“It is one of the weapons demigods use to create Aura Blade.
“Neo, can you demonstrate your Aura Blade with this sword?”
“Understood.”
Neo nodded.
He still felt weird seeing Henry talk normally.
But he ignored it.
Or tried to do so atleast.
He took the sword from Henry’s hand.
Obitus didn’t complain.
It was trying to stay quiet, believing complaining too much would annoy Neo.
Neo could sense how much it hated the him touching other weapons – swords especially.
If he were to put Obitus’ feelings in words, he was a husband who was spending a night with another woman.
He spoke a few words of comfort to Obitus.
After calming down the Sword Spirit, he channeled his Aura of Death and Darkness into the sword.
The blade started to crack.
Neo realized it would break if he did not stop.
“Don’t hold back,” Henry said.
Neo nodded and slashed.
The sword crumbled away before it could touch the adamantium block.
“There you have it.”
Henry turned to the audience.
“Our company’s product is already well known in the market for it’s durability.
“There is no need to explain that it’s one of the best products with a good cost-to-performance ratio.
“Yet, you saw how easily it broke when the weapon is pushed beyond its limit.”
One of the reporters raised his hand.
“Yes, you can speak.”
“Usn’t it too much to use Neo Hargraves as a benchmark?”
The reporter continued.
“He defeated the Minotaur. Even if he is a Mythic rank demigod, he is in the upper bracket among them.
“The standard weapons are used by new Grade 5 Mythic demigods up to Grade 3 Mythic demigods.
“They aren’t strong enough to destroy the weapons with their Auras,” the reporter explained.
“Miss…”
“Eli Spencer from BigNews Daily.” frёeωebɳovel.com
“Miss Eli, you say the demigods aren’t strong enough to destroy a weapon like Neo did.
“What about the monsters?
“A Grade 3 monster whose stats are geared towards attack will do major damage to the standard weapons in combat.
“From our calculations, the amount an average demigod spends within five years to repair their weapon is enough to buy a new standard weapon.
“A standard weapon of Hargraves Corporation, while cheap, still costs years of savings on the demjgods’ part.
“This is same as saying they are burning through their savings to repair their weapons.”
Henry added,
“If this continues, the demigods will never be able to buy another gear.
“And without new gear, they won’t grow stronger, they won’t be able to defeat more monsters, and they won’t earn more money.
“They’ll be stuck at their current level for their whole lives.
“Hargraves Corporation doesn’t want that. Our goal is to create affordable and powerful weapons that anyone can use and help them grow stronger”
The reporter jotted down his answer and returned to his seat.
More reporters posed their questions.
Henry answered them patiently.
After a while, he spoke,
“Now, we’ll present the Soul Weapons.”
The crew members brought a suitcase to the stage.
They opened it and presented it to Neo.
Neo took out the sword from within it.
‘Obitus, just wait for a few seconds.’
The sword didn’t complain.
But he reassured it nonetheless.
“Begin the demonstration.”
Neo poured his Divine Energy into the blade swiftly.
He could not hear any faint murmurs from within the sword like he could hear from Obitus.
Even though both were Soul Series weapons, they were qualitatively different.
The adamantium block was sliced cleanly, and a deep gash was left behind on the ground.
“This is the ability of our Soul Series Weapons.
“They boost your control over your primary elements as well as improve the circulation of Divine Energy.”
Henry explained the benefits of the sword.
Everyone thought the demonstration had ended.
Before the reporters could start the interview in earnest, Henry raised his hand to stop them.
“Neo, please draw Obitus.”
“…?”
Although confused, he grabbed the hilt of his sword.
Suddenly, his aura expanded explosively.
It was as if Obitus wanted to show it was better.
The aura of Death and Darkness was so thick that the adamantium blocks and the stage started to crumble away before Neo did anything.
The butler had to step up to stop the damage from spreading.
A thin, transparent golden film covered Henry, the stage, and the reporters.
Soon Neo’s aura returned to his control.
The performance of Neo’s sword left the reports slack jawed.
“The weapon you just saw was the True Soul Weapon. Only three more such weapons exist.
“They will be sold at the auction the day after tomorrow.
“You can ask the questions now.”
The reporters jumped into action.
Henry picked them at random and listened to their questions.
“What’s the commercial difference between normal Soul Weapons and True Soul Weapons?”
“The standard Soul Weapons are mass-produced, while only four True Soul Weapons exist.”
Another reporter stood up.
“What makes the True Soul Weapons different? There must be a reason if you are auctioning them separately.”
“True Soul Weapons can grow along with their user. Conversely, the opposite is also true.
“As long as the weapon grows stronger, its user will too.”
The conference hall went into a frenzy.
Henry’s words were too absurd to be believed.
But the proof was in front of their eyes.
Neo had been seen using Obitus during ranking tournaments when he was a Grade 5 Awakened Demigod.
He was still using the sword, and it had grown in its abilities visibly.
“Mr. Henry, if your words are true, then a True Soul Weapon can allow Mars Everhart—the Fallen Genius—to grow stronger.
“The Ares Clan would’ve paid any price for a weapon of that caliber.
“Why are you putting them in an auction instead of selling it to the Ares Clan directly?
“Is it because you want the Clans to compete for the True Soul Weapons?”
“That’s a tricky question,”
Henry chuckled.
“There are many reasons for my decision.
“But the main reason is the True Soul weapons themselves.
“They choose their owners. If they don’t like Mars Everhart, he can’t use them.”
The reporters grew excited when they heard him.
After all, his words were essentially saying True Soul Weapons were alive.
Instead of confirming their guess, Henry dodged around the questions, saying any more information about the True Soul Weapons was confidential.
The interview continued until one of them spoke to Neo.
“My question is for Neo Hargraves.”
“Go on,” Neo said.
“The short clip of you defeating the legendary Minotaur with only two attacks has gone viral.
“Not to mention, you proceeded to defend Greenwood City until the authorities came to the scene.
“Prior to this, you became the Ruler by defeating Morrigan di Montaigne, who was the irrefutable rank 1 of this year.
“After becoming a Ruler, your exceptional performance in the S-rank mission was also quite shocking.”
The reporter continued,
“My question is, who are you?
“Frankly, you are too talented to have a minor god’s bloodline.
“I – we – want to know what is your bloodline.
“An exceptionally powerful bloodline can be the only reason how you could grow so strong in such a short amount of time.”
The question came.
Neo had expected it.
“You want to know my bloodline?”
He opened his mouth.