Seeing the paper, Logan frowned and quickly entered and closed the room and activated the locking mechanisms before going over and taking it. The vacant eyes and lack of movement of the monster was strange.

It was so small that it barely reached his knee and he wondered what breed it was.

He hoped there was an explanation on the paper so he started reading.

“Greetings second child of the golden lion, due to your little storm on the 21st floor, I looked around down here and noticed this child. She is a goblin who had stolen a vial of holy water from a wandering priest in training. Drinking it, this child mutated and many monstrous parts were purified leaving her with nearly elven like features. Sadly, her strength that allowed her to reach this point was purged in the process and became a target of the strong and was raped and is basically dead, her current state is no better than a beaten slave. Somewhere along the lines her body gathered a very vital energy for that little sword of yours. She also excludes a red string of fate unseeable by common vision magic, even what you currently have access to. You are the only person with a legend sword who possesses a foundation to grow to the S rank. For a being to gather the energy of legend that legend swords require, her future is likely very strong. The times to come will require all the help humanity can muster. I leave her to you as your third battle beast. It will take a while to pull her mind from the darkness however.”

The note explained a lot of complex stuff and was tragic as he realized that the dead look. What particularly irked him about this message was the part about a beaten slave. It was clearly put there intentionally due to his background from Eshen and he hated Helix for putting that because it gave him the morbid vision of his family like that.

That said, it also explained what it was doing here.

“He said the purple gas that is supposed to gather and fill the burn in Arashi is gathering towards this goblin? How is this even a goblin?” he said and bent over and started to activate some of the identification magic in the basic section.

His vision extended and first her mana channels formed but besides the faint flame from her core, there were very few actual channels through her body. Though it did have a flow in and back to the monster core.

He shook his head. Taking her meant that he would have constant mana consumption until she fully formed a stable body and converted the mana stone into a pool.

He also knew clearly that he couldn’t give her booster items until she reached at least F rank development or her body would blow.

The part about being a slave really irritated him now.

That said, Arashi started to hum and he took it and when he touched her, he instantly felt desire, as if something it wanted was in front. He knew that the purple mist was vital. Properly absorbing it would rapidly enhance the power of Arashi’s legend and maybe expand upon it evolving the blade itself.

“Since Helix brought it here himself… at the very least it can’t be dangerous.” he said. Binding a living dungeon monster is a little different from an unborn egg. Most of the time it is dominating, pushing down and filling the core with mana and forging the bond by basically processing the monsters mana through their own technique.

It fully binds when more than 50% of the mana is under his control compared to the dungeon and once it is processed, the link to the dungeon is cut and the new master has to sustain the mana cost. That said, in a mana rich place like a dungeon, this is basically nonexistent but outside is constant. Most people spend months in a dungeon after obtaining the monster to make it’s mana body more stable.

Since the goblin was basically as weak as a newborn and already had no will to live, it didn’t react as he touched the chest and injected but he and Arashi instantly felt a cold together as a blood red tattoo spread from her chest.

The next second he found himself in Arashi’s mental world but a big explosion came and to one side, the world distorted as if a barrier pushed into it.

What was in that area actually moved behind him and a new world began to form as it started trying to engulf and merge.

“Ahahaha! It actually worked! To think the investment of a bit of holy water into a pathetic goblin and altering the dungeon history would work and that stupid dungeon would actually send it to a Legend sword owner!” a voice shouted on the other side.

“Who are you!?” Logan shouted.

“Oh, you don’t need to know. You will be dead and soon your sword will belong to me. Another one to add to the mix! Ahahaha! Soon I will have collected 100 swords and have enough of each element to forge them all alongside many holy artifacts! All those spirits will be swallowed by the spirit I have cultivated to be the spirit of my own sword and the legends in each feeding my own! With such a foundation it can instantly achieve at least the state of awakened flame!” the voice said. “Now bow to me!” he roared

His roar caused openings to form between the realms and the purple gas that was visible on the other side crossed but instead of looking bright, it was dark and polluted.

“This is mine now!” He shouted.

Logan was instantly pissed off and Arashi reacted and transformed into her sword form.

The gas rushed at them instantly like a wave but Logan’s mana mobilized.

“Futile!” the voice roared but the next moment, it shined with a golden radiance and even Logan’s eyes turned golden. He roared as he swung Arashi upwards, “Rising Sun!”

At once, golden radiance burst forward and suddenly a massive blade of golden mana burst forth cutting the incoming wave and sending it to both sides away from the location Logan stood and the platform he appeared in.

What was shocking is that the gas split into four instead of two.

What came into direct contact released a burning smog alongside the dark purple mist but left behind where the golden light shined, a bright purple mist.

Arashi exclaimed excited and suddenly all that mist gathered towards her and she regained her spirit form.

It gathered and formed a small orb and her legend appeared and slowly consumed it.

“Huh! H-how did you!? HOW DID YOU STEAL MY LEGACY!?” he roared and the next moment the wall between the worlds shattered as an immense black fog!

“The resurrection of the great one cannot be hindered by a holy sword! The foundation for the future merging of the great Holy Demon must be set before his rise! You, and that disgusting light, must be snuffed!”

A suffocating darkness spread far. The thunderclouds were snuffed, the lightning was silence and darkness filled their surroundings.

Logan narrowed his eyes, “You are a demon.” Logan said. “A follower of the ancient demon lord.” he said.

“The revival of my lord is no longer of your concern.” the voice said.

That said, the next moment, like the birth of a star in space, his heart began to shine brightly. It slowly spread through his body and stretched over Arashi. He raised her and stabbed into the ground. At once, as if suddenly achieving some kind of miraculous connection, that golden radiance erupted.

From the point connecting the two, a beam of golden lightning burst up and down. Throughout the land root like lines filled the darkness while piercing the darkness into the sky, golden lightning unlike any seen spread out.

The light of this was beyond what one could imagine.

The voice roared in pain.

“H-how! HOW! Your mana is laced with the most insignificant traces of holy mana! How are you producing it without an artifact!” he roared.

“Holy mana!” Logan thought, shocked. That said, something seemed to click. The golden lions were once the greatest free army of the continent, it likely wasn’t by accident, it was possible that the army wasn’t unique to Nuntip but every continent but under a different name. The ancient hero likely trained them to protect the people in future generations. He didn’t know about making holy mana but it was clear, the mana he produced with the Golden Lion technique was meant to counter demonic mana, the advanced state of dark mana just like holy mana is the advanced light mana.

The two creatures who produced it naturally, celestials and demons. Humans could not produce it actively but the hero was never a normal man. From young to his death, he had been in contact with holy mana from the start, it was very possible that his entire development technique incorporated this naturally without even noticing making a unique brand of mana that isn’t holy but is strong against demon kind.

His golden eyes shined through the darkness and he grinned. “The legacy of those who came before will always protect the future.” He said and took a low stance. "I finally understand why they possess the names they have.” Logan said and swung. That said he spun but didn’t cast Lion’s Ascent despite using the form. He combined it. “Horizon of the Sun Lion!” he roared.

His feet shined with the Lion’s step and his mind raced to keep up. He began to spin like a top and the glow gathered at the tip until there was no gap and finally finished.

At once the circle expanded in a flash and spread to the edges of the world and split the world in two. The brightness shined and the demon roared in pain as the brightness of sunlight began to reveal the land below and piercing the darkness. In doing so, the mist could no longer hide the demon’s body. The light grabbed every particle and forced it into a solid form.

“My… my form is solid! How did you do that!? What cursed magic are you using?!” He roared and all his power gathered to attack.

Logan grinned as Arashi shined, “Oh, you don’t need to know. You will be dead.” he said and swung low going up but in doing so, he sliced into the ground and that light extended straight through the ground all the way to the horizon and as soon as it connected, the point became blinding as if sun had risen, birthing the origins of its name, “RISING SUN!”

His blade accelerated behind his comprehension and instantly the darkness was cast, the demonic presence in the mist was scattered and the demon didn’t even register it was cut, however, it slowly looked down. Through its body, sunlight from behind passed through and from it, cracks like veins spread.

His body began to break up into mist.

"I will not be defeated!” He roared and tried to heal by gathering the purple mist but suddenly the wound shined and he was engulfed by the radiance of the light that shot from behind and exploded. The sunlight flashed and the dark mist broke the darkness, the evil world of the demon was sucked into the world of the sword and the curse placed upon the goblin was extinguished. The poor soul that was sealed was free but still sleeping as it had always been forced to since it was captured and tortured.

Logan raised his sword and an orb of golden radiance formed and all the dark mist, though resisting, began to gather. The radiance seemed to grind against it and extinguish a darkness within the mist and it was compressed into an orb.

It kept gathering from the new expanse of land going further and further and drawing it in until an orb of purple mist the size of his head formed.

When it finished cleansing it, Arashi took her spirit form expressing joy before the legend formed. It was instant, the legend began to absorb it and the world shook. It was clear that this mist was not the demons, it came from many unfortunate legend swords it had captured and likely killed for their legends. The weak legend of the sword began to suck it in and as it swallowed, it digested these legends, putting each to rest one by one while slowly a new chapter began to form.

His own legend, not just his grandfather’s. The chapter of him taking the tempest and walking out alive and the gallant fight against the trolls. Although few saw it, the minor impression was what gave birth to legends and engraving it upon the foundation of the swords legend would cause an effect in the world. Those who saw him would speak of it and spread this minor fame. In time, this fame will start to accumulate.

The formed legend and his chapters formed solid like a stone wall, it absorbed all the extra legacy energy and had an immense amount of energy to expand naturally but Arashi was no longer the same.

Looking out into the world, although the clouds were slowly reforming, the golden horizon and the sun which shines down the golden light remained. It was a permanent mark upon his legacy.

His understanding of the legacy had also reached a new peak and understood the purpose in which the Golden Lions existed. He marveled at the intuition of the dungeon but wondered if it was a part of this.

He slowly calmed down and left his dream but he was shocked as an old man stood there worried.

“Who…” he said for a moment until he saw the multicolored shine in his eyes. “You are Helix! The dungeon core! But…!”

“It is a human form, I achieved it several centuries ago, you don’t need to be so shocked. That said, I must grievously apologize! I truly meant no harm when I sent this goblin. Although rare, certain monsters do actually gather the mist of legacy in some cases, I regard them to be powerful warriors. I send them human transformation and make them sentient monsters and let them train to a high rank before giving them high quality mana development techniques so that they can become good to the world. They are educated during their training period of purifying their mana making them friendly to the world’s residence. I truly did not expect demons to disguise this as a trap for legacy sword masters!” he said bowing deeply.

“Oh… please no. Although it is worrisome. He said he wanted to produce a holy sword from artifacts and 100 legacy swords. Said that it was to set the foundation of the demon lord’s return.” He said.

Instantly Helix scowled, “Bunch of fanatic fucking dimwits. No matter what, the demon lord’s soul was scattered in the wind and the gods made sure to gather every last tiny fragment no matter how big. The only soul that got out was the piece of the hero’s humanity that the gods placed within a complete soul and gave him a normal life. Still, this is bad, we had not suspected demons stealing the artifacts. Much like monster races, they have mated and blended with humans through learning human transformation. It is difficult to know which are true demons and which are the ones trying to take over. I feel that what you faced is but a small weakling following the orders of another. The forging of legend swords with one another is meant to rapidly produce the strongest blades that did not require special conditions. Namely the sword of awakening. From there it requires the master to develop mental and spiritually the sword's spirit.” Helix said.

He looked at Arashi and asked to see.

Logan drew her and he was shocked because before he had barely seen the outline but it had jumped from base form all the way to the complete purple flames. The outline was bright red as was near the flame but as it reached the spine it became purple.

“Your sword is quite good, it has begun to grow your own legacy and it seems you have realized the true purpose of the Golden Lion in this battle and it has influenced it. It is yet not part of the legacy however because you are not revealed to be one of the successors.” He said.

“The demon said I had mana with traces of holy mana. Is that true?” he asked.

“At F rank, if you consider 100% your mana, then you have 0.01% of true holy mana infused. You might have come to a similar conclusion but yes, the golden lions were developed by the hero himself. His personal development technique was impossible for anyone to train, the hero produced actual holy mana from his body itself. He didn’t need the sword anymore. This came about similar to your talent and ability with lightning mana. Having the holy sword from a young age since his summoning, it eventually evolved his body to produce it. That is why, in the final battle, he evolved into a celestial being more powerful than any before. Had he survived, he would have ascended and become a god.” Helix said.

“So… what do I do with the goblin?” He asked.

Helix looked and his eyes widened, “The goblin is still gathering mist, likely as a result of being cursed to contain the demon's own mist of legacy and had influenced her. Keep her, I have checked her true past that had been altered and she had indeed been affected by holy water. In fact, she was tortured in holy water and forced to drink great amounts. Dunk in it and so on. It eventually mutated her as she is. She is very weak but her body actually contains the scent of holy mana. If she properly trains the development technique of the Golden Lion, it might stick to her for good and give her very high light magic affinity. You injure yourself greatly when you fight, it would be good to have a healer to tend to your wounds. Her soul has yet to awaken and she is likely to be very fearful like an injured cat. Bind her while she does not resist and bring her out of this darkness. After she is fully grown, who knows, you may even end up raising your own wife.” he said patting Logan’s shoulder.

He frowned but Helix didn’t take it to consideration. Instead, he pulled out a bone radiating a strong light energy.

“Since you have a Legend sword, you are likely familiar with at least one legend smith. This is the bone of a C rank Drake of the Light element in the upper floors. Take it as an apology and have the master smith forge it into a powerful light staff. If you can find a church and purchase some holy water and place it within the staff, it will give you access to true holy magic. Though the price is pretty steep as they are quite uptight on handing out holy water. I would suggest aiming for the religion of the Water god based east of Eshen at the center of Mortis Desert.” he said.

“A water god’s religion… in the desert?” Logan asked.

“It sounds ridiculous because it is but a city of water does exist there. It was pioneered 40 years ago by a young paladin whose father passed him a naked rank Legend sword of water element when he was 5 years old to train him. He was talented in both water magic and the art of the sword. He saw the world in a brighter light and saw deserts as a land unvisited by his great god and wished to spread his blessings. Despite the warnings from the church, he left with the church teachings and located an oasis at the center and began to develop it. It was along a trade route and because he expanded it, grew trees and other things, water sprouted more abundantly forming a small trade village. He established a chapel for his god and the god was so impressed at his dedication to bring forth life giving water in the desert, he sent an angel with a holy artifact. It granted him the ability to purify water and make holy water. The main church actually tried to take it but the god did not like that and sent angels when they actually stole it. It was a major incident where a god showed his wrath and love at the same time. With the artifact, the oasis became a major city. Since then, he has begun to explore the desert and use magic to harden sand into rock basins. His dream, before his death of old age, is to finish establishing a river system within 50 kilometers of the city and produce springs and oasis conditions that continue to produce water.” he said.

“Amazing.” he said.

“Indeed, because of this, his legend sword is already a Sword of Emotion.” he said.

Logan’s eyes widened greatly.

Swords of that grade helped influence kings of small nations. If it advanced one step, it would equal kings of big nations. A single holy paladin had that much power.

“Is it that easy to get holy water?” He asked.

“It never is but the paladin isn’t a closed off man compared to others. Many people even consider the church he runs and the main church in the main capital of the god nearly two different religions because of his attitude and means. Angels who have come down have already confirmed him to be a living saint beloved by the god of water. Hopefully his children who live and help him cultivate the desert lands will continue the tradition until the entire desert is flourished with forests.” Helix said.

Logan looked at him strangely, "I have heard dungeons were indifferent to the rest of the world. You admire it.” Logan said.

"I was placed here 900 years ago and obtained a human body 500 years ago when I finally grew to 100 floors. I had tried many times to explore the human world but in doing so, my dungeon began to stop working correctly. It became a boring existence 300 years ago. The only means to fill this void is in my last 50 floors where each floor is a massive land with environments which I read about, creatures I learn about and so on. I do not feel surprised or adventure in a land I created myself. So yes, I do admire ones who can walk freely through the world. I am powerful but in my power, I am caged to live my existence here unless I abandon my dungeon.” he said.

“Will you not die if you do that?” Logan asked.

“No, I would have if I was a normal core but I am no longer just like how sentient monsters are no longer bound.” he replied.

Logan just nodded, unable to reply to this.

He sheathed Arashi and turned to the Goblin. “Is it intelligent enough to learn?” he asked.

“The holy mana torture has done many improvements to it. It currently has an infant level maturity and intelligence but it can understand you once you bind it.” he said.

“Alright.” Logan said before sitting down and touching the chest one more time but without the deadly attack.

Mana entered lightly into the tiny monster core and began to channel the technique. It started to grind the mana and flow through whichever path it could find. He couldn’t use the full technique and just used the natural absorption but the techniques grinding method.

It was a much longer process but it had little mana so after 10 cycles, all the mana was fully processed but it lacked anything near enough to even make F rank mana. The final connection formed and the connection from the dungeon broke.

Helix nodded and leaned the bone on the wall, “The part about the demons, keep it silent, speak nothing of it to not reveal your involvement. I shall inform everyone who needs to know saying that I encountered the cursed monster prepared for a sneaky plan. Confronting the one behind it and revealing it to be a demon and all. I will deal with this since I caused this problem upon you. You should focus upon your own development and try to quickly balance your body to continue to grow stronger.” he said and vanished from the spot.

Logan sighed and put down the goblin before storing the huge bone. The trouble that found him was dizzying to think about and he didn’t dare think about the danger he had just passed if he had not started training the old art. He knew the importance of it now and would not randomly try to alter the development method’s flow anymore. He discarded all the changes he had started to implement and used purely the original technique. Storm began to train as well.

When Logan had finished refreshing himself, he drew out the spirit animal wisp and blended his mana with the spirit before channeling everything to continue making the mana channels.