Brandon awakens in a bed, his arm wrapped in gauze from his fingertips to the top of his shoulder. He was inside a hospital room. Kaito and Nozomi were sitting in chairs around his bed. They rush to his side when they saw he was awake.

"You're okay!" They cried in unison.

"How did I get here?" Brandon asked, looking around the room.

The room was entirely white, with white tile floors, white painted walls, and a ceiling. An IV was hanging on the wall above him, running into his left arm. Next to his bed was a large window, looking out over Galward. A small table was next to his bed, fresh flowers were sitting in a blue vase.

"Chandler brought you here, we're at one of Galward's best hospitals," Nozomi explained.

"Guess he still isn't ready to commit to killing me yet." Brandon thought to himself.

"What was the monster anyway? You said it was something Lucifer made, right?" Kaito questioned.

"Right, history time, before Lucifer was struck down into the pit of Hell, he made life himself. If you've read any version of the bible, you should already know of them in some way. He made nine types of demonic beasts to walk the planet. What you saw today was a behemoth class-type demon and in more detail a royal behemoth. Royal ones can cast magic but at the cost of size and physical strength. The royal behemoth is the smallest of three types. The middle in size is known as the Crimson Behemoth for its iconic red skin. The largest of the three is the Colossal Behemoth, named for its enormous size. If you want to know more, you'll have to read up about them." Brandon explained, sitting up.

"I remember reading about this with our grandmother when I was younger. But I thought you said they haven't been seen in thousands of years, why suddenly was there one attacking here?" Nozomi questioned.

"That I don't know, I'm sure you two heard even in Rodon, but monsters that haven't been seen in forever have been popping up all over the country. This Behemoth wasn't the first, about a year ago a Chimera attacked the city of Kindsward. After that, monsters assumed extinct started popping up attacking different cities. The DHA and country council have been investigating, but nothing has been learned about where the monsters are coming from. But let's not spend time thinking about that, nothing will change by simply worrying about it or thinking about it. I'm sure the DHA or the council will turn something up soon. Let's focus on the now, for now, the city is safe, everyone is okay, and you two have to tell me about your adventures in the city today." Brandon said, smiling at them.

Kaito and Nozomi begin explaining every little thing that happened to them during their adventure in Galward. They showed off their newly bought weapons, awaiting approval from Brandon.

"These both look like fine weapons, I'm proud that you two spent your money well. Take good care of these, and they will take care of you. They're more than just weapons, they're an extension of you." Brandon said.

They continue to talk about their day, mainly about the new foods they got to eat for lunch. Kaito lets out a loud yawn and rubs his eyes.

"Sounds like the day has worn you out, why don't you two go ahead and go to the castle. I've already taken care of rooms for us there, just let them know you're with me. I know the King personally, so tonight you'll both sleep like royalty." Brandon said.

"Are you sure? We don't mind staying here with you." Nozomi asked.

"I'll be fine, I'm feeling pretty tired myself. Fighting a giant monster isn't a walk in the park." He said, letting out a laugh.

Kaito and Nozomi said their goodbyes and made their way out of the room. Brandon looks out the window and sees them leaving the building. Once he could no longer see them, he yanks the IV out of his arm and climbs out of bed. He was dressed in a light blue hospital gown. Annoyed, he makes his way toward the small closet, in search of his clothes. He finds his clothes and carefully puts them on. As he goes to put his cloak on, he realized it was beyond saving. The behemoth's attack had destroyed half of the cloak. He bawls it up and tosses it back into the closet before leaving his room. Keeping his right arm close to his chest, he quickly makes his way out of the hospital. As the sun begins to set on the horizon, Brandon makes his way back toward the city's main gate. He requested to leave to the gate soldier.

"You won't be able to come back until the morning sir, I apologize, but we don't open the gate once the sun has set." The soldier explained.

"That's fine with me, just open the gate," Brandon said.

The soldier signals for the gate to open, and Brandon leaves the city, following the directions Chandler previously gave him. Traversing down a dirt road, he stumbles upon a rather large wooden building. On the side of the building, there was a massive forge and smelter, pumping smokestacks into the sky. The grass was overgrown, to the point that the dirt road was nearly lost to the environment. He makes his way to the front door and knocks on it.

"Come in!" A woman's voice called out from inside.

Brandon opens the door and a little bell rings as he enters. Once inside, he could see dozens of weapons, each covered in a layer of dust. Armor racks are equipped with different suits of armor varying in material, each also covered in dust. Floating white orbs emit a bright light, illuminating the entire shop. A woman stands behind a shop counter, awaiting Brandon. Her skin was light gray and her elf ears were very pointy. Her eyes were a bright crimson hue, instead of having a white color for her eyeball, hers were solid black. Furthermore, her hair was as white as snow and ran down to the middle of her back. She wore a sleeveless cloth tunic, which showed off her rather muscular arms from the years of smithing. Her figure was overall muscular, her breasts were perky, and her stomach had a slightly visible six-pack.

"How can I help you?" She asked with a slightly raspy voice.

"I've been informed that you use to hold the title of "Legendary blacksmith". Is this true?" Brandon questioned.

"Yes, however, five years ago I lost that title. If you're looking for the new titleholder, you'll need to head to the city." She explained.

"I've already met that smith, I want a real smith. Someone with real talent, not someone who wants to make flashy toys. I've heard stories of how good your smithing skills were, never a dissatisfied customer. I don't care what title you hold, I want you to be my smith." Brandon said,

"You'd be the first person in nearly five years that wants me to be their smith. Tell me what you need, I can make anything you desire. If I don't have the materials around here, I know where to get them." She confidently said.

Brandon sits down on his bag on the counter and digs out the blueprint his mom had sent him. He unfolds it and shows it to the woman.

"I require you to make this great sword, it needs to be perfect. I also want it to be made of the strongest materials you can get, it doesn't matter the price, I'll pay it." He said, letting her take the blueprint.

The woman examines the blueprint thoroughly before speaking again.

"If I start now, I can have it ready in the morning. You're welcome to wait here if you'd like since the city is closed for the night. Also, my name is Ava, I hope that you'll be doing more work with me." She said, taking the blueprint to the back room.

Brandon sits down on the floor of the shop and leans against the wall. He closes his eyes and soon falls asleep, still worn from the fight earlier that day. Hours pass, and suddenly he is awoken by Ava standing above him. She had dark bags underneath her eyes, she looked as if she could pass out at any moment.

"Good morning, I hope you slept well, your sword is ready." She groggily said.

"Morning, to be honest, I'm surprised you managed to get the sword ready this fast. Most smiths usually require a few days to get everything ready." Brandon said getting up from the floor.

"Luckily, I had the best materials I could think of to use for your sword already here. So it was just a matter of making it." She explained.

She leads Brandon outside, the morning light was blinding, and it took him a bit to adjust to it. She walks him over to the side where the forge was and pointed towards a weapon rack, mounted on the side of the building. On the wall before them stood a massive, greatsword, its blade as blue as the ocean. The sword was over five feet tall, its hilt was black, with small engravings in another language on it. At the center of the hilt's guard, a small part was cut out, It was circular, the same shape as the Adam gemstone. Brandon walks up to it and removes it from the wall. At first, he was surprised by its weight, almost dropping it.

"It's beautiful, what did you make this out of?" He asked, fawning over the sword

"Dragonite mixed with tungsten, I also used carbon steel mixed with diamonds for the sword's edges. It will take a long to break this sword, and I mean a lot." She explained.

"Well, I guess it's time to see if you built this right. The center bit here, which is empty on the hilt guard, is for a gemstone. A very powerful and old magic gemstone. It can only be used if the wielder has the weapon built exactly as the blueprint instructed." He said.

Brandon places the sword back onto the rack and pulls the gemstone out of his pocket. Ava watches closely as he slowly inches the gemstone closer to the slot. Suddenly, the gemstone is pulled from his hand, entering the sword. They both stare at the sword, expecting something else to happen, but the sword just sat there without moving. Brandon carefully reaches for the sword and picks it up. In a flash, the sword begins glowing, and his arm begins glowing with it. His shirt is practically blown off from the magic the sword was releasing. He groans in agony as he struggles to hold onto the sword. The gemstone shines brightly as blue beams shoot out, entering his body. He drops to his knees, barely holding onto the sword. After a few seconds, the pain resides and Brandon looks up to see a transparent man standing before him.

"I hope Brandon is okay, the doctor said he still needed a few more days to heal before he should be allowed to leave the bed," Nozomi said as she and Kaito walked down the main road from Galward.

"Well, he's been pretty eager to meet that Legendary smith, probably just got tired of waiting. Let's just follow the directions Chandler gave us and see if he is still there." Kaito said.

As they approached the blacksmith's home, they see Brandon on his knees with the transparent man standing over him. The man's body had a blue glow to it. it was more transparent near the man's legs. Kaito unsheathed his sword and rushed to lunge at the man. His sword and himself phase through the man and crash onto the ground. He quickly gets up and aims his sword at the man.

"Brandon, are you alright, what happened to you?" Kaito asked, looking down at Brandon.

"Stop, it's not what you think, he didn't attack me," Brandon explained as he struggled to stand up.

Nozomi runs over and helps Brandon to his feet and begins healing his left arm.

"What the Hell is going on? I make you a sword, you put a gem into it, you nearly get your arm blown off from its power and suddenly a see-through man is standing here." Ava exclaimed.

"As long as there aren't any interruptions, I can explain everything you need to know." The blue man said, his voice slightly echoing.

The group falls silent, watching the man and awaiting their answers.

"Firstly, my name is Adam, I'm the first human God created. Well, I'm a part of Adam, a fragment of his soul resides in that blue gemstone, and I'm that part. Since you can see me, and you didn't die from holding the sword, that means you passed Adam's trial. I am one of the many holy artifacts God left here on Earth so that one day he could have a successor. And my being here, means that the first trial has also been completed. The first trial is, a god's soul being absorbed by a mortal and dispersing the soul into the Earth itself. Judging by your aura, Brandon, I'd say that you were the human that did that. Thanks to you, the holy artifacts were awakened and magic became a daily thing for this planet over the last two hundred fifty-three years. While technically anyone can become God's successor, you, Brandon, are the prime candidate as of this moment." Adam explained.

"Wait, so he wasn't joking or talking crazy when he said he was going to replace god?!" Nozomi questioned, still in shock at what she just heard.

"Correct, God intended to have a successor at one point. The route Brandon is choosing to take has been allowed and expected by God. Brandon must survive every trial and collect every holy artifact, in doing so he shall gain enough power to kill God and then absorb God's soul. Which in the end will make Brandon the new God, allowing him to do whatever he sees fit with the all of existence." Adam said.

"So the massive amount of magic you just attacked him, was just another trial?" Ava asked.

"Yes, if he couldn't survive my magic, he couldn't use me properly nor use the other relics," Adam stated.

"So what happens to you, are you just going to be out like this permanently?" Brandon asked.

"No, I'm only using my magic to project myself in the way Adam wished me to be seen. On average, I shall only speak to you telepathically when you wield me. I sensed Kaito's and Nozomi's auras and figured it would be best if I showed myself and explained everything. I figured it would make your travels easier if they both believed you and your goal. While I'm only just now getting the chance to talk and be seen, I've been able to hear everything from the start." Adam said.

"Talk about a lot to process," Kaito said, putting his blade back in its sheath.

"You shall have plenty of time to process, Brandon's body will need a few days to recover before he can properly use magic again. I suggest spending a few days here until he is ready." Adam explained.

Before anyone could respond, Adam fades away back to the sword.

"Well that was interesting, Ava, do you have a spare room we could borrow?" Brandon asked.

"Uh, yeah, I got an empty near the back you can crash in. I uh, yeah, so that just happened." Ava said, scratching the top of her head.

"Well, if you're going to be training, I might as well join you. I have no experience when it comes to wielding a sword, so it would be best if I got some practice in, too." Kaito explained.

"I can teach some basics if you'd like, I might be a bit rusty, but I've trained with most weapons for twenty years now," Ava explained.

Kaito nods at Ava, and they make their way to the back of the building where some training dummies were set up. Nozomi helped Brandon inside and got him to the back room to rest. There were no beds, no furniture, no nothing in the back room. Simply a wooden room with a small window looking to the back of the building. A few cobwebs decorate the corners of the room.

"I'll help speed up the process of healing your arms, we'll have to get our sleeping bags to stay in this room," Nozomi explained.

"I'll teleport them once my arm is feeling better. So, now that you've heard the truth even more, what do you think?" He asked, letting out a groan as she sets him down.

"I still think you're crazy, taking on challenges that God made to have him replaced. In general, it sounds dangerous, scary, crazy, and painful. But, if I'm being honest, you're the only person I've met that I think could do it. I've felt your aura, it's honestly scary how strong you are." she said.

"I'm amazed, you can already sense aura at such a young age?" He asked.

"I have my mom and grandma to thank for that. Both of them could sense aura at the age of ten and so could I. Your aura is massive, and honestly, sometimes it's almost soul-shaking to feel its presence. So if anyone can replace God, it's you." She said, smiling at him.

They make small talk as she works on his arms, once done, they both watch Kaito and Ava training through the back window.

"It's taken a long time to reach this point, but I feel like I'm finally making progress. Just you wait, God, I'm coming for you." Brandon thought to himself.