Chapter 303: A Stowaway
Azrael couldn’t believe that Jason had actually done it! This was something that he didn’t ever think was possible, but Jason had done it! Jason actually managed to find a Rune Key without the use of an incantation! This could change the entire art of rune crafting as they knew it! If Jason actually managed to find a way to locate Keys without the use of incantations, then he would have figured out how to take control of any and every single Rune in existence! Every Rune needed an incantation in order for you to find the Key, and only those with the incantations for a particular Rune would be able to activate it! But now that Jason had discovered how to bypass incantations, he had practically forged a universal key that gave him access to every single Rune in the world!
Azrael was right. What Jason had just done wasn’t something just anyone could perform. The amount of high-level mana control and concentration power needed to discover a Rune without the incantation was just far too great for any average mage! Even Azrael, with all his knowledge and skill, was still incapable of finding the Key of a Rune without the incantation! Jason had just figured out a way to interact with and activate any Rune!
The sword in front of Jason began glowing with the same bright blue light as Jason’s body, and Jason could feel a connection forming between him and the sword. The sword floated off the ground and slowly gravitated towards him, and it slowly began to sink into the center of his chest until it had completely fused with his body! The bright light around Jason began to dim once again, and Jason calmly opened his eyes while releasing a sigh. Gina put her hand down once she noticed that the light had died down, and she watched as the Runes on Jason’s body slowly vanished.
Jason felt the sword inside his body waiting for his instructions. The bond that Jason had created with the sword felt very strange, and it was almost like Jason had just gained an extra limb that was far stronger than any other part of his body!
Ding!
——
Mission Complete!
The user has successfully completed the mission [First Runic Ritual]
The user has gained the following rewards:
+10,000 Free Kill Points
The user has gained the Title [Rune Crafter - Red Class]
The user has gained the unique skill [Rune Analysis]
——
[Rune Analysis: This skill allows the user to easily comprehend and analyse the properties of any Rune with only a glance! Rune Analysis is a very important subdivision of the Runic Magic Arts, and it is regarded by many Rune Crafters as one of the most important fundamental skills needed to become a true Rune Crafter. With this skill, the user will no longer need to go through the years of practice needed to learn the various properties and strokes that make up different Rune types. The user should please remember that the more complex a Rune is, the longer the user will need to study it for the skill to properly analyse its nature.]
——
Jason hummed in amazement at the new skill! The system’s description told him that this was one of the most important parts of Rune Crafting, and Jason wasn’t surprised since he knew that there was no way you could be a Rune Crafter if you couldn’t even analyse Runes crafted by others. Jason hadn’t been able to analyse the Rune that Katarina had used to tie her life to the lives of her subordinates earlier, and if not for the system telling him that the Rune was going to kill everybody that Katarina was tied to, then Jason would have killed Katarina right then. The analysis of Runes would’ve probably taken Jason years of practice and a lot of studying to get up to a suitable level, but now the system had cut that down to almost nothing!
Jason nodded thankfully for the new skill, and he was about to call on the [Death’s Mirage], but he suddenly heard a voice echo through his mind!
’Wha-? Hold on! Where am I!?’
Jason’s brow furrowed at the strange, confused voice! It sounded like an old man, and Jason felt his own confusion growing when the man suddenly spoke again!
’Is this some Primordial Prison!? Or did the Grim Reaper catch me before I could escape!? Where am I!?’
The man’s voice was starting to get even louder, and Jason finally opened his eyes and called on the sword! The [Death’s Mirage] appeared in Jason’s hand, and Jason looked down at the sword hilt with furrowed brows! It was still a normal sword hilt, and there didn’t seem to be anything different about the sword other than the fact that it was now bonded to Jason! So what the actual fuck was that voice!?
’Hah!? Who are you!? Where am I!? Did you capture me during my transfer!? Are you trying to use me for some experiment!? I’m warning you right now, you’ll regret this! I’m the Great Sage of the Eastern Mountain Sect! You’ll face the wrath of my entire Sect if you dare to touch me!’
Gina sat up while giving Jason a curious look when she saw the look of absolute confusion on his face and she spoke up calmly.
"Jason, what’s wrong? Didn’t it work?"
Gina could tell that there was something wrong from the way Jason was looking at the sword, but Jason didn’t answer her question immediately. Instead, Jason seemed to glare down at the sword, and from the look on Jason’s face, Gina could only assume that Jason was in a heated argument with someone!
’Who the fuck are you?’
Jason suddenly spoke back to the voice in his head, and he felt the sword vibrate as the voice made a shocked sound! The voice spoke up quickly!
’You don’t know who I am!? How don’t you know me!? I’m the most famous Sect Leader since the first Patriarch! The sexiest man that no woman could ever have! Esdath the Untouchable! Now tell me where I am!’
The voice sounded like it was going through an existential crisis, and Jason decided to humor the sword for a while as he said.
’Esdath the Untouchable? That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.’
’Don’t you dare insult that name! All the demon sects tremble at the mere mention of my name, and the Mount Hua Sect even engraved it into their training hall as a reminder of my greatness! Now where am I!?’
Jason was still staring at the sword with a slightly irritated expression on his face, and he spoke calmly.
’You’re on Earth –’
’Earth!? What sort of backwater rubbish name is that!? Earth sounds like the place we would go to throw our wasted cultivation jewels after using them for clearing impurities! You’d better let me out of here right now! Or even better, you’re going to take me to the Eastern Mountain Sect and hand me to the Patriarch! I’ll pay you handsomely for helping me!’
Jason shook his head and looked up at Azrael while asking.
’I can hear a voice from the sword. Is that normal?’
Azrael hummed as he seemed to be thinking about the current development, and it didn’t take long before he answered.
’The [Death Mirage] sword was designed to act as a conduit for retrieving souls from the [Rivers of the Afterlife] and using them to fight battles. If you can hear a voice, then it is likely that one of the souls in the River managed to possess the sword and become a part of it. It shouldn’t affect the sword’s abilities at all, and there is a method to exorcise it if you wish.’