"Where am I?" Azzy looked around curiously.
He found himself in the middle of a dark tunnel with the exit appearing very far away at either end.
"Which way should I go?" Azzy wondered, looking at the front and then, back.
Right then, a familiar deep voice echoed in his head, "Azrael, this is called the Hollow Tunnel. As you can see there's nothing inside it. This is a passage that connects two mindscapes.
Only those who had truly mastered their soul energy would be able to do this. And more than 95% of Arcana Masters would achieve it after entering the seven-star realm and become an Exalt Arcana Master.
Managing to create a hollow tunnel between the two souls at such a young age is indeed impressive." The Reaper has nothing but praises for Leah.
Azzy felt a little bit jealous whenever he does that as most of the time, the Reaper would only criticize him or point out his mistakes.
And during the time of praise, either Vajra or the so-called Protos energy will be praised, not him.
"So, which is Ms. Pendragon's?" Azzy asked him, feeling annoyed about it.
"The one behind you is your mindscape and the one in front is Leah's but…" All of a sudden, the entrance behind him was closed. "You can't let anyone right now or in the future into your mindscape. I mean anyone… Understood?"
This time, the Reaper's tone appeared serious. Azzy didn't know why it is a big deal but as it wasn't important right now, quickly, he put those thoughts away and proceeded to walk.
After a fifteen-minute walk, Azzy reached the end of the tunnel and found Leah was waiting for him at the entrance. "You are finally here, Azrael. Follow me."
Azzy looked at the world before him. It was completely different from his mindscape.
He found himself on the grassland with a river flowing through it.
Just like the barren land in his mindscape, Azzy couldn't also see the starting point of either river or the grassland.
The sky was also clear and blue. As his face was hit by a cool breeze, Azzy felt it was pleasant.
Azzy followed Leah as they started to walk.
Both of them are walking towards the river where there's a rock slightly bigger than Azzy in which a sword was embedded.
"You know, you are the first person in the world who entered my mindscape. I didn't allow my friends, relatives, or even my parents." Leah commented while she was looking ahead. "After all, one couldn't let someone enter your mindscape especially a stronger one. After all, all the Arcana spirits and the souls of their masters are quite vulnerable here. I hope you understand how much trust I had in you."
"So, this is why Chronos sealed the entrance? Did he suspect that she might be having other thoughts?" Azzy wondered. He was also confused about her statement of trusting him. They weren't even friends.
At best, they can be considered acquaintances after meeting two times. So, he wondered where this trust comes from.
As if she had read his mind, Leah further said with a giggle, "Don't misunderstand. It's because of my Excalibur. He trusts you. So, I trust you. You will know everything once you talk with him."
After a while, they reached the shore of the river.
All of a sudden, a deep yet loud voice echoed in the surroundings. "Welcome to my abode. I'm Excalibur, popularly known as the sword in the stone, and the symbol of authority."
Of course, Azzy knows the source of the voice. So, he directly looked at the sword in the stone and replied, "The only surviving Arcana spirit of all the Arcana spirits that were created by a man. The only Arcana that managed to defy fate. I heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you, I'm Azrael."
Azzy slightly bowed, returning the greetings. When he was in the first grade, his grandpa read the storybooks of which one of his favorite ones was Merlin's adventures.
So, he knew about the tale, very well. Moreover, the Reaper also told him a few interesting things while he was walking in the tunnel, a while ago.
"Defying the fate, huh," A chuckle escaped from the sword spirit. "Well, let's just say I resisted the fate or else, Goddess Moira will be offended."
Azzy didn't comment on it and said, "Ms. Pendragon told me that you had something important to talk to me."
"Doesn't waste time with strangers and goes directly to the matter. You haven't changed a bit, Rael." Once again, a chuckle escaped from the sword as he commented.
Azzy was taken aback by how he was addressing as if they were familiar with each other.
Even Leah was surprised to see the old man is calling Azzy affectionately. She knew the story of the history between the sword and the boy but still, she felt a little bit jealous watching her Arcana spirit is showing such importance to a stranger.
Excalibur continued, "Before we get into the topic, let me ask you something. How much do you know about the Camelot and Arthur Pendragon?"
Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "I know as much as it recorded in the history books available for the general public. From its formation during the post-apocalypse era, over a million years ago to its downfall in the war with demons, a hundred thousand years ago, ending the Dark Age of Arcana and starting the new era.
The most famous of them is Arthur Pendragon, who managed to unite all the kingdoms on the earth and formed the Empire of Arcana to face off against the demons, which lasted for a thousand years.
However, he couldn't manage to protect his legacy or the peace of the world. Upon his death, the Empire was crumbled and the world was embroiled in a war. It's laughable that the hearts of men were more greedy and wicked than the demons. He shouldn't have …"
Suddenly, Azzy stopped speaking and went into a daze. He couldn't believe he uttered those words of all the people.
Listening to him, the Reaper chuckled to himself, "meeting this little blade is really a blessing to Azzy. Now that he unknowingly acknowledged the truth, I'm looking forward to the day when both his heart and mind also accept the reality."
Meanwhile, Excalibur, who realized that the kid uttered the words unknowingly, and spoke, "it's alright. The truth is truth. We can't run away from it, forever. Anyway, as you would know, there are always important details in the legends that will be hidden from the general public. One of them is the story of Arthur's nine generals, who are called as God killers as they killed a God with their excellent teamwork."
"Killing a God?" Azzy's heart stirred as he listened to his words. According to the Reaper, a true God is supposed to be at rank-11, who is strong enough to destroy all the life on earth.
Of course, Gaia, being the mother goddess, wouldn't let any person from the realms of heaven and hell do that but still, it explains how powerful they are.
And these nine generals killed such a person? Azzy wondered who that God might be.
He's now interested in this conversation.
Excalibur continued, "In those days, the natural energy was abundant in nature and so were the wild beasts in the Arcana world. So, back then, living for thousand years isn't a big deal for those who manage to awaken their Arcana. The platinum-grade spirits aren't also that rare as now.
However, these nine generals were cut above the rest. Each of them possessed a Celestial grade spirit.
General Qin possesses the Phoenix, the symbol of Fire.
General Moon possesses the Leviathan, the symbol of Water.
General Ravillon possesses the Bahamut, the symbol of Earth.
General Odinson possesses the Mjolnir, the symbol of Lightning.
General Arjuna possesses the Gandiva, the symbol of wind.
General Nuada possesses the Claidheamh Soluis, the symbol of light.
General Himiko possesses the Enenras, the symbol of darkness.
General Triastal possesses the Yggdrasill, the symbol of Life.
And General Garcia possesses the Death scythe, the symbol of Death.
Although Arthur had only awakened a gold-grade Arcana, he had found me, Excalibur, the Symbol of Authority.
He released me from the seal that my hateful creator put on me for hundreds of thousands of years just because his job is done with sealing the beasts in another world. That damn wandering god."
"Wandering god?" Azzy remembered the story Exea told about the history of runes, He wondered whether both are the same. At the same time, he felt some of these names are quite weird like Claire's surname and his black wolf.
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