"So, this is the surface? I've always wanted to know what it felt like to be up here."
Harnio checked over the armor that Eiken was wearing before nodding. "Yes professor. Now we're safe around the ruins, but when you step out the winds become very strong."
"Will this armor keep us safe?"
Harnio nodded and looked outside at the grass. "Harnio… Why aren't you wearing any armor?"
Harnio scratched his head. "Since my accident, it seems that my body forms a barrier, so the wind just passes around me… I still haven't fully figured out how that happened."
"Yes… as you can see professor, not even the wind is blowing his hair on his head… Don't you think that's strange?"
"I agree blacksmith this is not normal, however let's allow him to figure it out. I don't think he would want us telling the world about this."
Harnio checked over the blacksmith's armor before nodding. "Its my body, so I should be the one learning about what happened."
He took a step outside and looked around. "Professor… Blacksmith. Where would you like to go first?"
"To see the tower. I've seen pictures of it bending over, but I wish to see it with my eyes."
Harnio nodded and looked at the blacksmith's armor. "You know what I want to see."
"What do you want to see?"
"Cough… Cough…"
Harnio felt his head turn red. "It'ssss just some materiallll for blacksmith research… Isn't it blacksmith?"
"Ahh… yes. Just for research. To improve my skills."
Harnio turned and stared at the plains in the distance watching the grass bend in the wind. "Let's go before it gets too dark."
"Yes. I wish to see the tower before it gets too dark… Wow the sky is beautiful."
Harnio smiled as he heard Eiken look up at the sky. "That's what I said the first time I saw the sky as well. In the evening the stars and moons are beautiful."
"Now to the tower… What way to the tower?" Harnio looked around him in confusion and pointed. "Professor. It's the only standing building, and the tallest. You can't miss it."
"Ahh yes… Sorry about that." He looked at Eiken's back as he looked around the outside of the ruins and smiled when Eiken stopped. "He found it."
"That's the tower… It's… bending."
"Hahahaha… Even a professor can be made speechless." Harnio turned and watched as the blacksmith walked up to Eiken. Harnio followed them and stood watching as it moved around in the wind.
"Now you've seen the tower… Can we move on to other things?"
"Blacksmith… Would it be okay if I could go to the base of the tower? I wish to study it up close."
Harnio heard the blacksmith sigh. "Fine… It's understandable you want to see it up close. Just no climbing the tower."
"Understood. Then let's go and explore… Come on Harnio."
Harnio nodded and followed behind the blacksmith and Eiken keeping an eye on their backs. He looked up at the moons in the sky and smiled. "Still beautiful."
"Harnio… How did you feel when you saw the tower for the first time?"
Harnio looked at the tower and smiled. "I saw it as a challenge…"
"Hahahaha… An artificer alright. I hope as you become stronger you keep that attitude of seeing things as challenges."
Harnio nodded and kept looking around at the ruins. He stopped in thought at a wall. "Ahhh… Can we stopppforrr a moment?"
"What's the matter Harnio?"
Harnio shook his head and pointed at the destroyed wall. "Nothing… Just this wall feels strange."
"Let's have a look at the wall then." Harnio touched the wall and frowned. "It's full of the nature, yet it was still destroyed. But it wasn't destroyed by the wind… There's scorch marks here…" He stood in silence with his eyes closed. He turned and looked at the professor's feet.
"Professor, was there a battle out here long ago? I thought I read all the books about the history here, but none of them talked about a battle."
"Umm… Let's talk about that later… Now isn't the time to talk about a few scorch marks… Now let's go to the base of the tower. Come blacksmith and Harnio. Time is of the essence."
Harnio looked at the wall confused. "There was something that happened here… Yet the professor doesn't want to talk about it… I wonder what happened?"
He watched as the blacksmith and Eiken continued walking towards the tower. He sighed and followed them. He walked in silence until they stood at the base of the tower.
"This is where I live… What an amazing building… Blacksmith can't you see how incredible this building is? It has survived through this wind and many other things. It's a pity that it's the only thing left standing up here."
"I'm not sure what you mean professor… I've spent my time in the forge, and it's only recently that I've seen up here. To me it just looks like a building that's able to bend and move when the wind pushes against it."
"Yes… A blacksmith's eye wouldn't be able to see how amazing this building is, nor how deep it's foundation goes."
Harnio watched in silence as Eiken put his hand on the tower. He looked down at the ground. "How deep does it go I wonder?"
"Thanks for taking me here. Just to see this tower from the outside is one of my dreams… Now that I've seen it and touched it. I'll have to look for something else to do… Like maybe find my successor…"
Harnio lowered his head when he felt Eiken's gaze on him.
"Cough… Cough… Ahh sorry to interrupt. Can we move onto our next reason for being up here? To be honest this place gives me nightmares of people falling and trying to catch them and all that dangerous stuff."
Harnio smiled as he heard the blacksmith's coughing and nodded. "I saw it other in that direction."
"Ahh… Fine. What did you see over there Harnio?"
"I saw a strange weapon that can help in our research…"
"A weapon for research hmmm… That brings back some memories doesn't it Harnio?"
Harnio felt his face heat up and he started walking in the direction of the scythe.
"Don't worry about past experiments… If it wasn't for experiments, then we wouldn't be standing out here on the surface."
Harnio nodded and looked around before smiling and pointing. "Over there… The energy coming off it is hard to miss. Be careful it's sharp, and probably will slice through the armor that I made."
"It's that sharp?" Harnio nodded and walked around fallen ruins.
"There was a legend about a very sharp weapon that the guard had, but they never used it… I wonder…"
Harnio stopped and shook his head. ��This is not really a weapon. More like a farm tool that seems to have changed because of being on the surface for a long period of time… That's why we want to study it."
"I want to study it to see how they were able to keep the blade sharp, even after many years just sitting out here."
"By any chance is it a scythe?"
Harnio stopped walking and stood still. He turned and looked at Eiken's feet and nodded. "Yes, professor that's correct. What do you know about the scythe?"
"Just legends and what's in books. It was made for war, but never used. It was tested once and the damage that it caused was too much. It was kept in the Capital under lock and key. By my knowledge it should still be in the Capital… Maybe you're right… It could just be an evolved farming tool… I'll know when I see it."
"We're close to it. It's just around these ruins here." Harnio pointed. "Be careful if you are walking around here. The winds are very unstable…"
Harnio stopped walking and looked ahead of him. He stared at the scythe sticking out of the ground with part of its blade stuck in the ground. He studied its long handle. "Its handle is incredible. Even from here I can see it could stop any blade that tried to cut it."
He took a step to the side as the blacksmith and Eiken stood next to him to look at the scythe. "How… is that so sharp That blade is spotless… I must study it and find out how it was made… Brother you're right. It's beautiful.?"
"Harnio… How did you find this?"
Harnio shrugged his shoulders. I was out here doing some experiments on myself after the accident, and I felt large blasts of wind. I traced where the wind was coming from and found it here."
"Do you see the handle and the engraving on the handle?"
Harnio nodded.
"That's the weapon that's supposed to be locked up in the Capital… How did it get out here?"
Harnio turned and looked at Eiken's hands. "It's the one from the legend you know?"
He saw Eiken's head nod and he felt his heart start beating quickly. "Could it be here because of what happened here long ago?"
Harnio watched as the blacksmith started to take steps towards the scythe. He felt a pulse of wind blow towards them. He frowned and opened his mouth to speak.
"Harnio… I'll get him. We can talk after."
He nodded and watched as Eiken walked after the blacksmith. "Blacksmith… Stop. We can't get too close to it. Can't you feel the wind that is blowing against you?"
'How else can I learn about it if I don't get closer to it?"
"BLACKSMITH JUST STOP!"
Harnio stood there with a shocked face. He looked at the red faced Eiken as he grabbed the blacksmith holding him back. "Why can't I get closer to it?"
"Get back to where Harnio is and I'll tell you about it."
"Fine! Blasted scythe."
Harnio watched with confusion in his eyes. He looked at the scythe in thought as the winds were starting to die down around it. He looked at Eiken's hands around the blacksmith. "Professor… What do you know about this scythe?"
"Let's go back to the tunnels. It's getting too dark up here. Once we're there I'll tell you both about it, as well as wanting to hear the both of you won't go near that weapon ever again."
"Fine… Let's go back. I hope you tell us why professor."
Harnio stood in silence as he stared at the scythe. He blinked his eyes as he felt a touch on his shoulder. "Come let's go back."
Harnio nodded and followed them back to the tunnel entrance. As they stepped onto the tunnel Harnio turned on a light battery and watched with shock as the blacksmith pushed Eiken against the tunnel wall. "Start talking… You better not be putting him into some trouble or something"
"There was a legend… In this legend there was a story of an artificer that was asked to build a weapon."
"Sounds simple… So why couldn't we touch it?"
"This weapon was to be filled with the nature of wind and was able to send sharp blades of winds across battlefields wiping thousands out with a swing."
"You still haven't answered the question yet."
"When they built it, not only did they place the nature in the blade to keep it sharp, but they also gave it life…"
"What does that mean?"
Harnio stepped up to the both and looked at the professor in the eyes with a serious face. "The weapon has a soul in it."
"Not a soul… a spark to be precise…"
Harnio took a step back from them and stood thinking. "That's why we can't touch it. If that spark inside the weapon. If it's owner is still alive… Hence that weapon will always belong to them until they are no longer on Athlos. If somone were to touch it, instant death..."
Harnio frowned. "If the weapon is from the legend then the owner of the scythe should of died, shouldn't they?"
"Yes. You're correct Harnio. The connection should no longer be there, however as you saw. It was about to attack the blacksmith because it was getting to close. That means it's owner is still alive."
Harnio leaned against the tunnel wall in silence. He looked at the pacing blacksmith. "Professor. In the legend who was the owner?"
"I'm sorry blacksmith I don't know, but until then you both mustn't go anywhere near it. Understand?"
"I understand." Harnio sat in silence.
"Blacksmith do you understand?"
"Fine… I understand." Harnio listened as the blacksmith cursed and paced in the tunnel with a worried look on his face. "The surface up there is more dangerous than we thought... Don't forget those scorch marks... You definitely know something Eiken... Spill it."