Rocky felt like he kept free-falling for over five minutes, until the eleration due to gravity acting on his body no longer had an effect on him, making him feel like he had reached a constant speed.


    Once he felt like he was no longer elerating, against his constantly ck surroundings it became difficult to discern whether he was really falling or just stationary as Rocky felt like he was falling aimlessly until somehow the darkness dissipated and a white hole emerged underneath him.


    *Thud*


    With a soft thud, Rockynded in a heap full of soft feathers, as he found himself in a white space that looked a lot like the surroundings he first saw when he met Shakuni, with the only difference being that instead of this being a pure white space with nothing inside it, this white space had heaps of white feathers scattered all around.


    As Rocky held one feather in his hand and carefully inspected it, he could notice the fine silver lines within the feather that reflected light into his eyes at specific angles.


    He had no idea as to which creature this feather belonged to as he had never seen or heard anything about it before, however, just by its appearance alone, Rocky did find the feather to be pretty beautiful.


    "Arasmis don papismis " a voice said, as Rocky turned and found himself staring into the blue eyes of a Griffin like creature, but not quite a Griffin.


    The body of the creature was like a four limbed human, however, his head was like that of an eagle with massive wingsing out of his midsection and a long feathery tail on its rear.


    It walked in a hunched posture on two legs, however, it looked like it could walk on all six of its legs too if it wanted to, as the creature looked like the ancestor of four handed orcs, humans and Griffin''s all blended into one.


    "Huh?" Rocky said in confusion as he did not understand thenguage that the ancient beast spoke.


    "Hello adventurer, wee to the realm of calling" the creature said, as Rocky felt astonished at being able to understand itsnguage suddenly.


    "You speak bipedal English?" Rocky asked, as the creature looked curiously into Rocky''s eyes and smiled kindly, or atleast Rocky thought it smiled, but he wasn''t sure.


    "No my child, thenguage I speak is Hudu, it''s the most ancientnguage of the universe, one that was spoken before draconian was even created" said the creature as Rocky was convinced that this weird looking thing was indeed the ancestor of many species before they evolved.


    "The realm of calling?" Rocky asked, sounding confused as the creature slowly approached him, every step it took causing a few different feathers to float around it.


    "You seem to have a calling for the sword. You also seem to have taken a liking to it….." the creature said, as Rocky felt stunned as to how it could discern Rocky''s interests so casually?


    As the creature approached, Rocky stepped away from it slowly as he felt ufortable by how it stared into his eyes, as if reading his very soul.


    "Such shallow knowledge about the sword. Such poor technique….your road to understanding the dao of the sword is long" the creature said, as Rocky felt slightly offended at the implication that he had poor technique, however, he did not refute the creatures ims.


    He was the best swordsman within the university, however, the university for nourishment of young talents was not a good frame of reference to work with.


    Unless Rocky wanted to be a frog at the bottom of a well that was unaware about how vast the sky was, he could not let himself believe that his sword skills were actually top notch.


    However, although he was not delusional about his skills, hearing someone else call his technique out as poor still hurt his pride as a warrior.


    "Do you even know about the history of the sword? Young man? Forget about the history of the sword in the tower, do you even know the history of the sword amongst your own?" The creature asked as Rocky felt confused by his question?


    He knew that at first the swords that humans made were crude and made with stone.


    Then as they learnt metallurgy the sword was slowly started to be cast using iron and bronze, while the better sword casting alloys wereter invented through the centuries, however, as for the history of the sword itself, he was unsure of what it meant.


    "I don''t think I do know about the history of the sword" Rocky admitted candidly, as the creature kept staring into his eyes and walking towards him as it narrated the tale of the sword.


    "The first and most ancient weapon that your people created is the spear.


    Sharp stones were attached on top of long sticks and then used to hunt animals.


    The spear arts that the people of old possessed have been lost through the ages, however, your ancestors were one of the best spear wielding species in the old times.


    For centuries, the spear was the only weapon that humans really knew how to use, that was until they learnt how to use the bow.


    The bow was the second weapon that your kind created.


    It overcame the range limitations of the spear, by shooting further and reducing reload time, which increased kill probability and hence sess in the hunt.


    The bow and arrow''s creation is tied to a different originpared to the spear.


    Initially the bow was crafted to hunt birds and small mammals, ensuring a steady food supply for human settlements as it allowed them to effectively kill small prey that was hard to kill using the spear.


    Over time, as these hunting tools proved effective, they became popr amongmunities.


    The bow''s ability to strike from a distance made it invaluable, reducing the danger of close encounters withrger predators and hence a better substitute to the spear.


    With time, the design improved, and the bow evolved from a simple hunting tool to a sophisticated weapon of war.


    It became a symbol of precision and skill, crucial for survival in both the hunt and on the battlefield, however, soon the bow''s poprity was overshadowed by the sword, which was the weapon that wasst created by your kind and is still not perfected by them even after all these years.


    The sword''s creation has its origins in a more mundane beginning. Initially, it was not designed forbat but as a kitchen tool. Early humans living near coastal areas needed an efficient way to butcher and prepare sea creatures and so they crafted the first rudimentary swords as long, sharp knives to cut through the tough skin and flesh of fish and other marine animals.


    As these kitchen tools proved effective, they became popr among fishermen who ventured out to sea.


    The ability to swiftly dispatch and process their catch made the sword invaluable, reducing the time and effort required to prepare food.


    Over time, as the design improved and the potential forbat became evident, these tools evolved from simple kitchen knives into sophisticated weapons of war.


    It began as a short, sharp de meant for closebat, a weapon that could be wielded with one hand while the other carried a shield. The early swords were crude,cking the elegance and craftsmanship ofter generations, but they were effective in close-quarter battles.


    With time, as humans advanced in metallurgy, the sword evolved. Bronze swords gave way to iron, and eventually, steel. The forging techniques became more sophisticated, and swords that could do much more than just cut through skin of marine animals were finally produced.


    However, the sword that you humans have is still far too crude as you haven''t even understood the proper shape needed to bnce a de yet and stupidly chase durability and sharpness of the edge in your weapons instead" The creature said, as it narrated a long and interesting tale about the origin of weapons on Earth to Rocky.


    While Rocky did enjoy the story, he couldn''t help but wonder as to why the creature narrated this tale to him, as it wasn''t until the creature began exining to Rocky about his tier promotion test, that Rocky finally understood why he was narrated the history of the sword.


    "If you wish to continue down the path of the sword, it''s only fitting that you fight the finest swordsman that your home has ever produced in a historical battle.


    Your goal is to defeat him and im his dual swords as your own, as if fate wills it, you will be enlightened mid-way through your bout, or die against his fine swordsmanship.


    Either way, I wish you the best, my child, I hope you can surpass the ghost of the past, especially when the swordsmanship of the ghost himself is nothing to write home about in the wider picture of the universe" the creature said, as it jumped into the air, while Rocky felt the floor disappearing from under his feet as he fell into a freefall once again.


    "Not again…." Thought Rocky, as he clutched his newly crafted bone swords and mentally prepared himself to face the finest opponent that human history had to offer.


    On one hand, he felt slightly nervous about facing this guy, since he was supposed to be the best in human history, however, on the other hand Rocky also felt excited, as he wanted to see how he matched up against the very best.