The next day, we were up at our normal time and decided to head over to Bronan's house next door. Today we would be learning about dwarven firearms.
I had been curious about the subject for a while now, mainly because I wanted to test Vengeance on it.
Once we arrived, we noticed that Bronan had already prepared several models of weapons called 'rifles' and 'pistols'.
I recognized a few of them from yesterday. They were high-powered projectile weapons. Much louder than bows and crossbows, though...
"Hey, Bronan. How are things today?" I asked casually.
"Very good! I received a message from Dufoth earlier about the relic that was found. They had a team working all night on it and found that it could be disassembled and moved piece by piece. Kind of sounds like all that work yesterday was a pain in the arse," he said.
"Yeah...pain in the ass..." Isabella mumbled.
I groaned internally as well at the new information but decided to move on.
"Have they found its use, yet?" I asked.
"They're not sure. But they have theories. One, for example is that it's something used to summon demons or to talk with the gods. And by the King's beard, I hope not. We don't need demons running around while that awful Black Ooze is on the loose!" He said.
I don't think the gods would say anything, either. They're cowards who abandoned us all to die in darkness.
"Have they gotten it to work at all?" Isabella asked.
"No...they're not sure if it's even capable of powering itself. It could be magic, but they aren't detecting signs of any energy. I'd like to look at it myself, but I'll wait my turn. Were either of you interested in it?"
"Not really, we went through a lot of effort to secure it, so I thought I'd ask. It seems like a piece of junk, if you ask me," I said.
It may have sounded a bit harsh, but I didn't care much for something like that at this point. That thing probably belonged in a museum.
"It did feel a bit...underwhelming..." Isabella said.
"Ah, well. You two don't mind holding it for me though, do you? At least until I can clear some space for it? That's after I get my hands on it, of course," Bronan said.
"Not at all. We have plenty of extra space in our basement. Being able to disassemble it just makes it easier to put down there," I said.
"If we could look at it too, that might be fun. Until then, we have other things to do," Isabella said.
"Aye. Right here, I have an assortment of dwarven firearms. These are the hand held models designed for personal use. We have larger models that are used by the military and defence forces, but those aren't as simple."
I looked at the table next to Bronan and saw an assortment of weapons.
"May I?" I said.
Bronan nodded and I picked up a pistol.
It had a small heft to it, but it felt good in my hand.
I decided to pull out Vengeance and tried to use shapeshifting weapon.
{Error: Vengeance Form Three: Shapeshifting Weapon, can only be used on weapons that the user has a complete understanding of. Item: Dwarven Flintlock Pistol, cannot be copied.}
I frowned as I saw the message appear on my status screen.
"Did it not work?" Isabella asked.
"No. It says I need a complete understanding to use it. Bronan, can you help me understand these weapons?" I asked.
He smiled wide at me.
"Aye, that's why you're here, isn't it?" He said.
* * *
For the next week, we learned as much as we could about dwarven firearms.
I learned how to assemble, disassemble, operate, and fix them.
Once I had learned these things, Vengeance was much more compliant.
After I had learned everything I could, I began practicing shooting with Vengeance.
The shots fired from Vengeance were far more potent and had much longer range. Also, it didn't take any time at all to reload. I could fire quickly because it operated on magic. And since the ammunition was composed of hardened magic crystals, running out wasn't an issue either. Similarly to the crossbow, of course.
The crossbow, fortunately, was also much simpler to deal with. It still had its uses, too. Like being a lot quieter.
I noticed immediately that Vengeance had significantly higher accuracy and range than the pistol Bronan had.
Once I got the hang of using one-handed firearms, I was taught how to use rifles.
Vengeance would allow the use of two-handed weapons as long as I wasn't trying to dual-wield them, thankfully. As a result, my arsenal of weapons began to grow.
I also thought about using more skills... One's specific to ranged weapons. But I would deal with that later.
One night after dinner, Isabella and I laid down in bed together.
She pulled herself up under my arm and laid her head on my chest.
She had begun to enjoy this as well as squeezing me like pillow.
There was something bothering us, lately...
"Mizik...you remember what we heard, right?" She asked me.
"About the rest of the world? Yeah...I couldn't forget it if I tried."
The situation was simple: Hakumo had been completely destroyed by a horrifying black dragon. Later, two individuals were seen riding this dragon and spreading the Black Ooze to yet more countries.
A pseudo united front had been formed with all of the remaining countries in the uninfected parts of the world. They were fighting with everything they had to stop the Ooze...
Our world became a battlefield while trying to survive against the most terrifying plague anyone had ever seen.
As far as we knew, there were nine more legendary sword wielders in the world. These nine warriors managed to band together amidst the destruction of their lands and had been leading the united front.
As guilty as we felt for not helping, we knew it was pointless.
The shadow dragon by herself was enough to deter us from fighting and the Source was also present along with his bodyguard.
We still had nightmares from that dragon... Its eyes and smile were burned into our souls. The voices it made couldn't be unheard.
Every time the subject came up between us, it was like bringing up a severe trauma. We needed to talk about it and we both knew that...but the terror we felt from that abomination made it impossible to speak of.
Without touching the boundaries of actual madness, of course.
"I just wish that it would all end. I'm so happy now with you. I don't want to die, Mizik. I want to grow old with you... I want to bear your children. I want to see them grow up... The waiting is driving me crazy!" Isabella said.
She clutched my chest and quietly started crying..
I held her close and waited for her to stop.
"If I could change something, I would. If it were possible to save our world, I would want to...for you. We have a happy life here with so many memories... I don't want them to disappear..." I said.
As I spoke, I felt tears streaming down my face.
One day the Black Ooze would arrive... One day it would destroy our home and kill us all.
I didn't want to think about it... The more I did, the worse I felt. I wanted to stop Isabella from thinking about it as well because it was causing her so much stress.
"As long as we're together until the very end...I can die happily," Isabella said.
As she spoke, she adjusted herself on top of me and rested her head on my shoulder.
I didn't mind her weight on top of me. My strength was enough to where it didn't matter. It was comforting. The closest we could possibly be to one another.
And as she fell asleep on me, I felt a fire spark within me.
I don't like this. Not at all. I refuse to just lay down and die! I WILL NOT LET THAT VILE OOZE DESTROY US!
[The Source has done more to incur my wrath than you realize. More than anything, I desire his head on a pike. I want you to slaughter that mongrel with extreme prejudice.]
For once, I completely agree with you Vengeance. This goes far beyond petty revenge and just simple violence. This is war. Vengeance, if you can give me more power, I need you to do it.
[That power is not easily given. You do not know our origins, so I cannot blame you. My true power would destroy you in your current state.]
What are you, then? Who made you and the rest of the legendary swords?
[We have never revealed our origins to anyone. This is a pact that would one day be broken. The information would be useless to you right now, but I will tell you that we are not of this world. Surpass your mortal limits and then we will speak. Until then, you have much work to do. Isabella can tell Bravery that Vengeance has spoken on this subject. Bravery will understand. It will comply with my wishes...]
Now I was curious about something...
It? Is Bravery male or female?
[A pointless question. But I will answer... We conform to the user. We, the voices of the blades, are the spirits possessing their power. Bravery has the voice of a female because of its wielder being female. This was decided because it is simply easier to communicate. It has no other meaning.]
Then if I were a woman...
[Then my voice would also sound feminine. Wielders find it easier to open up to us if we sound like them. Your human classifications of gender are irrelevant to spirit beings incapable of reproduction.]
Noted...
* * *
The next week was an interesting one.
We were on our way home from work one day when we saw a large group of dwarves with machines entering and exiting our house under Bronan's supervision.
"Excuse me, what's going on here?" I asked.
"Aye, they finally decided to give us the arch. They can't find anything on it so they brought it over. I'm making sure they don't break anything," Bronan said with a smile.
"I'm glad we can trust you, Bronan. Are they assembling the arch now?" Isabella asked.
"Aye! They're still bringing the pieces in, but it's mostly rebuilt. When it's done, we can take a look."
"Well, that settles that. How about we relax for a bit?" I said to Isabella.
"Sounds nice. We did have a difficult day after all," she said.
With that, the two of us sat down on the couch while the dwarves went in and out of the basement carrying the large stones.
Eventually, the movement stopped and we went down to check on everything. We found investigator Dufoth overseeing the constriction.
"Ah, Mizik, Isabella, please come in!" He said.
"Do we need permission to enter our own basement?" I asked.
"Ehm...no...now that you mention it. This is your house, of course! And we don't really have the power to stop ye...haha..." Dufoth said cheerfully.
Isabella giggled in response.
"How goes the reconstruction?" She asked.
"Its going well. We should have it finished in about an hour. Once that's done, you two and Bronan can study it as much as you like. Although, this will likely be the last you both see me for a while. Until the...you-know-what arrives," Dufoth said.
"Let's save that subject for another day," I said.
We decided to stay and watch the construction and at some point, I began feeling dizzy.
Every time they would add a piece to the arch and its platform, I could feel my head hurt.
Eventually, as it was completed, I could feel my head pounding. I decided to get up and leave.
"Mizik? Are you alright?" Isabella asked.
"I'm okay...I just don't want to be around that thing," I said.
As I left, Isabella followed after me.
Thankfully once I was in a different room, the headache stopped.
Later in the day, Dufoth and his men came back upstairs and said their goodbyes.
Then we were alone with Bronan. We did our usual routine at that point and parted ways once we'd finished eating.
That night, I couldn't seem to get much sleep.
I kept seeing images of the arch in our basement. It would always be accompanied by visions of far off places that I had never seen before. Lands of fire, of water, deserts, and icy mountains.
For some reason, everything about these places seemed different. I couldn't figure out why this was the case, however...
These sleepless nights would begin to occur from that point on. Not every night, but at least once or twice a week... Not enough to drive me crazy...but enough to be annoying.
After about four months of working, learning from Bronan, and occasionally being tormented by that damn arch, I really started to hate that thing. Despite this, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it.
Isabella eventually started trying to set up barriers before we slept.
They had no effect.
Regardless, four months after the day we received the arch...we heard the news that would seal out fates.