Lion's Claw Greatsword

After looting the Confessor, Lucian had no intention of helping him reset his jaw.

The bastard was irritating enough already, and if he bit his tongue and killed himself, Lucian would have a hard time explaining it to Edgar. Edgar would definitely interrogate him thoroughly.

Though they probably could not pry much information from assassins like these, a living one was always more useful than a dead one.

Leaving the Confessor alone, Lucian looked at Edgar. He wanted to take a walk around the castle and find a new set of armor, some weapons, and the like.

Though the Ruins Greatsword was quite good, and its skill could increase all attributes by 5 points, this Ruins Greatsword was completely different from the one in the game. It was far too sinister, and its Strength requirement was too high. Lucian had yet to decide how to allocate his level-up points, so he would not consider it for now.

There were not many weapons left in his inventory. Only the Ritual Straight Sword and the Confessor's upgraded Broadsword were barely usable, but neither of them felt particularly comfortable in Lucian's hands.

If possible, Lucian wanted to find another greatsword, halberd, greataxe, or some similar weapon.

Or perhaps something lighter and more compact, like a dagger, which would make it easier to equip Ashes of War such as Quickstep or Bloodhound Step in the future.

Irina and Edgar, father and daughter, were still immersed in the warmth of their reunion.

That middle-aged man, Edgar, had tears all over his face and had no attention left to spare for the image of a castle lord.

The rebellion of the past two days had put him under immense mental strain. As the lord of the castle, he had been forced to hold himself together, but now he could finally let it all out.

Seeing that they would not be done talking anytime soon, Lucian could only temporarily abandon the idea of having Edgar show him around.

Seeing Lucian constantly looking toward Irina and Edgar, a nearby soldier spoke up to explain.

"Lord Edgar may look stern and difficult to approach, but he is actually very kind. He treats commoners like us well, and everyone in the castle respects him deeply."

"Unfortunately, such a good man suffered one misfortune after another. Lady Edgar passed away not long after giving birth to Lady Irina, and Lady Irina was born with an eye defect."

"So I am truly grateful to you for reuniting Lord Edgar and Lady Irina."

After saying that, he tried to kneel in salute again, but Lucian hurriedly stopped him.

"If you really want to thank me, take me around the castle."

"I need new armor and weapons right now, and I can clear out the Misbegotten in the castle while I'm at it."

The young soldier immediately agreed and found another soldier to take over guarding the Confessor.

Then he led Lucian around the castle.

Castle Morne was many times larger than it had been in the game. Nearly all the explorable areas in the game had been battlements, while the layouts of the rooms inside had never been shown at all.

During their conversation, Lucian also learned the soldier's name: Julius.

His father was a blacksmith. In the Lands Between, blacksmithing was a respectable profession that guaranteed food on the table. His mother did handicrafts, and the family had lived comfortably in Castle Morne. He even had a gentle, considerate childhood sweetheart.

Once Julius came of age, he joined the army and began training. He was talented, and Edgar had once praised him as the man most likely to be knighted in recent years.

This young man should have had a bright future, but now everything had been destroyed.

Julius led Lucian straight to the armory, introducing the purposes of the rooms they passed along the way. Before long, they arrived.

The armory was a complete mess. When the Misbegotten had broken in, they had looted the place and taken many weapons such as shortswords and daggers.

Julius skillfully led Lucian to a corner of the armory.

Because his father was a blacksmith, Julius had also taken on the side duty of restocking the armory after joining the army. He knew the place extremely well.

He had also been the one who led people to fetch crossbows and nets from the armory earlier before coming to provide support.

"These are all heavier, longer weapons. Those beasts don't know how to use them, so plenty are left. Still, they're all standard-issue weapons, and their quality is fairly average."

Julius pointed at the two rows of weapon racks before Lucian as he explained.

"Spears, straight swords, greatswords... Some have been damaged or lost, but the selection is still quite complete."

"Feel free to look around first. There aren't any especially good weapons here. Later, I'll take you to the deeper storeroom, where the weapons are much better."

Lucian inspected them carefully. They were all the most ordinary weapons, without any Ashes of War. He truly found them beneath his notice.

Since Julius said there were higher-quality weapons farther inside, Lucian simply took nothing.

Seeing that Lucian had not found a weapon he liked, Julius led him into the covered corridor behind the armory.

As they passed a wooden crate, a Misbegotten suddenly sprang out. With its dagger raised overhead, it viciously stabbed at Julius, who was walking in front and leading the way.

Julius reacted quickly. Though caught off guard, he immediately raised his shield to block, but one hand was faster than his.

Lucian's left hand seized the Misbegotten's wrist holding the dagger, while his right arm hooked around the back of its head, his large hand gripping its face.

With a violent pull of his right hand, accompanied by a crack, the Misbegotten's head was twisted more than one hundred and eighty degrees. It collapsed limply to the ground.

Lucian dusted off his hands. By now, he understood perfectly how to kill Misbegotten. Killing one barehanded took practically no effort at all.

"Lord Lucian is incredible."

Julius looked at Lucian with admiration, like an eager little fanboy.

There were no more little incidents like that along the way, and the two arrived at the storeroom without issue.

Unlike the armory, the storeroom was a small room. There were no weapon racks, and all the weapons had been stored in boxes.

"What are these boxes holding?"

There were no labels on the boxes, so Lucian could not tell what was inside and asked.

"The wooden boxes contain weapons once used by outstanding warriors."

Julius opened a large wooden box first and showed the weapons inside to Lucian.

There were not many weapons in the box, and all of them had scabbards.

Lucian casually took out a Lordsworn's Straight Sword and drew it. The blade had been well maintained, and its Ash of War was Spinning Slash.

"Not bad. Much better than the armory's weapons. So what's in those stone boxes?"

"The stone boxes contain Castle Morne's finest weapons. I'm sure you'll be satisfied."

Julius opened a stone box. Inside was only a single scabbardless greatsword. Though somewhat old, it remained sharp.

Lucian picked it up and examined it closely, immediately taking a liking to the greatsword. Its blade was broader than the Lordsworn's Straight Sword's, its leather grip was thick and sturdy, and it had already been upgraded four times.

But what Lucian truly liked was its Ash of War—Lion's Claw.

"I'll take this one. I like it."

No warrior could refuse Lion's Claw.

I'm on the train, so this was sent much later than usual. Sorry. (□`"∠)