Patience

Turning the knob on the wall, Saber watched as the stone door of the cave ascended and the bright light of the outside world entered his eyes. He grimaced with slight discomfort since he had begun to dislike light but, he leisurely walked out of the cave, only to be greeted with the sight of a certain female cultivator.

"Alissa?" Saber voiced out. A kind smile formed on his face causing Alissa to also let out a beautiful smile. This was why she waited here for months. It was to see the alluring smile of Saber as she then said with a soft voice.

"Junior brother, I and the other disciples are going into one of the forbidden zones to see if a certain rumor is true or not. We wanted to know if you are interested?" She asked, causing Saber to confusedly voice out.

"Forbidden zone, what's that?"

Hearing such a question, Alissa softly giggled and gestured for him to follow her toward the peak of the mountain where the rest of the disciples were. Along the way, Alissa also explained what the forbidden zone was to the confused Saber.

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(The Eight Mountain Peak)

Inside a throne room and sitting on a throne as blazing fire surrounded him, one can see the figure of the redheaded Sect Master of the Sword Art Sect. He had a bright smile on his face while he was in the middle of receiving information from the crow on his shoulder.

Soon after, he snapped his fingers. A snap that resounded throughout the whole of the palace that resided on the mountain peak. Then and there, three figures mysteriously appeared in his throne room while kneeling.

"It is highly likely for you three to gain a junior brother. But first, he needs to be tested. So your task is to make a fair trial for him once he enters forbidden zone number 4.

Of course, if I ever find out you made it impossible for him to pass, your heads will be displayed for the whole of my sect to see the results of what happens when someone disobeys the Sect Master of the Sword Art Sect."

His voice caused sweat to form on the trio's forehead as they shivered unintentionally.

"Yes, master!" They replied in unison before disappearing.

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(Seventh Mountain Peak)

Appearing in the throne room once more, Saber was surprised to find Hale also standing in the room and seemingly waiting for him along with the other disciples. As Saber appeared the room turned cold as the fairy then said.

"It seems that your sword insights have improved immensely." Her sweet voice resounded, alerting all the disciples that their junior brother's sword techniques reached a level that even the fairy could compliment.

Saber merely nodded before approaching the other disciples. Since he was unaware of where they needed to go to leave, he simply stayed wherever they were. Though he was surprised that Hale had also become the fairy's disciple, he cared little enough to talk to him.

Seeing his usual cold and aloof temperament, none bothered to speak since they were told by Hale that was just how he was...none except Alissa of course.

This surprised Hale quite a lot and he felt a stifling feeling in his chest when seeing Saber's smile which looked kind and polite, but he ignored it since it had nothing to do with him.

Saber gazed around confusedly as he saw everyone gazing in the fairy's direction. Just as he shifted his gaze to her, he was able to catch the sight of her waving her hand.

Thereafter, a purple aura wrapped around the seven disciples as Saber realized she teleported them since he entered the white space!

He was shocked since with a mere wave she was able to do something only teleportation platforms are normally able to do.

In Saber's view was a valley filled with a blue mist that permeated the air and released a weird smell that caused Saber to frown. Though it was an unpleasant smell, the others did not hesitate and instead began approaching deeper into the valley.

As they walked deeper into the mist valley, Saber's cold voice rung out in the ears of the others.

"So, why are we even here?" He asked. Though he was told that they were going into one of the forbidden zones, and he was also told what the forbidden zones are, he was still unaware of why he was here.

"Oh, I heard from one of the Treasure Hunting disciples that there was a treasure located here quite in the middle section of this valley. It seemed that one of their disciples found a treasure and reported it using a communication talisman, but he died.

Since the people of the Treasure Hunting faction are weaker than the other factions, entering too deep into any of the Forbidden Zones may cause their downfall. And this disciple seemed to not consider this." Alissa happily explained to Saber.

As they walked deeper into the valley, the mist became thicker and their surroundings slowly began to become hard to discern. None of them picked up on the dangerous light which flashed in Saber's eyes though. But, while walking they were able to sense the movements of what seemed to be a shadow!

Though it was quick, they sensed no harm emanating from it so they continued their stroll deeper into the valley, only to be stopped when the same shadow ran across them once again. This time though, the shadow had a bigger shadow next to it that radiated slightly more power.

"Hmm, it seems that there are shadow monsters who do not know when they are outmatched in terms of strength." The strongest of the disciples who had a burly body with tanned skin and a long sword on his back commented after seeing the creatures.

His hair was spiky and black and his black pupils contained a sharp glare. Saber shifted his gaze to this senior brother of his and couldn't help but adopt a serious expression. He was hungry, but it seemed he'll have to wait for the correct time to eat.

The oldest disciple then placed his hand on the handle of his long sword and unsheathed it. With one casual strike in a downward motion, the others watched on with expressions of shock as the mist, along with the creatures were parted in half.

The split continued for hundreds of meters and allowed the other members to see the true depths of the forbidden zone. Not only that, but this mere casual swipe of his made the other disciples of the fairy now understand the incredible difference in strength between them and him.

He smiled once seeing this, not aware of the light passing through Saber's eyes.

'Hmm, it seems that he has already passed the level of Basic Sword Mastery. He has most probably already reached the level of High-Level Sword Mastery, similar to me.'

Saber thought with knitted brows. Now that he was aware of the insights of this senior brother in the way of the sword, Saber knew he had to patiently bid his time.

If he was to fight all of them now then wouldn't it be asking for his death?

Saber was uninterested to rely on his regeneration simply because he was filled with greed to taste the sweet and tender flesh of a female cultivator such as Alissa...

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(A/N: Go check out my newest novel Rise To The Absolute Zenith. Make sure to add to your collection and wait for future chaps...)