Daru decided to wait for Cody to obtain his ten-thousand-hour pass, too, before exiting the academy and heading to the sword altar together.

They casually chatted about swordsmanship matters and purchased a few jumbo-sized eco bags on the way.

Edgehaven was massive, and the Grand Square was quite far—a little over an hour and a half away on foot.

The two naturally had to take two bus rides to decrease the travel time to a little less than half.

They still had afternoon swordsmanship classes, after all, so they didn't have the luxury of taking their sweet time.

Had it not been for Daru's finances being unable to make it to the weekend, he would've preferred to do this on a Sunday, so he'd have more freedom to do what he wanted and appreciate one of the twenty-eight largest cities in Neo-Earth, ranking twenty-fifth on the list.

Disembarking at a bus stop, Daru and Cody walked for another five minutes before arriving at the sword altar.

They were shocked at the sheer number of people there on a weekday, all of whom were likely bladeborns like them.

This was their first time in this area since the awakening ceremony.

'So this is what the altar looks like on normal days…' was the thought in their novice minds.

Items appeared out of thin air, grasped in the hands of the bladeborns, who would then place them in their massive personal pushcarts and bring them to their parked cargo vehicles.

It was quite a strange yet exciting sight for the two.

Items crossing through worlds and impacting every single person's life…

This mere thought made them more enthusiastic towards their roles as bladeborns, to not only ensure their race's survival, but also make the lives of those around them better, as they were the ones who were capable.

At least this is what Daru and Cody, who were highly talented in combat, could imagine.

With pounding hearts, the two looked at each other and walked closer to the altar.

They then snapped their fingers like they would in the Myriad Sword Realm.

To their delight and fascination, their status window really appeared:

===

Bladeborn: Daru Finnley

Level 32 (38, 450 to level up)

Titles: Bob's Sworn Brother [Active(Display)], Strongest Novice [Active (Effect)]

Secondary Titles: None

Blessings: [???????'s Minor Blessing (???? ????'s ???)]

Curses: [Yama's Discontent (Soulbound Sword)] [Goddess Fortuna's Frown]

Strength: 65 (+20)

Dexterity: 66 (+20)

Agility: 65 (+20)

Stamina: 50(+20)

Vitality: 46 (+30)

Perception: 77 (+20)

Luck: 0 (+65)

===

Sword Status:

Name: Onimaru Kunitsuna

Type: Tachi

Tier: S

Status: Dormant - 1 / 500 Oni or Demon Essence (First Awakening)

Sword Skills: Somersault Slash (F), Tornado Slash (D), Havoc Rush (B), Azure Swordfall (SS)

Passives: [Divine Comprehension (Soulbound Sword)], [Tainted Enforcer (Soulbound Sword)]

===

"D-Damn…the sword realm is really connected to Neo-Earth…" muttered Cody in utter wonder and amazement.

This is already common knowledge.

However, only when they experienced it for themselves did the fact begin to sink in.

Their stupor lasted for a couple of seconds before the two got their wits together.

They immediately went ahead to do what they came here to do, but realized something: their belt bag wasn't on their waist…

"Uhh…brother Daru, do you perhaps know how to open the inventory?"

"No. I was about to ask you the same thing."

Breaking gazes, they tried to look around. Maybe observing the others would give them clues?

It did.

After just a few seconds, they saw a middle-aged man tap his waist as though the belt bag was there.

A few items then appeared in his hands two moments later.

The two youngsters from Ashton High immediately copied the older man's actions, smiling at each other before minding their own businesses, eco bags in hand.

Daru quickly tried to grab the Lurker Leopard Hide from his inventory, as this was the fastest way to withdraw an item.

To his surprise, his hand was stopped by an invisible force the moment he tried to pull the crafting material out.

A window then appeared:

[Do you want to withdraw (1) Lurker Leopard Hide for 10 Actualizer Crystals? Y/N]

Daru tapped on the [Y] option with his free hand.

In the next moment, the restrictive force vanished, and he was able to finally grab the crafting material out of his inventory.

He quickly stored it in one of his massive eco bags and proceeded to withdraw all the sellable items in his inventory.

The lumenite crystals, two monkey wines, the black and bronze chitins, and many more.

Daru withdrew a total of 23 items for a total of a little over two hundred crystals before he cleaned his inventory out.

He had a few more sellable ones sitting in there, but the withdrawal cost was way too high in comparison to the money he would obtain selling them.

A question formed in his mind, however:

Why would they be priced higher if they were less useful?

Of course, Daru didn't have an answer and could only drop the matter for now.

They were but novices and had to master the basics first before trying to tackle advanced stuff.

Both youngsters were busy withdrawing their merchandise, so neither paid attention to the other.

Only around twenty minutes later did they finish.

Well, Daru did, and he noticed that Cody was scratching his head and sighing.

"Aihh…I guess it will have to wait for next time…"

The former's brows furrowed slightly as he asked: "What's wrong?"

"Ahh, nothing, just out of Actualizer Crystals," the A-ranker responded with a carefree shrug. "Shall we go sell our loot?"

To Cody's surprise, Daru responded with a question of his own: "How many do you need? I have crystals to spare."

"A-Ahh! No, don't worry about it. I can just withdraw the items next time. Actualizer Crystals are hard to obtain, after all. You should use them for yourself. Don't worry about me. I'm an A-ranker, you know? I wouldn't lack crystals in the future."

Daru's brows, however, only furrowed more at the A-ranker's reply.

"Just tell me how many you need."

Cody was rather embarrassed to accept the offer, but it didn't seem like Daru would take no for an answer.

It would be dumb to continue rejecting his goodwill.

Not only that, it might even hurt his chances of befriending his former schoolmate, as he would be the one putting distance between them by acting way too reserved.

"Aihh…sorry about this, then. Can you lend me ten crystals? I'll pay you back in the future."

Daru's expression finally eased up.

He then withdrew the ten Actualizer Crystals from his inventory and gave them to Cody with a faint smile on his face.

"Fine then, but don't pay me with crystals. I don't need it. Give me a good fight, then we're even."

The A-ranker was momentarily stupefied by the response before bursting out laughing and repeatedly slapping Daru's shoulder.

"Hahahaha! Alright, then. A good fight and we're even."

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