Three Stacks of Purple Hyacinths (2)

Quickly recovering from his state, Basil retracted his extended hand. Sighing softly to himself, he straightened his posture and put his hand on his chest.

Badump. Badump. Badump.

Though he looked calm on the surface, he was nervous. He had thought he had accidentally triggered something that wasn't supposed to be triggered.

In the Obelisk, it wasn't uncommon to find traps that could endanger one's life, after all.

While spreading his Mana Sense to ensure that he didn't trigger any trap, he gazed at the opened door that was twice as big as an average human size in front of him; it was exuding an ethereal bluish light.

His already calmed heart started to accelerate once again. It wasn't because of the fact that the door hadn't been there before, but his Mana Sense couldn't even reach the inside of the room.

It had been a long time since his Mana Sense didn't work well.

Basil quickly channelled his mana to the Spatial Bracelet on his wrist. With a flash of light, a blue claymore with an intricate pattern on its hilt appeared in his right hand.

Woong.

He swung the Claymore once; followed by that, the air was split apart.

Boom!

The sound produced by the ruptured air reverberated through the whole room.

Basil had decided: since his Mana Sense couldn't penetrate the room, he might as well just charge through it. Reckless? Not for him; his eyes, and instinct that had been honed by years of battles could easily help him in his endeavour.

Preparing himself once again, Basil darted to the room swiftly.

Whoosh!

An even greater pressure greeted Basil upon entering the room. Contrary to its beautiful appearance, the bluish light was burning his skin. If not for the Defense Art he had, his skin would have been charred upon his entrance.

The room wasn't spacious; it was narrow tapering, and extremely long. He could see a shining blue orb in the end of the room, and he deduced the light came from it.

Basil immediately stopped his step and put on a stance. Years of battles had made his instinct so sharp that he knew if he were to advance, only doom awaited him.

Clap! Clap!

Basil's heart skipped a beat.

Upon hearing the sound, time seemed to move slowly; he could hear his slowly beating heart loudly. With his extreme control over his Mana, he meticulously executed his Step Art: [Blink] to back away.

When he stopped moving, he could finally see the one who had clapped their hands earlier.

It was an androgynous man with long, black hair; a perfect face proportion; sharp nose; and a pale skin that was bereft of any blemish. He was currently looking at Basil with a playful smile that would put any woman instantly head over heels with him.

In Basil's perspective however, he saw a monster whose power was so enormous, it was unfathomable. It was so vast that it seemed limitless.

This fact naturally made his already accelerated heart accelerated even more to the point where he even wondered how could a human heart beat so fast.

Of course, he knew it was only the illusion his body made. In truth, it wasn't his heart that was accelerating, but the Magic Circles on his heart that were trembling.

Basil exhaled to calm his beating heart down, then asked the smiling man calmly. "Huuh... who are you?"

"Who am I? Hmm... I don't know myself either," the smiling man answered Basil playfully. "I am called by many names; I don't care about my name. Why don't you name me instead?" He twirled his silky long hair, and winked.

If not for the attire and his build, anyone would think the man was a woman.

"I don't like playing games. Just tell me if you don't want to tell me," Basil responded with an unamused voice.

The smiling man lost his smile, then pouted his lips. "Awwhh... What's wrong with human nowadays? You are boring," he said sulkily. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be attracted to me?"

At the ridiculous question, Basil's face was unchanging. "I love myself first, and women come third. Also for reminders, the second isn't men," he replied with same unamused voice.

The pouting man's face contorted briefly, before he assumed a thinking posture. "You are not a woman?" The man asked cluelessly.

This time, Basil's face contorted. Just as the man, it had happened very briefly. While pointing his claymore to the man, he snorted and said, "Enough with the pointless talk. Just tell me who you are!"

"But.. you are too pretty to be a man ..." muttered the man. Naturally, Basil had heard it. However, he wasn't a talkative person in the very first place. Therefore, he just ignored it.

The man put a disappointed face as if Basil's choice to stay silent was regrettable. Basil, of course, felt that his choice had been right.

"Hmm... I have told you already, I have many names. Therefore, you can call me whatever you like," said the man with a smile.

As soon as the man stopped talking, Basil replied, "Then, I'll call you Donkey."

"Kuhuk!" The man was baffled at Basil's naming sense. "I'm Gorgophone! Nice to meet you!" The man that was revealed to be Gorgophone quickly exclaimed.

As he felt he had been wronged, he eyed Basil sharply. "That was so low of you."

Pointing his Claymore at Gorgophone, Basil responded, "Know the man who kill you; I am Basil!"

Gorgophone merely raised one of his eyebrows, and smiled. "No need to be cautious, Basil. As long as you stay put, I'll leave you alone. Also, nice to meet you!" Despite Basil's rather aggressive tone, Gorgophone remained civil.

Of course, that was only on the surface. In reality, the room was currently with the overwhelming pressure caused by their Mana clash. Even the ground under Basil's feet had long been crushed.

Mana that normally couldn't be seen by normal eyes could now be seen clearly. One with the color of amethyst, and the other with the color of obsidian.

Basil still looked calm, but his heart tightened upon this display. If he were to release this kind of pressure outside, he would have undoubtedly uprooted trees, and made a crater big enough for a small lake.

However inside this room, he had only managed to make a heel-deep crater. It wasn't that his mana was suppressed, but the material of the floor was extraordinary.

However, this wasn't the fact that tightened his heart. It was the pressure exuded by Gorgophone.

Gorgophone didn't make any crater on the floor below him, but he could still confront Basil's Mana pressure. That showed just how superior his control over his mana was.

Of course, it didn't become the reason to shy Basil away. "I'll take your head. It was nice to know you, Gorgophone." With that said, he threw himself to Gorgophone.

"Hahaha! Come, Basil Pacifer!"

Not even a second had passed after Gorgophone had opened his mouth, Basil appeared in front of him. Ignoring the fact that Gorgophone knew his full name, he swung his Claymore.

Clank!

Claymore met great sword. Gorgophone had taken his great sword so fast, not even Basil could see when he had taken it out.

A spark of fire was produced by the clash of the two metals; two different Mana were clashing in the air, visible through the naked eye.

Clank! Clank!

One swing, two swing, four swings, and hundreds of swings were exchanged in a span of three seconds.

[Blink]

As the brisk yet ferocious clash had ended, Basil distanced himself from Gorgophone with his Movement Art.

He immediately assumed the stance he himself had developed, then held his Claymore sideways. The blue claymore shone, then glowing, strange symbols appeared on the surface of the blade.

"Hmmm... So, it's the Sword of Zepar, Vagus." Gorgophone hummed to himself. Quirking his eyebrow, he said, "No wonder you have an amazing appearance."

Vagus, also known as the Sword of Zepar, was a powerful weapon that boosted its holder in physical ability and Mana reserve. However, Vagus also had another more well known name.

The Charm of Lust.

As its name implied, anyone who wielded it would have an attractiveness that attracted both genders. In an extreme case, it could even drive someone insane.

Through the perspective of a Seventh Circle Mage and above, the wielder of Vagus would look absolutely attractive, and that was all; none of them would get crazy because of it.

Of course depending on the gender and willpower, the effect would be different on each person.

Basil, who was already attractive before, became even more attractive after he had laid his hands on Vagus. This, of course, was merely some of the perks of Vagus.

As for the real power of Vagus ...

"Even though that was the reason many people have tried to lay their hands on it, for me, that function is simply useless," Basil said with a smirk.

He was speaking the truth; he had never put much thought in appearance ... Well, not that much.

"Oh, may you tell me what you use it for?" Gorgophone asked curiously.

Instead of replying, Basil rose Vagus up to his head, then the light that Vagus was exuding was evenly distributed to his whole body.

"This is! ... [Synchronization]?!" Gorgophone was bewildered.

The highest level of Weapon mastery: [Synchronization], the special trait of Basil. Just as its name implied, [Synchronization] allowed the user to be one with the weapon they wielded.

Upon activation, one could physically use the ability of the weapon and uncovered its hidden abilities. It was this special trait of his that had made Basil grow unstoppably.

Even if his mastery over his Arts had reached a bottleneck, [Synchronization] showed a limitless potential; he could never stop growing with it.

With [Synchronization], he could split mountains with a swing of his sword. Coupled with the equally remarkable hidden abilities of Vagus, he could clear many Obelisks by himself.

Basil smiled softly. "Let's begin the real game, shall we?"

He shot forward, and once again claymore met great sword. This time, however, instead of a spark, an explosion occurred.