Emery followed the golden prince and walked past several guards. Though the sight of a prince walking alone with a stranger was certainly odd, none seemed to give them even a second glance.
"This is the Divine Order's assembly hall, where the divine order holds our important meetings. Considering what I knew of your abilities, you were the one who snuck in that night, weren't you?"
Emery had no interest in chatting at the moment, so he decided to ignore Arthur.
"Not a chatty sort, aren't you?" Arthur smirked.
No answer. In silence, they walked together to the basement of the building and saw the mysterious door.
Emery had the ability to get inside without passing the door, but he decided to see what the prince had prepared for them.
Arthur fiddled around with the two massive keys in his hands, while Emery gazed at him with interest. It seemed the golden prince was able to obtain the keys, which were supposedly held by two different knight commanders.
It dawned on Emery that what he saw right now was either a testament of the prince's resourcefulness or proof of the corruption that has festered and strangled even the very heart of the Divine Order itself.
After a few seconds, Arthur was done and the huge door slowly swung open. Emery and Arthur walked through the glowing tunnel until they arrived at the legendary sword stabbed on the stone.
"This is Excalibur, the legendary divine sword. It's been sleeping within this stone for more than 1000 years."
If this was the first time Emery came to this place, he might have been impressed, but he already knew almost everything that Arthur said. With Morgana still being held captive in the castle, there was no time to waste with history lessons.
"That's enough. Tell me, what do you mean by the will of the sword?!"
Despite Emery's outburst, Arthur stayed calm and approached the sword, before extending his hand to hold the handle with the utmost care.
Just like what Emery saw with sir Maleagant before, the sword immediately glowed, and two motes of bright light shone above it.
A moment passed and Arthur released his grip, turned to look at Merlin and said.
"I know this sword was given to us by the fey in ancient times. Call me crazy, but every time I touch the sword, it speaks to me. I believe it wants me to understand the fey people better… and later be allowed to pull the sword"
Emery remained unconvinced. He found the situation quite amusing. 1000 years had gone on and no one was able to pull this so-called talking sword. What chance did a random prince have? As strong as he might be, there were plenty of strong people born before him.
"Can you prove all of that was real and not merely you hallucinating under your delusions?"
The prince went silent for a moment before saying.
"I have no way to prove it to you, but there is something I hope we can try, hopefully it will prove my words."
The prince pulled out an item from his pocket. It was a golden liquid vial.
"This was very difficult to get, drink this and touch the sword… hope you will change your mind afterward"
Emery already had some of the golden liquid of his own from the high priestess, but he definitely wouldn't say no to the free things offered to him.
Emery took the so-called 'divine water'.
[Analyze]
[Divine water: tier 2]
The universal database classified this potion to be in the tier 2 category, which is quite a decent rank for a product created by lower world humans.
He didn't need to use his Extraction skill to find more information about the potion. It has almost the same information as the Gaia essence. He could easily deduct this "divine water' was simply a diluted version of the essence.
Emery uncorked the vial and drank it all in one gulp.
[You have received the blessing of Gaia]
[Spirit force unaffected]
Considering the notification's wording, it could be assumed that most knights should get an increase in spirit force, but most likely Emery's spirit force is already too high. The effect is probably the same as if he's consuming a spirit serum right now.
More than that, he was interested in the [Blessing of Gaia]. He could feel some sort of energy coursing throughout his entire body, causing his body to glow and his fingertips to feel abuzz with some sort of tingling.
Without wasting time, Emery walked to the stone and grabbed the embedded sword with both hands.
Unlike before, he suddenly could feel a reaction from the sword in the form of attracting energy that softly, yet persistently, tried to pull his fingertips towards him. Taking the force as a good sign, he decided to pull with all his might.
But, to his surprise, instead of him pulling the sword, Emery felt as if the sword was actually pulling his spirit force instead. It was quickly followed by a glow coming out from the sword.
One light… that's it?
This was disappointing, he was hoping to get three or four lights.
He saw the process was the same to all the other golden knights before him.
A moment later a notification appear on his mind
[You learned a new battle art skill - Divine Power]
Emery had a smile when reading it. New skills were always welcome. But then it quickly followed with another notification.
[This battle art is not compatible]
"What?!"
Afterward, he could feel his dark core stir, energy forcefully ripped out of it only to be absorbed into the endless void within the sword.
It took a few seconds before the sword stopped and at that moment, a voice suddenly resounded in his mind.
Emery was startled, the voice was subtle and came into his mind like an echo.
"Did that voice come from the sword?".