Bolum, the mayor of the Parvosan village, muttered many expletives under his breath as he let Talynn, Mavence, and Versutana into the mine through a guarded passageway.
“There ye are. Go in at yer own peril. What happens from here is on your heads, not mine,” Bolum ushered them through the doorway and swiftly departed. “Cheeky lass thinks she can blackmail me. I hope ye trip and fall in a magma pit for all I care.”
The trio stepped into the mine. The air was drastically warmer inside, a bit warm for a dwarf, but uncomfortably hot for a human. Sedimentary rock layered in shades of tan and orange made up the walls and ceilings. Lit only by torchlight, everything was cast in a yellow-orange glow. After marching through winding tunnels for a ways, they entered one of the many massive caverns within the mountain, some used for mining iron and luxium, some used as giant forge rooms, others used for storage and transport of weapons and armor.
As they descended through the upper levels, dwarves rushed past them as if the sky were falling, making their way through the crowded tunnels towards the exit caves. One dwarf, arms loaded with pieces of armor far higher than his head, ran straight into Mavence.
“Oy! For the love of all that’s holy, watch where yer goin’. Took me ages to stack these pieces,” the dwarf shook his head and began picking up the pieces of armor scattered on the ground.
“My apologies,” Mavence said and began stacking the armor back into the dwarf’s arms.
“Say, why ye bairns runnin’ about down here? We’re to be evacuatin’, are we not?”
“We were sent in by mayor Bolum,” said Versutana. "We have critical information about the suspect and we need to reach our knights immediately. They’re in grave danger!”
“Bolum sent ye, eh? Yer knights went down towards the lowest part of the caverns. There’s a great forge room down at the bottom. Should find at least some of ‘em around there.”
“Thank you!” Talynn nodded graciously.
They continued their trek down through the caves, deeper and deeper into the mountain. Eventually, they heard the faint cries for help of a group of dwarves echoing through the tunnels ahead of them. Mavence drew his sword and began sprinting through the tunnels, with Talynn and Versutana following at a cautious distance.
“Ye got what ya came here for, now leave us be,” shouted one of the four dwarves as they slowly backed into a corner of the small cave.
“I dinnae think he cares, Gliss,” another whispered.
Between the dwarves and the two tunnel exits stood a lone figure. With a black mask on and a hooded jacket covering his head, his face was almost completely concealed. His clothes were a mixture of cloth and leather, with countless pockets and holsters for weapons. Without a word, he drew a long dagger from a sheath on his back and began approaching the dwarves.
“Get back!” Mavence burst into the room and swung his sword at the assassin. As the masked figure stepped away to evade, Mavence placed himself between him and the dwarves.
Turning his attention to his new opponent, the assassin whipped his dagger around, making several slices at Mavence. After blocking each one with his sword, Mavence pushed forward in an attempt to drive his opponent against the wall away from the dwarves. The assassin inflicted a shallow gash on Mavence’s unarmored thigh and dove past him, heading straight towards the dwarves.
“Flame bomb!”
A small orb of fire raced from Talynn’s hand into the side of the unsuspecting assassin. The orb exploded upon impact, throwing him several feet through the air before crashing onto his side, leaving his leather garment smoking.
“Go! Go! Get out of here!” Versutana gestured for the dwarves to exit the cave. They offered a quick thanks and eagerly departed.
“Time for you to freeze!” Talynn drew an inscription circle on the ground and activated it, sending an ice snare headed straight for the assassin.
The assassin quickly returned to his feet and leapt away from the snare before it reached him. After eyeing his three pursuers, he fled the room out the other tunnel.
“You okay?” Versutana asked Mavence after looking at the gash on his leg.
“It’s fine. Regretting that I didn’t wear more than just a chestplate though,” he said as they pursued the assailant. The end of the tunnel lead them into an intersection of many tunnels.
“Uh oh. Where do we go?” Versutana asked.
“These caves echo sound pretty loud, we should be able to hear him if we stay silent,” said Talynn. The trio held still for a moment and pinpointed the sound of fleeing footsteps.
“I hear him! Hurry, this way!”
The trio raced through the narrow passageways before finding themselves on a steeply inclined bridge over a deep chasm. A hundred feet below lay a large pool of magma covering the floor of the cavern. Talynn gulped loudly.
“D-do we have to go this way?”
“Yep, he’s going the same way,” Mavence tilted his head towards a different part of the cavern where the assassin was also crossing a bridge.
“Hope these meet up somewhere. Come on, just don’t look down!”
Versutana grabbed Talynn’s hand and dragged him behind as they followed Mavence. The bridge led them to another maze of winding tunnels. Their gusto quickly began to wane as exhaustion and dehydration began to overtake them.
As they slowed to a light jogging pace, Talynn suddenly stopped and placed his face against one of the tunnel walls.
“Wait, he’s closeby. I can feel his lumi somewhere on the other side of this wall. We’re close.”
“What’s wrong Talynn?” Versutana asked after reading his perturbed expression.
“I’m not sure. Something is distorting the lumi around him. It feels like... the nature of the lumi is being changed.”
“Which means what exactly?” Mavence asked.
“I think he has a muto stone, maybe some other magic weapons too. Be careful.”
Working their way through the tunnels, they soon entered an unbearably hot cave that housed several large industrial forges. Countless weapons filled the room, some of them held in racks, others littering the floor or left halfway in a forge after the sudden evacuation of the workers.
Carefully tiptoeing around the room, they searched for any sign of the assailant. All was going well until the end of Talynn’s cloak got caught on one of the weapon racks. They cringed in unison as the metal weapons clattered loudly on the ground and echoed through the cave.
“Woops.”
“I think we’re between him and the way out, and he knows we’re here. Get ready,” Mavence said as he drew his sword.
Within seconds, the hooded figure appeared on their left, sprinting towards the exit. Mavence quickly intercepted him. His sword was quickly met with a dagger. Mavence managed to parry his blows, but the hooded figure performed a spinning kick and knocked him to the ground.
“Oh no you don’t,” Talynn touched the edge of the inscription circle he had written and fired a bolt of lightning. The assassin quickly grabbed a nearby halberd from a weapon rack and threw it in front of him, the metal blade absorbing the electrical discharge. Talynn drew and casted a wind spell, but the assassin simply crossed his arms in front of him and ran through it, the wind causing minor slices to his jacket.
“Uh oh. My lux chalk spells aren’t strong enough,” Talynn winced as the assassin charged at him. Mavence returned to the fray, bashing his shoulder into the assassin’s ribs. He attempted to resume his attack on Talynn, but a throwing axe whizzed through the air and embedded itself into the rock wall just inches from his face.
All three of them looked in surprise at Versutana, who stood with a smirk on her face and another throwing axe in hand. The assassin begrudgingly returned to fleeing, exiting the room.
The trio chased the assassin across another narrow bridge over seemingly bottomless pit. At the end of the bridge lay a long tunnel about ten feet high. The assassin’s boots skidded to a halt as a group of imperial knights entered the opposite side of the tunnel.
“Surrender! You are surrounded,” shouted one of the knights as they all pointed their lances towards him. Mavence closed in from the other side, trying to pin the assassin between them. The knights began to charge.
Extending his hand out toward the knights, the assassin began passing lumi into his gauntlet. The muto stone began to glow a bright blue. Talynn looked down at his arm, the static electricity building up around them causing his hairs to stand straight up.
“Look out! It’s lightning ma-”
Talynn was cut off as a bolt of lightning shot out from the assassin’s hand. The bolt branched off into smaller tendrils of lightning, crawling and arcing between the metal plates on the knights armor while filling the tunnel with a bright blue light. Their bodies shook violently for a few seconds before falling to the ground all at once.
Attempting to seize the opportunity, Mavence began to charge forward while the assassin’s back was facing them. The assassin reacted quicker than he expected, turning his body and pointing the gauntlet towards Mavence.
“Wait!” Talynn grabbed the back of Mavence’s tunic and yanked him back.
Moving to the front of Mavence, Talynn grabbed the edge of his hooded cloak and held it in front of them as a shield. Lightning shot out of the gauntlet once more, but this time it instantly dissipated as soon as it came within an inch of the cloak.
“Now!” Talynn shoved Mavence forward. His shoulder plowed into the assassin’s chest, knocking the assassin into the wall. The assassin fell onto his knees, clutching his chest where Mavence’s metal pauldron had cracked several ribs.
“Nice,” Mavence said to Talynn as he stood over the assassin with his sword pointed at his neck. “So cloth can block lightning magic?”
“Not just any cloth. Mage’s cloaks are made by the Dryadalu. The elves weave praesia fibers in a way that resists the flow of lumi. Praesia cloth only has a low-level resistance to magic attacks, but I knew he didn’t have enough time to channel a full-power lightning attack.”
“Clever as always,” Mavence said. He lowered his sword and reached down to secure the assassin. In a split second, the assassin grabbed Mavence’s wrist and twisted it sharply. Mavence shouted in pain as the assassin took his arm and forcefully dislocated his shoulder.
“Mavence!” Talynn quickly kneeled down, pulled out his lux chalk and began drawing an inscription circle on the ground. The assassin retrieved a dagger from a sheath on his pant leg and quickly closed the distance between them.
Crap, I’m not going to finish in time, thought Talynn. Time slowed as the dagger neared his face. He caught a glimpse of the assassin’s pale red eyes. As Talynn was about to close his eyes, Versutana stepped in between them and slammed her fist into the assassin’s face. She smirked as he reeled backwards, nearly knocked unconscious. She suddenly became aware of a strange warm sensation near her stomach.
Versutana looked down. The handle of the dagger protruded from her abdomen. Talynn and Mavence froze, almost in as much shock as she was. The knights struggled to stand, but the electric shock had left their muscles numb and twitchy.
“Y-you… You!” Mavence let out a mighty shout and ran at the assassin, ready to exact punishment. The hooded figure grabbed the dagger and pulled it from Versutana’s abdomen and drove it into Mavence’s right shoulder as he evaded the sword. Mavence gritted his teeth and turned his upper body, driving his left shoulder into his opponent’s side and slamming him against the wall.
The assassin kicked him away, sending him staggering back into the wall on the opposite side of the tunnel. He then reached into a pocket and threw what seemed to be a tiny blue pebble at Mavence. The micro runestone hit Mavence’s chest and ruptured, pinning his chest and abdomen against the tunnel wall in a shell of ice.
“Oh god, oh god, what do I do?” Talynn said frantically while he helped Versutana lay on the ground.
“Put pressure on the wound,” she said, her demeanor vastly more calm than his.
Talynn gulped and gingerly placed both of his hands against her wound, just below where her leather bodice ended. His heart raced faster and faster as her blood began to soak through her pale green dress. He looked up to Mavence for direction, but the assassin was approaching his trapped body with dagger in-hand, ready to execute.
This is it. This is the end. My friends are going to die in front of me and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I really am useless. Please forgive me.
“Stop,” a familiar voice echoed through the tunnel from behind the knights. The assassin paused, turning to see who had spoken. A young man in a long black jacket walked at a casual pace towards them.
“Don’t kill the kids. They’re a lot less useful to me dead,” Vex said, touching the shoulders of the knights as he walked past them. One by one they stood up, the tingling and muscle spasms completely expelled.
Unnerved by the return of the knights, the assassin reached in his pocket and retrieved another micro runestone.
“An ice trap spell. I wouldn’t bother. Magic attacks won’t work against me,” said Vex.
The assassin hesitated for a moment, but then threw the runestone anyways. Vex took the long wooden staff off of his back and extended it forward, meeting the runestone in the air. As soon as they touched, the runestone shattered and fell to the ground in a harmless pile of dust.
“Told you.”
Deciding to use his last resort, the assassin took his last micro runestone from his jacket.
“Steamy,” Vex said just before the assassin threw it onto the ground. A huge cloud of steam exploded forth, instantly obscuring vision throughout the tunnel.
“Look out, he’s escaping!” Mavence shouted through the steam, still stuck to the wall in a shell of ice.
“On the plus side, steam is great for the skin. Usually I recommend exfoliating before the steam, but what can you do,” Vex said nonchalantly.
“Oh come on, you let him get away!” Mavence huffed.
“Your friend is bleeding out, you’re stuck to a wall, and I don’t know if these knights are intelligent enough to find the exit. Calm down,” Vex snapped. He walked over to where Versutana was, gesturing for Talynn to get out of the way.
“Pretty deep wound. The blade almost skewered you through. You’re lucky it didn’t nick your lung. Collapsed lungs are such a drag to fix,” Vex said as he removed his single-strap backpack and placed it on the ground. After donning two thin leather gloves, he pulled out several small metal tools.
“Slowly start releasing pressure,” he directed Talynn.
The wound quickly started pouring blood once the pressure was relieved. Vex inserted one of the metal tools into the wound and channeled his lumi into it. It began to glow a warm white. The profuse bleeding began to slow as he repaired the severed tissue layer by layer.
“Whoa, what kind of lumi is that? I’ve never seen that before,” Talynn said in awe.
“Light magic.”
“So it can heal stuff?”
“That’s one of the things it can do. Light magic can accelerate the body’s natural healing process, but it comes at a price. Using it to heal a serious wound like hers can save your life in a pinch, but every time you do, it shortens your lifespan a little bit. Better than dying though, some would say.”
“Weird, I’ve never heard of that before,” Talynn scrunched his eyebrows. “Maybe they teach it during secondary school.”
“I doubt it. Maybe in some advanced studies of magic they might, but not in primary or secondary school,” Vex shook his head.
“Really? Why not?”
“Not much point in teaching students something that can’t be taught. The ability to wield light and dark lumi is inherent. You can’t transmute your lumi into dark or light magic on your own like you can the other four elements. You either have it, or you don’t. And people who have it are exceedingly rare.”
“Like how rare?”
“About one in a hundred thousand people can use light or dark magic. Good thing too. Light and dark spells are extremely potent.”
“So are you one of those people that can wield light magic then?”
“No.”
“Do you use a muto stone then?”
“No.”
“Can you tell me how you do it?”
“No.”
“Pretty please?”
“Geez you’re annoying. Go make yourself useful and free your friend from that ice spell,” Vex shooed Talynn away.
“So, I definitely felt light lumi when you healed Versutana, but your natural lumi feels dark,” Talynn said as he drew an inscription circle on the wall next to Mavence. “You must use some special spell or tool in order to wield light magic, then. I would think it’d be a muto stone, but they can only transmute raw lumi into an element. I’ve never heard of one transmuting one element into another.”
“You literally can’t go ten seconds without talking, can you?” Vex rolled his eyes. “Not a bad question though. At least you have some level of intelligence. Almost compensates for your subpar skills as a mage.”
“Stop being a jerk to him, you don’t know a thing about his skills as a mage. He won this year’s mage tournament in first place, I’ll have you know,” Versutana said, her voice still weak.
“Sorry, your highness, but the kid still uses lux chalk to cast spells. Hardly a habit of a skilled mage. Sure, being clever may win him a contest, but eventually his luck will run out and he’ll have to face the fact that he just isn’t cut out to be a mage,” said Vex.
“Someone’s grumpy,” Talynn said as he activated the fire spell and melted the ice around Mavence. “What makes you so sure I’m not cut out to be a mage?”
“You might be able to sort of sense lumi, but I can do it a lot better than you can. Most mages can faintly feel lumi flowing in close proximity to them. But I’m an actual sensory type. I can sense lumi at much greater range and in much higher detail than you can. In fact, my perception is so sharp that I can almost see lumi flowing through people. That’s what makes me one of the best healers in the entire empire. That’s also how I could tell what spell that assassin’s runestones were.”
“Are you finished bragging yet?” Versutana rolled her eyes.
“You sure have a lot of sass for being nearly dead,” Vex noted as he sealed the final upper layers of the skin over Versutana’s wound. “The point is I can see the lumi within you, kid. I see its strength. I see its potential. And it’s… underwhelming, to phrase it nicely. You should find a profession more suited to you.”
“You’re just making that up, aren’t you!” Talynn’s voice grew agitated.
“Not making it up. I only lie when it’s of benefit to me. I have nothing to gain in this situation. I’m just telling it like it is. Your lumi flow is weak. I can’t even sense any elemental affinity. You’ve never even transmuted an element on your own, have you?”
“I… Maybe not, but-”
“Your spells and your lumi will never stand up to a real mage, kid. Your body wasn’t made for it, it’s as simple as that,” Vex said as he ran through a couple stretches before popping Mavence’s arm back into its socket.
“No, that can’t be true!”
“It is true. A dwarf in a sprinting race against an elf has a better chance of winning than you have of being a real mage.”
“Back off. There’s no need to be a jerk,” Mavence said while gingerly moving his arm.
“I’m just saying he needs to find a more realistic career choice. If he keeps pretending he’s a mage and you keep reinforcing his delusions, he’s going to get himself or someone else killed, which is exactly what almost happened just now. If I hadn’t been here, little miss princess over there would have bled out and you’d have a sliced throat while mister mage here just stood around.”
“That’s enough!” Mavence grabbed Vex by the collar with his good arm and lifted him into the air.
“Don’t hate the messenger. I’m simply telling you how it is. And you know I’m right,” Vex whispered to Mavence. “Looks like your babysitter has found us. Might want to put me down.”
Mavence lowered Vex as Daecus and the rest of the knights stormed up the up the bridge and into the tunnel they were standing in. Talynn helped Versutana to her feet.
“What are you children doing here? I told you children to stay at the inn! Gren, report.”
“We were on patrol when we found the assailant engaged in combat with the children, commander. We had him pinned in this tunnel, but he disabled us with a powerful magic attack,” replied one of the knights.
“He got away?”
“Yes, commander. Regrettably, I suspect he will have little trouble escaping the mine considering the firepower he has.”
“We don’t have enough reinforcements to form a perimeter either. Damn,” Daecus clenched her fists. Her anger then redirected towards the three teenagers.
“What were you children thinking? I gave you specific orders to stay at the inn. And what is this? Blood? Why are you covered in blood?”
“It’s nothing,” Versutana moved her hand over the stab wound.
“Let me see,” Daecus moved her hand away, revealing the blood on her abdomen.
“Is that your blood?” Daecus inspected the hole the dagger left in the dress.
“It is your blood! You went and got yourself stabbed. If you weren’t royalty I’d smack you right now,” Daecus growled.
“Same. Also, I did heal her,” Vex chimed in.
“Yeah, that guy healed it! It’s like it never happened,” said Talynn.
“What did happen is you disobeyed me. All three of you. Do you understand what you did? She could have died!” Daecus raised her voice in a vindictive shout.
“But I made sure she didn’t,” Vex said.
“I’m sorry we left without permission. I should have stopped them. I accept full responsibility,” Mavence stepped in. “But Talynn was right. The enemy did have magic weapons. If we hadn’t been there, all four of these men would be dead.”
“I don’t want to hear excuses. Those soldiers are prepared to die defending their country. Protecting the emperor and his household. You children dying is unacceptable. You endangered your own lives and now the killer is gone, along with the items he stole with him.”
“At least we’re alive. I’m sure they can just make more of whatever he stole,” Versutana waved her hand dismissively.
“You have no idea how important this is! The security of the entire empire could be at risk. This could start another war. You just…” Daecus began pacing back and forth, trying to restrain herself.
“I will tolerate the reckless behavior of you three no longer. Vacation’s over. We’re departing for the capitol at daybreak. And this time, the guards will keep you in their sights at all times. Now move. Back to the inn.”
The knights gathered together and began escorting the somber trio up the winding paths to the exit of the mine, one of them carrying Versutana.
“Bye. You’re welcome for healing you and stuff. Only saved the life of the emperor’s daughter, no big deal. Guess a reward would be out of the question,” Vex trailed off, but it was apparent that he held no one’s attention. “I hate this job.”
Vex leaned his back against the wall of the now empty tunnel and rolled up the right sleeve of his long black coat. After unlacing his leather bracer, he gazed upon the crystal hidden underneath. The stone was attached to a cord wrapped several times around his forearm. It slowly pulsed, alternating between pitch black and bright white.
“That kid may be talentless, he’s surprisingly intelligent. The legendary Tenevis stone,” Vex muttered as he swung the stone side to side from its cord. “That’s the first time anyone has gotten close to figuring you out so quickly.”
“Oh god, that was a long walk,” Talynn said as his friends and their entourage of knights finally arrived at the inn. Belloris greeted them eagerly as they stepped inside.
“Aye, welcome back! It’s a bit late, but if any of ye are famished I can whip up some hoggeth puddin’, unless ye fancy somethin’ else. Dear lord! What happened to the wee lass?” Belloris dropped the cloth in her hands and rushed over to Versutana, her body struggling to stay upright after having lost a significant amount of blood.
“Poor thing. I’m sorry, dinnae mean to pry into yer business. The important thing is we take care of the bairn. Bring the lass here to this chair. She needs soup to nurse her back to health,” Belloris said and quickly walked to the kitchen. She returned with a steaming bowl of red soup.
“There ya go, drink up lass,” Belloris began spoon feeding Versutana. “Aye, no hoverin’. You lot go wash up and get some rest. Let the poor lass be.”
After returning to their second-story room, Talynn went out on the small deck a while Mavence removed his armor.
“That assassin did a number on me,” Mavence said as he examined the cuts and bruises on his body. Talynn remained silent.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about what Vex said. It made me so mad,” Talynn replied after a sigh.
“That guy is a jerk. Don’t listen to him.”
“I’m not mad about what he said, I’m mad that he’s not wrong. In four years I still can’t do what a first year academy student can do. My lumi flow is weak. I’m reliant on lux chalk. I can’t even cast any elemental spell on my own,” said Talynn.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t still be a mage. You’re smart and resourceful, you’ve already done great things as a mage. You stopped an assassination attempt and you won the mage’s tournament.”
“Those were either trivial or lucky. In a real battle, I really am useless. When we were fighting the assassin, you guys nearly died because I wasn’t strong enough to stop him. Versutana took the hit because I’m so incompetent that I have to use lux chalk. I’m useless,” Talynn said, his eyes beginning to water.
“Talynn, don’t say that.”
“But it’s true! I’m just not good enough. I’ve never admitted it to myself, but deep down I’ve known all along that I’m not cut out for this. I’ll never be a great fire mage and I’ll never make it into the Empress’ Guard with you,” Talynn’s voice cracked as he tried desperately to hold back tears.
Mavence let him sob for a few seconds before placing his hand on Talynn’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Talynn, this is your dream. You can’t stop here.”
“Well it was a stupid dream then!” Talynn voice swelled in a mix of rage, frustration, and anguish. “I should have stopped a long time ago. I should have listened to the instructors and other students. Everyone was telling me all along I wouldn’t cut it as a mage. And they were right. I was never good at this and I never will be!”
Mavence gave him a moment to simmer down.
“I just… I just can’t do it anymore,” Talynn sank to the floor and buried his head in his arms as he sobbed.
Mavence sighed, unsure of the right words to say to comfort his friend. He sat down beside him in silence, providing a shoulder to cry on.
Just below them on the ground floor, Dimru had stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. He leaned against the back door of the inn as he overheard their conversation, his arms crossed and finger tapping pensively. After the silence ensued, he returned to the warmth of the inn.
The morning arrived quickly, Daecus waking them all up at first light. Everyone, including the knights, were visibly tired and fatigued.
“Ver! How are you feeling?” Talynn asked as they met in the lobby.
“Not terrible for having woke up at this ungodly hour,” she said as she rubbed her eyes.
“Make sure ye eat plenty, lass! And all of ye take care!” Belloris waved them off.
The group walked down the hill towards the valley, passing many Parvosans on their way up to their jobs in the mines. As they passed Dimru’s forgery, the kind dwarf beckoned Talynn over.
“Mornin’ laddie. C’mon over. I got somethin’ I want to show ye,” Dimru said as he pulled out a small leather pouch and handed it to him. Talynn opened the pouch, pulling out a metallic cylinder from inside.
“Is this… lux chalk?”
“Aye. Not yer run o’ the mill stuff. Ye been using lux chalk meant for bairns. Lot o’ chalk with just a wee bit o’ luxium. This one’s fit for a real mage. Lots o’ luxium with just a wee bit of powder to keep it soft.”
“Whoa, where did you get this?” Talynn asked as he eagerly inspected the piece of chalk, this one being much more metallic and glittery than his own.
“Handmade it maself. Ye won’t find this sold in any store or smithery.”
“Cool. How much are you selling it for?”
“It’s not a product, lad. It’s a gift. For you.”
“For me? What for?”
“Ye helped a stranger, nae even one o’ yer own kin, and dinnae ask anythin’ in return. Nae seen many a human do somethin’ like that. Yer a good lad. It’ll take a bit more lumi to use this one, but the power of yer spells will increase tenfold. Hope that will help ye on yer journeys.”
“Thank you. You’re not too bad yourself, Dimru.”
“And you laddie! Come on over,” Dimru said to Mavence. “Word has it ye saved some family o’ mine in the cavern. Said ye came in like a grand knight and faced off with that killer, no fear in yer eyes. They wanted to pay their thanks to ye with a special sword. Short sword, of course, just to yer likin’.”
Mavence eagerly stepped forward and accepted the sword from Dimru. He slowly pulled it out of its sheath, admiring the craftsmanship.
“What kind of metal is this? I don’t recognize it. Looks slightly darker than steel, but at the same time it looks almost… sparkly.”
“It’s called luxsteel. It’s an alloy of iron, carbon, and luxium. I’d recommend not lettin’ folks look too close at that sword. It’s not ‘officially’ produced just yet,” Dimru gestured for them to lower their voices so as to not be heard by the knights accompanying them.
“Are you sure I can have this then?”
“Aye, pretty sure. We were craftin’ em for the emper’r in secret, but that thief stole one of ‘em so I suspect it won’t be a secret much longer.”
“So what makes it different than a normal sword?” Mavence asked.
Talynn reach out and touched the blade of the sword. He felt something which confirmed his suspicions.628Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuZly7XmVR
“This metal… it can conduct lumi! But what does it do with it?”
“Right now, not much. The ones we make here are just prototypes. Missin’ a vital piece that’s not crafted by us dwarves.”
“See that little slot thing Mav?”
“Yeah, there’s a little recessed spot in the crossguard of the hilt.”
“Aye, somethin’ special goes there. Dinnae ken what. Just hold on to this sword for now. Eventually ye’ll be able to upgrade it into a truly fearsome weapon.”
“Thank you, Dimru.”
“And you! Be sure to come back if ye ever need more o’ that lux chalk! And promise me one thing, laddie.”
“Yes?” Talynn said.
“Even if the goin’ gets tough, dinnae give up on yer dreams. Chase ‘em with everything ye got, ye hear?”
Talynn looked down at the lux chalk in his hand and then closed his fingers over it. A smile lit his face. He looked back up at Dimru and gave him a nod.
“I promise. I will become a great mage one day, just you wait.”
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