Emery walked through the glowing cave towards the sword. With each step, he could feel his heart pound wildly. The center of the cave was brighter than the already rather bright walls, it felt like looking at a small star.
He stood just a few steps away from the legendary sword, the divine sword Excalibur.
According to the story passed down by the order, the sword has been stuck inside the glowing void-colored stone for more than 1000 years. Give or take, that was around 20 generations ago.
The legend states the one who could pull out the sword would become the king of kings and would lead the whole nation into glory. Emery himself had no desire to be one, what's the point of being a king of an island with the Nephilim faction dictate the whole planet.
But he would be lying if he said he wouldn't like to be the chosen one among all the other thousand legendary knights from the past 1000 years.
But then again, Emery realized a long time had passed since this sword was stuck here. It's possible during that time the message has been exaggerated or just warped into something completely untrue.
Either way, there was no one between him and the sword hidden in this dark cave right now.
Step by step, he walked closer, reached out and touched the golden handle of the sword with the tip of his fingers.
"…"
There was no response. No glowing, no emerging bright light, no reaction whatsoever.
"This is… disappointing," Emery mumbled under his breath.
Though he had failed the first time, he didn't give up. He tried to grab the handle of the sword with both hands and pull it out with the help of his maximum battle power.
"Urrrrggggggghhhhhh!"
He pulled and pulled until his hands started to hurt, but the sword did not budge. There was nothing to indicate the weapon reacted to his attempts.
Emery could possibly be the strongest man on earth right now, him or Thrax. Therefore it really shouldn't be about physical power at all.
He started giving up on pulling out the sword and would settle on receiving what the order called the 'divine blessing'. This could already be a good enough achievement, who knows it might be a very useful skill.
Emery decided to make one last attempt.
He touched the sword, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He tried to channel the power of his spirit force through his dark core.
This time, he finally felt some sort of reaction, but not the kind he had expected. At first, when he saw the sword begin to glow, he felt a bit ecstatic, even more, when he felt energy start to flow into his arm. But the next second, the same energy turns painful and piercing his arm like needles. The shock and the stinging pain actually pushed him back a few steps.
"What the hell?!"
Emery cursed, forgetting he really should keep quiet. After all, he was not supposed to be here.
He looked at his hand and was, fortunately, did not find any wound or bruise at all from the attack. The stinging pain seems harmless to his body.
Instead, he surprised to see the faded symbol on his hand started to glow white. Emery concentrated on the symbol and lines of information came into his mind.
[Caliburn]
[Long sword – Tier: ???]
[Length: 1.2 meters, Weight: 28kg]
Emery was dumbfounded, there was no helpful information at all coming out of it. This only made him even more curious about the sword.
With no other way to find out more, Emery could only assume he currently lacked the right preparation to receive the blessing.
It seemed the divine water, the golden liquid given to the knights before they try pulling out the sword, played an important part in this.
One way he could use to get the vial was by obtaining enough merit. That way, he would get a shot at the golden knight title and thus get access to the vial in the right way.
Unfortunately, this is not an option for him, it would take too long, considering even the powerful Sir Percival needed seven years before he was chosen. Even after being chosen, he would still need the approval of the five knight commanders.
He sighed and tried to find the fastest way to finish this quest, but no idea came to mind except by stealing. He merely needed to know where the knight commander kept the wooden box, then he could use [Spatial Gate], finishing one of the major tasks he had in one fell swoop.
But, on the other hand, such a tactic would break a few of his principles and Emery was reluctant to stoop that low. No matter how hard he tried, he could not come up with anything to justify the theft.
Fortunately, he realized something.
If the sword really was given to this world by the fey, then shouldn't the high priestess know about the divine water, or at least what it was actually made from?
That was the only solution he could think of at the moment.
Emery prepared himself to open a spatial gate back to the Forbidden Forest right away, but before he started chanting, he realized it was very late right now. It felt inappropriate to suddenly go to see the high priestess for information in the middle of the night.
He could always return to this room and the forest anytime. Thus, he decided to postpone looking for a way until he returned to Lioness.
He opened another spatial gate, went out, walking back to the Lioness camp. Right after he entered, he was welcomed with smiles and congratulations from the squires and new knights. These people apparently have been waiting for him.
Some asked him about what the ceremony was all about, which Emery could only answer with half-truths. Others want to see the silver knight medals that he just receives.
That night, he also heard about how the princess decided not to stay for too long in Logress and planned to return back to Lioness right away.
Tomorrow, they will be heading back together, so for this night, some were busy packing while other squires were busy chatting amongst each other, talking about their experience, and swapping fighting tactics for the future.
Though Emery was smiling, from inside he felt really bad. Though he did win the tournament and received some new information about the sword, there was still no clue about Morgana's whereabouts.
Should he tell the princess he would not be returning with them tomorrow?