Re: Evolution Online

Liam panted as he felt the weapon once again thrum with life. The sword in his hand was heavier than ever, but it was calmly resting in his hand. Was it over? He was not sure, but he tested the waters by slowly dissipating the cocoon around him.

Still… there was no response from the sword? It was as if the weapon was completely subdued. Liam smirked. It looked like this was over, at least for now. It turned out that doing this in the middle of this battlefield was the right decision after all.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Several notifications rang out loudly, interrupting his thoughts.

Liam moved out of the way of the beast horde and hurriedly opened his system interface to check the notifications.

<Ding. You have unlocked the 6th seal of your weapon>

<Ding. Black Dragon Sword has been upgraded>

<Ding. You have unlocked a new attribute 'Soul Strength'>

<Ding. Your Soul Strength has increased>

<Ding. You have now acquired 76% of the legacy>

<Ding. You have unlocked a new skill 'Soul Shield'>

<Ding. You have now acquired 81% of the legacy>

Liam blinked. He completely hadn't expected this. 

When he forged the three-headed wyvern, he only got a small boost to his legacy, from 70% to 71%. However, the breakthroughs he made today were much bigger than that. One pushed him from 71 to 76%, and the other from 76 to 81%.

He actually had 81% of the legacy! 

It seemed like only yesterday that he had started from scratch! 

Slowly building this little by little over time, he was now almost close to acquiring the whole damn thing. More importantly, this new attribute… soul strength…

Even with his increased understanding of the legacy, this should be the most valuable thing he acquired today.

<Soul Strength: First Order>

"First Order? What does this mean?" Liam narrowed his eyes to think about the implications of this new attribute. 

Soul strength was something that was basic to all living beings. More than anyone else, he was aware of this fact because he had by now gone through hundreds of souls.

A living being's strength, weakness, memories, desires, dreams, their entire life, a soul was a record of all these things collectively.

Improving this shouldn't be as simple as gaining a bonus in the strength or agility stats. Liam felt as if this particular attribute was much deeper and had more meaning and consequences.

He licked his lips as he jumped back into the beast horde and began yet another onslaught. There was still a lot he needed to understand and he needed to analyze. A lot of unanswered questions remained.

But he also had the perfect battlefield that could help him figure out these things and solve the questions. All around him, there were countless souls wailing for his attention.

Liam did not waste any time, and he first tried using the newly upgraded sword. He swung it around, sending sword slashes at the beasts around him.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Four consecutive slashes were executed, but even Liam was amazed at the results. Just for merely bringing down his sword, terrifying damage numbers popped up.

-10,000

-50,000

-15,000

-25,650

His swordplay was far from perfect, so this was simply unbelievable. If his half-assed sword work can unleash so much of the weapon's capability, then how much damage would a trained technique bring out?

Liam felt goosebumps as he continued using the sword repeatedly. As for the reason for this new development, he could feel it clearly after the fifth swing. 

The powerful aura that lashed at him when he unlocked the seal was now surrounding the sword, hence the exaggerated damage numbers. 

This was completely different from when he had undone the first seal, the second seal, or the third seal. The effect this time was off the charts. Every time a seal was undone, more and more of the dragon souls seeped out.

Liam couldn't help but wonder just how powerful this weapon would turn out if he unlocked the fourth, fifth, and seventh seals as well. There were also the mysterious eighth and ninth seals, about which nothing was known to him.

He gritted his teeth as he slashed at the beasts around him one more time before taking a look at the system interface.

[1st Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand rare grade or higher grade weapons]

[Broken]

[2nd Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand rare grade or higher grade herbs]

[Broken]

[3rd Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand rare grade or higher ores]

[Broken]

[4th Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand rare grade or higher gems]

[5th Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand elemental essences]

[6th Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand bloodlines]

[Broken]

[7th Seal: To break the seal, devour a thousand souls]

[8th Seal: N/A]

[9th Seal: N/A]

"Right now, I can also break the 7th seal. Hmm… For the 4th seal, I have some gems but a trip to the Four Empires should help me get through that. And the elemental essences… maybe those two demonesses finished collecting?" Liam did a quick calculation.

He probably had the ability to unlock all seven seals, but would he be able to withstand the result? With each seal he unlocked, the weapon became more and more dangerous. 

In his last life, the person who managed to conquer this weapon and even managed to bring it out into the real world was one of the key pillars of the collapsing world. 

So Liam believed that it was possible for him to accomplish the same feat and become just as strong. However, he doubted if he would have the same path to achieving the results.

Thanks to his soulmancer class, the backlash he felt from the sword was probably so much more terrifying than that person ever did. This made it more difficult for him.

However, that did not change anything. He still had to unlock the seals and completely bind with the weapon before the tutorial ended. He had to become strong enough to withstand the aftermath. There was simply no other way.

And as for how he was going to do it, Liam guessed that the answer lay in the new attribute and the new skill he acquired. These two should be the key. 

If he raised his soul strength high enough, then dragon souls simmering in the weapon shouldn't be able to affect him. Even if they did, the skill [Soul Shield] should be able to save him from their wrath.

This should be true at least for this seal and perhaps for the next one. But the last seal… 

Liam did not know what he needed to do to withstand the effect of that one, and if all seven seals were unlocked, would he really be able to handle the weapon?  Would he then be able to take it out of this world? There were also the eighth and the ninth mysterious seal…

There were too many uncertainties. Liam let out a sigh and steadied his mind. There was no point in jumping the gun now. He could only calmly take everything step by step.

After a few deep breaths, he attempted to repeat the movements from earlier as he tried to recreate [Soul Shield] one more time. He also tried to pull the souls towards himself to improve his soul strength and potentially bring them to the Second Order, but it was easier said than done.

Though he had accomplished this once, it looked like he had to practice more to get the hang of it. Liam cracked his neck and started busying himself. 

With the multitude of souls around him, he alternated between practising the new skill, forging new minions, and trying to sense his own soul strength.

However, what he did not know was that his movements hadn't gone unnoticed this time around. 

As he slaughtered beast after beast, a pair of ethereal eyes watched him from a distance. These eyes belonged to a woman who looked as if she were an angel descended from the heavens. 

Her entire figure brimmed with divine energy from top to bottom. She was incomparably beautiful. There was a pride in her gaze that set her apart from everything around her. And currently, this woman's full, undivided attention was on Liam.

"Interesting." She smiled as she continued to observe him in the mirror in front of her. "If things continue at this rate, his kill count is going to be incomparable to other players."

"Imagine fishing for a pearl and finding a diamond. Mmmm." She had been looking at the list of players engaged in the beast siege and their respective contributions when she unexpectedly stumbled upon a surprise, the top player on this list.

It was good that she decided to pay more attention to this particular event, otherwise, she would have missed such a wonderful opportunity.

"What is he? How could I have missed him for so long?" She whispered to herself in a low voice.  However, the knight next to her still heard her and bowed his head. "May I intervene, your eminence?"

"No. Let him be. I want him to become stronger." The smile on the woman's face grew wider. He will become my crown jewel." Her finger touched Liam's figure in the mirror as he dispatched another dozen beasts. "A very fine jewel indeed."

The knight next to her slightly frowned before his expression became steady again. But if one looked closely, they would be able to see the anger simmering in his black obsidian eyes as he also continued watching Liam. 

Silence filled the space. But a minute later, the angelic woman seemed as if she had changed her mind. Her smile disappeared, and unexpectedly another order was issued.

"On second thought, let's start the next phase. Send in the big guys."