Xadion and Ezekiel sat in silence, eating in the cave. Xadion broke the silence, his eyes fixed on Ezekiel. "So, am I ready yet?" he asked.
Ezekiel looked up, confused. "Don't give me that look." Xadion said, chewing slowly. "We've been battling beasts nonstop for a week. Instead of teaching me new stuff, we've just been fighting."
Ezekiel smiled. "To be fair, you're a quick learner. There's nothing much I can teach you... for now." Xadion grinned. "Told you, I'm a natural at this master thing."
Ezekiel chuckled. "Don't get too full of yourself. You're barely scratching the surface of master rank. And honestly, you don't even have any fighting techniques to boost your power."
Xadion frowned, his first teacher back at the base had never taught him any fighting technique as he told them he was still looking for the best one for them. He planned on getting one when he returned but their plan had taken priority. They hadn't found any in the vault of the base either. Fighting techniques were not that rare but not too common either. They weren't handed out to just anyone. They were also ranked. The lowest being a common level technique, followed by epic, environmental, earth, spiritual, and the highest ever recorded in the empire being a heaven level technique.
One person could use multiple techniques and it didn't matter what level or rank a person was as they could learn any of these techniques. The only problem was that if a Master rank was to learn a heaven-level technique, they wouldn't be able to release its full power like a king rank or even an emperor rank would. The higher the level of the technique, the more flexible it was. For instance, a common level technique could take more than 500 steps to master and release its full power, whereas a spiritual level technique could have a maximum of 20 steps.
Xadion glanced at Ezekiel and smiled. "Why don't you give me one of your techniques?" Ezekiel laughed. "I could, but you'd have to ditch your sword and fight bare-handed." He paused for a moment. "Besides, there's no time for that now. You're ready to handle the distraction I was talking about."
Xadion sighed deeply. "What distraction? What are you talking about?"
"Okay, it's the sword." Ezekiel said simply.
Xadion raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"
"Of course. When I fight that thing with the sword, it's easy, but then it leaves the sword to attack me. At first, I thought it was controlling the sword, so I tried to damage it as much as possible, but every time, the sword kept attacking. I've concluded that the sword has a mind of its own."
Ezekiel paused. "However, I think once I defeat the clone, the sword will follow." Xadion's eyes narrowed slightly. "So, if I understand what you're saying, you want me to battle a sword?"
"Well, mostly just defend against it while I take care of the clone. When I'm done with him, then I'll help you deal with it." Ezekiel said.
Xadion raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a little overconfident?"
"Not at all. I know I can take that thing down, especially hand-to-hand." Ezekiel said with a grin.
Xadion studied him, thinking, 'Where does he get this confidence from? Is it a Lord rank thing?' Ezekiel stood up.
"Get some rest, we depart tomorrow. I've got a surprise for you, by the way." They parted ways in the cave.
The next day, Xadion packed some gear and herbs for healing and Qi restoration. They moved at a steady pace to a cave. Ezekiel entered, leaving Xadion outside. He returned minutes later, looking disappointed.
"What's wrong?" Xadion asked.
"I found this cave three months ago. Looks like it belonged to humans. Thought they might've left to search for something, but no one's been here since." Ezekiel shrugged. "No matter, the two of us are enough."
They continued on their journey and as they went on, Xadion realized there was less and fewer beasts around here. After a few hours, they arrived at a cave. This cave was out in the open and large, almost 20 feet tall. Ezekiel entered, signaling Xadion to follow.
They went in deeper and deeper until arriving at a strange-looking door. The door was huge and looked impossible to open. Ezekiel walked toward it and with little effort, opened it. Xadion followed quietly, looking around. The cave was far bigger than he imagined. There were also glowing rocks inside the walls as well. They reached the end of the cave. Ezekiel glanced at Xadion, wanting to say something.
"Let me guess, there's no turning back?" Xadion said with crossed arms. "Can we get this over with?" Ezekiel chuckled before walking through the wall. Xadion sighed and followed after.
As he took a step on the other side, a hall full of multiple doors on both sides was presented. He blinked a couple of times.
"Each of these doors is filled with treasures." Ezekiel said. "There are weapons in some, armor, Qi books, and some techniques as well. The only problem is that you can only enter once. And you can pick two objects plus you can only enter six out of them. Some of them don't have anything great inside. So it's basically try and be lucky."
Xadion frowned, looking at the doors. "Luckily, I've entered six of these before and was lucky enough to get four doors with good items." He glanced at Ezekiel and nodded.
Approaching the first door, Ezekiel signed him to proceed. Xadion grasped the handle, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"I forgot to tell you, you need to add a little Qi. That's how it recognizes it's your first time," Ezekiel said.
Xadion sighed, listened, and poured a good amount of Qi into his hands. He opened the door and entered a second later. What greeted him was another hall filled with weapons of all kinds.
Xadion walked around the hall, taking in the array of swords, spears, war hammers, and scythes. After a while, he spotted a beautiful long sword that looked unbreakable. His old sword, though still good, was starting to show wear. He picked up the sword and was immediately drawn to it.
As he browsed, he noticed a few bows and arrows, thinking of Skylar. He sighed, remembering he'd have to battle soon and didn't have a place to store them.
Eventually, he found a stunning dagger with a flame symbol at its base. He picked it up and left the room.
Ezekiel waited outside, pleased to see Xadion had acquired a sword – it would be a valuable asset.