"Someone in the Physical Improvement realm with no memory of who he was and what he even was, can somehow beat someone like Gerrin and Hanson? Why do I find that hard to believe?" she asked.
"Oh, boss. That's not the only thing about Brother Ning," he said quickly. "His sword is incredible as well. It's a really good sword."
"A good sword?" she asked as she stared at the sword in Ning's hands. "It looks like a normal stone sword to me. It might even be a dirt sword."
"It's a rock sword," Carlos said. "A giant one at that. Nearly as large as this house, I would say."
"As big as this house?" Clara asked suspiciously. She found it hard to believe something that large could exist in the hands of a normal person. "Give me the sword."
Ning frowned a little. Did she want the sword to test it? What if she liked it? Would she kill him to take it from him?
Clara noticed him getting defensive and sighed. "I don't need your sword. I can't even use it because my shadow Essence is very impure," she said.
"Oh… uh, okay," Ning said and tossed the sword over the table. "Be careful. It's heavy."
The sword slid above the table and arrived next to Clara.
Clara grabbed the hilt of the sword as it moved. She tried to stop the sword right there, but it kept going. She used all of her physical strength to block it and even went as far as to use her Essence to enhance her body.
However, even then, when she the sword went past the table, it immediately fell to the ground.
Clara realized that if she continued holding, her hand would get crushed under the weight of the sword, so at the last minute, she let go of the sword, which lightly slammed on the floor.
Her eyes went wide in shock and she got down to pick the sword up once again. She tried with all her might, but she couldn't even budge the sword at all.
"How big did you say the rock was?" she asked as she huffed a little weakly.
"As big as this house? Maybe bigger?" Ning said.
"That's not possible at all," Clara said as she got closer to check the sword's blade.
"No, the rock was definitely as big as we said, boss," Carlos said.
"No, I'm not saying you are lying," Clara said. "I'm saying that you are wrong. If the rock used to make this sword was as big as you said it was, I would've been able to budge it. However, given that I was not able to, it's definitely larger."
"The question now is… how large."
The group looked in awe at the sword on the ground. Ning walked over and picked it back up and looked at it closely. "How big can it be?" he asked.
"There's only one way to know," Clara said. "You will have to use as much Essence as you can to bring out the rock from the sword."
"As much Essence? That was what I used last time and that massive rock came out," Ning said.
"Yes, but your Physical Improvement realm barely even has any Essence. You need to be at least in the Essence Sense realm to make good use of any Essence weapons," she said.
"So, I have to wait many years before I can figure out how big the sword really is, huh?" Clara said.
"Yes, that's the only way to have a definite answer," Clara said. "But, I can make a guess based on what information I have gathered."
"Ooh, what is your guess?" Ning asked excitedly.
"That sword is made from something very large, far larger than the rock you mentioned. It's either a single rock, or multiple ones, but they add up to become as large as the largest building in this city, maybe even larger."
"How can there be rocks larger than the largest building out there," Carlos asked.
"It doesn't have to be a rock, specifically," she said. "It just has to be something with the same composition as the rock."
"Meaning?" Ning asked.
"It can be pebbles, but a large amount of it. Imagine someone went to a river bank, collected all the small rocks there, and use it," Clara said. "But I believe it's made up of something big."
"What's the biggest it can be in your opinion?" Ning asked.
Clara thought for a second. "Show me the sword again?" she asked.
Ning took the sword close to her. Kepli moved immediately, but Clara stopped him. "He's not trying to hurt me, relax," she said.
Ning smiled and let her watch it for a while.
"No, it's not what I thought it was," she said.
"What did you think it was?" Ning asked.
"There was once a rumor that something was made into a weapon some two dozen years ago. I was wondering if this sword was it, but it's not," Clara said.
"What was turned into a weapon?" Ning asked. The others waited impatiently for her answer as well.
"A mountain," Clara said. "A mountain vanished overnight in the Sernach Empire, and everyone believed it was turned into a weapon. Given the weight, I almost fooled myself into thinking that sword was it, but it's not."
"I see," Ning said. "Well, as long as it is large, it should be helpful in the future."
"Yes," Clara said. "Speaking of the future, what are your plans?"
"My plans?" Ning asked. "I don't know. I think I will just go from city to city and try to see if someone remembers me."
Clara looked at him for a second. "You know who I am and have seen my face. So I cannot let you leave just as you like," she said.
"What?" Ning asked with a frown on his face.
"So, I will give you two choices from here forward," she said. "First, you will be killed so that my secret never gets out into the world."
"Like hell!" Ning shouted back at her.
"Then you have no choice but to go with the second choice," She said.
"What's that?" Ning asked.
"You will join the Paradise Hunters."
