In Jake’s defense, he had a lot of other stuff to deal with than upgrading a weapon he didn’t really plan on using anyway. It wasn’t like he had all nine weapons before a few hours ago. Besides, the divine-rarity necklace kind of took away all other attention.

Now, while he was sitting around and waiting anyway, it was a great time to merge them. With the Sword Saint and Carmen observing, he took out the Count weapons one by one. He had a total of seven as he had merged three into one already.

First, he tried to merge the other six into the upgraded one but got no response.

It can’t be.

He then merged three of the weapons, creating an epic-rarity version. He repeated this and now had three epic-rarity weapons.

For real?

Putting the three epic-rarity weapons, they all reacted as they began melting into black metal.

“A bit cliché, isn’t it?” Carmen commented after the three weapons had all turned completely into liquid metal and slowly blended with each other to form something new, as its aura also grew.

“Totally,” Jake agreed. Nine turns to three, and three turns to one weapon. It was like another damn video game. Well, perhaps that was only to be expected, coming from vampire Counts with terrible boss dialogue.

The merging process was smooth, and soon the process stopped as the metal took a more stable state. The weapon now gave off a powerful aura, and Jake had to admit it was likely the most powerful weapon he had ever seen. However, it didn’t resemble a blade anymore but looked more like a black metal stick. Not a staff either, but a twenty-centimeter-long stick. It wasn’t even thick.

Jake used Identify on it together with the two others.

[Vampiric Chimera Weapon (Ancient)] – A weapon created by recombining the full Chimera weapons once wielded by Counts of Blood, all of which have been soaked in the blood of countless enemies throughout the ages. Now that it is whole once more, it still hungers and seeks to grow. Crafted using a special type of steel, the weapon can absorb the lifeforce of vitality-based lifeforms to repair itself. Allows this weapon to steal a portion of the lifeforce of anyone injured by attacks using it. Can change form between various weapons. Enchantments: Hemoabsorbant Self-Repair. Vampiric Weapon. Chimeric Transformation.

Requirements: lvl 150+ in any humanoid race.

Oh, so it’s like the Omnitool, but a weapon? Jake thought as he read it over. It looked all nice and dandy until he got to the last part about the requirements. He needed to be level 150 to use it.

“Looks cool, I guess,” Carmen commented again.

“Indeed a peculiar tool,” the Sword Saint agreed.

“Yep,” Jake said and put it back into the Hunter Insignia. It looked like he would be stuck with only the scimitar against the Sword Saint their duel anyway.

“Can’t use it?” Carmen asked as she saw him put it away.

“Not 150 yet,” he answered truthfully.

“Oh.”

She looked at him up and down again. “I kind of assumed you would be around there. Wait, am I higher level than you?”

He quickly identified her.

[Human – lvl 136]

Jake shook his head as he hid his smile under his mask while answering. “Nah, you still got ways to go.”

“How many?”

“Oh, plenty.”

Sylphie looked at them confused as she flapped her wings and made screeches and odd gestures as she formed constructs of mana. Jake quickly tried to tell her to not blow his cover, but it was too late as Carmen had understood what Sylphie tried to communicate. On that note, who the hell had taught his bird to summon green mana constructs, much less the numerical system!?

“You’re fucking one level above me, aren’t you?” she said, glaring daggers at him.

Jake just looked at Sylphie, who was rapidly switching between being confused and meek as she flapped her wings to make all her mana in the air disappear. “Little traitor. I’m gonna tell your mom and dad when we get home.”

“Hoh,” the Sword Saint laughed as he joined in with a jovial mood. “Since we are sharing, then I appear to be lowest among us at 135. Seems like I cannot keep up with you youngsters at all.”

They kept chatting for a while as they all regenerated and exchanged pointers. As time passed, Reika and Caleb also joined them, with even Maria joining in later on. She was especially interested in asking Jake questions about Haven and his city.

“If I may ask,” Caleb said as he turned to Maria. “Why did you choose to join the Holy Church despite being associated with a god that isn’t?”

“Because I met them first, and it made sense at the time. Finding a competent party was also difficult, and Sanctdomo had the best there was to offer, not just when it came to party members, but also in providing materials for my profession and facilities to work,” she answered, adding. “There is very much an “ask, and you shall receive” kind of culture if you are one of the stronger ones there.”

“And what do they demand in return?” the Sword Saint asked pointedly.

“Protection, order, and to some extent, obedience. I am in a way better position than pretty much anyone else as I am associated with another powerful god and thus far harder to control. I haven’t experienced any serious issues besides the atmosphere being a bit unsettling,” Maria answered truthfully.

“In what way?” Jake asked curiously.

“People are almost too kind… it’s hard to explain. It feels like no one ever says no, and you are handed whatever you want, but the same is also expected of you. If anyone in charge comes and asks you to do anything, you are expected to do it without question or even an explanation for why you have to do what they tell you to. Again, I am more or less excluded from this, but that this mentality is so prevalent does make it hard to make any friends, even with my party members. In my eyes, we are just colleagues, and I doubt I will ever be able to view any of them as true friends. Much less that they will view me as one,” she said, continuing to be open.

“Why not just go solo?” Carmen chimed in. “Way easier to just be your own boss and do whatever.”

“Contrary to someone else,” she said, nodding towards Jake, “we archers don’t tend to do that well alone. Sure, while we can hunt alone, being with a party is just so much more effective. It’s like how a guardian or a healer isn’t meant to hunt alone, but put a guardian, an archer, and a healer together, and you have a powerful combo far more effective than the sum of their parts.”

“I guess,” Carmen recognized. “By the way, you keep mentioning being blessed by some other god?”

“Gwyndyr,” Caleb answered, with Maria nodding in confirmation.

“That name sounds familiar,” Jake said, trying to remember where he had heard it before.

“It damn well should,” Maria said, glaring at him. “He invited you to his divine realm after your tutorial, and you rejected him.”

“Oh yeah, that was a thing,” Jake recalled. “Should have tossed in a bottle of vodka if he wanted me to come that badly.”

Everyone just stared at him as Jake elaborated. “Oh, it was this inside joke between the Viper and me where he promised me a bottle of vodka, and apparently it was also an excuse to toss me into a vat of poison that helped get me some skill upgrades, even if it usually kills people, and-“

Caleb put a hand on Jake’s shoulder as he laughed. “Sounds like quite the time, eh?”

Getting the hint to shut the fuck up, Jake just agreed. “Yeah, sure was.”

“Good for you, I guess,” Maria said. “Gwyndyr did ask me to not antagonize you and instead treat you as an ally considering your position as Chosen of a Primordial. So yeah, I guess he wants me to suck up to you.”

“Quite open about it,” Jake commented.

“Sure, it isn’t like the gods can peek into the Treasure Hunt, so may as well be frank. On that note, you have met the Viper in person… isn’t it kind of unsettling? From what I heard, he is a monster with no regard for mortal life, a complete psychopath who likes torturing and has an Order that-”

“No, I’m good,” Jake answered, frowning. “And I don’t have a habit of shit-talking my friends behind their back either. I think a better question is why some god is trying to invite someone who already has a Patron god to his realm when he isn’t even associated with the tutorial?”

Maria looked a bit taken aback at Jake’s shifting attitude but quickly recovered. “Sorry? And I think he invited you specifically because of that. He was curious who could get a Primordial out of hiding and even get a blessing. Much less become his Chosen right off the bat.”

“How did he even know about me?” Jake asked, still more than a little miffed.

“With so much attention on your tutorial from other Primordials and powerful gods, he also spared it some attention. He didn’t take notice of you till he found out he couldn’t take notice of you. He discovered that you had been hidden by the Viper, and that truly piqued his interest,” Maria kept explaining. “There was nothing negative about it; he just thought that getting positive relations with the Viper’s Chosen would be a good move. I also can’t rule out that he wanted to get a feel for the Viper’s power through you.”

“I am not sure why any of this is relevant?” Caleb butted in.

“What I am trying to say is that I don’t really care about the Holy Church, and I don’t want my current status as working with them to mean I am against anyone else. I am not some spy or anything either. My true allegiances lie somewhere else,” she said, defending herself.

“Why stay?” the Sword Saint asked curtly. “Many other organizations exist, and from what I know, Reika is looking for worthwhile team members, are you not?”

Reika, who had just been sitting silently, quickly nodded. “I am indeed, Patriarch. Of course, we always need more powerful members, and naturally do not impose any restrictions upon them.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I have an agreement in place for now. Not with the Church itself, but the Augur and Bertram. And no, I can’t share details. Once more, not because I am not allowed to, but out of respect for them. We can always revisit it when those obligations are fulfilled,” Maria answered, swiftly shooting it down while still keeping the door slightly open for future collaboration.

After that, their conversation went to other less serious topics, with the occasional important subject brought up here and there. More than anything, this entire situation created a foundation for the future. The Noboru Clan, Court of Shadows, Valhal, at least partly, and Haven cemented their diplomatic relationships.

Carmen didn’t really speak for Valhal the same way Jake didn’t really speak for Haven. She didn’t have Sven, and he didn’t have Miranda, so while they could make promises, it wasn’t like they would enact anything. That did mean that they really didn’t want to swear up and down and make formal pacts and all that.

Hours passed by as soon others began returning towards the center. Throughout this time, they also found that leaving the Hunt didn’t actually spawn an Insignia, indicating that one would keep their loot. To be honest, that did make a lot of sense to Jake, considering the Treasure Hunt was more or less over, and all of this was just bonus time.

Also, the reason why everyone was returning was apparent. From the center of the Mistless Plains, Jake could see the world collapse far off in the distance, and it was closing in. Yalsten didn’t have much time left, and they all knew it.

Jake brought up the window with the timer and saw the countdown had passed to under one and a half hours.

Treasure Hunt will end in: 1:24:57

He looked at the Sword Saint, and the man made a big smile and nodded. He understood. The two of them stood up at the same time, drawing all attention to the two men. One a young masked hunter, and the other an old man in a deep blue robe.

Caleb threw Jake a glance, and Sylphie made a loud shriek of encouragement. At the same time, Reika and those remaining from the Noboru clan gave the Sword Saint an encouraging bow or salute. Carmen, Eron, and many others were neutral, but that didn’t mean they didn’t pay close attention. They all knew this would be a battle to once and for all decide who was the strongest human on Earth.

The two of them entered the center of the Mistless Plains, not far from where the Monarch had been buried. The ground was bare, and destruction from the long battle was present everywhere, but neither was bothered as they looked at each other.

“A year ago, I was bedridden, my one leg having given out due to my age. I was deemed too old for a hip replacement, and I understood. Even when my grandson insisted to the doctor, I asked him to stop. I was ready for death, for I had lived long enough,” the Sword Saint said. “I would never have thought a second chance would come like this. A second chance to stand tall and lead my clan towards greatness.”

“Don’t you mean a second chance to wield a blade and challenge yourself?” Jake asked teasingly.

“That is merely secondary. The method in which I uplift my clan. My own power is the power of my clan. If I was not there today, the Holy Church would not respect us, and would the name of my clan even be known to you?” he countered with a light smile, not offended at all.

“I don’t disagree,” Jake said as he rolled his shoulders and summoned his scimitar. “But don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re standing where you are right now for your clan.”

“You’re saying a proof of strength and growth from a duel such as this will not help my clan?” the old man chuckled. “I believe we are merely talking in circles at this point.

He also drew his blade as he shifted his stance.

“Still not what I’m saying,” Jake said. “I am saying you’re here right now because you want to. Not for your clan or whatever. You want to fight, nothing more, nothing less.”

“You sound like the Monarch and his insistence that the pursuit of power and power alone is the only true way forward,” the Sword Saint shook his head.

“No, because I don’t believe that myself either. Maybe he was right, and that is a good path, but I don’t think everything is so black and white. Power is all fine and good, but you need to use it for something, or it is just there. For a long time, I also thought I just wanted power for power’s sake… but I really don’t,” Jake said as he flashed a smile.

“I like power because it allows me to see more of the world and gives me the freedom to do whatever the hell I want. And what I want is to experience all there is to experience. Fight everything there is to fight. I am just a selfish asshole who likes fighting way too much.”

He got into position as energy revolved around him. Jake pointed his blade at the Sword Saint, smiling as he charged the old man.

“And so are you.”