Looking at the back of the old man that seemed to radiate a melancholic air, Ryan furrowed his brows as he thought; the old man seemed to have something he was hiding about the Sword of Dark Death.
"Sigh, of all beings to choose, you just had to choose a mortal huh?", the old man muttered to himself dejectedly.
"Look, old man. I have no idea what or who you are talking about, I only have a question; do you know where this is??", Ryan asked the question that had been bugging him the most....Where was he??, and how was him merely touching the Sword able to drag him into this world??.
Turning around, the old man took a long look at Ryan, before he sighed once again; "The Emperor of Death messed with the fabric of space and time prior to his death, making sure to create an alternate space in The Sword of Dark Death....he always mentioned how he had always wanted a world named after him".
"Oh, how great!. I'm in the sword", Ryan sarcastically grumbled.
"Trust me, I also don't want it that way", the old man said, a bit of annoyance apparent in his voice.
"Okay, since it's been established that I'm in the sword made for a ummmm...powerful being, is there anyway I can leave here??"
"Sigh, like I said...the sword has gained sentience and has chosen you to be it's next master.....you can only leave once you've learnt to tame it, even if it's a little", the old man explained, as Ryan sighed helplessly.
Taming the sword made for a supposed Emperor of Death??...., a few months ago, he was just an ordinary low level cultivator with less than desirable cultivation talent.
"Is there nothing else that can be done??", Ryan asked again.
"Sigh, nothing else can be done".
Feeling hopeless, Ryan was about to sigh when it suddenly hit him; "Wait a minute, how did you, or any of the Demonic beasts out there get into the sword??, and how do you know all this??"
"Hahaha, a very curious youth. In due time you'll know", the old man continued, "You call call me Old man Rico".
"In due time??", Although Ryan was uncomfortable with Old man Rico's obvious diversion of the question, he could not do anything about it, rather, he had to figure out a way to leave the sword space.....and soon.
=================.
A few thousand miles away from the Sword, the space around shuddered a little, as two figures appeared, a slight tear in the space behind them.
"Master, do you truly think the sword is here??, in this realm??", one of the two figures, a rather lanky youth, quite handsome asked the second figure.
"Since when did you start doubting your master??", the second figure replied, hands folded behind him as he gazed towards a certain direction.
"Hehe, I didn't mean it like that, master", the youth replied, laughing nervously. He knew what his master could do when angered.
Taking a deep look at his youngest disciple, Tianshi slightly shook his head as he returned his gaze towards the horizon; he was here for something serious, and could not be bothered by the insolence of his disciple.
He was after it, the sword only mentioned in tales as legendary; the Sword of Dark Death. He had dedicated the past 3 decades of his life searching for the sword. Although for someone like him, 3 decades was more like a blink of an eye, it would seem long if one was searching for something as illusory and as real as the Sword of Dark Death.
Feeling a faint pulse of energy nearby, Tianshi's eyes constricted a little, as he waved his hand, vanishing alongside his disciple.
================
Dodging to the left, Ryan managed to escape the confrontation unscathed, as he narrowed his eyes at the Demonic beast in front of him. It was a Three Fanged Boar, a demonic beast at the Sixth level of the Spirit and Soul realm.
It's been three months since he met Old man Rico, and according to him, he needed to be trained in a rather.....crude way, to be able to learn how to tame the sword. Also, in the past three months, he managed to make another major breakthrough in his cultivation, managing to reach the 3rd level of the Spirit and Soul realm.
Stretching his hands outward, Ryan concentrated deeply as the faint outline of a sword could be seen floating quietly atop his palm.
His head coated in sweat, Ryan gritted his teeth as his hands trembled from the pressure of the faint outline of the sword.
"Sword Shadow"....., Ryan mumbled as his eyes went dark, a rhythmic pulse in them as he dashed towards the Three Fanged Boar. Roaring loudly, Ryan jumped as he slashed down the sword across the Demonic beast's body.
Landing on the other side, Ryan crouched as he gasped for air; manifesting the faint outline of the Sword of Dark Death had drained him. Behind him, the Three Fanged Boar snarled as it charged towards Ryan, anger apparent in It's eyes....But it could only make it a few meters towards Ryan before it froze. A second later, the Three Fanged Boar's body separated into two, the sight a little too gory for details.
Without even turning around, Ryan managed to sit up, as he sat in a meditating pose, trying to refill the enormous amount of mana it took him to take down the Demonic beast.
"Tsk...too slow and too taxing", he grumbled as he reflected back on the fight; He felt he had wasted too much time taking down the Three Fanged Boar, especially since he could now faintly harness the power of the Sword of Dark Death.
===========
In a shadow not too far from Ryan, Old man Rico sat cross legged as he observed Ryan. Even though he looked unperturbed, he was actually shocked!.
The sword of Dark Death wasn't just a normal sword, it was a Sword crafted by ten Heavenly Blacksmiths!.
Although it had lost most of it's power due to hibernating for too long, it wasn't something a mere mortal should be able to comprehend in a mere three months!.
Taking another long look at Ryan, Old man Rico sighed as he hoped Ryan's fast rate of comprehension would be a boon and not a bane.