"Clank!" That sound filled the inside of the Sharance tree by the time Blake had blocked his attacker's sword, the force behind the sudden attack was strong enough to send his body flying through the air as he realized he had no have enough strength to prevent that sword that had collided with his from continuing to advance.
His body fell heavily on the ground and then rolled a bit before he could regain his balance, he had quickly taken his typical fighting stance while he was thinking at full speed about how to get out of that situation, he could see that Ragna's figure was still in the floor in that same state causing him to realize that the enemy had possibly used something to put him to sleep.
The Sharance tree produced its own light at night, but despite that, it was so dim that, combined with everything Blake was experiencing, he couldn't really pay attention to the identity of his attacker. It seemed that an arduous battle was coming, but it was then that both the figure that hid a little in the shadows and his voice showed his presence before Blake.
"You have a pretty good reaction. It seems that Shino has done a good job with you." That voice seemed very familiar to Blake, and it was quite obvious once he saw how Mei's figure was totally visible to him.
"This..." Blake was about to ask what exactly was going on, but Mei was going to answer that question that was on his mind.
"Don't think too much about it, I just wanted to test someone who's both a mage and a runic a bit, but it seems like you're still in your growth stage." Mei's voice was quite clear, but those very words made Blake get a little defensive. "Don't worry, don't think I found out your little secret, it was obviously Shino and major Marjorie who told me about this."
Blake thought about it for a bit before the alert feeling left his body, he didn't notice anything strange in Mei's words, and if his masters had told her about his situation, it must mean that he could trust her. It seemed that the previous battle environment didn't matter anymore, Blake was about to put his sword away, but Mei stopped him by quickly appearing in front of him and taking the handle of the sword to appreciate it a little better.
"Hmm… It's a good sword, Shino told me that she didn't give it to you, so I'm curious how you got it… Although, I should ask you first if you know exactly what you have in your possession." Blake felt that her question was strange, but he just kept quiet since he didn't know what Mei was referring to.
She realized this and began to explain the aspects of elemental weapons causing Blake to listen intently as well as become interested in them.
"Now do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes, I didn't know it was something that special…" Blake was still immersed in all this new information. "And to answer your question, I actually got it from a mystery box in the desert."
It hadn't taken long for Blake to come up with that excuse, now he knew that if he got something just as rare, he could always use the excuse that he got it from a mystery box. Mei was a bit thoughtful because of that, but aside from that answer, any other method of getting an elemental weapon was pretty slim.
She was also quite aware of the mystery boxes and their strange powers, she had also obtained some valuable items in the past thanks to them, although the possibilities were always endless.
Mei stared at the sword a little longer before handing it back to Blake, she also couldn't see anything that linked it to some famous story or blacksmith, so she figured its potential was pretty limited and it wouldn't hurt for Blake to keep it.
A small silence filled the place after both of them didn't say a word, but Blake had to express the question that was on his mind.
"Um… Is Ragna alright?" Blake had once again been aware of Ragna's body still on the floor at that moment as she seemed to be having a good dream.
"Don't worry, I just put him to sleep, he won't wake up until tomorrow unless something bothers him enough." Mei said that calmly even though she was talking about her own disciple.
Blake asked her if it was okay to at least put him in his sleeping bag, and since Mei didn't say anything against it, he did exactly that. Now it was noticeable that the drowsy Ragna was enjoying a sound sleep within the comfort of the peculiar sleeping bag.
Blake stopped paying attention to him and turned his gaze to what, in his opinion, was a rather strange woman, and saw that Mei was now sitting on the ground with her legs crossed in front of her while she closed her eyes.
Blake still didn't know exactly what she was doing there, he was about to try to ask her the reason for all that, but then Mei's voice was the one that was heard first making him only follow her words.
"Come closer, there are things I have to check for myself." Blake didn't think too much about it and approached her position, and then sat down in front of her in the same way.
It didn't take long for Mei's movements to become present; she had quickly raised her hand to touch Blake's abdomen causing him to experience that feeling of being invaded by someone else, and that was already becoming something familiar to him.
There was no way she could resist as the difference in strength was quite significant, so Mei could see exactly what she was looking for.
Using her senses, she became aware of the scenery inside Blake, it was a sight that could mesmerize anyone. In the middle of everything, there was a small drop surrounded by six small runes while its surroundings were adorned by a cosmic sight that was produced thanks to the runic energy gradually becoming the runic essence necessary to feed that drop, but that was not all, a very short distance from it was a simple gray sphere floating in nothingness.
Unlike the drop, that sphere had nothing special around it, but anyone could tell that the runic energy in that space seemed to evaporate into thin streams of energy that also fed that sphere, bringing enormous strength and vitality.
Mei saw all this with an expression difficult to describe, but there was something she was sure of, and it was that everything they had told her was true.