NOVEL WEB Chapter 29: Spirit Grade
Damian's feet felt the ground below him. Although, he couldn't call it a ground considering it looked nothing like a ground. No, the whole space he was, looked nothing like anything he was accustomed to, even for someone like him.
It was filled with grey fog that, for some reason, didn't hinder his sight at all. And yet, that didn't seem to make the situation any better. He couldn't tell which was right, nor which was left. Worse yet, he didn't dare to move, as it was impossible to tell the dimensions of the space he had arrived in. Was it just a plain field? Or an enclosed compartment? He couldn't tell.
His senses was rendered a jumbled mess.
And still, Damian was unfazed. This was because he knew what this place was, even though this was his first time in here.
His thoughts couldn't help but wander to the moments before he was transported to this space.
After the message brought by the System, and the subsequent discovery of Valerie's true status as his Bound Partner, he had wasted no time imploring her to come with him to his real home.
Of course, she had asked where that was. However, there was little time to answer that as with the completion of all the Quests, the Spheric Embodiment would forcefully teleport all other 'foreigners' out of the Spheric Tower.
However, in his agitation, he had failed to consider one thing. His usage of his Chaos Edict on Valerie had broken and shattered the rules that made her a denizen of the Nevermore Territory. Consequently, this made the Spheric Embodiment perceive her as one of these 'foreigners', and as such, she was also forcefully ejected out of the Spheric Tower.
Of course, this had greatly pleased Damian. However, he could still remember the shock, then the subsequent joy he felt from the Duchess. Was that a good sign? He couldn't tell.
But even that paled to the beautiful blue-scaled Draconian he caught a glimpse of before vanishing. The furious light that shone in her eyes, the subtle dark aura that rose from her as she looked in his direction.
That aura… it almost felt like Depthless Darkness Edict.
Damian forcefully shook himself from his thoughts. Although he was still a bit skeptical about the authenticity of the Edict he felt, there was probably no denying that that Draconian was obviously more dangerous than Valerie herself, at least, the Valerie before Damian destroyed the laws imposed on her.
And this left him stumped, wasn't the Nevermore Territory a little bit overpowered? Or perhaps, were these just the uniqueness that came with a Blessed World?
First was Valerie, and the second was that blue-scaled Draconian. Any one of the two could become a powerhouse that would be feared by the whole of the Spheric Verse.
That said…
[ Spheric Tower: Nevermore Territory ]
[ Spheric Tower Grade: Tier 5 Bronze ]
[ Main Quest: Stop the Draconians from conquering the Southern Human County. Completed ]
[ Side Quest: Kill the son of the Draconian Duke. Completed ]
[ Hidden Quest: Help the Draconian Duke defeat their lifelong enemy. Completed ]
[ Rewards: Earth's World Will. Second Sphere, Stratum 21 Edict Essence. Three Tier 5 Bronze Grade Artifacts or Techniques. One Tier 10 Bronze Grade Artifact or Technique ]
[ Please choose ]
The System entirely snapped him out of his thoughts. He scanned from the start of the message panel before him to the end, and took a deep breath.
"Tell me System, how does the reward system work?" asked Damian.
[ A Tier 5 Bronze Grade Spheric Tower was made to be taken by three people. But as the Main Quest have been cleared by you alone, the Side Quest by you as well, and the Hidden Quest, by however, two, the Reward System has deviated slightly ]
[ As the first to successfully clear more than half of a Spheric Tower's Quests on his own, you gain the right to Earth's World Will ]
[ The Main Quest nets you the Edict Essence equivalent to a Second Sphere, Stratum 21 expert. ]
[ The Side Quest only offers three Tier 5 Bronze Grade Artifacts or Skills ]
[ The Hidden Quest bestows you an ownership of a Tier 10 Bronze Grade Artifact or Skill ]
[ Please choose ]
The moment the System finished, the grey fogged space Damian was in twisted and churned, vanishing, only to be replaced a moment later by a room where countless shelves stood.
Each and everyone of these shelves shone a bronze sheen and displayed Artifacts of different varieties.
Although Damian held in his ring Artifacts countless times precious than these Bronze Grade Artifacts, he still couldn't help but be momentarily overwhelmed.
However, he quickly regained his bearing before he began moving from one shelf to another. He sifted through the Artifacts, discarding those he found unamusing before he eventually came to a halt.
"System, can you show me the best Tier 10 Bronze Grade Artifacts there is in here? And preferably, bladed weapons like sabres."
[ Affirmative ]
Almost immediately, the shelves began vanishing, before leaving behind tens of shelves with hundreds of Artifacts on it. Clearly, they all were firmly Tier 10 Bronze Grade Artifacts.
Damian's eyes darted from one shelf to another before his eyes suddenly halted on an Artifact that rested among its peers.
The inconspicuous sabre would have been missed by him were it not for his incredibly powerful Mind's Eye. It looked unassuming and had a shabby exterior that offends its Artisan's aesthetic sensibilities.
However, Damian could sense an especially hidden aura that felt countless times more powerful than what was expected from a Bronze Grade Artifact from it.
He immediately took firm steps towards it and grabbed it without a second thought.
[ Battle God Saber - Tier 10 Bronze Grade
A powerful weapon that renders all obstructions within and beneath the Second Sphere useless. It is currently weakened and houses a dormant consciousness that would allow it to regain its status as a Spirit Grade Artifact when awakened. When equipped, grants Strength +30, Agility +30 ]
A weapon with the potential to become a Spirit Grade?! Damian was stumped.
Bronze Grade, Silver Grade, Gold Grade, Platinum Grade, then Spirit Grade. These five Grades were the ultimate categorizer of the Spheric Verse.
Bronze Grade is assigned to the First and Second Spheres, Silver Grade to the Third and Fourth, and Fifth Spheres, Gold Grade to the Sixth Sphere and Seventh Sphere and Platinum Grade to the Eighth Sphere and higher. As for the Spirit Grade, it wasn't assigned to any Sphere, but in fact could be used all Spheres.
A Spirit Grade Artifact could be used by a First Sphere pup just as well as an Eighth Sphere colossus could use it. All that mattered was whether the consciousness of said Artifact was willing to submit.
If the consciousness of a Spirit Grade Artifact is unwilling to submit, even an Eighth Sphere expert would be unable to wield it, let alone a First Sphere pup.
But perhaps, the most shocking part of it all was that, Spirit Grade Artifacts comes with heaven-defying abilities, be it ones with offensive capabilities, defensive capabilities, or auxiliary types. They were simply on another level when it came to Artifacts.
Hence, the reason Damian was shocked such a Artifact would appear here. No, that was more tame compared to the fact that it was weakened in the first place.
What in the world could weaken a Spirit Grade Artifact to the point that its consciousness was forced asleep?