CHAPTER 91: CYBERNETIC SWORD EMBRYO

Instantly, I felt a mysterious insight about swordmanship surge into my mind.

This was the first time I had acquired this knowledge, yet it felt natural to me, as though it was already a part of my being.

Sharp transparent almost invisible like needles appeared surrounding my body in thin air. Then, it vanished, disappearing into my body as though what had happened was merely an illusion.

After that, a new surge of insights flowed into my mind.

Mana surged through my spirit veins, spilling out of my body.

Instantly, my body was covered with a fierce wind that almost flung the sheets across the room.

I levitated up from my bed.

Suddenly, the wind vanished, and I fell back down on it.

I opened my eyes.

My chest rose and fell as I exhaled heavily.

I felt an incredible surge of power flowing deep within me.

I looked around and saw that the hospital equipment that had previously stood beside the bed was now scattered across the room.

I racked my brain trying to figure out how to explain the issue to Cynthia.

I decided to put the matter aside for now.

System.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ Name: Ezekiel Zahara ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Age: 19 ]

◆ Talent: Cybernetic Evolution (Semi-sealed)

┗ Path Traits: Beast Cybernetic Enhancement, Fusion Synchronisation.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

◇ Primary Path: Beastmaster Path

┗ Path Traits: Beast Affinity, Beastmaster’s Contract.

┗ Rank: First Rank (1%)

◇ Secondary Path: Magical Swordsman Path

┗ Path Traits: Blade Synchronisation.

┗ Rank: First Rank (70%)

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◆ Attributes:

┗ Fire: High-Tier

┗ Earth: Mid-Tier

┗ Metal: Supreme-Tier

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◆ Skills:

┗ Overclocked Mode - Active

┗ Aura Mastery: Apprentice(13%)

┗ Weapon Mastery - Sword: Expert (10%)

◆ Cybernetic Sword Embryo:

┗ Stage 1: Digital Core Seed (Incubating)

◆ Sacred Arts:

┗ Mountain Snow Dragon Art - Sky Grade - Beginner (20%)

◆ Spells:

┗ Sky Dash - Advanced Spell (12%)

┗ Fire Spark - Basic Spell (55%)

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◆ Tamed Beast:

┗ Swift-Horned Panther → [Cybernetic Swift-Horned Panther Form]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

My gaze halted at the new placement panel that had appeared on my status sheet.

A sword embryo was a condensed manifestation of a swordsman’s soul, aura, and sword intent. It was the ability to transform oneself into a sword or to use a sword without physically wielding one.

It began as a seed within the soul at the early stages of sword mastery and gesturally matures into a living sword as the wielder grows stronger.

A talented swordsman can forge a sword embryo after awakening sword intent at the peak of Apept Level Swordsmanship.

However, others awakened theirs at the Expert level.

I was surprised that the system had enabled me to forge my sword embryo automatically.

However, mine was different.

Cybernetic Sword Embryo? Digital Core Seed?

I have never heard of such a sword embryo.

Was it a mutation caused by my Cybernetic Evolution talent?

I clicked on it for a clearer description.

I was intrigued. I clicked on it for a clearer description.

[ Cybernetic Sword Embryo: Digital Core Seed

Description: A manifestation of the host’s soul, aura and sword aura that had undergone a tremendous transformation due to the host’s Cybernetic Evolution Talent.

Ordinary swords will feel sharper and lighter.

It enhances sword synchronisation with any sword.

The sword will always feel like an extension of one’s body, moving as natural as a limb.

Note: It’s currently weak, but incredibly adaptive. It records every combat data for evolution. ]

I locked my eyes and looked into my soul space.

Apart from my beast space, I noticed something else.

I saw a faint holographic outline of a metallic seed, flickering like a code.

I was shocked.

I couldn’t make out what the code was.

It was as though I was looking at a calculation of something incomprehensible and beyond understanding.

A typical sword embryo grew as a swordsman grew stronger and his swordsmanship became more refined, or in either case.

There were resources that Swordsman could use to facilitate its growth, but for an ordinary swordsman, such resources were extremely rare or limited.

Due to my Cybernetic Evolution Talent, my sword embryo had evolved into a unique embryo.

And it records every combat data and stores it, automatically evolving on its own.

I didn’t need to do anything except continue my training or search for people I could duel with.

Fortunately, I had accepted the ’Nurse’s Favourite’ quest, so I could test my hypothesis on a few individuals to see how it works.

Due to the rigid process of forming a sword embryo, most students don’t reach this level until they graduate.

Perhaps the only ones that could compare to my sword mastery were the instructors.

I remembered the technique that Fredric had used after my battle with Jaran to stop Kiran and the others.

Despite having already read about it, it was hard to tell because the technique had been executed inconspicuously.

Now, sensing the feeling of the Digital Sword Embryo within my soul space, I was sure that he had used sword intent.

I returned to my status sheet.

I clicked to see the descriptions of the two sections that had just been improved.

[ Weapon Mastery - Sword: Expert

Description: You can effectively master multiple sword forms/styles. You can extend your sword strikes using aura or mana. Each of your strikes contains sword intent, which can cut deeper than standard blades. ]

[ Sky Dash - Advanced

Description: The user can harness controlled wind flow to dash with precision. Can momentarily run along walls or mid-air with each step. ]

As an Expert Level Swordsman, I could now learn numerous sword-related Sacred Arts, techniques, and so on with ease if I put my mind to it.

I could also use aura and mana to coat my sword passively, and as I trained my aura and advanced to Rank Two and obtained Mana Edge, my sword technique would become more powerful.

While training, I sensed that it was becoming challenging to advance. Now that I was an Expert-Level Swordsman, I would need to train harder.

I hoped that I was wrong and would still receive the same number of points for the same efforts.

There were four levels of spells: Basic, Intermediate, High and Advanced spells. Above that was a realm of spells only the Magus Class could grasp and cast.

The higher the spell, the more challenging it was to grasp, and the greater the amount of mana required to cast them.

Most students only grasp Intermediate or High-level spells during their time at the academy, and even after they graduate, because not only do they have to increase their strength, but also improve their swordsmanship and overall strength.

The Wind Rush spell was a spell without a progression level, indicating that there were no Intermediate, High or Advanced levels of the spell.

This was one of the reasons the Zahara Clan had given me the spell to learn in the first place.

It was only after putting tremendous effort into grasping it that I realised I was stuck, even if I managed to master it completely.

Thanks to the system, I had managed to progress Wind Rush to the Advanced Level.

Not only that, but the progression levels of the Intermediate, High, and Advanced levels were also ingrained in my mind.

I could cast them at will.

I pondered if I could sell one of them to Chioma to cover the cost of the storage ring.

I quickly decided against it.

The Wind Rush was an extremely popular spell among Awkaners because it was among the best wind-related spells for enhancing one’s speed, and could be easily grasped at the early stages.

There were far better spells with higher progression levels that Awakeners could learn early and improve their strength with, without the fear of being stuck.

If a progression level for the Wind Rush suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and I couldn’t provide a suitable explanation, not only would that make Chioma suspicious of me, but the Zahara Clan Descendants, who were very familiar with me, would notice something fishy and take more precise action to eliminate me.

I couldn’t sell the Windflare beads too either.

I had no other choice but to keep everything I had obtained from the system a secret until I found an opportunity outside of the academy.

I was satisfied with the rewards.

I dismissed the status sheet.

I focused my attention on the nannites as they surged through my bloodstreams and Spirit Veins with joy, feeling more invigorated than ever.

I quickly realised that the Digital Sword embryo was responsible for this.

I couldn’t figure out why or how.

After consideration, I decided to stop focusing on them and try to get the room in order before Cynthia returned to check on me.

***

Grand Avalon Academy Server

Star Auction Auditorium

Within a simple decorated room, two figures sat in chairs facing each other, with a table at the centre.

These two figures, Chioma and Sarafina, in their VR avatars, MidnightFire and Bloodberry.

"How did it go?" MidnightFire asked, her tone filled with curiosity and anticipation.

"It went just as I had informed you. I have his confession," Bloodberry responded.

She clenched her hand and spread it point. A small brown box materialised, hovering at the centre of her palm.