Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah's request wasn't specific, but it was greedy enough to make King Elbas understand that his guest owned something precious.

King Elbas' eyes sharpened, but he couldn't remain in silence for long. His mouth opened, and a question came out of it. "What did you even find?"

"I want everything you have on the darkness element." Noah promptly answered. "I'm not talking only about spells and martial arts. I want every technique, research, and blueprint that cultivators with a darkness aptitude can use."

The Elbas family stood at the peak of the inscription field, and its studies covered every aspect of the cultivation journey. Noah couldn't even begin to imagine how many discoveries and mysterious techniques the Royals had created under King Elbas' rule. Yet, he had every intention to find that out.

Silence fell in the room, and the crackling fireplace accompanied the two powerhouses once again. The duo filled and emptied cups as the minutes passed, but their eyes never left their adversary.

Eventually, King Elbas took out a scale that had two golden plates on its sides. An eerie aura surrounded the inscribed item, and Noah could sense that its power was in the middle tier of the sixth rank even if it didn't have offensive properties.

King Elbas pressed two fingers on his forehead, and an azure lump of mental energy came out of his mind when he pulled his hand. He then dropped those thoughts on the plate near him, and the scale tilted in his direction.

"This is the value of what you've asked," King Elbas said as he pointed at the empty golden plate. "It won't record anything unless you want to."

Noah felt intrigued when looking at the scale. King Elbas had created something on that level with the sole purpose of making his negotiations fair.

Most powerhouses won't ever think of spending time and resources creating something like that, but King Elbas was atypical. He appeared to have a rank 6 item ready for every occasion.

Noah looked at the scale for a while, but he imitated King Elbas' actions before he started to have some doubts about the truthfulness of his guest's claims. The image of the Ape God appeared in his mind before Noah pulled that thought and placed it on the empty plate.

His thoughts weren't azure like King Elbas'. His shining lump of mental energy was brown, and it tilted the scale toward him when it landed on the golden plate.

King Elbas' eyes widened when he heard the plate landing on the wooden table. He knew exactly how valuable the resources requested by Noah were, so the reaction of the scale left him speechless.

All the accumulated techniques, studies, and resources connected to the darkness element could rival any quasi-divine item in value. Yet, the scale declared Noah's offer was far superior to that.

The only possible conclusion was that Noah was willing to trade a proper divine resource!

King Elbas didn't hesitate anymore. A black tablet appeared on the table, and the Royal placed his finger on it. Azure runes formed on the item's surface as he listed the contents of his oath and flung it toward Noah when he finished.

Noah analyzed the oath with his mental energy. It was a standard item used during negotiations of that kind, which would activate once both parties agreed to the deal.

Brown runes formed on the empty side of the tablet as Noah swore the oath. The negotiation had officially begun at that point. It was only a matter of deciding the terms.

"I have a general idea of the location of your travel," King Elbas said in an attempt to lower the value of Noah's offer. "Whatever it is, I can find it on my own."

"You can't," Noah replied, "I've destroyed the entire place. You need me if you want to get your hands on it."

"It?" King Elbas asked. He had already understood that the matter involved resources in the divine rank, but he needed to hear their nature from his guest's mouth.

Noah smiled and took a sip from his cup. He let the tension build enough to see annoyance appearing on the powerhouse's expression before revealing his resource. "I found a rank 7 Kesier Ape."

King Elbas' eyelids trembled, but he promptly closed them to hide his surprise. Many questions filled his mind, and countless doubts made him wonder whether his guest was speaking the truth.

However, he knew that the time for questions was over. Both parties had sealed the oath. Their offers had to be true for the agreement to activate.

"How did you even survive?" King Elbas couldn't help but ask when he reopened his eyes. Still, Noah limited himself to take sips from his cup.

"The exact location of the Divine Ape in exchange for martial arts and spells of the darkness element," King Elbas offered.

Noah shook his head and gave voice to his counteroffer. "No. There is no precise location, and you will never find it without me. As I said, I want everything."

"I need to invest resources to kill something on that level," King Elbas replied.

"That's what makes this trade fair," Noah said, putting an end to that argument.

King Elbas could train his mind till the seventh rank on his own, but the Seventh Kesier rune would ensure his breakthrough. Even the best inscription master in the world couldn't ignore that offer.

"You have your deal," King Elbas eventually said, and the azure runes on the tablet began to shine at his acceptance.

Noah smiled again and sealed the agreement by saying a single word. "Deal."

Both sides of the tablet shone at that point, and runes appeared on the existences' fingers. Noah saw black runes forming on his hand and flickering a couple of times before disappearing inside his skin.

The runes traveled through his body, and the dark star focused on them when they floated toward his mind. Still, it let them pass because it felt Noah's will inside them.

The runes landed on his mind and fused with its walls. King Elbas and Noah had finally sealed the pact now. It was time to exchange the goods.

King Elbas took back his inscribed items and placed a large map on the table. Noah stood up and began to describe the last seen location of the Ape God and the layout of the sea of magma.

His explanation didn't stop there. Noah explained the behavior of the red sea's currents and gave King Elbas his personal opinion as an expert in the magical beasts' field.

The two agreed on the delivery of the resources too, so the matter ended there. They were about to leave the hut and return to their respective domain, but Noah had another doubt.

"Why did you tell me about the higher energy?" Noah asked. "You knew it would have made me stronger."

King Elbas had stood up by then and was walking toward the exit. Yet, Noah's question made him stop to answer honestly. "I'm a researcher, Demon Prince of the Hive. I had to know which shape darkness would take."