On the four-meter long bed, a figure resembling both a moose and a human lay on the pile of straw, emitting a strange odor from his body. After all, he hadn't bathed for several days, mixed with the scent of herbs and wounds.

"You... you're Hexia, right." The 'person' on the bed opened his deer-like eyes and saw the girl standing next to him, speaking weakly.

"Yes." The girl answered briefly, her gaze sweeping over him, observing the general condition.

Herbs still smeared on the wounds, some of which had crusted over, but some were festering, swollen in parts, not looking too good.

"Thank you for saving me." When he said this, he wanted to raise one hand, his thick fingers seemed as if they could wrap around Tilan's entire waist.

However, the hand only raised halfway before weakly falling back down.

"Sorry, I can only say thank you."

"No worries, just rest well and heal." Tilan reassured him.

The moose did not listen, keeping his eyes open, staring at the ceiling as if pondering something and then beckoned for Sura to come closer.

"Su, go and bring over the sword at the bottom of the pit."

"The sword? Are you sure?" Sura responded, slightly surprised.

"Yes, regardless of anything, they saved my life, and yours, too. Now the settlement lacks any combat strength; leaving the sword there is useless."

"Alright, but I'll remind you, the sword is somewhat damaged. Although it can still be used, the effect might not be as expected." She said as she jumped off the bedside and left the room.

About twenty minutes later, Sura returned, carrying an iron box, still covered in dirt and stains.

Tilan moved slightly to let Sura place the iron box on the table beside the bed. Then she slightly exerted herself to pry open the lid with a tool, revealing a red broken sword tied inside the box.

A third of the swordblade's tip was broken, only the lower part and handle remained. Although it didn't look wide or thick, judging by Sura's slightly strained appearance, the sword was by no means light.

"This sword is a treasured item collected by me and the boss. Not many in the settlement know about it. And now it seems the boss wants to give it to you for protection."

Sura said as she handed the broken sword to Tilan, its blade bearing crossed grid engravings like stone, while the handle felt slightly chilly to the touch.

"Be careful; this sword isn't just any ordinary thing but a high rank weapon meant for newborn races." Sura warned Tilan.

"It contains a special resonance device. When you infuse it with magic power, it's akin to gaining a small transcendent core, aligning with your will."

"After it remembers your magic power fluctuations, it will transform the magic power to match yours, simultaneously triggering the engraved branding patterns for effortlessly executing the art formula within, even if you've never learned such formulas before."

"And to prevent it from being seized and used by others on the battlefield, after the previous master infused magic power, it requires nearly a decade for the magic power inside to dissipate before the next master can infuse magic power."

"Unfortunately for the boss, the sword is too small, unable to fit between his fingers, and as for me, I can't wield its full potential, or surely it wouldn't have been left for you." Sura muttered under her breath, clearly reluctant.

"What a treasure." Tilan carefully accepted it, indeed quite heavy, as if the entire sword was made of stone.

"Should I infuse magic power into it now?" She felt the principles behind such a weapon somewhat resonate with mecha, though the size and structural differences were vast.

"Hmm, it should be okay, but be careful, after all, it's a broken sword. If anything feels off, stop infusing magic power immediately."

"Okay."

The girl thought for a moment, grasped the sword handle, and slowly infused magic power.

At first, there was no reaction, but as more magic power was infused, a faint glow began to appear on the swordblade, lightening ever so slightly, as if something inside was thawing.

Upon reaching a critical point, it was as if some switch was flipped; a cool yet unusual feeling akin to stone emanated from the sword, almost as if it was calling to her.

"It has begun seeking spiritual connection. Hexia, close your eyes to perceive and adjust your consciousness, acclimate to it, then assimilate it." Sura instructed from the side.

"I got it." The girl closed her eyes and cautiously approached step by step. Although the frequency fluctuation was not strong, it was exceptionally stable.

Gradually, a similar faint glow emerged from both the girl and the sword in her hand. Slowly, the perception connection between the person and the sword extended, as if the sword became part of her body. If the sword edge sliced through a stone, she could even feel the roughness and irregularities of the stone's surface.

This sensation became increasingly familiar, making Tilan realize that it was no different from driving a mecha, except that the latter was more difficult, with its accompanying magic furnace core being more advanced and powerful.

After a while, when Tilan slowly adapted to the status, Sura asked her to hold the sword and try slashing the stone beside her.

Holding the sword, the girl slashed downwards. Although it was quite strenuous at first, as the sword edge emitted a faint red glow, she gradually cut through the entire stone as if slicing through rubber.

"Wow~" Watching this scene, Sura couldn't help but be amazed and whistled.

"I didn't expect you to actually do it." It turns out she previously thought Tilan couldn't do it, and then she could have taken the sword back.

"Such 'personality weapons,' which are weapons activated by conscious resonance, are very powerful. It is said that the establishment of the Fede Alliance was initially formed by the leaders of thirteen strongholds, each holding a 'personality weapon,' unitedly purging the local war machines, thus creating a stable situation."

"Where did these weapons originally come from, it seems like they aren't made with modern technology." Tilan slowly withdrew the magic power, and then the sword returned to being dark and heavy.

"Specifically, I don't know who it was. It should be a Holy Sun who created it for their favored, because such weapons require a very strong conscious resonance perception to use, which only newborn races can achieve. As for the obsolete old humans, they can only watch helplessly."

"I see..." Tilan recalled the federation's mecha driving, which seemed to require at least Sequence 5 to resonate with the magic furnace and then establish a mental connection. But seeing here, it seems newborn races have an innate advantage, able to wield the weapon's power even at a low sequence.

Perhaps, this technology originally came from newborn races, though at the end of the Fifth Epoch, the native humans absorbed and improved upon it.

———

Three days later, when Tilan and the others, as usual, turned on the radio to see if there was any information nearby, a special frequency band kept repeating.

"This is a distress signal." Sura immediately identified it.

"I need to decode the signal number." She found her tools and started drawing on the ground.

"Position, Eastern 12°, Northward 36°..." She muttered, then stood up.

"The other side encountered war machines, we need to hurry over." She abruptly announced the situation.

"At this time, should we rescue them?" Guy was somewhat resistant, while Marula, half-awake against the mountain wall, just opened his eyes after hearing this but remained silent.

"Of course, we should go. The place he's talking about is only a few kilometers away from us. With it being so close, if we don't check it out, it'll be at our doorstep tomorrow. If it's large-scale war machines, we'd need to prepare for immediate evacuation." Sura quickly responded.

"Uh, alright, I'll go, while you all stay here." Guy picked up the bow beside him.

"Can your bow pierce steel?" Sura expressed doubt.

"It's better than nothing, and if it doesn't work, damaging the sensors can make those guys blind."

"I don't believe you can shoot that accurately, after all, you're not one of those hundred percent accurate Forest Spirit Species."

"Hexia, grab your weapon, we are going together." Sura called the girl at this time. To her view, Hexia was no less strong than her, definitely not a hindrance, and with the 'personality weapon' capable of dealing with steel machines, it was naturally necessary to bring her along.

"Okay."

"Her? Are you sure you want to take Hexia along?" Guy was incredulous; to him, Hexia was a proficient doctor and the settlement's new tailor, such valuable personnel were a waste on the battlefield.

"That might not necessarily be the case." Sura replied with a mischievous smile.

"Anyway, she's light-footed, runs faster than me, definitely won't be a drag, just you wait and see." Sura wasn't inclined to explain further, intending to give Guy a surprise later.

Having Marula seal the cave door tightly, Tilan also advised Ores, telling her to stay quietly in her room and lock the door, freeze anyone who enters, and then the three prepared some light supplies. With Sura's guidance, they set off swiftly into the wilderness under the darkness.