A week passed rather quickly as Shiro received news that the other heroes were now making their final preparations to challenge the towers.
Their preparations were the same as hers. Obtain blessed weapons to help them if they can if not they should just challenge it with everything they got. Thanks to the medicine supplied by Beril, their safety was somewhat guaranteed.
However, once they found out that Shiro claimed a spear, an axe and now Orion’s Arrow which paired amazingly with her bow, they were both jealous and annoyed since she already had the help of two primordial divinities and she didn’t need the blessed weapons on top of that. But since they were now bound to Shiro, they couldn’t do anything about it.
Today was the day that Maria finished her sword attachment for her chain so Shiro was currently making her way to her store.
Upon arrival, Shiro could see a familiar queue of people all waiting to be served.
Shrugging her shoulders, Shiro waited patiently for her turn.
Once again, Shiro had to wait roughly 50 minutes to an hour before she reached the front.
“Ah Shiro, you’re here.” Maria smiled.
“Mn. Maybe you should limit the number of customers you attend to daily since you look rather exhausted.” Shiro suggested.
“I would but, so many ideas and I want to get to all of them.” Maria sighed while resting her head on the table.
“The woes of a crafter I suppose haha.” Shiro chuckled as Maria nodded her head.
Reaching down, she pulled out a silver case and presented it to Shiro.
“I managed to reinforce the overall build a little more than last time with some elemental resistant metals but there wasn’t much space to change anything else. I doubt it’ll bring out a big change to your chains, but we’ll have to see.” Maria said as she opened the case.
Looking into the case, Shiro could see a familiar black sword that was now adorned with some silver patterns along the blade.
Starting the fusion process, she watched as the chains merged with the sword and a notification rang out.
[You have obtained Nivlim +1]
[The materials used for this have been upgraded and the sword now receives a +10% elemental resistance and physical resistance, bringing up its durability.]
Looking at the upgraded Nivlim, Shiro nodded her head with satisfaction. Plus, the sword itself was now a little heavier so there was the added bonus of more weight behind each swing.
“Satisfied?” Maria asked with a smile.
“Mn, very.” Shiro nodded her head.
“That’s good. I was a bit afraid since there wasn’t much change compared to the last sword but if you’re happy that’s good.” Maria sighed in relief.
“Well the last sword helped me out plenty so it was already surprising that you could remake the sword.” Shiro chuckled.
“It’s just a case of repeating the process. Though if I were to spend three months or so making this, I can probably make something much better than what I’ve given you. However, it seems like time isn’t exactly on your side right now since you’re in a rush.”
“True. I need to go to a different section in order to claim something that can help me deal with a big problem looming around the corner.” Shiro shrugged.
“Well good luck with that. If you have more time after you dealt with this problem, I’d be happy to make you something that you’ll like.” Maria grinned as Shiro nodded her head.
Saying goodbye to Maria, Shiro left the city and made her way to the Section of Night.
[Me, Tricia and Beril are already at the tower. We’ve got some supplies ready for you as well as a specially designed bag that should allow you to move more freely without worry of the medicine being shattered.] Quella said as Shiro smiled.
“Thanks, that’ll be a lot of help. Quite a bit of her medicine was smashed when I was facing against the armour that I told you about before.”
[Well just because this one is better than the one you have doesn’t mean you can just go crashing against the ground ok? It can only increase the threshold before smashing so you’ll still need to be careful but there should be a bit more leeway than before.] Quella sighed as Shiro could imagine her rolling her eyes.
“I’ll keep that in mind haha. Any more news on the Ancient Terror?” Shiro asked.
[There is. He’s managed to claim his fourth piece so there’s only one more to go before he needs to get the ones that are being held by the heroes.] Quella replied.
“Hmm… So I’m guessing that there’s a big chance a fight will break out between us and the Ancient Terror when I finish the Trial.”
[Most likely yes. And speaking of which, Tenma, the one that’s aiming for the Tower of Nyx just like you, has already arrived here not too long ago. He’s been practicing against the surrounding monsters for a while to prepare himself and despite being an annoying person, his combat standards are quite high.]
“Interesting. Compared to the only one who had ever completed Nyx’s Trial before, how well do you think he’ll hold up?” Shiro asked.
[That’s not even a question. Tenma will be defeated with ease. The person who completed Nyx’s Trial was something beyond even you Shiro.] Quella replied as Shiro paused in surprise.
“Wait, they’re something even beyond me?” Shiro raised her eyebrow.
[Mn. During the entire time that he has been alive, I have not seen him get hit once by a single decent attack. He was always able to brush it off or dodge it.] Quella replied as Shiro furrowed her brows.
“How would you describe it then? Is it him reacting on instinct or like he was seeing the future?”
[I don’t know. All I know is that he had never been hit once.]
Staying silent, Shiro was a little interested in fighting against this guy now. She wanted to see what Quella meant by him never being hit even once since that sounded impossible for Shiro.
Even her mum who was one of the strongest people around was grazed a few times despite her powerful skills so someone not being hit once was just plain insanity.
“Can you tell me anything else about him other than him never being hit before?”
[Mn, I can. His combat sense was just as crazy I suppose. When he wants to attack you, it’s hard for a person to dodge. Even if they did, slash marks would always appear out of nowhere despite having dodged his attack. When he was fighting against monsters, he could use a single twig to harm them as a sword was unnecessary.]
Listening to Quella’s tales about this hero who had obtained Nyx’s divinity, Shiro couldn’t help but imagine him as this invincible warrior but she knew that it was impossible.
No matter how powerful one may seem, there was always a gap that someone else can exploit. Even for Shiro, there is bound to be someone that can find a way to kill her despite all of her skills and experiences. That was an undeniable fact.
The only difference is that some people know how to mask that gap and from the sounds of it, the hero was able to mask his weakness extremely well.
“So how did he die in the end? Was it by old age or did someone kill him?” Shiro asked.
[We don’t know. He just disappeared suddenly but we know that he was around 45 years old when he disappeared. The chances of death by old age is slim.]
Nodding her head, Shiro memorised all of the information and tried to figure out what the trial could hold for her. From her understanding, the powers you get after the trails are usually what you have to overcome yourself. For him to be able to dodge everything like Quella explained, it meant that a monster inside the trial must have this ability and that he somehow overcame this.
Narrowing her eyes, Shiro increased her speed towards the Tower of Nyx.
Meanwhile, Nyx was watching everything with a grin.
“Your tower is definitely the hardest obstacle that this girl has to face in this realm aside from the Ancient Terror. Honestly, if it was me, I’d say you never intended for anyone to pass your trial.” Gaia sighed.
“But someone did, didn’t they?” Nyx laughed.
“Yes, and the power they obtained allowed them to become a demigod from strength alone.” Gaia shook her head.
“Since Shiro is technically a demigod already, do you think she’ll become a full god by the end of this?” Nyx asked.
“. . .There is a possibility. Like she has said before, the chances are low but never zero.” Gaia smiled with anticipation.
