"Then why are you going?"

X's curiosity got the better of him as he asked one question after the other.

"Why? Do you want to join me?" The Joker playfully winked at him, his hand holding several cards that showed him the general stats of the man before him.

"You seek the Dark Blade so isn't it a good opportunity for you?"

X flinched and kept his lips shut for some time before speaking again: "I do need the orb but I value my life more than everything else."

The Trickster clapped his hands while laughing, agreeing with what this strange man just said.

"Indeed, you're one of the wariest people I've ever encountered. Perhaps that's what kept you alive and away from the Nameless Knight, though it's not like he's looking for you or else you would've died a long time ago."

Lolitta, who was busy tapping on the keyboard, suddenly stopped, turned her head to X and said:

"You're a good man! Don't fight that scary dude, he's a monster!"

She stood on her tiptoes and patted X's shoulders to comfort him, however, you could hear the latter gritting his teeth and clenching the hand holding the cane.

"Although you did try to trick Arthur, you were not planning on killing him, at least. Which is why I don't consider you as an enemy. As for Leiu, he already forgot what happened in the past so you should do the same and move on."

"Move on? Do you even know what he did?!"

'X' became emotional as his aura increased and became threatening. In response, the Joker crossed his arms, let out a sigh and replied:

"Yes, I'm aware of everything. He killed your parents, not because of the grudge you thought he held against you, but because of another reason."

'X' scoffed at the strangely-clothed man, angrily banged his cane on the ground before retorting:

"It doesn't matter the reason! I will kill him!"

Seeing that he couldn't reason with X, Wolfram shrugged his shoulders and signaled for the absent-minded Lolitta to begin the process of creating a path.

************

Thunderclaps resounded inside the now illuminated cave, dozens if not hundreds of bolts struck the fleeing blob of light, trying to incinerate it. At some point, the Quad-Spirit inside Arthur intervened, using its powerful Earth Magic to resist the incoming attacks.

Each thunderbolt was met with spears made of stones, blocking all of them. The ground shook and the earth moved on its own, defending Arthur's soul and pushing down the lightning till there was none. Everything happened so quickly and the trial, which was supposed to last 12 hours, was done in 10 minutes.

"That's quite a nice spirit you have there. A smart one. Earth counters everything for there is nothing that can totally destroy it, this is why Dimitra's natural elements do not include Earth. In fact, the Earth attribute appeared mysteriously and unknowingly when the Twelve started creating worlds. Earth is the source of everything and no one, however talented he or she may be, can master it."

Arthur's soul, which was quietly being guarded by the moving earth, was finally exposed once the trial was over. The Dark Cloud materialized next to him against and slowly yet surely it transformed into his old body.

"I do want to finish the trials but it requires a real body and not fake one so we will stop here."

Arthur was confused as he found no point in those trials which didn't help him in any way. Without needing to hear him, Timos knew Arthur's thoughts just by looking at his puzzled face.

"You won't understand the meaning of those trials, at least not right now. However, when you come across someone who mastered their attribute, you'll get to experience what 'resistance' really means."

The parasite was 'thrown' out of the cave once the trials were finished. He soon located a nearby Lucy who was silently meditating, her face slightly frowning for some reason.

As he got closer, the half-demon opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Did everything proceed well?"

Arthur nodded his head while saying "More or less."

"Now that we're done with the training stuff, it's about time I present you with my last compensation. After you see it, you'll decide whether you want to trade or not. Of course, you can consider the rewards from trials as a 'gift'."

Dozens of tentacles sprung from the ground, each one longer than the other, they twirled in the air with the couple at the center. A formless aura started revolving in the area, changing the peaceful atmosphere of the Free Space.

"Do not worry, this will do you no harm."

Very soon, a red tornado was spinning around Arthur and Lucy, though it was absolutely ginormous, it didn't affect the forest but it still created a heavy, almost suffocating atmosphere.

"My dear guests, I bestow upon you the blessing of I, the Black Devil."

As he said that, the couple fell on their knees and clutched their heads for some time before they fell on the ground, their bodies ever-so-slightly twitching. Fortunately, the pain lasted for a brief period then the two fell unconscious, only waking up the morning of the next day.

They woke up at the same time and spent some moments to clear their dizzy heads. The first thing they heard was Timos' deep voice.

"You two are totally immune to my children's aura and the damage you receive from their attacks is reduced. In addition, the Devil arm can now unleash a special skill created by me, I hope you use it wisely. Also, check the spatial ring in front of it."

Arthur stretched his hand and injected a bit of Nether Energy into the strange wooden ring. To his surprise, there was nothing but an enormous corpse, a lifeless body of a deceased dragon. It was by far the biggest dragon he had ever seen, its skin jet black and though it was dead, its archaic aura remained.

"This is a body of a fully grown Black Dragon. I fought it in the past and barely managed to kill it."

Arthur furrowed his brows and asked back: "Barely?"

"Yes, barely. There are many things you don't know and dragons are definitely one of them. I don't want to talk about it so I'll just give you a small hint: The records mention the birth of The Twelve and explain our creations, however, why was there no mention of Dragons? Vampires? And other powerful species… how did they come to be?"

The Strategist paused for a second, inspecting Arthur's system before adding: "You seem to already have the Dragon Breath so it's good. When you possess it, do not even think about try about taking its stats. Black Dragons are shrewd and stealing its stats may result in the loss of your consciousness, which will be controlled by the already-deceased dragon. Be content with the strong body and only use in a dire situation as its appearance will catch the attention of other dragons."

Arthur gave no response as he retracted his sense from the ring and stared at the wriggling tentacles, which looked disgusting.

"So you're offering all of this for Makaze?"

"No, I'm offering all of this in exchange for the return of the Dark Blade to its home. I won't even touch it, you'll be the one who does it."