Arthur extended his mental power, layer by layer imprinting every transmission jade slip in the Scripture Pavilion into his mind.
After finishing the fourth floor, he pushed his mental power toward the fifth—only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.
That made sense. Since the fifth floor was sealed, it was only natural that heavy restrictions were in place.
With his current mental strength, Arthur could have forced his way through. But doing so would damage the protective formations. He had just agreed to become a guest elder—storming someone else's treasury the moment he arrived would be poor form.
Being able to collect everything from the first four floors was already more than enough for him.
In the end, Arthur officially borrowed only two jade slips: one containing the Sword Control Art, and another titled Records of Exotic Beasts.
Hermione wanted to take a few more, but under Arthur's subtle glance, she only picked one that personally interested her. As for Ranni, there wasn't much here that truly caught her eye.
Back in the courtyard Mount Shu had prepared for them, Hermione asked curiously,
"Arthur, why didn't you let me take more?"
"No need," Arthur replied calmly. "I already made a copy of everything in the Pavilion."
"When did you do that?"
Hermione was confused—she hadn't noticed him doing anything at all.
"I used mental power to imprint the contents of the jade slips directly into my mind," Arthur explained. "That's why you didn't notice."
Hermione's eyes widened in realization.
"So mental power can be used like that too!"
"Of course. It just requires extremely strong mental power," Arthur said.
"Alright, I'm going to rest for a bit and organize what I've copied."
The Scripture Pavilion's collection was vast. Even for Arthur, copying everything at once left him mentally fatigued.
After greeting the two girls, he returned to his room.
Arthur took out his long-unused magic book—his enchanted tablet.
It had a mental-transmission function that could export memories directly from his mind into the device, while also helping him organize the data. It saved him the trouble of manually transcribing every jade slip.
Once he linked his mental power to the magic book, Arthur closed his eyes to rest.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, the transfer was complete.
Instead of immediately reviewing the data, Arthur took out the Dark Moon Greatsword Ranni had given him.
While resting, he had already skimmed through the Sword Control Art and grasped its fundamentals.
To practice sword flight, one first needed a flying sword of their own.
Mount Shu disciples would apply for a sword blank from the sect, then refine it repeatedly until it became their natal flying sword.
Incidentally, those sword blanks were also prepared by the refining elders—further proof that being an artifact refiner was an exhausting job.
Arthur had no need for a sword blank. He had a far better option in his hands—the Dark Moon Greatsword.
This was the Moonlight Greatsword passed down through generations of the Carian royal family, gifted to their consorts. Its material itself came from the moon.
Of course, not a real moon—but the artificial moon once created by the Eternal City.
During the Eternal City's rebellion against the Greater Will, that artificial moon was shattered. Its remnants were collected and forged into Moonlight Greatswords, becoming sacred tokens of the Carian queens.
(The Carian royal family were descendants of the Eternal people.)
Some smaller fragments were fashioned into an item familiar to Elden Ring players—the Memory Stone.
Memory Stones were square black stones, often worn as necklaces, treasured by sorcerers. They increased memory slots—essentially spell slots.
They allowed a spell to be "stored," bypassing the need to recall casting procedures or conditions. One only needed to supply magic power to cast the spell.
Arthur had collected several Memory Stones during his journey through the Lands Between, though they were largely useless to him—there wasn't a spell he couldn't learn on his own.
Back to the matter at hand.
The Dark Moon Greatsword Ranni gifted him was extraordinarily precious, far beyond Mount Shu's mass-produced sword blanks.
The better the material of a natal flying sword, the faster it flew, the stronger its attacks, and the higher its growth potential.
Ordinary disciples had to constantly search for rare materials to strengthen their swords. Arthur skipped that entire process.
In the future, he could still integrate rare materials into the Dark Moon Greatsword—but finding anything that could truly enhance it would not be easy. That was a problem for another day.
The Dark Moon Greatsword was already Arthur's primary weapon, making the refinement process exceptionally smooth.
In no time, Arthur established a spiritual link with the blade. He sensed a faint consciousness emerging within it—what the Sword Control Art described as the sword spirit of a natal flying sword.
Under normal circumstances, forming a sword spirit was a long and arduous process.
But legendary weapons like the Dark Moon Greatsword already possessed immense spirituality. Arthur's refinement merely condensed and unified that latent spirit.
Thus, the sword spirit was born.
Though still weak, it continuously conveyed gratitude and closeness toward Arthur.
"How about… Dark Moon?" Arthur asked softly.
The greatsword let out a gentle hum—clearly satisfied with the name.
Carrying the Dark Moon Greatsword, Arthur stepped outside.
Huoxuan was chatting with Hermione and Ranni in the courtyard. Hearing the door open, she turned—and her eyes instantly lit up.
"That sword—can I take a look?"
That look was all too familiar. Arthur had seen the same expression on Ollivander's face when he'd taken out a branch of the Erdtree.
He handed the Dark Moon Greatsword over. Huoxuan received it reverently, stroking the blade with obsessive gentleness.
"Natural beyond compare… craftsmanship that defies heaven. A material I've never seen before, brimming with moonlight spirituality…"
She murmured before snapping back to Arthur.
"What's its name? And how did you get it?"
"It's called the Dark Moon Greatsword," Arthur said.
"Ranni gave it to me—her dowry, you could say."
"I—damn it!" Huoxuan blurted.
"Ranni, do you have any brothers? Introduce me! I don't ask for much—just a dowry like this!"
Arthur gave her a strange look, unsure whether to tell her that Ranni's brothers included a massive demigod general and a giant serpent—and that both were already dead.
Well… Radahn still existed as a soul.
That particular brother-in-law was currently staying at Hogwarts, dragging Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest every day. No one knew what they were up to.
Ranni simply shook her head—she knew Huoxuan was joking.
"Don't even think about something on this level," Arthur said.
"Their family only has one like it."
In truth, the Carian royal family also had the Sword of Night and Flame—on the same tier—which Arthur currently possessed. But he had no intention of taking it out.
"I do have another material you might be interested in," Arthur added.
He took out a head-sized Glintstone crystal—something he'd harvested from a crystal tunnel in Liurnia, often used in his alchemical experiments.
Huoxuan reluctantly returned the Dark Moon Greatsword, then examined the crystal.
"Dense stellar power… top-tier refining material. Are you sure you want to give this to me?" she asked.
"Consider it a thank-you for taking care of us these past few days," Arthur said, waving it off.
"Then I won't be polite!" Huoxuan laughed, storing it in her spatial ring.
"Oh right—why did you bring the sword out? Planning to make it your natal flying sword?"
"Strictly speaking," Arthur replied, "it already is."
"I just finished refining it. I was about to try sword flight."
Huoxuan froze.
It had taken her three full days to refine her own natal flying sword—and her masters had called her a genius.
And Arthur?
From leaving the Pavilion to now, it hadn't even been a full afternoon.
And he hadn't refined a sword blank—but a divine blade that even she, a master refiner, admired.
The higher the quality of the sword, the longer refinement should take.
That was precisely why Mount Shu issued sword blanks in the first place—to help disciples grasp sword flight quickly.
Arthur, however, clearly did not operate under the same rules.
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