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Time passed very quickly as Emery deeply immersed himself in practicing the sword technique Magus Xion had imparted upon him. He took the practice and what he had to do very seriously, cautious of any possible mistake.

After all, the last thing he wanted to do toward his master's trust and care was to waste it by achieving nothing at the end of his training period.

After two days of training, Emery finally saw his master wake up from his meditation after he broke the sword. The man stood up from his cross-legged position and approached Emery.

Currently, Emery was still standing with both of his arms raised in the air holding the second sword Magus Xion had given him.

Just like what he had always been doing for the past two days, Emery channeled the darkness spirit energy within his body into the sword in his hand. However, he seemed to have reached an absolute impasse because he couldn't unleash its power like what Magus Xion demonstrated to him no matter what he tried.

Magus Xion seemed to also realize this as he quickly told him to remember about his practice with the leaf, that he needed to control the flow of spirit on the sword while channeling it.

Upon hearing his master's advice, Emery couldn't help but inwardly curse in his mind. 'Err.. I did think about that! It's really not as easy as how you casually say it, Master!"

He naturally couldn't lash his bitterness at Magus Xion. The only thing he could do was to silently listen to his master's instruction and tried harder to not fail again.

Without further ado, Emery once again channeled his darkness energy into the blade while repeating the movements Magus Xion had shown him. And then, when he tried to successfully replicate the third step once again, cracks suddenly appeared on his second tier 3 sword.

He didn't even have a chance to think about what could be the reason as the sword was shattered to pieces in the next second.

Emery stood there like a statue, dumbfounded as his eyes were totally fixed at the remains of the sword scattered on the ground.

An instant later, he jerked his head upwards and looked at the direction of his master. His face completely lost its color because counting his second year, this was the third sword of Magus Xion that he had broken.

Emery could clearly see that his master was trying his best to maintain his calm as he took out another identical sword with similar initial engraved on the base of the blade. The man clearly forced the smile on his face as he said, "Don't worry too much, Emery. I.. I understand…"

"Otherwise, why do you think I have so many of these swords..? The [Shadow Edge] indeed puts a very heavy burden on the sword used.. Although it usually can be used to unleash the skill a dozen times before it breaks apart.."

"I'm sorry, Master. I really do." Emery didn't know what else to say besides apologizing. "And, I understand. Thank you, Master."

Emery attempted to practice the skill again. This time, even more carefully than his previous attempt. Even so, it didn't take long for him to break it apart once again.

The duo of master and disciple was silent as they stared at what was left of the third sword and looked at each other. Both of them seemed to be at a loss for words.

However, while Emery was indeed flabbergasted by what he had just managed to do, Magus Xion was silent because he found the situation to be more than strange. He quickly told Emery to try one more time with a new sword.

This time, he didn't just watch how Emery performed the steps but also focused his attention on sensing the flow of energy that coursed in throughout the sword. And when the sword shattered apart one more time..

..he sighed.

Emery looked at his master with a look full of expectation because he knew the latter had discovered something.

Noticing the look Emery gave him, Magus Xion sighed one more time as his fingers massaged his wrinkled forehead. "Emery, I believe this is the effect of your dark core."

Upon hearing that, Emery's face immediately changed. He quickly worried that he would not be able to use the skill he had always thought about for three years.

He wasn't given the opportunity to ask what exactly the issue was as Magus Xion told him to take out the tier 4 sword he got from the Terra armory before.

Even though puzzled, Emery still did what was asked.

Seeing Emery holding the tier 4 sword, Magus Xion nodded his head. "Try doing it again."

The sword wasn't a one-edged sword like the sword Magus Xion had, but it is a tier 4 sword. Therefore, it should be much more durable.

At first, Emery was hesitant for fear of destroying his newly-gained sword. But remembering that it was a tier 4 weapon, he decided to trust his master's instruction and quickly got into action.

Emery once again channeled the energy from his dark core into the tier 4 sword, and he soon discovered that it required a lot more power to fully 'charge' the sword. He quickly turned to Magus Xion who was currently nodding in understanding.

"..Looks like my guess was right. Although you are a rank 8 acolyte, your spirit force is comparable to that of rank 9. Furthermore, coupled with your volatile dark core, you should have a spirit force as high as a peak rank 9 acolyte. The tier 3 sword simply couldn't withstand your power. Especially hard when you are not used to the skill"

And as expected, Emery finally managed to cast [Shadow Edge] after a few more tries.

As he made the final motion of swinging the sword downwards, a line of jet black shadow blade shot out and leaving a clear, straight cut trail on it.

Looking at the destruction that the skill managed to do, Emery understood that currently he still couldn't channel his power efficiently. Just now, perhaps only one third of his power that managed to be unleashed in the strike. Even so, this meager result was still enough to bring a smile to his face.

His success was evident when a notification popped up in his mind along with the activation of the skill.

[You have learned Shadow Edge]

Now that the skill was in his grasp, Emery immediately went back to the place where he could fight the combat puppets. It took him another day to get used to using both skills [Shadow Edge] and [Weeping Phantom].

It was another day, until another notification arrived in his mind.

[You have learned Sword Art - Weeping Phantom]

And along with that, Emery finally had the ability to finally overcome and defeat the combat puppets that stopped him in his tracks.

[Congratulations, the level 8 combat puppet was defeated]

[Received 4 battle power]

At the same time, Emery also received another notification.

[Received one battle art of your choice]

Seeing the notification in his mind, Emery was overjoyed. Magus Xion was also glad knowing that it only took him four days to master both skills and utilized them to win against the level 8 combat puppet.

While Emery was still considering his choice of battle art skill, his friends returned from their respective personal training. Julian, Thrax, Klea, and Chumo; all of them walked toward Emery with fresh expression on their faces - one that had a certain confidence in it.

Emery was curious about what had happened to them. Unfortunately, he wasn't given a chance as Magus Silica also arrived at the training area with hundreds of Terra Knight following behind her.

"You all have two days for final training before the game. Time for the real training began!"

To be continued