Dakota brought the metre long nail sword to me, and I took it from her, exhaling. The sword had a good weight on it, almost double that of any regular sword. Even though it was almost like a nail, its sides were not round. It had sharp edges and was quite sharp enough to claim lives.

I forced my spirit force inside the blade first and then infused the flames of purgatory in it. Other than the hilt, all the sharp edges turned in a crimson glory of purgatory and it even amplified it by over 50%. A text lit up in crimson near the hilt. It was written in old tongue, which I couldn't read, unlike the regular Mahendi, but I can guess what's written there.

It's the name of the sword.

[Punisher: (Unique) (Grade:S)

This sword has a history of thousands of years and the way it was created was long lost. Legend has it, in the end, battle of the second epoch, the last wielder of this sword used his blood to channel spirit force against the demons and engraved his will.

+90% Spirit force revolution.

+64% Fire element amplification.

+1 in Strength (Limited to S-grade)

Fury: Uses the blood essence to pull more spirit force into the sword. It is a formidable skill that uses the hidden force of the body to its advantage. Over usage of this ability may lead to a permanent backlash. ]

"Do you have a sheath for this?" I asked, and at the very moment Dakota threw a round sheath at me.

"I see you are satisfied with the sword," Dakota said, returning to her chair, and now she had papers and a lot of stuff before her. "Now, let me see what you can offer in return. I had high hopes since it's the first time I'm dealing with a prince."

"How much will it be for me to borrow?" I asked. "For a month, at least."

"10000 dynes," Dakota gave a staggering number at once, which might even be enough to buy a good low-grade sword with a 30% revolution advantage.

I shook my head instantly. "And how much would it be to buy it entirely?" I asked with a calm expression.

"I don't know," Dakota said, pondering. "That is a relic, it's priceless, however, I don't mind selling it for a few million, perhaps."

Honestly, what she said was right; nobody knows the price of a sword like this. Nobody in their right mind will sell in dynes. In a sense, this item was priceless, and selling it only meant losing a valuable item, though it would only rot here with her if she does nothing with it.

Unfortunately, not to mention buying the sword, I could not even loan it for even a week.

Dynes should be the best option to loan this item, however, I did not have the amount that would be needed to lend this sword. That leaves me with very few other choices, and none of them will be as easy as what money could do. I smiled awkwardly at the chocolate-skinned woman.

"That smile tells me you don't have a lot to offer," Dakota said, and opened the drawer of the desk. From inside, she brought out a syringe and a glass vial. "Looks like I will need some of your blood to be safe."

I took a step back purposefully. Even though I got the act of being Scar to some level, I still feel chills in some scenes. Like this one before, where a girl asked for my blood.

In this realm, you could do a lot of things with blood. She could give me a curse that I would be bound to her or if she had a good amount of my blood, she could go as far as killing me, providing the fact she was well adept in blood curse.

Starlight Academy has an iron law that anyone who was subjected to the usage of black magic or this type of curse would be put behind bars first before going through the trials. However, even if the academy had a hard law against these types of curses, I would not like to test my luck going through this.

"Don't you have any other ways?" I asked hesitantly.

"I do," the Dakota said, cocking her head, and curling up her lips. "But none of them will be useful in your case."

"You could not at least curse the heir to the Emberheart family," I added, and I was not just trying my luck. Though my relationship with the family was on the verge of breaking off, they would not put up with someone cursing their own blood. Also, my maternal family, they have three capable magus in their ranks—it's nothing to be scoffed at.

"That is true," Dakota said, however, the curl on her lips did not leave. "But I can sell it at a good price. I'm sure Lord Emberheart already has several enemies who would not mind paying a small amount to deal a blow to him."

'Damn woman,' I cursed my luck. Now I am only left with my last two choices. "How about you take it as an investment?"

"Investment in what?"

"In me," I said with a straight face.

"What are you, my future husband or something?" Dakota said, and this time not smiling. "I have lived enough of my life to know what this will lead to. And it will be you running away with my treasure. Moreover, you have a history of destroying stuff."

'I guess Scar's character is not so trusting,' I thought, knitting my brow. 'So, there's only one choice now.'

"How much do you earn from each match in the cage?" I asked, inhaling.

"It depends on the match," she said, raising her eyebrows. She seemed to understand what I was getting at.

"Say, how about I battle in the cage a couple of times and you lend me the sword for half a year?" I went straight to the deal.

This offer was far more tempting to her than raw cash. After all, it was not every day. She had some knight come into her lair asking for a match, much less a prince like myself.

Initially, I wanted the sword for a month for now, but this option was my last resort as well, and I would not very much like to do that. My fear being, what if the House learns about it and disowns me? They have other reasons for it, and I would only be providing another one. And if Lily and my other darling siblings brought something to the ear of the lord Father, it would very likely be possible.

I only agreed with this because I had no other option, and a few knew about the underground cage fight, even the people who lived in the city. So a couple of times, this stunt could likely go in their blind eye. Not to mention I could manage to earn the money needed to loan the sword as well.

"Bringing a prince into the cage does seem tempting," Dakota commented, and I felt a little chill from her voice. "But you have to go at least six times inside the cage."

I shook my head immediately. "Two is the limit," I said. "And that is with the declaration that I could give up the cage if I could bring you the dynes."

. . .

I walked out of the room with the new sword in my waist as well as a load on my back. The load contains the prototype False-ward of Ruthalyn.

In the end, Dakota did not budge for less than 4 times of me in the cage, so I decided to take more things. Though there were other perks as well, like I could give up on the cage fights providing double the cash she had loaned it for, while she would give me 14% of the profit from the match.

This woman was very difficult to deal with when the topic was money. Only after arguing for a whole hour did I get that percentage. Her initial plan was to give me a thousand dynes for each match, which was certainly a tempting offer if one doesn't know the entire story. However, I was dead set on getting a percentage cut, and was going for 25%, but that seemed a lot since I'm getting the sword and suit for six months.

This woman didn't become a successful business owner at such a young age for no reason. Only after a lot of hassle did I get the 14% cut. I was not sure how much that would be in dynes, but I was sure it would be at least be 10000 dynes in total.

Moreover, that girl didn't leave a blind spot in the contact like she would only give me the dynes after I finish battling all the four matches. Meaning I could not use that money to pull out from the matches.

Damn bitch! Maybe I should invest in her instead. I was never a businessman, and she fine woman who knows her stuff. If only I could trust her.

In the end, it was a lose-lose situation for both of us. She had the fear that I would run away with her treasure, though I have no intention of doing that. There was a fair claim in that she could report it directly to the academy or House Emberheart. While I had the fear of getting discovered in this underground cage fighting.

If I manage to bring at least 4 months time, I have confidence that I will only be winning situation for myself. I am confident I will be able to tackle the fear of being disowned and could possibly get the lines of the capital fixed with the house as well.

"By the way," I said to the woman who was leading me out of the underground hall. "What did you see in the vision?"

Dakota stopped in her lead and looked at me. "How do you know I have a vision?" she said. Only a few people knew she could tell fortunes of people, but almost none about the visions.

I cursed myself for the slip of tongue, not that it would hurt that much. "I know a lot of things, more than you assume," I said mysteriously. "So, what did you see?"

"Will it make any difference?" Dakota said and continued to walk. "I'm sure you will not listen to me and go after whatever the white-haired girl or fate will pull you together. In the end, it's all the same."

Dakota sighed, and I got she will not tell me exactly what she saw now.

We came to the nostalgia store on the ground floor again as she waited for me to leave.

I was about to leave with the two treasures in my arms, but faltered suddenly. A curl appeared on my lips.

"You know, I can do some fortune-telling myself as well," I said, and looked at her eyes, reflecting the lights of the luminescent stones. "I have some advice for you. Stay away from a man who wears sunglasses all the time if you want to keep your freedom."

And for dramatic effect, also to look cool. I did not look at her face before leaving, though I had a terrible urge to look at her face. I only call myself thinking there will be better chances.

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