Lenna felt her consciousness being pulled away by a strange yet familiar force.
Unfortunately, this same force also caused her to have a massive headache. She felt like she had spun around for an hour while having a lengthy math lecture from Krom with less than an hour of sleep.
After what felt like hours, she could suddenly feel sensations again.
She propped herself up and rubbed the side of her head as her headache slowly subsided.
Once it was gone, she looked around and found that peculiar scenery surrounded her.
The first thing that caught her eye was that, to her utter disbelief, she literally stood on top of a body of strange water, if that's what it even was.
She hopped around a little and found that she wouldn't fall in no matter what she did!
"Woah! This is so cool! I'll have to tell Krom about this later!" Lenna wasn't really one to ask about the finer details...
She wondered what Krom's experience was like, but she would ask in the future; she first needed to find her armament's will!
Lenna returned her attention to the area around her.
The body of strange liquid seemed to stretch endlessly and was relatively shallow, with ashy-gray sand composing the waterbed. Numerous swords were also lying in the body of water, embedded into the ashy sand beneath. No sword was the same; each one was different. Some were two-handed, some one-handed, some curved, while others might have strange glowing runes.
The waterbody itself was large enough to the point that she couldn't see where it ended and almost ethereal in nature. It looked like water but was black in color and seemed to be more viscous. The air near the liquid had a gray frozen vapor continuously coming off. On top of that, faint icy-blue strands would occasionally run through the water below the surface, which only served to further its mystical feeling.
Heavy, gray fog also covered the region, making it so she could only see about 100 meters ahead. Interestingly, the fog was more concentrated in the area behind her, downstream. It was so much thicker that it looked like a wall of fog!
Lenna found it quite fascinating.
Clearly, the body of strange water wasn't ordinary. It should go without saying that one couldn't usually stand on a liquid, let alone all of the peculiar articles and environmental factors present.
Lenna picked up one of the nearby swords.
The sword was cold to the touch, so Lenna felt it was safe to assume the liquid had extremely frigid properties.
Upon further inspection, she found that the blade was both cracked and corroded!
She stabbed the sword back into the waterbed.
Talking to no one in particular, she asked, "Hmm... Should I follow the flow first? Or should I go to the source?"
She glanced between the two directions a few times before deciding to go with the flow first.
As Lenna walked into the gray fog wall, her visibility plummeted to only a few meters ahead. As she for further in, her visibility kept decreasing. Before long, she wouldn't even be able to see her own hand if it was in front of her face!
Gradually, her field of vision began to return.
"What?"
Lenna was confused.
"I recognize these swords. Am I back where I started?"
She had always had a good sense of direction and was certain she had walked in a straight line, yet, she had somehow looped back around.
"One more time!"
She walked into the fog again— aaaaaand wound up back to where she started... Again.
"It seems that the fog has distortion properties and acts as a barrier," said Lenna.
With that direction out of the way, there were only three left. But, left and right was off the table as it was more likely for something to be at the source.
Lenna resolutely declared, "To the source it is!"
While walking toward the origin, she found that the swords in the water began to become more frequent little by little.
It was eerily quiet, and only the sound of the flowing water could be heard.
While in the trial, she couldn't use her relic or her armament. In fact, her physique was just that of a slightly stronger human. What caused a contractor to have a stronger body was thanks to the reinforcement of mana. What she was right now was simply consciousness in the form of a body. Only her real body had the superhuman physique.
"Ughh, just how much farther up is the source?" Complained Lenna.
'Not too much further,' an unknown voice responded.
She instantly went on alert as her eyes darted around. Her mind had the voice projected directly inside it. Naturally, it had caught her off guard.
The voice snickered, 'You're amusing. Keep going straight.'
Lenna was going to keep going in the same direction anyway. At least she had confirmation that something interesting was up ahead.
Seeing as she had nothing better to do, Lenna asked the voice, "Is this really the inside of my armament?"
The voice answered, 'Yes and no. This is our realm, the River Ván. This place doesn't really exist, but the armament is being used as a medium. '
Lenna didn't really get it but nodded in response nonetheless.
Realms, at the most basic level, were a manifestation of a contractor's personality and desires. Each contractor's realm would vary, and each had their own benefits.
Thinking back a little, Lenna remembered the fog barrier she encountered and said to the voice, "I tried walking into the gray fog a little bit ago but was redirected by it. What's up with that?"
'What fog? Hmm... Ah, I see what you mean. That is not fog. That is the space-time boundary enforced by the rules of Gamut.'
The rules of Gamut are the limitations that prevent the Aquerima from collapsing in on itself and what separates all of the dimensions and worlds from each other.
Although the rules of Gamut keep order, they also are what spark the chaos and created the Aquerima in the first place.
Now, why was it in her realm, the River Ván?
Well, let's just say that the rules of Gamut really loathed anything that interfered with space or time, and realms did just that.
'You only perceive it as fog because you are unable to comprehend its true form. This will cause you to see it as something simple or recognizable that you have seen before,' said the voice.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but the swords, which were once numerous, stopped appearing abruptly. She couldn't see the complete shape due to the fog, but it was safe to assume the sword gap was in the shape of a circle.
In the middle of the circle, a large figure surrounded by fog was present.
The voice snapped, 'Took you long enough.' It calmed down and continued, 'Get over here. I would like to see my contractor.'
Lenna nodded, "Sure, but what are you? I doubt you are my armament or my relic."
The voice laughed, 'Correct you are, but you don't need to know what I am yet.'
She wanted to know, but it's not like she could force it to yield information.
As she made her way to the figure in the center, she was amazed, intrigued, and surprised by what she saw.
The figure was a beast more than five times her size, and this was while it was lying on its stomach. It also wasn't just any beast. It was a majestic wolf that had a glossy gray pelt and claws so sharp that they would probably be able to cut through any mortal material.
Two dozen icy-blue chains as thick as tree trunks emerged from the water and bound the majestic wolf. In addition, a sword so big that no one could feasibly wield it pierced the wolf's jaw clean through, acting as a gag.
Blue blood dripped from the wound and into the water, constantly flowing- never ceasing.
"Hiya, Mr.Wolf," greeted Lenna.
The wolf slowly opened its eyes, revealing two enchanting, icy-blue irises the same color as Lenna's.
After taking a moment to observe her, the wolf's mouth curled as it said, 'Well, aren't you a cute one. What is your name?'
For obvious reasons, it was still communicating via telepathy.
Lenna ignored the wolf's comment and answered, "Lenna Snow. Isn't it usually proper etiquette to introduce yourself first?"
The wolf grunted, 'Cheeky brat. You should respect your predecessors.'
"You still haven't said who you are," said Lenna.
In a melancholy tone, it said, 'Whom I am isn't important, for I am but a vestige of the past- lost to time.'
A glint flashed across its eyes, 'Besides, your primary purpose for coming here was to bargain, was it not?'
Lenna's eyes similarly glinted, "Do your worst."
The wolf flashed its pearly white teeth, 'You want my power? Then be prepared to pay the price.'
'To what lengths are you willing to go?'
'How much are you willing to sacrifice?'
'Who are you willing to go against?'
'Why will you keep getting up?'
'And... Where will your journey end?'
A black and blue streak shot down from the sky and pierced the ground in front of Lenna.
It was a sword almost exactly like Sun-Eater; the only difference was that there was no wolf engraving.
The chains rattled as the wolf forced itself into a sitting position. Causing blue blood to flow out more intensely from the sword, the wolf began to laugh, and with its real voice, it bellowed, "Are you willing to forego your very blood?"
Lenna firmly grasped the sword and held it up.
Was she really willing?
She looked into the blade at her reflection. Things were different now. She wasn't weak.
With a firm resolve, Lenna brought the blade to her neck, "Yes. Take it."
Slice!