Chapter 315: Sword of Tinateria

(A/N: This section continues the events from the first half of Chapter 296)

More than a day before the events unfolding now, back in the Sagrada Dragona Mountain Range...

The moment when Regis had entered the cave that had been revealed by his earlier grand magic.

He had seen a familiar light, which prompted him to follow the direction from which it was coming.

As Regis peeked around the corner, what greeted his sight made his eyes widen.

"W-What..."

He stammered, his pupils constricting.

"T-That’s—!"

Before Regis could take another step forward, a figure materialized in front of him.

It was none other than the queen’s contracted spirit, Wisteria, who floated in the air with a position as if she were lying on a bed on her stomach.

"Hey, what’s your name again?" She asked, her half-closed eyes oozing with sleepiness.

Regis flinched as he was momentarily stunned, "Eh, you’re still here? I thought you left after delivering the letter..."

"Never mind that. Just tell me your name."

’Huh? She’s the one the queen assigned to deliver the letter, but she didn’t even remember my name? How did she know that I was the right person, then?’

Question upon question piled up in his mind.

Regis did not know whether to laugh or cry as he answered, "My name’s Regis."

"Regis, huh? That aura art you used earlier, it was of the light element, right?" Wisteria spoke, her half-closed eyes widening more than usual.

"Yes, it is..."

"Really? How rare~."

Her interest seemed to have been piqued as curiosity sparkled from her languid purple eyes.

It was also at this moment that Regis realized something, ’Eh? She’s talking to me with her mouth now...’

This surprised him since the spirit only spoke directly through his mind, using some sort of telepathic ability.

Wisteria looked him in the eye and asked as she stood straight, "Say, can you use that aura art of yours to travel long distances?"

"Yes, though I’m saving it for emergencies..."

"What if it’s an emergency?"

Noticing the strange expression on the familiar spirit’s face, Regis tilted his head.

’She seems to be worked up for some reason...’

He thought as he said, "What happened?"

"You see..."

Wisteria thought for a moment and spoke, "I can sense through my contract with the queen that she seemed to be under a lot of stress. I suspect that something’s happening, so I just wanted to ask if you can get there as soon as possible..."

’This familiar spirit is quite good. She’s cautious, yet caring towards her contractor.’ Regis could not help but marvel at the new side of the lazy-looking Wisteria that he had discovered.

He then met her eyes and said, "Then what should we do? I don’t know where the queen is..."

Wisteria flew in front of his forehead and touched it with her palm.

Feeling no malice from her, Regis fought his instinct to take a step backward.

A purple light soon manifested in front of Wisteria, before sinking inside his forehead without the slightest resistance.

Feeling no reaction from his Perfect Adaptation, Regis curiously asked, "What did you do?"

"I’ve engraved a temporary soul mark onto your soul. Through that mark, you’ll be able to sense my thoughts and location. You can think of it as a temporary contract between us," Wisteria explained, her face noticeably paler than before.

Regis looked at her with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Don’t mind me. I’m currently shouldering two contracts, which violates the laws of the Spirit Realm. Don’t worry, though. This soul mark will dissolve on its own after a day."

Wisteria paused briefly before continuing.

"I’ll go to her now. Once I call your name, run to my location with everything you have."

Her expression turned unusually serious.

"This is nothing more than a suspicion and a feeling, but... the future of Edenelia may very well rest in your hands."

The moment she finished speaking, her figure disappeared from sight.

(Oh, and be careful with that sword embedded in the egg.)

Regis heard Wisteria’s voice from inside his mind, much to his surprise, "What is she talking about?"

"Oh, right!"

Remembering what he saw earlier, he could not help but feel excited as he turned around the corner.

Woong—!

"It’s really just as I had expected!"

Regis’s eyes widened as he saw the source of the familiar light that had led him to this area.

It was none other than a sword damaged beyond recognition that was embedded in a round boulder around ten meters in diameter.

The sword had large chips all over its blade, as only its handle remained quite intact.

However, what surprised Regis was the material it was made of.

He could not help but take something out of his storage ring, as he had already upgraded from his storage pouch.

It was none other than the iridescent blade that he had gained as a reward a few years ago.

The Shard of Tinateria.

"I still need to confirm it..."

Regis leaped onto the boulder and landed atop it before quickly examining the damaged sword, trying to figure out which chip his shard fit into.

The sword’s blade alone measured two meters in length, and seven major chips could be seen along its edge.

"It really is... The Sword of Tinateria."

Regis’s voice was filled with amazement as his Shard of Tinateria fit exactly on one of the visible chips on the exposed sword blade.

However, in the next second, his smile froze, "Isn’t this sword... too big?"

Since the sword had been embedded in the boulder, Regis was not sure how large the sword was.

But just the two-meter-long blade exposed on the outside was already much taller than he was.

"Ah!"

At this moment, he suddenly clutched his chest as he felt something in the depths of his soul.

"Through the soul mark left by Wisteria, I think I can vaguely sense the emotional fluctuations of the queen..."

Alarm bells rang in Regis’s mind as a look of urgency appeared on his face.

"My storage ring has plenty of space, so this should fit..."

He placed his palm against the boulder and, with a mere thought, the massive rock vanished.

Along with it, the damaged Sword of Tinateria disappeared and was stored inside his storage ring.

"I’ll look into it another time. Right now, I need to hurry..."

Regis quickly scanned the cave one final time. Satisfied that he had not missed anything important, he rushed outside and immediately headed toward the Forest of Eternity.

"Although Wisteria hasn’t called for me yet, I doubt I have much time left. I should get there as soon as possible..."

His expression turned grim as he sensed the increasingly chaotic fluctuations emanating from Wisteria’s soul mark.