Three days after the first examination, the participants were taken to the area behind the academy.
A massive stone gate stood there.
Beyond the gate, thousands of swords were stuck into the ground.
Some were still intact.
Some had rusted over.
Others had nothing left but their hilts.
An instructor stood before the gate.
"This is the Sword Tomb."
All the participants fell silent.
"This place holds weapons from thousands of years ago."
"Some of them bear Runes."
"Some have wills of their own."
"And some..."
The instructor looked at them.
"...kill humans they don't like."
Darius swallowed hard.
"Seriously?"
The instructor smiled.
"If you're scared, you can go home."
No one moved.
The instructor opened the gate.
WUSH!
Black fog poured out.
Kael felt the Broken Sword tremble.
Not from fear.
It was as if...
it were welcoming something.
Kael entered.
The farther he walked, the stronger the trembling became.
Then he saw a sword.
An old black sword.
Its blade was incomplete.
Only half of it remained.
Kael approached.
The Broken Sword suddenly began to glow.
The sword in the ground moved as well.
CLANG!
All the participants were startled.
The black sword rose by itself.
Then it pointed at Kael.
The instructor shouted.
"Don't touch it!"
Too late.
The sword shot forward.
Kael raised the Broken Sword.
CLANG!
The impact knocked his body backward.
The black sword attacked again.
Kael parried.
A third attack.
A fourth.
A fifth.
Kael began to understand its rhythm.
The sword wasn't attacking to kill.
It was testing him.
Kael lowered the Broken Sword.
"So you want to see if I'm worthy."
The black sword stopped.
Then a Rune appeared.
Kael reached out his hand.
The Rune entered the Broken Sword.
WUSH!
Kael's body trembled.
A voice sounded in his head.
First Inscription acquired.
Kael opened his eyes.
The Broken Sword had one Rune.
For the first time.
One.
But the Rune didn't grant the power he had imagined.
There was no explosion.
No fire.
No lightning.
Only one ability.
Metal Sense.
Kael could sense the structure of the metal around him.
Darius stared at him.
"Did you get a Rune?"
Kael nodded.
Lyra gave him a faint smile.
"Congratulations."
But from a distance...
a man was watching them.
Black robes.
The emblem of the Forging Sect.
His gaze was fixed on the Broken Sword.
"Interesting."
He smiled.
"A Grade F sword obtained a Rune from the Sword Tomb?"
Then he turned around.
"I have to report this."