"Wait, are you serious? Why do you want that useless thing?" said the Sword God, looking at me as if there was something wrong with my head.
I had a resolute face, shaking my head, I said, "Yes, I want it. Preferably now."
He gave me a "don't regret it, kid" look while reaching his spatial ring. A purple sphere formed in the air between us, with magic fluctuations around it.
He pushed his hand inside, his arm moving slowly as if searching for it by touch. His face remained concentrated.
His arm suddenly stopped, his face lit with a smile, "Thank your luck, kid, that I didn't throw this thing", he said, handing the black rock to me.
I lifted it, or rather-I tried; my arm failed me the moment I held it, almost dropping it to the ground.
But thanks to the Sword God's quick reaction, he caught it as it slipped from my hand.
"Hey, how much time do you have until you reach the academy?" He said, crossing his arms.
"4 days, why do you ask?" I replied to him, 'Wait, he doesn't want to..'
"Alright," he clapped his hands together with a loud sound; the air itself shook momentarily.
"Kid, I'm gonna put you in shape before those 4 days end, at least enough to hold that rock without collapsing", he said with a cold smile.
A chill run behind my back, for some reason I felt this easygoing guy isn't merciful during his training.
Trying to protest I lifted my hand up, waving them, "wait, but the academy is so far away, 4 days is already cutting it short to reach there"
He grabbed my shoulder steadying me, "Don't worry, I will personally take you there before the deadline "
Then, without warning, he grabbed me by my collar, tensed his legs a little, and we jumped to the road.
The carriage shook a little, the old man feeling something off, turned his head, only to find both of us gone.
"Weird.." he dropped this word before turning his head back, pulling the horse's ropes and accelerating more.
Meanwhile, Zyra was running while lifting me like a bag, then stopped suddenly and put me on the ground.
I felt my legs shake, I couldn't help but puke, taking a full minute, he looked back at me, his face uneasy.
"Are you alright, kid?" 'Okay, he doesn't look overly bad, but still,' I thought internally.
'Then an idea hit me, where are we?'
I lifted my head, tall and thick trees blocking the sunlight, dense plants..
'Isn't this…this the shadow forest?'
An 8 Star danger zone, you need at least 450 level to not die here instantly.
I lifted my face looking at Zyra with an expression that screams "Why are we here"
He seemed to get my reaction, then said, "Don't give me that face, I train here", he said casually.
Feeling the forest suddenly become eerier, the wind howling through the trees resembled a titan's scream..My heart fell
"Don't tell me I have to stay here for the next 4 days"
While I was on the ground, Zyra cracked his neck, then pulled his sleeves up.
"Don't worry kid, just stay close to me" He dropped those lines before he started to walk again.
I pushed the black stone into my coat, like a treasure. This was my ticket to get stronger; I'm protecting it with my life.
Then I followed him.
He started slowly releasing his mana in bursts; his white hair started flowing and his shirt moved.
And the dim forest suddenly became lighter.
"So, kid, we just have a little time, so we should make every second count", he said, walking casually with his hand in his pants.
Then looked at me then nodded,
"Alright, I'm throwing you in the pit", he said with a smile.
My heart fell, the pit was known by gamers as the hell hole.
It's a challenge in the game where you can set the difficulty based on the character, then you throw them into a literal pit filled with monsters.
To get out of the pit, you need to kill as many monsters as possible, enough to build a mountain of corpses, then climbing it to get out of there.
They say the ones who get out of the pit, are reborn as completely new people.
Looking at Zyra, he doesn't seem the type of a guy to throw me there and leave.
As we kept walking through the dense forest, we suddenly came to a halt in an area cleared of trees.
The blue sky contrasted sharply against the forest, and a sword was embedded in the ground.
After reaching, Zyra patted my back, "Before I throw you to the pit, let's train you a little ok, don't worry I will heal you with my mana"
Then he motioned to a log dropped casually on the ground, then at couple of swords dropped near it.
"You see that log, take a sword from there and keep slashing, until you make a mark on the tree" he said with a knowing smile
Feeling my gut twisting, I started walking to the swords, "This isn't looking good" I muttered