Seconds felt like minutes as Liam faced one blow after another. Though he wasn't born with mana, he had now come so far that it felt extremely odd that his body was completely deprived of it. Not that he had a lot of time to adjust. Fatigue was quickly building up in his body. At his current state, it was simply impossible for him to keep this up. But the worst part was Liam had a feeling that he hadn't even scratched the surface yet.
If this was a test of swordsmanship then he was failing miserably. That much was clear to him.
The golem in front of him did not use any fancy attacks. It only used simple movements and even that much was difficult for him to handle. Thanks to the path of slaughter he had walked so far he was at least able to evade and block the attacks somewhat. As for going for the offensive he might as well forget about it.
Clang. Liam blocked one more attack which was directly aimed at a vital point on his body. The next attack sent him flying back, his head hitting the ground with a loud thud. It hurt like a bitch but it wasn't enough to put him out of commission.
Liam shook it off and prepared to charge forward again. Though he was being pushed back he was not done just yet. His movements were becoming better and better. If he could somehow persist, he could definitely land a winning-
A loud sound snapped him out of his focus and the next second he was once again whisked away effortlessly, the golem in front of him disappearing along with the sword he held in his hands.
Liam found himself standing not in the arena but in the main hall of the Eternal Sword Palace. Except this time around the building wasn't all that deserted as before. Liam could only guess that some sort of illusion array or barrier enchantment hid all of these before.
It was also painfully clear that he had failed the test no matter how one looked at it. It was probably only a matter of time before he was once again thrown out of the whole building. Unexpectedly, the next moment a gruff voice sounded in his ears.
"Brat, take this token." A token appeared in his hand simultaneously. Liam couldn't be too sure as he had heard it only once before but if he was not wrong then this was the same elder Adias who had assessed him just a few seconds ago.
Hmmm. Liam frowned as he stared at the token. Clearly, he had failed the test. On top of that, that old man had given him the stare-down, very obviously not pleased with his presence in the entrance test. So what the heck was up with this token?
"Brat, don't look so suspicious. This is just a normal entry token. I have given you an entry token for the next six weeks into the Eternal Sword Palace gates. What you do with it is up to you."
Liam's eyes widened but he did not say anything. He instead responded with a polite bow, immediately getting a loud snort in his ears in return.
"Don't think too much about it. This is just a pity token. When I looked at you I thought you were another one of the arrogant fools who had come here relying on their family after stuffing themselves with attribute treasures."
"But it seemed that I had made a miscalculation. You probably fell ass-backward into these treasures and came here to try your luck."
Liam inwardly rolled his eyes, not sure how one description was better than the other, but he patiently listened. He was not going to say no to a free handout after all.
"Nevertheless…" The elder's voice continued ringing. "I cannot fathom how someone survived so far without a single respectable technique in their repertoire. You swing your sword like it's a wooden stick. You move using your attribute advantage and you fight like a naive child playing with his life." "There is not a semblance of sword intent within you. What are you even doing here in the Eternal Sword Palace? Your pitiful experience with channeling mana will not get you far here."
"Well. That is none of my business. Take this token and see if it will help you in accomplishing your goal. That is the only help I can provide you." "You and the sword are not fated. It is best if you give up on it altogether and focus on your mana. If you have come this far then you at least have the potential to become a half-baked mage."
The elder's words rang loudly in his ears before Liam was left alone to mull over his own thoughts. He would be lying if he said he was not disappointed with the outcome of the match. He would have at least preferred to fight for some more time to give it his all. However, the trial was designed in such a way that there was no room for anything less than perfection.
For the first time, there was simply nothing he could do because the foundation itself was simply not there for him to do anything.
He looked over at the token again and let out a sigh. What the elder said was not wrong. Perhaps if he focussed on just one path he could go further but the elder did not know the full picture.
He wasn't always this adept with mana. There was a time when a sword was the only thing standing between himself and certain death. Even if all of his sword techniques were crude they were what he had used to survive until now many times over. It had already become a part of him and he was not prepared to throw it away just like that. With everything on the line, there was no room for going back. The path of the sword was already a part of him.
Besides, If he lacked something then there was only one thing left to do. Work hard and acquire it. After all, he was currently standing inside a top-tier sword sect. If he couldn't get his hands on some good techniques here then that would be an utter waste. A special place should surely have some rare and precious items that could help him make some progress. He should definitely be able to buy some top-tier sword techniques to shore up his weakness.
Liam put away the thoughts and the advice of the elder and started walking towards the center of the hall which seemed to be the hub where all the crowd gathered.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be some sort of trading area. A system screen flashed in front of him and immediately a list of items appeared.
Liam quickly scanned the list to see what was available. He expectantly went through one page after another when he realized something obvious. The items listed on the pages were not for sale. Instead, the Eternal Sword Palace was accepting these items in lieu of contribution points.
Naturally, if one had enough contribution points they would be able to access some privileges offered by the academy like sword fighting lessons and limited slots of technique scrolls.
"Bunch of greedy bastards." Liam shook his head letting out a bitter smile.
Of course, no one was going to hand out things in the myriad realms simply. The exchange rate listed on the system screen was extremely skewed. If he sold the same things on random auction houses it would net him ten times more profit.
Now he understood why that elder had handed him a token out of nowhere. Since Liam was powerful enough to come to the second level without any basics he must have assumed he had a lot of valuables with him.
But he doubted these many people would be queuing up if indeed things were so one-sided. Perhaps there was more to this than meets the eye. Since he would only be able to see the contribution points reward chart after crossing a certain threshold he decided to first work on getting some contribution points. He had one week of access. He might as well figure out if he still had a way to get into the main sect.