The Ruined Death Knight

Having said their goodbyes, Danzel made his way out of the house with a few weapons that Azrael was generous to donate to him.

According to him, those weapons were mostly failed products of his alchemist. He didn´t know how he made such weapons with the use of alchemy and according to Azrael, such weapons were more fragile compared to weapons that were made by a smith with the same level of smithing that Azrael had for alchemy.

The weapons he got were slightly worse than the swords of the black and silver knight that he killed not long ago.

In short, better than average.

Upon Azrael's ignorance though, Danzel found such alchemic weapons to have a much reacher color when he used his [Rune Vision] on them.

Whereas in a normal sword, [Rune Vision] showed a green color. An alchemic sword color had a much brighter green, which meant that the runes were more easily carved into that spot.

Making the whole rune carving process much easier for him to achieve a higher quality of a rune.

Well, that difference wasn´t that great, but it was something.

And after trying his luck multiple times to carve the [Rune of Harvest], he failed miserably and came out the same grade as before.

[Poor].

Slowly but surely he did improve in making the [Rune of Harvest] when compared to when he first started out. But the fact that he improved but still showed the same grade made him beyond frustrated.

It made him feel like he didn´t progress at all and that he was just wasting his time as he didn´t get a single point of XP by carving all those runes.

Taking a look at how many swords he got, Danzel was unsure if he was able to reach the next quality rank after going through all the swords.

"Ugh, it was fine when I went around and looted the weapons of my enemies. But here I don´t have any supply of weapons except Azrael..." Danzel said as he put the newly failed runed weapon to the side.

"I guess there is no other choice. I will have to get that skill..." Danzel said with a sigh before opening his status window and pressing the [Skills].

What next appeared was a long list of skills that he could learn.

Most of those skills revolved around weapons and how to enchant them.

For example, there were the skills of [Throw Accuracy] or [Heavy Strike].

​ As its name suggests, [Throw Accuracy] passively increased his accuracy on thrown weapons, while [Heavy Strike] increase the force behind your weapons attack, albeit only slightly.

The latter was better than the former, but Danzel decided to ignore those skills for now as he dimmed them unnecessarily.

If he managed to evolve [Heavy Strike] three times, then maybe that skill would be quite reliable to use. But until it went there, it wouldn´t be much of a difference.

Also, the fear that he would further spread his resources by buying mediocre skills was there.

He already had enough skills on his plate to the point where he was embarrassed that some of his most important skills were low-level.

Some examples were [Greater Sense Danger] and [Armor Mana Plating].

Unfortunately, Danzel was forced to compromise and get another skill that he unlocked way back then when he was in the service of the shadow merchant Hanson

[Rune Erasure]: 10 000 XP required.

As its name suggests, it would allow him to erase runes that he himself carved.

Though it sounded really convenient, there was a catch on the skill.

Erasing the runes, not only will damaged the weapon itself but also worsen the foundation for rune crafting. Meaning that rune carving will be much more difficult and the damage to the weapon will increase.

It was a skill that wasn´t supposed to be used on your main equipment.

And since Danzel had a continuous supply of weapons back then and had already large stock of weapons though out his journey to the desert, there wasn´t a need to get the skill.

But with that not being the case anymore, his hand was forced to get it.

"Sigh~ The starting price is also quite big. So upgrading it will cost me a fortune in the later evolutions." Danzel sighed as he jumped off Skull Claw back.

Out of habit, he got used to working on Skull Claws' back as he used to work on her back while still being on the move.

That resulted in his journey in the desert being slower, but as he used that lost time to work on his skills, it wasn´t that bad.

"Stay here, for now, I will come later." Danzel said in a commanding tone.

Brining his shield out of his ring storage, Danzel unsheathed his sword and walked through the distance so that he would disrupt none of his training.

After walking for a few minutes and making sure that he distances himself from the houses that the other residents, Danzel started to swing his sword.

Since he was using his whole strength on every movement, every time he swung his sword, the sand would be pushed away while his steps would raise clouds of sand.

Once he charged like a bull with his shield, the raised clouds of sand would follow suit with a devastating swing coming right after.

Each action of his changed his surroundings and if it weren´t for the fact that the desert looked all the same, the results might have shocked someone.

Once the few minutes passed, an hour came to its close before several hours started passing.

In the blink of an eye, night arrived without Danzel realizing it together with a large amount of XP in his storage.

This emotionless training though was suddenly interrupted by a faint presence though the distance behind him.

"!!!"

Without thinking of who or what the presence he felt was, Danzel guided his mana into his sword and turned around to swing at the presence.

With a dark green wind escaping his blade and splitting the sand from the ground, it wasn´t over for Danzel.

Putting his mind to work, Danzel cast two sets [Death Blast]´s in his other hand which held the shield. Swinging his hand, Danzel sends out the two balls of dead mana into his target, while taking the stance with the shield in front of him.

The [Death Blast]´s soon disappeared through the risen sand clouds for them to never be seen again.

`[Eyes of the Damned]´ Activating his skill, Danzel was able to see through the identity of the presence.

Looking at the body size of the presence and doing a process of elimination, Danzel's grip on his sword was tightened.

"Why have you come here!"

Once those words came out of his mouth, the sand cloud was pushed away and expanded till there it was clear to see the figure that followed him.

"Do not freat, I have come with no ill intent in mind."

Wearing a weird hat on his head together with a silver mask covering only his mouth and carrying a long scythe sword, the figure was none other than the elderly named Agares.

Seeing Danzel still holding his stance against him, it was clear to Agares that he didn´t convince him a bit.

"I have been hearing the sounds of a blade cutting through the wind for quite some time. My curiosity brought me here." Agares said with indifference while gazing at the ground near Danzel.

Even though it was night, Agares was quick to recognize that Danzel was training.

And how he reacted once he released his presence ever so slightly also confirmed his evaluation.

"I apologize if I interrupted your training." Agares said.

He knew how annoying it was to be interrupted while being absorbed in training.

So he didn´t find Danzel's reaction weird.

And he wasn´t wrong.

The current Danzel was beyond annoyed and frustrated by the old guy's appearance. As he needed only a few more minutes to get his training reward, but as he interrupted him, he had to start anew.

Not only that, but he didn´t believe a single word of what this old man said.

Not only had he specifically walked away from the resting spot of the group to avoid this exact interaction with someone, but for him to be still heard after being so far away?

Yeah, even with that guy being of the 4th-tier, he didn´t believe that he heard him from so far away.

This leads him to the conclusion that the old man followed him here.

"You can´t fool me with such a mere excuse. Tell me your intention!" He yelled as he realized his killing intent on the old man.

But the truth was that Danzel was merely putting a tough front. His ethereal eyes scanned the surroundings for a way to escape.

If they truly fought, Danzel knew that he was doomed to lose.

Agares who saw his reaction put up an awkward smile on his face.

As Danzel suspected, Agares did indeed follow him with hidden intention.

`It´s for the future of that child´ Agares thought to himself.

He recalled the conversation that he had today telepathically with the Lich Velkir when he was teaching Danzel.

`Agares, as a friend of your father and the future of that child. I would recommend you to build a connection with him.´

`He has an immense talent of magic with the body of a fighter. I can guarantee you that he will be a powerhouse in the few years to come. Not to forget that he is also a runesmith, making his potential value as high as the sky. Combining those facts, Rue Danzel will make for an incredible ally as much as he would as an enemy.´

`Don´t be blinded by your mortal emotions. Don´t forget that you carry that child's life behind your back. Last, of all, don´t make new enemies. For the sake of the near coming future.´

Remembering his words, Agares could only agree with what the Lich said.

Neither he nor his granddaughter needed any more enemies. But they needed allies to rely on.

With his daughter and her husband long passed away, he now was Shiro´s family and guardian.

Making him responsible for building a favorable future for his granddaughter.

Ignoring Danzel's question, Agares stared at Danzel doing his best to not show any hostility.

"That I came with no ill intent is the truth. Is just that I haven´t swung my sword for a long time and I felt a little bit stiff on the shoulder. So I came to swing at the wind and forget about this old body's age." Agares said as he raised his scythe sword upon the sky.

"Hahaha, I ain´t going to lie and say that I didn´t follow you here. I originally had something to discuss with you. But after watching you swinging your sword, you awaken this old man's spirit."

Lowering the sword and pointing at the sky towards Danzel, Agares said with a wry smile on his face.

"So how about it? Would you mind sparing with this old man for a bit?"