Daru had never looked up faster in his life.
However, like earlier, he saw nothing, just the same old, condensed soil ceiling that was mysteriously holding up.
But just a second later, the familiar, deathly feeling returned.
A voice then sounded behind him again, this time oddly dignified, as though the one who spoke was the celestial emperor of the nine firmaments.
"Your sword...is gorgeously horrifying."
Daru jumped back and turned as soon as he heard the words, but like earlier, he saw nothing.
And then he felt it, a breeze caressing his right ear as the words, spoken in a high-pitched shrill, passed:
"But wielding it is a trouble wrapped in a nightmare, so I’ll pass..."
The creature continued speaking. However, every time Daru would turn to confront it, it would vanish without a trace.
It also never spoke in the same voice, an old man one moment, a middle-aged woman the next, though there were times it would suddenly speak in a monstrous tongue.
Strangely, Daru could understand everything it was saying.
The creature was mostly "appraising" everything he had on him, His gloves, his boots, his accessories...
Almost everything was labeled garbage by whatever the thing was.
And then it spoke once more, this time from above.
Daru, without hesitation, looked and slashed in the direction simultaneously, causing a metallic clang to erupt in the next moment.
His tachi couldn’t advance anymore, stopped by the tip of a lethally sharp nail.
Daru’s eyes then widened momentarily as a pair of jet-black horizontal pupils stared back at him, resting in a canvas of bright yellow.
At last, the form of the voice became visible: a two-and-a-half-meter-tall creature standing upside down on one leg, its remaining dark purple hoof rooted firmly in the ceiling.
It seemed to be a swordspawn with a horned head reminiscent of a goat, a lean and muscular human-like torso covered in purple fur, a lower body blending the traits of both, and a long purple tail that swayed from left to right like the tick of a hypnotic metronome.
It had the widest and creepiest smile, seemingly permanentized on its face as it bleated accidentally in excitement:
"And this mask...how did you obtain it? I’ll be taking it."
Daru, however, was glaring intensely, managing to barely stabilize his shocked heart.
He waved his tachi again, swatting the approaching fingers of the swordspawn as he jumped back.
The latch of the swordspawn’s hooves seemingly gave way a moment later, but the way it gracefully landed on its feet was nothing short of mystical, as purple smoke gently guided it according to the will of gravity.
Only then did its nameplate appear.
==
Kazuraga
<The Exiled>
==
Neither hitpoints nor levels were indicated, just its name, written in treacherous black text, and its title in pulsing amethyst.
Daru’s heart skipped a beat.
He knew what type of spawn the one in front of him was, as black text identified only one type.
"You...You’re a Mythical Swordspawn!?" Daru asked with a hint of excitement. He was even trembling slightly.
Kazuraga’s brows rose, his twin, katana-shaped amethyst sword breathing a soft purple on his back.
The mythical goat had long known what each of the four races called them.
He was more interested in the fact that the human could resist his gaze head-on, even though he had been repeatedly paralyzed by it earlier.
This meant one thing: Onimaru Kunitsuna did not fear him.
Not even slightly.
"Mehehe, you’re quite fascinating, human. How are you suppressing your instincts, I wonder..." Kazuraga rubbed his chin with his beastly left hand, as it was all he had left.
His entire right arm and right leg were taken from him by someone...or something, and they weren’t bleeding, but nor were they regenerating as they should.
Daru frowned at the sight, his mood a bit spoiled. He did not want to fight at an advantageous handicap.
"Are you alright? Why is it not regenerating?" he asked.
The already eerily wide smile on the goat’s face then widened even further as it seemingly thought of something that unfortunately only flew right over Daru’s socially inexperienced head.
"No, as you can see, I’m all left. MEHEHEHE!" bleated Kazuraga uproariously, only for his mood to be equally spoiled.
The dumb human in front of him didn’t get his joke!
The mythical goat was displeased: "You’re dumb, aren’t you? Admit it."
He was bleating in his usually elusive, natural voice way too much today...
"I’m not dumb." Daru frowned, denying the accusations, though he slightly stuttered on the second half of his words, "I-I just don’t like using my mental energy on matters not related to the sword. Also, aren’t you the dumb one? Who would admit they’re dumb?"
"Mehe! Fair point..." Kazuraga suddenly grasped his goatly mouth at the realization that he might be dumb too... "No, no...how could someone like me, a trickster who had swindled old foxes from all four races, be dumb? It’s definitely this human who’s dumb..."
In the next moment, the mythical goat violently shook his head, shifting his attention back to Daru.
"Anyway, give me your mask, I need it," Kazuraga demanded.
"No, it’s mine, and I need it too." Daru firmly refused, resulting in a momentary stand-off.
In the next moment, the mythical goat profoundly sighed in the voice of an old master who had mastered the world.
"You’re definitely dumb. You know you can’t stop me from taking it...or...could it be that you actually do not?!"
The expression on the stupid human’s face certainly leaned more toward the latter.
However, Daru soon proved he indeed wasn’t dumb.
He quickly removed the mask, revealing his true appearance, and immediately hid it in his inventory.
Kazuraga froze, his world and pride crumbling.
Were his seven decades of bamboozlement all but a mere illusion?!
If this human was smart, then was he actually dumb?!
The mythical goat felt like his head would explode.
So, in the next moment, he quickly sat down in a cross-legged position, inhaling deeply and slowly and exhaling in the same manner.
Kazuraga had begun meditating mid-argument, perplexing Daru, who was eager to fight.
"What...are you doing? Aren’t we going to fight?"
But the mythical swordspawn didn’t respond, simply continuing to meditate.
Daru naturally wouldn’t attack a defenseless opponent. So, he waited patiently.
Only five whole minutes later did Kazuraga stand up...and began swaying unstably, as though he would collapse any moment.
And he really did, just another second later, falling face-first.
"Ahh...damn it..." the mythical spawn cursed. "I thought I’d already recovered..."
Daru immediately sheathed his tachi, moving closer to help Kazuraga up, still confused at what the hell was happening.
He repeatedly felt the cold beckons of death just a few dozen seconds earlier.
Now, he was assisting a supposedly "mighty" mythical swordspawn, who was pathetically skipping on one leg, towards the slightly elevated soil surface so it could rest.
"Aihh...thank you, young human," Kazuraga grunted weakly.
"You’re welcome," Daru responded rather earnestly, inwardly surprising the mythical goat. "When will you recover so we can fight?"
The swordspawn coughed repeatedly, choking on its own saliva.
"You dumba– err, I mean, ughh...not anytime soon...I need somebody to help me gather some healing components, so poor weak me can restore my right arm and leg...I wonder who could help..."
Daru met the Swordspawn’s gaze for a moment before offering:
"I can help you. Tell me what you need."