Skill Forge: Broken Extra Character

Chapter 229: Talking Sword

Jett hesitated. He already crossed the line of sanity by talking back to a sword. Now he had to act based on the sword's advice. Worse, Asher stared at him like he lost his mind. He would need to explain something eventually. He had nothing.

'We need to check this room again. Why? Because my sword said so.' That excuse would embarrass him in the grave.

Time was draining away. He gripped the sword and faced the open doorway.

"What should I do?" he asked, his voice low.

"USE THE GODLY AURA YOU CARELESSLY LET ROAM INSIDE YOUR BODY. FOCUS IT ON YOUR EYES. THEN YOU WILL SEE WHAT YOU FAILED TO NOTICE. DO THE SAME ON ME, I'LL HELP YOU BREAK THE BARRIER."

"SURELY YOU CAN'T BE SO INCOMPETENT THAT YOU CAN'T DO THAT RIGHT? I WILL ASK YOU A FAVOUR AFTER."

"Insulting me and then asking for a favour, how shameless." The corner of Jett's lips twitched. "This better work."

He took a breath. He pushed his Lumix upward, not toward his limbs, not toward his core, but toward his vision. The flow surged at once and gathered near his eyes.

A golden flash shot across his sight.

Asher stepped back in shock.

Jett's pupils shifted to a glowing gold. The hallway looked sharper. Colors deepened. The walls revealed faint marks that had been invisible. The air rippled with trails of energy. He felt like he could see through the mundane surface of everything. He sensed presence, mana, intent. It was more precise than sight. It was awareness.

The room that had looked normal now pulsed with faint golden outlines. A barrier. Hidden glyphs carved behind the planks. A faint aura, ominous and powerful, leaked from behind those glyphs.

'I can see it.'

Jett's sight cut through the wooden boards. At first it looked distorted, like heat waves. Then shapes formed, blurry but real. A chamber that should not exist. A space carved below the ship through magic.

'This… what is this?' He swallowed. "What in the world?"

"THIS IS A FRACTION OF TRUE LUMIX CONTROL. DO NOT MARVEL. DO IT."

"Alright."

He pushed more Lumix toward his eyes to sharpen the view. The hidden space came into focus. Torches. Dark markings. Blood-stained symbols. A ritual setup.

Someone masked that entire floor with illusion magic.

They had walked right past it without noticing.

Jett turned to warn Asher.

*****

"Kukkkk."

Another guard hit the floor. Asher's breathing grew heavier. His balance was slipping.

He wiped his dagger clean on his sleeve. "Another dud."

He killed dozens already. Almost every one forced him into a fight close to death. His stomach twisted from the lack of answers. His instincts screamed there was something below. But the floor here should be solid so he just brushed it off.

Asher leaned against the wall. His chest rose and fell in steady rhythm while he swallowed another recovery pill. The bitter taste made him grimace but he forced it down.

'She worked hard on this, but still found away to make it taste like crap.'

The strongest guards were likely stationed here. He cleared most of them. A few corners were left, but nothing dangerous. His skills did not detect a single trap.

[Surveillance]

His vision shifted to stored snapshots from earlier runs. Several rooms he had passed were covered in blood now, corpses piled in corners. That meant they were circling back and forth without direction. A waste of time.

He took another stamina pill. He needed his legs steady.

He stood and yanked his dagger from the corpse he just dropped. A thought crossed his mind.

'What would Jett do in this situation?'

As if summoned by that question, Jett came rushing toward him.

'You have got to be kidding.' Asher hid a smile behind his cold expression. To anyone else he looked like stone, 'speak of the devil.'

They traded information fast. Their stories lined up. No ritual. No clues. Too many strong guards all stationed below deck but nothing to protect.

So they searched the last remaining areas together.

They moved room to room. Every motion precise. Every corner checked.

Jett suddenly started acted off. He muttered to himself as he stared straight ahead like he was seeing something else.

"Are you okay?" Asher asked.

No answer. Before Asher could say it do anything, Jett's eyes burned gold.

His muscles jolted. Something flipped inside him. His posture shifted. His eyes sharpened. His hand drew his sword without hesitation.

And then... A golden flash.

He vanished and reappeared in the room they already cleared. His blade slammed into the ground.

The entire floor turned to dust as Asher watched Jett fall inside.

*****

He hit the stone with a thud.

"Ouch…" He rubbed his head and stood. "I'll feel that tomorrow."

"Jett!" Asher yelled from above.

"I'm fine. Get down here. I think I just found it."

Asher landed beside him and scanned the surroundings.

"No kidding. This is the place."

The chamber was wide. Cold air swirled. The walls were cracked and stained. Blood coated parts of the floor. Piles of bones, some human-sized, some larger, were scattered without care. Red runes warped the room. Circles drawn in dried blood overlapped in complex patterns. Dim crystals on the ceiling pulsed with a dark crimson glow.

A voice cut through the silence.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" A hooded figure stood beyond the largest circle. His presence blended with the heavy demonic pressure. They had missed him at first because the scene hit them harder than the figure did.

Neither Jett nor Asher responded.

"Answer me!" The figure shouted. His energy surged. A violent burst forced them back a step.

Inside Jett's mind.

"NOW FOR THAT FAVOUR."

"Right now? I'm in the middle of something."

"PLACE ME IN THE CENTER OF THIS ROOM."

The voice from the sword left no room for negotiation.

"Could've sworn you wanted me dead," Jett muttered as he held the sword back. "You want me to fight without a weapon?"

Asher stared at him, baffled.

The hooded figure also tilted his head, confused by Jett's behavior.

"You turn your back on your enemy. Insolent child."

{Dark Sphere}

Two spears formed from pure darkness shot out from the figure's shadow. The thrust aimed straight for Jett and Asher. They rolled aside at the last second and avoided being impaled.

[Spell Enhancement]

{Dark Bullets}

Dozens of pitch black shots appeared from all directions. There was no clean escape route. Asher dashed forward, placed himself between Jett and the barrage, and raised his hand.

[Shadow Sphere]

Asher created a dome of swirling shadow covered Jett. The bullets hit the sphere and vanished.

[Mini Teleportation]

He appeared behind the hooded figure with both daggers ready. His strike halted against a barrier with cracks forming but not breaking through. A new spear of darkness formed and fired at him. He blocked and teleported back beside Jett as he released the protective sphere.

"Tch…"

Inside Jett's head.

"STOP PRETENDING YOU ARE HELPLESS. YOU HAVE OTHER WAYS TO FIGHT. INCASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, YOU'RE WORKING WITH BORROWED TIME"

Jett paused to inspect his surroundings before he realised what the sword meant by borrowed time.

"When you put it like that…" Jett clicked his tongue and forced a weak grin. "Round two."

*

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Been pretty sick as of late. Really sorry.

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