After nearly a year of training, Gar had deemed me ready to go out into the outside world and not immediately be swindled out of all of my money.

This is what my status looked like

Name: Rai

Class: Sword Saint(Legendary, Unique)

Titles: Unbound (Successfully escaped slavery), Sword Prodigy, Student Of The Red Knight, Gifted, Cursed, Chosen Of Fate, Master Of The Sword Dance

Stats:

STR: 12

DEX: 18

CON: 12

INT: 11

WIS: 11

CHA: 3

AGI: 21

WIL: 20(22)

VIT: 15

MNA: 13

Status Effects:

Disciplined x2 (increases WIL by 2)

Skills: Math (beginner Lvl 3) Sword mastery (Expert Lvl 6) Mining (beginner Lvl 3)

Writing (Novice Lvl 5)

Lowering his head in a melancholic fashion Gar said “there is something that I have not told you yet, I am diseased with mana corruption that I contracted from a strange creature made from black matter and am unlikely to live much longer, at this point my constitution has reached 1 as well as my vitality and my mana.” Gar in my eyes looked older than he ever had before, the wrinkles and hunched stature became more pronounced to me, his age was clear to my eyes, and in a way, I felt as if I could feel the corruption in his spirit.

At that moment I was unsure of what to do, whether I should say something or if there was nothing to say.

Finally, I decided “I am confused with the way that this world was, you were my closest friend, a father to me, and I thank you for everything you have provided, if there is anything, anything at all that I can do, please tell me now”

Gar sighed and said “you know I expected a bit more of an extreme reaction from you” with a dry chuckle.

I signed “I’m sorry, no words can describe what I feel right now, a pain so great that it claws my heart and tears me to pieces.”

Gar chuckled once more and said “If I had to guess then I would say I had about a day left to live,” pausing for a moment he then continued “if I could have one wish it would be that you were to fulfill your destiny and to never let go of hope, for hope is what allows us to cling on, it allows us to reach higher, and keep fighting” He sighed once more and continued “I have one inheritance for you, it is my sword, I hid it down here long ago, I want you to end my life with it.”

“Where is it?” I asked.

“Look to the far wall, you will find it there, you must reach one of your fingers into the cracks, this will open the wall, then you will be greeted with a stand and a puzzle, if this will be my last test for you, you must solve this puzzle in order to have my sword.” To Rai this seemed strange, had he not been tested enough?

But in the end, he decided that he trusted his master, after all, Gar had guided him throughout the last seven years of his life.

Pushing his finger into the crack a low hiss escaped the wall directly behind him, in an octave a normal human wouldn’t be able to hear.

Turning around he saw a strange board then Gar said: “to win all you need to do is beat me in a game of chess.”

Slayer’s P.O.V.

I knew it was going to happen, that creature was a Fosc Fiend, the only way for them to find their way into the nine worlds is either through a summoning or slipping through a place where the veil is thin, these creatures are dangerous not for the reasons that most people would think.

Fosc Fiends are the second lowest ranked fiend of the Shadow Field, and in their teeth, they carry the shadow corruption, a disease which corrupts one's mana and slowly leeches away their lifeforce, I of course though am, was, immune to this, and even learned how to harness it.

While Rai was learning how to survive, he was learning how to project his soul and had succeeded in it as well.

Slayer could now observe things outside of his host body, but he still heard and felt everything Rai was thinking or feeling.

The Slayer went in order to see how the conflict between the two warring empires was going and so far it seemed to be at a stalemate.

With neither country being able to push the other back, the attrition was slowly killing them.

Neither side was doing well, and no clear winner was evident.

At this rate what was most likely to happen would be another country swooping in to finish the job.

In fact, that was exactly what was happening, the country Eblau was coming in with a force of 200,000 bronze ranked soldiers, 30,000 silver ranked soldiers, 1,000 gold-ranked officers, 200 platinum ranked officers, and 10 diamond ranked generals.

Even before the war, neither country would be able to hold against this army for long, but now their fall is inevitable.

The Eblau empire had already expanded quite a lot, and he knew that this is only the beginning of their campaign for controlling the lower continent.

Eblau had many changes in governance and rulership in the past century, but now they had settled into a despotic government, their once peaceful and steady economy now being transformed into money for a war machine that would be relatively unstoppable for all of 25 years before Rai is sent to defeat them.

Ardaenia would assess the threat and turtle down for a while, and act as the only obstacle for the Eblau nation’s attempt to conquer the 8th world.

The king of the Ardaenien Empire was truly impressive, having achieved what this world's “limit”, where one would be forced to ascend unless they have an artifact of “limiting” which would keep one at their current world while keeping them from gaining power.

The Eblau nation actually came from the third world, and has worked its way up, collecting valuable and rare resources from each worl-

“Hah! Victory is mine, I have finally won!” Rai mentally shouts

Swiftly I returned to find that Rai has beaten Gar in a game of King’s Men, or chess as it is called in this world.

Gar gives Rai a small smile and says “now, you can have my sword.”

The table and the chess board split in two and, with an overly dramatic shine, a sword rose from between the two halves.

This sword before him is a katana, made for slashing, this one was obviously enchanted, the runes along the back of the blade glimmered and twisted, the blade was enchanted with a rune of sharpness lvl 5 (lvl 5 runes are worth around 160 gold crowns), and a much more rare rune of mana slicing at level 9.

The sword itself is made from thornium and was obviously smithed by one of the best, this sword is worth a kingdoms treasury.

Rai’s P.O.V.:

I looked towards my master, not wanting to take the sword, for in my mind it would be admitting that he truly was unlikely to survive this disease and that he is condemned to death, however, in the end, I grasped it, and slowly slid it into its sheath, which I strapped to my hip.

Gar nodded towards me and said “before you leave there is something you must do for me, you must kill me”

I was confused and concerned “Why must I kill you?” I signed towards him

Gar responded, “Well, I don’t want to die a dog's death, I wish to die like a true warrior, with a sword in hand and my honor intact.”

I understood, Gar had taught me how important a warrior’s honor is, and to lose one's life to a disease rather than through combat is considered shameful.

I handed him a sword from the wall and reached for one of the others, but he stopped me and said: “I wish to die by my own sword, please, allow me this small grace.”

Nodding my head I readied the sword he gave me and lunged forward.

Gar swiftly raised his sword and parried my blade, despite this there still was a large gash left in his sword.

Gar dove in for a counter attack, I moved to block only to realize it was actually a feint!

He twisted his sword and changed the direction of the attack incredibly fast, coating his blade in weak, yet sharp mana.

This time he is fully committing to the attack, putting all the torque and force he can muster into this blow, my sword no longer in a position where I can block him, I toss my blade into the air and dodge under his sword and use a mana thread to pull my blade back to me, I swiftly turn and bury my sword into his shoulder, I step into him and pull out the blade, using a mana thread I pull the sword in a wide arc in order to get as much force behind it as possible.

Gar changes into a blocking stance and deflects my sword, at the costs of six inches of his own blade, now using a much shorter sword he moves in closer and takes advantage of the far shorter blade by moving in past my defenses

He attempts to dig his own blade into my side only to see it stopped by a sword breaker I pulled from my belt, grinning, I attempt to snap his blade only for him to twist the dagger out of my grip, showing that I Obviously needed more practice with one.

I pull my hand from my side and swiftly take several steps back to see Gar panting heavily, yet still grinning like a child on Regalo Day morning.

Gar lunges towards me once more, however, I dodge out of the way, only to see that he was expecting me to do so all along.

Gar sends his blade out in a last ditch effort and slices into my side, still smiling he says “I lost.” as I stab him through the heart.