After the meeting, Fen settled in the personal Training Hall, resolving himself to not getting much sleep that night. Which was a benefit, he didn't want to experience another night filled with visions of the Void.
He had too many things to do and not enough time; before the first instructional meeting with Qin and Gray, he wanted to find a suitable weapon to use in the Scenario, or at least one that he would be able to use a future Scenario if he couldn't afford it for this one. The sooner he did that the faster he would be able to begin training with the weapon.
So, he spent a total of three hours swinging around multiple different weapons, seeing if any sparked his interest, or appealed to him. Of course, even if the weapon suited his tastes, it had to check a couple things on his checklist.
One. It had to be light enough for Fen to easily carry around, which wasn't as difficult now because of his recently enhanced strength, however, he also wanted it to be small enough to conceal. That immediately crossed off large war hammers, axes, and swords from the list on the interface. Although they might give him extra power, they would also be very conspicuous, and wouldn't let him sneak anywhere or else they'd make some noise.
In a forest full of unknown monsters, that would be enough to kill him.
Two. Although it was hard to admit, Fen was poor at the moment, so the weapon had to cheap or at least cheap enough to afford at the soonest possible moment. He didn't know how difficult the Scenarios were at the weakest rank, Erudite, but he hoped that they would be easy enough to let him gain enough points through the Points Table without spending too much time risking his life.
Three. He wanted the weapon to be simple and uncomplex. There was a reason for that; both Qin and Gray were learning simple weapon styles, so choosing a complicated weapon like a halberd or a chained-mace would completely undermine Fen's efforts to learn. It would be like a painter trying to teach art to a digital graphics designer; they both had the same purpose, but extremely different ways of operating.
With those three criteria, the list of weapons quickly reduced into a few weapons, just enough for him to make a decision based off their descriptions.
[Squad 42 Training Hall]
[Candidate 178-3001: Fen Altairus]
[List of Weapons:]
[8. Iberian Short Sword. Properties: A stoutly shaped sword with a 60 cm (2 ft) long blade. The handle is simply as it is effective, with a strange leather added to enhance the wielder's ability to hold the sword. This weapon was mass produced by a strange nation, but its quality is guaranteed despite the lower quality materials required to create this weapon.]
[Cost: 140 points]
[10. Dwarven Long Axe. Properties: A fearsome axe originating from the Dwarven Empire before they were corrupted by the Sin's influence. With a one-and-a-half meter (~5 feet) long handle, this weapon can build up a momentum powerful enough to chop weaker monsters into two. The engravings on the head of the axe is engraved with a short history of its creator.]
[Cost: 225 points]
[13. War Scythe. Properties: A weapon which might inspire comraderies between farmers, this tool of war is elegant when used by a monster and inspires within the mind the image of a farmer cutting his wheat, only except for plant life, a war scythe is used to cut down people. And very effectively too.]
[Cost: 275]
These were the weapons that caught his eyes, all of which felt the easiest to hold within the acceptable price range. Among them, the Iberian short sword felt the easiest to swing around, even with no prior training or experience. It was light enough for him to easily control, without wasting too much of his strength.
The war scythe felt too dangerous to use. Every time he used it, Fen was constantly worried about slicing one of his body parts open with every swing. To his opponents, he couldn't even think about what they would feel if they encountered such a weapon in combat. The long blade combined with the sturdy handle meant that there was very little his opponent could do if he managed to perfectly cut towards them.
But that was also the war scythe's weakness. If he allowed something to get within his reach, Fen was screwed. He would be forced to drop the scythe and uses his fists to drive away the opponent. And although that would be effective now with his enhanced strength, using his hands defeated the purpose of carrying the war scythe. Thus, the scythe was crossed out from the list of potential weapons. The tool's cost also affected his decision to not choose the weapon; it was too damn expensive.
With his meager savings of only 141 points, he could just barely afford the short sword, but what he was really interested in was the axe.
If Fen was able to survive a Erudite Scenario without buying the short sword, he would be able to afford the war axe, which would give him the versatility of either weapon and a longer reach. He could even strap the weapon across his back to carry around discreetly (As discreet as anyone with a large axe could be).
However, with that thought process, Fen could also save up and eventually buy an even higher quality weapon.
So, his choices were to either purchase the Iberian short sword or save up, but if he didn't buy the sword then he would have to enter the Scenario unarmed, which would significantly decrease his chances of coming out alive.
After all, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't need a weapon, so, if he wanted to be cautious like in his plan, then he would have to choose the short sword.
Choosing now would also have another benefit; he would be able to practice using the weapon for much longer than if he waited to make a choice later. A true beginner and a person who was acquainted with a blade were two very different things.
'But if I do choose the sword, then I'll have to waste more time later down the road if I want another weapon. The fucking thing might not even work against the monsters in the Scenario; it'd line up with my view of the Foundation if none of the items in the Shop were of any practical use in combat against a monster from pre-Foundation times.
The VPF didn't exist in the same time as monsters, but although they experienced different times, the Foundation wasn't lying when they stated they sent exploration teams into the Scenario's to test their difficulty. The main reason why they warned about death was because of the sheer magnitude of the Scenario, they couldn't be sure that some powerful species of beast was sleeping beyond the known horizon, ready to tear apart any candidate it encountered.
Clenching his hand around the handle of the short sword, Fen resolved himself to purchasing the weapon. His mind was tired and his muscles were fatigued from working; in order to not regret his choice later in the morning, he decided to purchase it now from the Shop interface, and bring it to Raisen in the next Lesson to ask about it.
In the absolute worst case scenario, the Iberian short sword would make an absolutely terrific paperweight. Not that Fen had any loose paper lying around. Maybe he could use it as a weight for training? It for sure wouldn't be a very effective one however; the sword was only about 4.5 kg (10 lbs).
Fen stepped out from the Training Hall and saw that the rest of his Squad was already in their rooms, asleep. Stepping over to the interface, he pressed his Mark into the golden particles to confirm his purchase.
The golden interface shivered for a brief moment, almost collapsing in on itself while the edges of the interface turned denser and collected near the center. After almost a minute, a small golden ball formed in the air. The ball was hard to look at; its golden glow was nearly blinding, and the light increased in brightness every second.
Slowly, the ball increased in size as it siphoned the energy from the energy veins in the walls as the facilities formations were activated, sending small amounts of Mana to the interface to initiate the purchase process.
When the golden ball reached roughly four feet in diameter, it instantly turned black, like the darkest corners of the Void, before buzzing with energy as it reshaped itself into the rough outline of the Iberian short sword.
First, the handle was created within the now greyish energy mass. The interface had told the truth; the weapon was mass produced for entire armies to wield as standard equipment; the handle and the blade were forged from the same piece of metal, there was no hilt. The handle part of the weapon was circular where the blade was sharp, and a piece of leather was bound across the circular part of the metal piece. Above that part of the metal blade was the edge, there was no cross guard protecting his hand. The blade had only a single edge, and on the other side of the toll of war, across the sharp edge, the metal got wider from the edge, to aide in deflecting blows.
The grey mass finished creating the weapon by finishing with a devilishly sharp end at the top of the sword, perfected by the foreign empire's smiths to stab through most armors and protections to reveal an enemy's blood-red insides.
When the Iberian short sword was done, it stopped floating in the air, suspended by the energy created from the energy, and gently glided into Fen's open palm.
During the time the sword was being created, Fen stood to the side watching in awe. The weapon was plain, and had no exclusive markings to show its uniqueness, but that didn't dampen Fen's appreciation of the item, or rather it's creation process. Even if the weapon was plain, the grey energy definitely wasn't.
This was the first item he had purchased from the Shop, marking an important milestone in his journey to survive the Program and go back home, Foundation be damned.
He gave the tool a few admiring swings as he was mesmerized by the sound the sword made as it cut through the air. No matter what happened in the next year, this would be his first weapon. It could even be considered his life-long companion...
Most likely not. Fen wasn't the sentimental type, and the only thing he would be appreciative of was the weapon's sharp edge and point, arguably the most important parts.
That was all he needed. Partner? Never heard of it. If he couldn't use it to survive in a forest full of monsters, than it was irrelevant. Unnecessary. Inefficient.
The short sword could be considered to be one the most efficient tools created by Humanity, perfected over countless decades while still not forgetting its origins nor its goal. From copper to bronze, to iron, to steel. From Mana manipulations to complex spells and formations, to dense magical projections. From simple lifeforms to perfected beings, mere inches from becoming Gods.
The progression of the Foundation was not exponential, their growth was linear, built over a foundation of hard work and technology. Their growth was slow, but nothing would stop them from accomplishing the Succession.
The same light that impassioned the Foundation's leaders glowed in Fen's eyes and he gazed at the weapon. Clenching his teeth, the young candidate went to his room to get as much sleep as he could, perfecting his plan to survive the first Task even while his mind drifted into the fringes of consciousness.
****
The darkness was everywhere. Tangible, all around him. He couldn't hear their screeching anymore. But he could feel them moving all around him, and their unearthly howls seemed to barely reach his ears through the inky blackness of the Void.
Slowly, the stars returned to the Void. With every star the howls grew louder, and Fen could see movement in his peripheral vision, but he never saw the creatures. Just a flicker of presence, of existence, of simply being there. The flickers appeared more rapidly along with the stars in the Void.
They couldn't touch him anymore. They knew that. As long as they waited, they would regain their ability to hurt him. She would make sure of it.
But not yet. He was watching, protecting the young candidate from them.
...Who was 'he'? Fen didn't know why his head filled with those words, why his heart filled with warmth.
When the Void was so filled with stars that there was more light than Void, he appeared again. Sucking in all the light the instant he appeared; Fen could only make out a brief pitch-black outline. He made sure to keep his eyes wide open in this state of reality, to not miss out on any details that appeared while he was in this condition.
Mostly, he kept his eyes open to see what would happen if he did.
The area where the head should be was shaking; was it laughing? Or cackling as it neared it's prey? Fen flinched as he saw the black mass that could almost resemble a person reach out a limb. Or appendage, a hand, or a claw; it could be all of those things and yet none at the same time.
Fen could feel that it held no hostile intentions however, and as it reached its hand closer to his face the energy inside of Fen reacted, growing stronger than before. As the darkness inside of it grew blacker, the stars in the starless Void grew brighter, in a positive feedback loop.
It touched his cheek, and the energy inside of him exploded, rushing to meet with it's hand. The sensation was the same as before, ice cold and yet warm at the same time. There was emotion in the blackness that made up it's body, and if it could express itself like a human, Fen knew that it would be smiling at that moment.
A sound came from it, and all the background noise dropped away out of respect for it's presence.
Even in the Void, where she was strongest, he held enough power to name itself the Void's ruler, it's God.
Fen could only think that it's voice was the coldest sound he had ever heard; it sounded like wind dragged through an abyss, or perhaps the Void. The sound was twisted but also straight and honest like nothing Fen had ever heard.
"Take..."
"Gift..." Saying those words seemed to make it tired; the sensation of it caressing his head dropped away, and the darkness grew fainter.
"Who are you?" Fen raised his eyes to stare at where it's head should be, where darkness was. It's appearance flickered, and he thought that it felt sad, if just for a moment. It's emotions felt much more real now after it had spoken.
He wasn't paying attention to his body then, all of his focus was on the familiar being in front of him, but Fen couldn't miss the small burning sensation on his chest. Fen didn't want to look down, he wanted to continue watching it, knowing that the instant he looked away it would disappear.
There were too many questions inside his head.
'Who are you?'
'Why do I know you?'
'Why are you...protecting me?'
The sensation grew stronger the longer Fen refused to look away. It was doing it on purpose, to make him look away, to distract him for just long enough to allow it to leave without giving Fen a clue about it's existence.
'Why? Why can't I know who you are?' Fen's thoughts assaulted it, or at least it seemed that it could hear his thoughts as it flinched in reaction to his unspoken question.
The both of them floated like that for a while, in a silent staring competition, all while the sensation on his chest grew so hot that Fen couldn't bear to ignore it any longer.
The instant he looked down the burning sensation stopped, but thankfully the mass of darkness remained. Fen couldn't inspect what was on his chest in the short time that he looked down, as soon as he felt that the pain was gone he looked back up and met it's eyes. Er, the place where it's eyes should be.
It slowly floated closer and pat him gently on the top of his head, stroking his hair in a loving manner.
The strokes calmed Fen's beating heart, and the raging thoughts crashing inside his mind. He exhaled, a white mist forming in front of him as the moisture in his breath crystalized from the freezing Void.
A finger extended from another of it's limbs, poking him on the chest. It didn't hurt, it was more of a friendly bop then anything.