"Hoho! Young man, you needn't worry, I don't mean to hurt you!" The old voice spoke once more.
"Where am I? And why can't I see anything?" Theo asked.
"Hoho, I'm sorry about that, let me introduce myself!" The moment he said that the place where they were brightened and Theo could see a stout man with long white hair that reached halfway to his back and long white beard beautifully cut until it reached the middle of his chest and blue eyes with black slits. "My name is Leonidas! Nice to meet you, young man!"
Theo was surprised for a second but then said, "Huh. My name is Theo... Leonidas?! Where are we?"
"Hoho, Theo, right?" He approached and said, "This place is inside the sword you touched!"
"What? How is this possible?" Theo couldn't believe it at first, but remembering his [Dimensional Room] thought it was somehow possible. "How did I get here?"
"Oho?! You seem to settle down very fast…" He looked at Theo for a while and started laughing out loud. "HAHAHA! I Like you!! Hahaha!" [TL: Don't tell me…]
"Thank you, I think..."
Theo started to look at him strangely but chose to wait for him to speak.
"How long have I not laughed like this?" The man named Leonidas sighed.
"Young man, would you like to become heir to the sword, of this old man?" He looked seriously at Theo as he asked this question.
"Huh. To tell the truth, I never used a sword to fight, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not interested in your sword." Theo admitted.
"Hoho! Regarding the use of the sword, you're still young, so you still have plenty of time to learn how to use it." Leonidas said, "But it's also a matter of affinity, you see, if you weren't compatible with that sword, you wouldn't be in this place right now, but I can't just hand it to you just like that either..."
Theo: "Can I ask you a question?"
Leonidas: "Yes, feel free to ask!"
"At what level is this sword? 4th maybe?" He asked doubtfully.
"Level 4? Hahaha!" He started laughing out loud again, as if he had heard something very funny, and said, "You can tell that it is one of the few swords in this world that made it to level 6!" He said proudly, but Theo could notice a glint of sadness at the same time in his gaze.
"L-Level 6??" Theo swallowed hard at his answer. He knew it was a high level but did not expect it to be so high!
Just to give you some idea, a level 3 sword would have the power level of a Higher Student, so if you follow the ranking, a level 6 sword would have the attack level power of someone in the Greater Wizard Kingdom? That was insane! Much more powerful than he imagined!
He still remembered how strong the Dragon that was in the Apprentice Wizard Kingdom, Theo couldn't even imagine how strong a person would be in the Higher Wizard Kingdom.
"Hoho! Excited now? Well, I can't blame him…" Leonidas looked at Theo and made the white sword he saw before appear in his hand. "How about if you can beat me in a fight, I'll let you have that sword! Not a bad deal, right?"
"That..." Theo wasn't confident about fighting this guy, especially with someone capable of having such a sword, he won't be weak at all.
It seemed that he had noticed Theo's concerns and said, "No need to worry! I'm going to restrain my cultivation to your level, so it wouldn't be an unfair fight, right?"
"Well... I confess I wanted this sword, but I can't accept your offer!" Theo said without hesitation.
"Oh? Why can't you accept it?" Leonidas didn't expect anyone to turn down such a chance so easily, it surprised him greatly.
Theo took a deep breath and replied, "That's because I have people waiting for me, I can't let them down and end up dying here!"
"I see, I see, so that's it! Young man, you're really interesting!!" Leonidas couldn't help but be happy, not expecting that such a being would appear in his last moments of life, but at the same time regretted his bad luck on finding friends… he couldn't help but sigh as he remembered the moment he was betrayed by someone who thought he was his best friend.
"How do I get out of this place?" Theo asked, not wanting to keep them waiting too long.
"Wait! You don't have to rush out!" Leonidas said, "I don't want you to fight me to death, I just want to test you."
"I understand. But why is that?" Theo didn't understand his actions. He thought this man in front of him had already died as he thought upon receiving such a mission from his system, but he could see that he was alive and kicking. So he didn't know why he was doing all this.
Sadness passed his eyes, but soon returned to normal and he said: "Actually I'm already dead! Or at least my physical body has, I'm just here to communicate with you because I left a part of my soul in this sword, so even though I'm dead, a part of my soul resides in this sword."
"Ohh!" Theo didn't expect that to be the case.
"No need to worry, even if you don't take possession of the sword, the rest of my consciousness that resides in that sword will disappear," said Leonidas.
"I see." Theo took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I agree to fight you!"
"Hahaha! That's what I wanted to hear!" Leonidas stood in a fighting stance and asked, "Do you have any weapons you want to use?"
"Huh. Well, although I have never used it, I have a sword." Theo drew a silver sword with a black handle interwoven with silver lines.
This was one of the last swords he had ever made, a sword made of a Lightning Magic Core. It is a Level 3 Medium sword.
The moment the sword came into contact with Theo's Mana, it began to produce crackling lightning sounds and began to generate lightning bolts throughout the sword.
"Oho! Despite being a low level, it's a good sword!" He praised Leonidas.
"Thanks!" Theo thanked him.
"Hmm? Were you the one to make it?" Leonidas didn't think he would be so lucky.
"Well, yes, it was me!" Replied Theo.
"I see, I see, it was made by you!! Haha, the heavens have not forsaken me!" Leonidas looked up at the sky and Theo could have sworn he saw tears streaming from Leonidas's eyes, but very quickly it disappeared into thin air.
Theo looked at him strangely, but seeing that he got serious, he decided not to think too much and also to prepare himself by getting into a fighting stance.