The following afternoon, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, five figures stood in San Carlo Square.
"Is everyone ready?" Albert asked.
"Yeah, by the way, my name is Lara. I don't think we've met before," she said, turning to face Deimos.
"I'm Deimos. I've actually heard a lot of great things about you from my friends," he replied.
"Really? I'm honored," Lara responded, feeling a sense of pride wash over her. "If you need a weapon, just let me know, and I'll do my best to craft one for you."
"Okay, now that the presentation is over, let's get in the car. The rift I've chosen is quite far away, so if we want to eat dinner at a decent time, we need to move," Albert stated, ushering everyone towards the car.
After 50 minutes of uneventful driving, the car finally stopped near an abandoned factory. The concrete building still stood, as the cost of demolishing it was far more expensive than simply leaving it to rot. As a result, there were a few videos on the internet of teenagers performing courage challenges inside the factory.
"Wow, Albert, are we going to have a fear contest?" Lele asked excitedly.
"Of course not," Albert sighed. "There's a rift inside this factory, that's the only reason we're here."
As they ventured inside the building, Mase suddenly shouted, "I found it!" Everyone slowly followed Mase's voice until they found themselves standing in front of the rift.
"Let's go!" Lele exclaimed, leading the way into the rift. Lara brought up the rear. Once inside, they found themselves engulfed in complete darkness.
"Guys? I can't see a thing," Lele complained.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the middle of the darkness, generating blue sparks that illuminated the space. The group's eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden contrast between light and dark.
"I can make light using my sparks. Come closer to me," Deimos offered, gesturing for everyone to gather around him.
As the group huddled closer to Deimos, Lele couldn't contain his excitement for the lightning.
"That's so cool! How much thunder can you generate and control?" Lele asked, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"I don't really know yet," Deimos admitted with a shrug. "I'm still exploring the full extent of my powers."
In the midst of the darkness, a strange face suddenly appeared, causing Lara to scream in terror. The face had white, pale eyes and rotting skin.
"Ah, hell no! I don't want to be that guy, but those are zombies," Mase complained.
Hearing the scream, the zombie immediately charged at them. Albert knocked an arrow and readied his bow, while Mase summoned his companion and drew his rapier. However, someone reacted even faster than them.
Crack! A spear made of blue lightning struck the zombie, burning it to ashes.
Everyone turned to see who had made the lightning spear. It was Deimos, who had used his power to take down the zombie with ease.
"What the heck was that?" Mase asked Deimos in astonishment.
"Well, while you guys were at Lara's smithy, I envisioned quite a few skills," Deimos replied. "Honestly, I didn't expect this 'Thunder Spear' to be so powerful."
"So, you came up with a skill in your imagination and successfully materialized it in your first attempt?" Mase asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, you could say that," Deimos replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. 'It seems my lightning powers are more potent than I thought.'
"Like we established, for this rift, Lele, don't act unless someone's life is in danger, and just focus on protecting Lara," Albert interjected. "And Deimos, I know you're eager to try out your abilities, but we came here with the goal of testing Lara's weapons. So, can you also refrain from taking action until Lara is satisfied with our testing?"
"Sure, I mean, I would love to try everything out, but I understand that testing the weapons is our top priority," Deimos replied with a nod.
In the darkness, countless more zombies lurked around, blind and almost deaf, only reacting to loud noises. Mase decided to test out his new weapon and snuck up behind a zombie. With a swift lunge, he pierced the zombie's skull with his rapier. As the blade made contact with the brain, Mase could feel a small amount of mana leaving his body. The crystal on the hilt shone briefly, transmitting mana to the blade. To his surprise, a hole much larger than the rapier blade was carved into the zombie's head.
'Wow! It requires a bit of mana, but it can enhance my attacks this much?' Mase thought, impressed with the weapon's capabilities.
A similar scene unfolded with Albert, as he drew his bow and took aim. He felt a small surge of mana leaving his body, causing the gem on his bow to glow brightly. As he released the arrow, it shimmered with white light and struck a zombie right in the eye, creating a gaping hole of about 5 centimeters in the monster's face.
Albert posed a question to Lara, "What are your thoughts on these weapons? They seem amazing to me. If I understand correctly, they take a small amount of our mana and store it in the crystal to enhance the next attack."
Lara's face fell with disappointment as she responded, "I had hoped for more from these weapons. Despite the effort I put into crafting them, I believed that an arrow from that bow would have the power to blow off the head of a zombie. It's possible that the issue lies with the quality of the gem or my own lack of skill. Maybe I'm just not a good enough artisan."
"I think you're being too hard on yourself," Albert said reassuringly. "Trust me, I bet many awakeners would kill for weapons like this. And besides, you mentioned earlier that it could be the quality of the materials that's causing the issue. It might not necessarily be tied to your skills as a forger."
"My grandpa told me this: only a shitty smith complains about his tools and materials."
Deimos countered, "While it's true that a skilled smith can create great weapons even with limited resources, the quality of the materials and tools used still plays a crucial role in the end product. It's like trying to build a castle with sand and sticks - no matter how skilled the builder, the final result will still be lacking."
"...While that may be a possibility, we don't have enough information to conclude that's the issue at hand," Lara replied with a hint of frustration in her voice.
"I trust my instincts, and they tell me that these weapons are incredible considering the quality of the materials used," Deimos confidently stated.
"Thank you for the compliment, but as someone who doesn't know much about smithing, your opinion doesn't carry much weight for me," Lara replied.
Albert was taken aback by Deimos' unexpected behavior. He wasn't used to seeing him giving compliments or uplifting others. Curious, he leaned in and whispered in his ear, "What makes you so insistent about these weapons?"
Deimos scoffed, "Are you kidding me? Have you ever heard of a single mana weapon in the world?"
Albert thought for a moment and replied, "Now that I think about it... no, I haven't... that is strange."
"That can only mean two things. One it's hard to do if it wasn't news would have spread around already two she is either the first person to ever craft a mana weapon or the few that have have kept it secret. If that's the case it would imply that she is an exceptional individual."
"Those are interesting theories," replied Albert, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "It would certainly explain why those weapons are so unique and powerful. And if Lara really is the first person to craft a mana weapon, or one of the few to have done so, then she truly is an exceptional individual."
Mase asked, "Are you satisfied with the testing, or do you want us to continue?"
"There are a couple of durability tests that I want to do, but we can do them after you guys clear the rift."
"Hear that? We're in the clear. Now we can use our skills to their full potential," Mase said with a confident grin.
Deimos followed suit and stretched his arms, cracking his fingers. As he did so, he thought to himself, "Time to put on a show."