Chapter 50: - Evegallien
When Lia woke up, she was not sore, tired, or even drowsy. Her eyes fluttered open when the rising sun poured through her window in a brilliant golden light, painting her room in a glowing golden hue.
'What a morning.'
She thought, marveling at the beautiful sunshine that seethed through the leaves on the tree outside her window, casting shadows over her room.
The inn was silent, as she descended the steps, careful not to wake anyone from their beds.
The innkeeper stood behind the bar table, ready to take orders for breakfast.
Lia placed down a gold count, and asked for three servings of egg and grits.
"Be right out with that."
Taking the order, the innkeeper left her sitting here, somewhat out of her own mind, somewhere far away.
'Lia?'
A vice could be heard within her head, a voice that she recognized well.
Yet despite this, Lia paid it no mind, her own thoughts somewhere distant and on their own.
'Lia... are you alright?'
'Yeah, I'm fine Cain.'
She said, finally acknowledging his presence.
'You don't look fine. In fact you seem rather out of it today.'
'...'
Lia didn't answer, finding herself distracted with the simplest of things.
When the innkeeper came out to hand her the food, Lia's mind shifted from one distraction to another.
It was sometime into her breakfast that Lia finally answered Cain.
I;m just worried about those four. Something about them is just giving me a headache. '
'Possibly because you know they will cause trouble for you later on.'
Cain entertained the idea, as Lia sent the remaining two plates of eggs and grits to Rian and Lukali, who were currently still sleeping.
'Maybe. But I just don't know. It's one of those days you have where you just don't want to do anything.'
'Its an energy crash. You've been doing more than you're used to, with the mines, Neverdark, and so forth. You've had to keep yourself going even though your body was screaming to stop.'
'You think I'm that dense?'
'I think your resolve is to be fair. Though it's not a bad quality when you think about it.'
'Then why do I feel so…distant?'
Cain didn't answer, but instead, remained silent, thinking to himself over her words.
Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he came to a conclusion.
'Alright Lia, come outside.'
'Outside? Why?'
'Just get out here.'
Finishing her breakfast quickly, the spark returning to her face, Lia left the inn and traveled to the back of the building.
Here a vacant plot of empty land sat, hardly any grass growing in its field of dust and dirt. Standing in the center of the lot, stood Cain, his hands on his hips watching her approach.
"Alright Cain, why did you call me out here?"
Glancing towards the back of the inn from where she came, Lia was surprised to see that the vacant lot was clearly visible from the windows on the second floor.
A thought passed through her mind, as she wondered if this would be the first thing Rian and Lukali saw when they woke up.
"Oh don't worry. No one will be able to see you from up there."
Sighing, Lia didn't find it strange that Cain simply read her mind as easy as it was breathing for him.
"How?"
"I won't let them. Now, let's get down to business."
"Business?"
Reaching out his hand, a small glimmer of the sun distorting the air around his fingers, a glint of silver appeared.
A long, spiking blade - the same blade Can had given her inside the spider's den, appeared in his hand from thin air.
"You remember this?"
Lia nodded her head, still confused on how Cain was able to take the sword from where it sat in her room.
For the past three days they were traveling, Lia had practiced thoroughly with the sword, getting used to its weight, handle, blade shape, and just the overall feel of the blade in her hand.
To say that it was a struggle was a far cry from what it really was like.
"We're going to be training with this today. Then you can have an excuse to be tired today."
"I know how to wield a sword, Cain."
Smiling, Cain twirled the sword in his hand effortlessly, using its own weight to move it.
"Of course you do. You know the basics and some more, and so, for that reason we won't be starting there."
"Then what do you plan on teaching me? Certainly not some master's martial secret. We would be here all morning."
Chuckling to himself, Cain stopped twirling the blade, and paused to run his fingers over the flat side of the sword.
"This blade is made from a special metal, unlike steel or iron. Rorcensphere. It's a small, dull metal that when forged into a blade, produces a nearly - almost completely broken blade. In short, the material isn't very good to make anything from, let alone a sword."
Gesturing to the black blade, its hilt is adorned in spikes and a simplistic design.
"Then how was that one forged?"
"By a master craftsman, who knew the perfect temperature needed to boil the metal long enough to create a far more dense material. Denser than the ordinary metal."
Turning the hilt towards Lia, Cain motioned for her to take it.
Clutching the handle, its chain mail - metal design rested easily in her hands, as the hilt offered a comfortable fitting grip to her thumb and knuckles.
Yet , when she held the blade in the palm of her hand, she felt no resistance to it. No weight, nor a balance. The sword felt like it was weightless.
"Swing the sword."
Rather than question Cain, she gripped the sword tightly, excited to see the change the sword and her style would do once the resistance was taken away.
However, she was soon disappointed as the sword - with one well strengthened swoop, flew from her hands and threw a thicket of nearby trees.
As the sword flew through the air, Lia couldn't help but watch as it slowly got closer and closer to the tree line, threatening to hit the ground.
Her face felt flushed and heated, red from embarrassment for her overwhelming excitement and confidence that now seemed ill spent.
But what made her even more embarrassed, searching for something to cover her now red face, was the booming sound of Cain's laughter from behind her.
"Hahaha! That's one way to swing a sword!"
"S-Shut up."
A fling in the air, and the fluttering of her hair, made Lia all too aware that Cain had done something.
Turning around, she found him holding the sword once again, having brought it back to him using some extended form of telekinesis.
"Try again, only this time, try and lift it."
He said, handing the sword back to her.
"Lift it? What do you mean lift it-"
The moment her hand touched the metal, and her fingers wrapped around the handle, Lia felt her body jerk downwards, a heavy, almost unbearable weight crushing her hands.
"Wha..What is this?"
"A heavy sword. What does it look like?"
"I know that much."
Chuckling, Cain knelt down, picking up the blade from Lia's pinned hands.
The blade was weightless in his hands.
"Why?"
Asked Lia, as her mind searched for the words, looking on at the beautifully darkened blade, it's metal glinting the sun like no other.
"Simple. This sword's special ability, as it is a magic weapon, allows the wielder to change its weight on and off at will."
He held the sword up, balancing it on one finger, demonstrating his words.
"You could make it as light as air for quick and easy combat, or, you can steadily increase its weight, packing a much larger and heavier punch."
He tilted the blade until the hilt and handle faced Lia, offering up the blade to her for the third time.
"It's your choice which you would prefer."
Staring at the handle for a few seconds, Lia took the blade from Cain, finding its weight having returned to its original state.
'And it was on the third strike as she raised her blade ,all heavens fell from her mighty gaze.'
Cain thought of a quote he knew well, strikingly matched Lia far too well.
''The Holy Maiden of Hell's Wrath.' Such an odd book. Never thought I would recognize any of its words until now.'
"What else can this sword do?"
Snapping Cain from his thoughts, he looked up to find Lia silently swinging the blade, her voice echoing in the silence.
"I mean, the blade is made from some pretty tough material. There must be something else that goes with it, otherwise how could you call it a magic weapon?"
Entertaining the idea in Lia's mind, Cain shook his head, walking over in her direction.
"Alright you greedy little one, I'll show you."
A magic weapon. Weapons that only Summons could create, weapons that were imbued with magic itself, allowing anyone to use them, so long as they, themselves could use it in turn.
To wield a magic weapon, one would need mana within their bodies to flow through the weapon, activating whatever skills and powers were imbued within the craft.
However, what set magic weapons apart from a normal summons, a creature you didn't have to waste mana on, was the fact that these weapons contained powers other summons might not have.
A summoner who had a mage summons who used mainly frost magic, would find a magic bow that could use fire magic somewhat useful, covering both types, dealing double the damage.
"Let me see it."
Lia held open her palm, one hand on the blade, holding it out for Cain to see.
Motioning towards the blade end of the sword, Cain began explaining the 'hidden feature' Lia was so desperate to know.
"Since the metal itself was tempered at extreme heats, the blade when forged retained some of those characteristics. The edges of the blade turn red hot, generating the same or near exact temperature it had during its forgery."
"What's the catch?"
"The catch is, the sword has to have been in combat for a certain amount of time before this effect ever takes place. That being said however, you can shortcut this."
"How?"
Cain was silent for a moment as he thought to himself about the sword, before he began to explain once again.
"When you're in combat, if you bring the blade near a fire, or have it come in contact with a fire, it will bridge that requirement and instantly retain the same heat."
Nodding her head , Lia somewhat understood the reason as to why.
"Alright. But I'm assuming you don't want me to use this unless necessary."
Cain spoke with a stern voice, implementing his firm opinion on the matter.
"Absolutely necessary. Not before, not after, only when you absolutely need it."
Nodding her head, Lia showed her understood what he was saying before clutching the blade in her hands and giving it a test swing.
-Whoosh!
-Shing!
-Woosh!
"What's its name?"
Stopping from walking away, trying to get some peace in his thoughts, Lia's words halted him before he could leave.
"I'm sorry?"
"It's name. All magic weapons have a name. 'Waning fire,' 'Biting frost,' and so on. so, what's this one's name?"
In some ways Cain wasn't surprised when he heard her reasoning, writing it off as typical Lia, always questioning the useless things.
Unbeknownst to Lia, if Cain wanted to, he could have told her everything, given her everything, and provided anything and everything she could ever ask for. He could make her a titan with the items he could provide, and a woman to fear with the information he contained within his mind.
However, that did not line up with his goals, nor did it offer Lia the chance to grow, so he always held back in giving her any information willingly.
Unless of course she asked.
All she needed to do was ask the right questions, and she would have known the secrets to the universe.
But as Cain looked to Lia who stood not too far away, questions written all across her face, as she always did, Cain couldn't help but think back to why he made this rule for himself.
'It will take longer for her to form those questions, and even longer to ask them.'
He smiled, affirming to Lia that everything was ok, as his eyes passed from her to the blade.
"It does have a name. The forge master was an old friend of mine, who gave it a name that I think matches it perfectly."
"What is it? Now you've got me curious."
Smiling, Cain laughed inside, finding some humor in her innocence.
"Evegallien."
"Evegallien…"
Lia said, testing the word in her mouth, and confirming that she did indeed like the name.
"Cool."
With that, she turned and continued practicing, attempting to change the weight of the blade at a moment's thought, which might save her life in the future.
Cain watched on as she did this, his smile fading from his face, though Lia could not notice.
'The longer it takes for her to ask these questions, the longer I have before she knows. And the longer I have to build her up, before the world tries to break her down.'
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A/N: If any of you were wondering, no, Rian's gauntlets are not considered a magic item. Magic items must be made AND imbued by a summons. Since Rian's gauntlets were made by Wallace and not his summons (neither were they imbued with magic). Therefore, Rian's gauntlets are not considered magical items.
In case you were wondering.
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