when it came to that, he had thick skin.

"No, of course I am not," Thalion tried to defend himself while his thoughts were racing. I really need to sheath this thing, because this could get annoying when walking around. I should have something in here, right? Thalion thought while searching his spatial amulet. He had killed so many fighters with swords that there had to be a scabbard somewhere.

The problem was that the sword was big, and he would need to make a few adjustments so that the sword hilt was a bit above his head; otherwise, the blade part could end up between his legs while running. It would be best if he got one with space manipulation so that the sword didn't look that big. Good thing Thalion was a tall guy, because otherwise it would be difficult to wield the sword. Maybe if he placed a bit of the immortal golems' skin inside the scabbard to keep the tip of the sword from destroying it.

He decided on a big leather one that should do the job, but his sword really was a stingy one.

"You are not really thinking about putting me into that thing, right? I demand an appropriate scabbard, not something like this, and don't even think about putting me in that spatial thing again." Right. He had totally forgotten about the spatial amulet. If the sword hadn't been this powerful, he wouldn't have cared in the slightest and would have just put it away on the spot. Yet he didn't want to anger Saranya right now, since he had a lot to do.

At least he should act like he was putting in some effort, because when shapeshifting, the blade would end up in the spatial storage or the realm his human body entered while he used another form anyway. Maybe this way he could find out what really happened when he shifted bodies. Thalion pushed all his other thoughts aside and answered his new sword, while sneakly putting the leather scabbard in the spatial amulet.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. The sound is great, but to have it while running or walking when not being in a fight just feels wrong."

"Then let go of me and I will just hover beside you. Now that we are bonded, I will automatically follow you around," Saranya explained.

"Okay, that should work fine. I'll get you a good scabbard later when I have time for it. By the way, can you freely fly around?" Thalion was genuinely perplexed that the sword would just hover beside him. It had the possibility to reach the next level of coolness.

"Yes, I should be able to move around, but I can't go too far or I will be teleported to your side. Yet I am not accustomed to it, since I have never tried it," Saranya replied. To Thalion, that made a lot of sense. There was just one problem.

"When you fly around, doesn't that also make the sound?" To test it, Thalion let go of the sword, which swung hilt-up like a pendulum and hovered before him in the air. The next seconds were filled with that awesome sound as the sword moved through the air.

"Yeah, that's not working. I'll travel in my other form, which should make things easier. This stage probably won't involve much traveling anyway," Thalion said out loud.

"Wait, what do you mean by other form? You are not a swordsman?" Saranya almost screamed in a high-pitched tone, and Thalion had never heard her this offended.

"Eh, yeah. I'm a shapeshifter, so it might get dark again when I switch forms. In fact, I have no idea what happens to the equipment," Thalion said, trying not to enrage her further. Luckily, it seemed that she was out of rage and instead had entered a phase of self-regret.

"Oh god, I am bound to someone who is only using me part-time," she sniffled.

"Ah, don't worry that much. It's gonna be—" Yet Thalion couldn't continue, as a loud voice with a cool, ancient accent Thalion couldn't place to any certain region echoed out.

"HOW DID THIS MAN GET UP THERE? DON'T STAND AROUND LIKE THAT—GET HIM!" Thalion had been so occupied that he hadn't noticed what had happened in the small villages in the valley before him. Villagers were being pushed into metal cages on wagons pulled by some kind of dark red lizard. The guards or soldiers standing around all wore red uniforms with multiple runes on them. The one who shouted at Thalion had to be the commander, who was a bit bigger than the rest.

Thalion's gaze lingered on the commander, who was currently pointing at him with a finger. The aura of that man was a lot stronger compared to the other soldiers—or, in fact, other E-grades altogether. Human – Level 151 Thalion had to admit that he had expected a much higher level for that aura. Hopefully, this was one of those who would give extra points. It should also be a good first fight to get a feel for this stage and to test out his new sword, Saranya.

Oh, and he liked the red ritual clothes the lighter warriors were wearing, with all the runes on them.