Rumy recalled the most painful memories of her life, and I felt so sorry for her.
"My brother couldn't forgive himself for my death, so he used all the dark arts he knew to bring me back to life. Well, not entirely," Rumy lowered her dress, revealing her left breast; from her collarbone to her abdomen, her entire left side was made of meteorite iron. "As you can see, my heart, lungs, and a few other organs were destroyed in that battle. I never really understood the details, but my brother replaced part of my body with metallic parts and a magical heart. Strangely enough, it didn't really affect me; I can eat, sleep, and haven't lost any of my senses. The thing is, I don't really need any of that now; I can also choose not to eat, drink, or sleep, and I still won't die."
"But isn't living forever great?! You could do so much in your lifetime, see and meet so many interesting people."
"Hmm," Rumy looked down. "I thought the same at first, that living forever wasn't so bad, especially since I remained almost human. But then my brother died, and I was left alone... Maybe it would have been better if he turned me into a simple doll, an iron golem, feeling nothing and having no memory of what pain is."
Vina felt guilty but didn't know how to comfort Rumy.
"But it doesn't matter now. After a couple of years, I wasn't so distraught about it anymore. The world didn't interest me much back then, so I decided to seclude myself in my brother's tomb and vowed to come out only with someone stronger than me. By the way, I was already the strongest warrior in history by then."
Proudly, Rumy puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, if you think about it, I've never heard of anyone defeating the guardian of the Golden Tomb," Asura looked in my direction. "What you did deserves respect."
"Oh, come on, it's just that circumstances worked out so conveniently," I tried to attribute my victory to luck. "If Rumy hadn't been wearing that cumbersome outfit, and her weapon had been more suitable, I wouldn't have stood a chance against her. By the way, why do you now wear normal clothes, considering that you had that revealing outfit when we first met?"
I surveyed Rumy from head to toe; she was wearing low-heeled leather boots and a simple brown dress with no gold ornaments or that horrifying mask.
"Oh, that? Well, I was just messing with the students."
"What?!"
"Well, when the dean invited me to participate in this trial ten years ago, I agreed, but I thought that going to the same tomb every year would be boring. And since the visits were only once a month, I decided to change my surroundings and my clothes every year. Besides, what else was there to do for a whole year if I couldn't sleep, had nothing to eat, and got tired of games? I managed to be a Sumerian, a samurai, and even a Viking for a while. Although I had to ask the dean for a few pelts to hang on the walls and a two-handed axe."
The unexpected revelations left us all astonished.
Everyone stared at Rumy with wild suspicion; it was evident that she found the tomb incredibly boring.
"You just got lucky that this year I chose this silly masquerade, and even though the blades resembled my old ones, they had several significant design flaws. However, I was surprised to see that you use the same style as I once did," Rumy looked at me with nostalgia. "Over the years, many people have visited the tomb. Before the dean invited me to participate in this trial, it was mostly treasure hunters and historians who came to me, but then rumors started spreading about an invincible swordsman in the desert, and that the warrior who defeated him would gain eternal fame. So, legendary warriors started coming to me. Well, to entertain myself, I started asking them to teach me how to wield their weapons."
"So, you can handle more than just swords?" Vivien perked up. "I've been looking for a good teacher to improve my skills."
"Alright, alright. I'll only give private lessons to members of the Stormglaive guild and their friends. So, you can always ask me for advice. I'm proficient with swords, axes, maces, spears, daggers, I can shoot a bow, crossbow, and much more. Even female warriors from a distant eastern tribe came to me, so I know how to handle katanas and naginatas too," Rumy threw a flirtatious smile at Asura. "I let you enter the tomb because you showed me true mastery, which I had only seen in a few of your ancestors. But what I didn't expect was to see my old dual-blade fighting style again. Many warriors developed something similar, but I don't think any of them surpassed my style. Krito, you were the first to come to me with my own weapon. Where did you learn it?"
"Well, I was looking for information about contractors and natural mages in the library and accidentally came across an old, tattered book that contained the basics of this style. Then, through training, I started honing its fundamentals."
"Hmm, another user of our diary. It's been so long since we needed this style to fight dragons. And together, we started developing it. My brother was always full of ideas, and I easily brought his visions of the new style to life. He could never defeat me in hand-to-hand combat, though, of course, his magical skills compensated for my complete inability to use magic. Later, I realized that this style was excellent not only against dragons, so I began to develop it in a different direction. However, those advancements aren't in the book anymore, as my brother had already passed away by that time."
"Small world, isn't it? Maybe you can also tell us why the door leading to our basement is inscribed with 'home' in an ancient language?"
"Foolish little brother, it's simple – this was our home; we were born and raised here. This hut has survived all the Academies and remained almost intact. It seems my brother inscribed runes on the foundation to keep it from collapsing, though the walls are now struggling to withstand the test of time."
"Would you mind if we rebuild this house?" I asked directly.
"My home?" Rumy pondered. "Well, I would have protested vehemently and been indignant a thousand years ago, but in the last war, it suffered greatly and now doesn't look its best. I would prefer it to remain as it is, but I understand that it has served its purpose. If you want to, I won't object."
We felt a bit guilty before Rumy, but I knew how to make it right.
"Thank you," I said. "So, this was your home, just three rooms?"
"We lived in another house later, but my brother wanted to preserve this one as a memory of our origin. This was the common room, the one on the right was my bedroom, and the one on the left belonged to my brother. We lost our parents early on and could only rely on each other."
"Krito, what are you doing? Do you still want to rebuild this house? It means so much to her," Katrina tugged on my sleeve unhappily.
"Don't worry; everything will be fine. Alright, everyone, let's settle this. Today is a day for training, and you've already learned what you wanted."
We all proceeded outside for the training session. Today, we were in full attendance, and we had a new teacher – Rumy. Soon, the students of Levris would also join. But before leaving, I stopped Rumy.
"Wait a moment, ancient golem. Can you answer a simple question?"
"What do you want?" she asked.
"And the book on enchantment and dual-blade combat, did one person write both, someone powerful in magic? Could it be the person we know as..."
I couldn't finish the sentence as Rumy's hand gently covered my mouth.
"Anything is possible, but for now, I just want to be Rumy, even though I've lived for a thousand years. Perhaps then, I won't regret still being alive."
"Alright, teacher Rumy, I'll count on your support."
The training went well; Rumy truly excelled in all forms of combat. She trained both me and Algo, as well as Asura and her companions. Practicing with a master of the same style was a beneficial experience for me, as I began to understand what she wanted to achieve. Apart from throws and sweeps, combining strikes with both swords alongside kicks and elbows could be effective against opponents with whom closing the distance wasn't easy. Additionally, the swords could be used for attack and defense regardless of which one was wielded. I wondered if this would help me in future battles.
Algo became better at handling his sword. To me, it seemed enormous, and I doubted I could use it with the same agility, but he started utilizing it to the best of his ability. Circular strikes, sweeps, and strikes with different parts of the sword – Algo combined all these into long combinations, predicting the opponent's movements. Perhaps in the next test of abilities, he would be able to achieve the fourth class.
Asura decided to take a brief rest today and observed the twins' training. They were skilled warriors, working in sync. When Rumy closed in, Vivien defended against her attacks with her spear, and at medium range, Miriam showered the teacher with a barrage of arrows. She could accurately release up to three arrows simultaneously. Of course, there were some flaws in their fighting styles. Vivien occasionally employed moves not typical of a simple spear; she used the pole to block attacks and delivered sweeping strikes more characteristic of a staff or halberd. However, as her father gave her the spear, she was determined to use it.
At the same time, Miriam fought with either a short bow for close-range shooting or a long bow for long-distance combat, complemented by a dagger for protection in close quarters. She couldn't wield both types at once, so her full potential wasn't realized.
Even Werner showed a bit of his skills. As I suspected, he had learned excellent defense with the short sword, and the fact that his sword happened to be made of adamantite helped him deflect all of Rumy's attacks. However, that was where his talents ended; transitioning from solid defense to offense seemed beyond his reach, and his strikes didn't look very impressive.
"Do you also see that they haven't fully unleashed their potential yet?" Asura approached me discreetly.
"Yes, Werner can achieve so much more if he tries and steps out of his impenetrable shell of defense. But the girls are facing a weapon choice dilemma; maybe they should try something else," I replied.
"I thought the same thing, and umm..." Asura stumbled a bit and blushed. "Well, I thought, you made such a wonderful katana for me, even though you've only seen me fight a couple of times. Maybe you could make something similar for them? I-I-I'll pay for it; I have some savings. It doesn't have to be something too expensive."
"Stop, stop. Asura, you're getting ahead of yourself. I said I'd make weapons for our guild and our friends. Even if you don't want to join, I'll still help your girls. Let it be a gift for the New Year; we just need to determine the weapon's form."
"Hee-hee, do you also think a spear wouldn't suit her?" Rumy's sudden appearance made me jump in place.
"What's with everyone sneaking up on me today? Rumy, you trained with her; what do you think about it?" I asked.
"Well, she dodges and strikes quite well, though sometimes it seems like she's trying to execute moves her weapon can't handle and stops at the last moment."
"She cherishes her spear that much?" I directed my question to the Guild Master.
"It's a gift from her father. All they received from him when they went to the academy were these weapons and combat skills. They come from a family of simple soldiers, and the only thing they can rely on is the money their father earned as a mercenary, as well as the income from his farm after retiring. The girls never wanted to burden him, so they live solely on the income from our guild."
"And? Do you think she won't agree to change her weapon?"
"I'm afraid she'll feel she has to pay the full price to the master personally, so it's hard to say... The problem is also that the spear was her father's weapon; he even managed to take down a stone troll by himself once."
"So our weapon should resemble a spear but have other attack possibilities."
"As soon as I get a free moment, I'll share my knowledge of various types of weapons with you. But what do you want to make for Miriam?"
"She needs a bow that's convenient to use at any distance, but I'm afraid a single material won't be enough; we'll need to design a construction that can withstand all that."
"Do you have any ideas already?"
"Not the slightest clue, just a vague image of what it should be. I'll wait for inspiration. Besides, these aren't all the gifts I wanted to make."
"Haha, you remind me of my brother; he was quite the oddball," Rumy patted me on the shoulder and returned to the training.