Emery was able to hold the sword and used its power before. Hence he was confident that it certainly won't be different this time.
When his hands once again touched and grabbed the sword hilt, Emery could faintly yet clearly feel a certain energy flowing through it, heading in his direction. Just like before, he welcomed it on his own and it didn't take long for him to feel the sword's presence again.
Mustering his strength, Emery pulled the sword up with apparent ease.
All the knights who witnessed this all stared at him in awe and amazement; they couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing right now and the fact that there was someone else who could wield the famed sword beside their king. A few new people, however, looked at him weirdly.
On the other hand, Arthur nodded in satisfaction and casually spoke, "Now we know who is worthy to replace me when I am gone."
The old wizard Gaious who heard Arthur's words suddenly coughed. He crept closer to Arthur and whispered, "That's not really something to joke about, Your Majesty." A droplet of sweat could be seen on his forehead.
Oblivious of the two's farce, Emery's eyes were completely focused on the sword in his hand. It gleamed beautifully, reflecting the sunlight it was exposed to.
He knew what the sword meant to the kingdom, its significance as a whole. Even so, he ignored it and closely inspected the legendary sword.
[Caliburn]
[Long sword – Tier: ???]
[Length: 1.2 meters, Weight: 28kg]
Its criztalyze-like blade that gave ethereal feeling, its golden hilt adorned with several beautiful gems; it was simply the most beautiful sword Emery had ever seen.
The sword was still as mysterious as before. He couldn't see its ability, not even its tier. Hence Emery could only assume that the sword must be at least a tier 5 weapon. This would stay as a mere assumption until he was able to completely analyze the sword.
Emery brought the sword to the air, its tip pointing toward the blue sky. He then did a little swing with it. After doing several movements of his swordsmanship, he still didn't hear any voices from the sword nor any energy flowing from it.
Therefore, Emery decided to infuse a little of his spirit force into the sword to 'jolt' it awake. However, instead of giving the energy brimmed with power that he wished for, it sent back a painful, strong energy.
It wasn't strong enough to mortally hurt him, but Emery knew this reaction meant that the sword was unwilling to be wielded by him. It seemed that it was true; the reason the sword lent him the overwhelming power before was just because it wanted to defeat its seemingly nemesis.
Emery's head turned to where Arthur was and asked, "Did the sword grant you any power when you wield it?"
A pondering expression could be seen on Arthur's face. A moment later, he shook his head dejectedly. "No.. I mean, never again since the battle."
Emery nodded in response while trying to think of other possible solutions.
This time, he tried to use his [Spirit Reading] to control and interact with an object telepathically, just like how he once taught in the elite class.
"I need to lend your power to save someone.." said Emery softly in his mind. "Will you be willing to help me?"
Emery kept doing this for a few minutes, but unfortunately there was no response at all. He exhaled a deep sigh and put the sword back to where it was before. With this his hope to use the sword to help Morgana was gone.
Arthur quickly realized what was going on and spoke while sighing, "With us both unable to wield the sword power, I really hope we won't be facing another of those situations anytime soon, Merlin. I really do.."
Emery released another sigh as he was unable to promise Arthur with anything. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he also told the latter that he would be leaving for at least one year.
Afterward, he opened his [Spatial Storage] and took out a dozen of his newly improved [Gaia Serum]. He gave them to Arthur in hope that they could help him in the future.
Emery really hoped for Arthur to get stronger, as he was confident the Briton's young ruler would play an important part in the future events, or rather, future threat as per Gaia's vision told him.
After handing the [Gaia Serum], Emery beamed a smile at Arthur. "Alright. I hope you all will always be well."
He turned around and was about to cast [Spatial Gate] when Gwen quickly stopped him.
"You will be leaving right away?" She said, "You should stay for a while."
Emery was silent at her words, which made the situation turn a little awkward. Noticing this, Arthur decided to intervene and said, "Actually Merlin, if you have time I would like to hear your opinion about the new threat from the south."
Upon hearing that, Emery quickly knew what the threat Arthur was talking about. It was about the Roman who took control of all the former Cantiaci Kingdom's territory, which automatically made them Briton's current biggest threat.
"I am actually invited to meet their new legion commander in three days." said Arthur with a smile. "If you have time, please come see him with me."
Emery might have a say or two about the Roman, as he had seen first hand how they fought during the slave rebellion war.
He would indeed hate to see Briton fall under Rome while he left for the academy. Even so, he decided to not put his nose into this matter. Not this time.
After all, he needed to prepare for the new academy year that would start in exactly four days.
Emery was about to reject the invitation when one of the knights suddenly opened his mouth.
"We have nothing to worry about, Your Majesty. I heard that the commander they sent was very young, he shouldn't be much of a threat to Briton."
Arthur turned his head at the knight's words.
"Still. We should not underestimate the Roman, tell me what's the name of this new commander?"
"Legatus Julian Kaisar."
The name that came out of the knight's mouth instantly stopped Emery. He turned his body around and looked straight at Arthur while saying, "I will see you there in three days."
After saying that, Emery immediately entered the [Spatial Gate] that he had created and returned to the shrine to check on Morgana once again and made his last preparation.
