It also reminded me of another question — how’d she get that contract with Seiryu in the first place?
Had she gone back into the spire after getting her attunement, but before even coming to the academy?
Or had she somehow managed to get a contract during her Judgment?
It was worth asking later, but she clearly wasn’t up for talking. And honestly, it wasn’t all that important. I was just curious.
I’m not ashamed to say that I took it easy for much of the rest of the day. I hadn’t had a chance to just rest in a long time, and it was good to finally have a minute just to breathe.
The next week was the easiest I could remember in what felt like ages. We had to study for the last few final examinations, but none of the other classes worried me to the extent that the dueling class had.
Aside from studying, I spent a lot more time training with Marissa and Keras. I used some of that training to try to improve my use of Haste, but even after another week, my coordination was still too poor to use it for moving around rapidly.
It did work for rapid attacks like how I’d used it against Marissa, but only for a couple seconds, or I’d get too dizzy and lose my focus afterward.
My biggest project was finishing up the replica of Dawnbringer with help from Keras and Derek. We did it over the course of a few days so I wouldn’t strain my hand further.
When I finally presented the finished product to Patrick, he lifted it and gazed at it with awe. The silvery blade, etched with golden script, glimmered brightly even in the indoor light. “It’s amazing. I love it. Thank you!”
I grinned. “Glad you like it. Keras said we should tell him when you’re ready to test it out.”
“Does it work like the real Dawnbringer?”
I shrugged. “No idea. The runes I put on it are just for storing and replenishing mana, and for making sure it doesn’t overflow and explode. They don’t actually do anything.”
I pointed at the strange rune Keras had put on it. “That thing is what’s supposed to give it the actual functions. It’s not a traditional rune like Enchanters use — as far as I can tell, it’s more like a contract that Sera makes with a monster, but on a sword. Keras has been funneling mana into it for days, but he hasn’t told me what the functions of it are.”
“Huh. Do you think he’s really seen the real Dawnbringer?”
“Wouldn’t be surprised, given how powerful he is. We can ask him about it sometime.” I paused for a moment, considering. “You’re pretty familiar with the stories about the Six Sacred Swords, right?”
“Of course! They’re my absolute favorite swords. What do you want to know?” He turned away from me, testing the weight of the sword and making a few tentative swings in the air.
I was familiar with a lot of stories about the Six Sacred Swords, but they were just that — stories. Most of them were things I’d heard as a child. I’d never made an academic study of them. I knew legendary monsters and items were something of a hobby for Patrick, though, and maybe he had more reliable knowledge.
I tapped the hilt of the sword at my side. “Do you think there’s any chance Selys-Lyann is one of the six? I know the swords go by different names in different stories. I think Flowbreaker was supposed to be a water or ice sword.”
He lowered his sword and furrowed his brow. “Yeah, Flowbreaker is ice. But I don’t think that’s your sword. I mean, you’re right, there are a lot of different stories. But they almost always talk about Flowbreaker being destroyed.”
I remembered hearing about that, too, but I’d considered it. “When I first found this, it looked rusted. It was inside a pillar of ice. The Voice of the Tower did something with it that repaired it.”
“Still don’t think it’s the same sword. It wouldn’t have been just rusted — Flowbreaker was broken in pieces, and those pieces were scattered all over the continent. Flowbreaker did make ice that grows on its own, though. Maybe they’re related somehow?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s possible. Thanks.”
“Sure! Let me know if you want to know more about the swords sometime.”
“I will.”
There was someone that would have more information, but I wasn’t willing to ask.
Not until Tristan answered so many other, more important questions.
After we’d finished the Dawnbringer replica, I approached Keras about something I’d been considering for a while.
“What are the odds I could convince you to help me make a whole bunch of magical items?”
Keras shook his head. “Can’t.”
Not the answer I was hoping for. My chances of making a simply absurd amount of money by selling high powered magical items were diminishing. “Can’t? It didn’t seem like investing the mana in the runes was causing you any difficulty.”
“That’s not the hard part.” He folded his hands together. “You saw the rune I created on the sword before we started to work on it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, you mentioned it’s how you’re actually giving the weapon any functions. Given that you spent so much more time on it, I assumed it was more mana intensive, but I figured we could skip that if we just used conventional function runes.”
“Wouldn’t work. If I tried to enchant something else,” he waved to the sword at my hip, “I’d break it. That wasn’t a standard rune, it was more like one of Sera’s or Derek’s contracts. While I was working on the sword, it was bound to me. That prevented my shroud from damaging it during the process.”
That made some degree of sense. Sera’s contracts were able to transfer mana safely between herself and a monster, like Vanniv or Seiryu. If Keras’ contracts worked similarly, it stood to reason that he could invest mana into a contracted weapon without causing it harm, and… “Does that imply that you’re able to draw power from the weapons you’ve bound as well?”
He shifted awkwardly, turning his head to the side. “I’d rather not say too much on the subject, but yes.”
Huh. Sensitive subject, apparently.
That was fine, I had other avenues of questioning that were more pressing. “Okay, then. So, you need to bind an item to be able to enchant it safely. Can’t you just bind whatever we’re working on?”
“In theory, yes. I already have a number of contracted items, however, and they each use up a bit of my power. I’m near the limit I can handle without reducing my fighting abilities significantly.”
Just like Summoner contracts use up some of Sera’s mana. That was a problem, but it seemed easily solvable. “If the goal is to enchant an item, though, couldn’t you just break the contract afterward? Would the item lose the power if you did?”
“Yes, I can break my contract and leave the mana in the item intact. There’s a problem, though. Binding spells use something more valuable than mana. That’s true for me, and it’s true for people like Sera as well.”
I frowned. “What else would you be using?”
He patted his chest. “A fraction of our spirit.”
“Spirit?” I sounded a little more incredulous than I would have liked. “The Summoner attunement doesn’t have access to spirit magic. It’s just air and transference. And even the combination of those two types isn’t spirit.”
“Attunements have a lot more magic in them than the two types they let you cast. You’ve heard that higher level attuned get a third magic type?”