Night had already enveloped outside the castle as Rio took an hour to relax in the water.
Lia was in the same place as the last time. Little fairies were hovering around her.
Yami went to the empress villa while Rio walked towards the lonesome figure whose beauty could cause the downfall of the nation.
She turned back to look at him as her face showed worry.
"Was it painful?" That was the first question she asked.
"No… The trainer is a soft-hearted lady. I was mesmerized by her beauty. But she isn't as pretty as you." Rio spoke with a smile and hid the truth.
"I thought father would be harsh on you. You can tell me if they cause any problems for you." She said with a lower voice.
"Our souls are linked so I can call you for help if the time arises. Don't worry as if I'm a little kid." He said with a bittersweet smile and scratched the back of his head.
"Why is your hair wet?" Lia frowned.
"I took a bath before coming here as I was covered in sweat. I didn't want you to hate me for stinking like a dead fish." Rio joked as he lied again.
"I wouldn't hate you." She said with a calm voice, after pausing a little she asked, "What did she teach you today?"
"She was teaching me how to dodge attacks and improve reaction time." He spoke with a gentle smile hiding the bitterness in his heart as he thought about how she actually taught him by decorating his body with daggers dyed in his blood.
She looked at him and contemplated something.
Rio was worried his lie was caught.
He asked worriedly, "What happened?"
"I was thinking how you still don't have a weapon and what would suit you. With the Devlin skill, a sword would match you perfectly. Come with me." Lia said and brought Rio to the other side of the garden.
There was a tree with swords hanging on them with yellow leaves. It was 3 meters tall and the crown spread in a 2-meter range. He could see the swords hanging on the tree as fruits.
There were three types of swords hanging from this Yellow-leaf tree.
They all looked silver in color but their sizes and aura differed.
The most majestic one was only one in number hanging in the center of the yellow-leaf tree.
"You are already at the yellow stage so it won't be a problem for you to have your first beast soul. This is the 'Silver-Bloom' tree and these sword-like fruits you see are the beast souls." Lia explained while pointing to the sword-like fruits hanging from the tree.
"Beast souls can grow on trees? Doesn't that mean we can lower the killing rate of beasts if we grow these in higher numbers?" He spoke in an astonished voice as his eyes shone with the light of hope.
"How will you provide your fellow humans with cores to absorb the stats points?" She said with an amusing voice and poured water to extinguish the tiny spark of hope he had to solve the problem of both worlds.
She continued after enjoying the contrasting expression on his face which changed quickly, "Besides, these trees are very rare. You would only see them in my garden or in case you come across a lucky encounter."
Rio dropped down his shoulder and looked as if covered in a dark smoke of desperation.
Lia extended her jade-like smooth hand and a light covered a sword-like fruit, the one in the middle that looked special among other beasts' souls hanging on the silver-bloom tree.
It detached from the tree's branch and flew to her like a falling leaf.
She grabbed it gracefully and handed it to Rio who looked at the sword in amazement.
He took the sword which felt dull and as if dormant. It looked like a doll more than a real sword and looked at Lia with questioning eyes to ask if she was teasing him.
"Pour some of your mana in it and this beast soul will become bound to you." She said with a gentle voice.
Rio did as she said and a tiny amount of mana rushed towards the hilt of the sword.
It vibrated as it received his mana and the dormant-looking toy came to life. A silver light glowed and bloomed like a lotus spreading its charm.
It was a 1-meter long double-edged sword of lightweight composition with a blooming flower petals shape on its hilt which was yellow. Besides being sharp and strong, the sword gave a chilly aura and glimmered in the Moonlight.
"Whoa…" His face blossomed with a smile and he felt he made a connection to the sword in his hand.
[Beast soul of Yellow-Stage silver-bloom king gained.]
He heard an AI voice in his mind which confirmed his suspicions.
He was smiling ear to ear when he remembered there were swords of three different sizes on the tree.
"Why were there three types of beast souls on the same tree?" He asked her while he inspected his new sword.
"There are three tiers among beast soul on each stage for the same type. Normal, mutated, and King. You can recognize them on the tree. There is always one king among these beast souls when they grow in trees so the one you have is the silver-bloom king beast soul." Lia said and cleared his doubts.
"How long will it take them to grow another silver-bloom king sword?" He asked her while gazing at her alluring face which was making the moon in the night sky jealous of her elegance.
"It will take a few years" She spoke and looked at him waiting for his next question as if she knew what he would ask next.
"Why did you give it to me then?" He asked, puzzled.
"What do you think?" She answered with another question. Her face looked mysterious while her eyes were amusingly looking at the naive boy whose face was puzzled.
