44 The Cave (1)

"Do I have to stay on your shoulders for this whole trip?" Ghost complained.

"We look like easier targets this way. Just put up with it. How about this, I will do you a special favour if you do this." Raikou knew he would take the bait if he mentioned a favour.

Ghost started salivating after hearing that. Raikou had no intentions of knowing what was going on in his head right now.

He had his left hand on the hilt of his sword as he continue exploring the cave. He wanted people to attack him, but he wasn't stupid enough to not be prepared at all times. Ghost himself was continuously surveilling the area to ensure that there's no surprise attacks from people that are exceptional at stealth. Raikou could probably detect it, but he didn't want to take any chances.

They came up to a room filled with scrolls.

Raikou's eyes lit up. "These are probably skill scrolls!"

He inspected the skills and to his disappointment, most of them were F and E ranked scrolls. He placed them all in his inventory one by one in hopes that one would be higher.

After placing 50 scrolls in his inventory, he came across a B rank skill.

Skill: Ice Wall

Rank: B

Description: Creates a thick ice wall for the user. Can change in shape and strength based on mastery.

He passed it to Ghost. "This is perfect for you. With this you have an extra layer of protection. I won't have to worry about you as much."

Ghost was touched by his feelings. He took it and put it away in the spatial ring that they acquired from the archer woman. He currently held the ring and was on his little paw. He needed to remember to remove it before he transforms or the repercussions wouldn't be pretty.

"We need to get a suitable spatial storage for me. A ring just doesn't fit a beast like me."

"How about I get you a spatial collar." Raikou joked.

"What the fuck do you think I am?! A domesticated fucking kitten? Get me a pendant or something of the sort." Ghost shouted.

"That's pretty similar to a collar."

"..." Ghost grumbled to himself in annoyance.

"I'm going to guard the entrance. You have an hour to get to initial mastery of the skill."

Ghost nodded and hopped of his head and pulled out the scroll.

30 minutes later, Ghost had comprehended the skill.

Raikou was impressed, as normal cultivators would take from 6 hours to a week to get to the initial master of even simple skills. Then again, Ghost wasn't normal.

They left and saw someone enter the room they'd just left.

The man left the room and looked at Raikou's back. Raikou was showing his actual cultivation, but it was extremely low in this cave, making everyone look down on him.

"Hey you!" The man called out.

Raikou turned around. He looked at the man and thought, "Oh, my first mage! Haven't really fought one of those yet. Let's see what he's going to do." The man was dressed in a dark red robe and had a staff in his hand. His long black beard completed the obvious mage look.

"Did you clean out that room?" The man asked.

"Yep." Raikou gave a one word answer and smiled.

His behaviour angered the man. The man lifted his staff and responded, "Give me everything you found and I will let you go!"

"Let me guess. If I continue to offend you, then you will be merciful enough to leave me with an intact body if I do what you say?" As soon as he finished his sentence, a fireball came flying at him.

He cut through the fireball and used cloud steps to stand in front of the man. The man was shocked by his speed and didn't have time to activate a spell.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were this strong." He was in disbelief from a rank 3 cultivator being this fast, even if he was a warrior.

"I'm sorry, but that naughty fireball made me very sad." Raikou plunged his sword into the man's heart and removed his spatial ring.

+50,000xp.

"Hey Ghost, did you see that? I fucking cut through a fireball! I didn't think it would work, but it sure looked cool." He attempted the cut after noticing that the fireball didn't have enough strength to damage him.

Ding! Passive Skill Acquired!

Skill: Void

Rank: SSS

Description: Allows the user to reduce things into nothingness.

(Can only affect weak adversaries at low mastery and cultivation.)

"What the fuck! This is overpowered! I got this from cutting that fireball?" Raikou was overjoyed.

"It's not as simple as that. You're attunement with all magics allowed you to tap into something special. Even I don't know exactly what it is just yet. We will find out together." The system explained.

Raikou nodded and started laughing uproariously. He was extremely excited with acquiring his second SSS skill. This was more of an achievement, as it wasn't given to him as a freebie by the system.

"I can't even sugarcoat it, that was fucking badass!" Ghost complimented Raikou.

Raikou gave him a thumbs up and winked at him.

"Don't do that weird shit. That's the last compliment you're getting if you do that again." Ghost was weirded out by his response.

Raikou calmed down and picked up the mage's staff.

Name: Fire Phoenix Staff

Quality: Spiritual 3rd Grade

Description: Flashy name, but not actually made from a phoenix.

Raikou couldn't care less. He fed it to his sword. The sword flew out of his hand and began floating in front of him.

"It's evolving. Wait a minute or two." The system didn't want Raikou to grab it and disrupt the process.

After it evolved, Raikou took a look at his new weapon.

Name: Unnamed Sword (Evolvable)

Quality: Spiritual 1st Grade

Effect: When used +16 Agility, +12 Strength. +20 Intellect. +20 Wisdom +1 Charm. Any slash from your sword will induce a burning effect for 1 minute on the target. (The power of the effect will depend on your wisdom)

The new sword gave a point in an invariable stat and greatly increased his non-physical stats.

He named the sword, Bishouken. The name just sounded badass to shout.

The sword had molded into a shape that Raikou preferred. It was a double edged sword of 125cm length. The hilt was onyx black and shone like a gem. He sheathed the weapon and got up.

His sword mastery had gone up significantly since the last time he checked. He could feel that he was closing up on the peak of a sword master. This would be benificial in fighting stronger opponents in the higher ranking kingdoms.

"Let's see if we can find some more cool things!"