"Who are you? What are you? Why are you? How are you?"
"I am fine :)", Ace gives a single, simple answer in response to the ton of questions Luxman showered at him. "Ah… That was not what I was…" "Just look at his face, do you think he has enough attention span to hear and answer all of your questions at once?", Amon interrupts Luxman and points at Ace's funny face while he ran here and there like a small child trying to find something interesting. Luxman looks at Ace, sighs and says, "Ok… I think I will calm down and ask one by one. So, my first question is regarding that thing that Galahad stole. It belonged to you, right Ace?"
"Wait he stole something from you?", Amon asks Ace in a surprised tone before Ace can answer Luxman's question. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. That knight guy stole the shard of the Greed sword that I had. And don't worry he is gonna pay for stealing something which belonged to me…", Ace replies to Amon and continues to run around, laughing. "You think this is a trivial matter? Don't you dare forget the hardships we had to face to get that shard…", Amon gets angry and punches Ace in the face. "Ouch! You are still as weak as ever Amon.", Ace says with blood flowing down his nose.
"I think he is bleeding.", Luxman says with a concerned face. "Wait, what exactly does a 'shard' of the Greed Sword mean?", Luxman further asks. "Great, now we have another dullard in our group.", Amon says with a disappointed look on his face. "What did you say, you sad excuse for a Wizard?" Luxman says with anger. "Oh sorry, I should have used a word that even your tiny brain can understand.", Amon says with a smirk on his face. "Also take back what you said about my wizardry!", Amon further adds. "Oh? And what if I don't? Are you gonna fire another one of those feeble fireball magic spells at me? Oh look, I am shaking in my boots.", Luxman responds to Amon's roast with a roast of his own. "Why you…"
"Ok you two, enough with the fighting already, let me answer your question, Lux." Ace interrupts their fight. "Lux? My name is Luxman", Lux says to Ace… I mean Luxman. "Yeah… That's long, so I will call you Lux from now on." "Just like that huh…?", Luxman murmurs to himself. Amon laughs after hearing Luxman's new nickname.
"What are you laughing at, you crappy wizard.", Luxman screams at Amon. "Ok… So, the sword of greed was divided into some parts and it was one of them. Now you have the answer to your question, right?" Ace answers Luxman's question. "Oh, ok… I understand." Both Ace and Luxman give a thumbs-up to each other .
"Come on man that was not even nearly enough to answer the question you asked… Do you want the question to be answered at all? Ok, I suppose, just this once I can answer all of your questions since you don't know anything about the group you are now part of. As you are aware, we are searching for the sword of greed, one of the seven swords of sin. Formerly known as Excalibur, the seven swords were once a single almighty blade that belonged to "KING ARTHUR PENDRAGON," the strongest man to have ever ruled mankind, who subjugated nearly every nation during his rule. Excalibur is claimed to have taken on the sins of its wielder throughout the generations and turned them into power for both the wielder and the weapon. Given his desire to rule the whole world, it seems to reason that the number of sins he committed while acting out of greed would be greater than any other. As a result, out of all the seven swords of sin, the sword of greed has the most power. With the strongest sword Excalibur gone, the greed sword became the world's strongest sword feeding onto every person's greed who tried to wield it. The sword grew stronger and stronger until a group of wise mages understood the danger it posed even when not wielded by anybody. They then carried out a ritual to break the Sword of Greed into ten shards, which were then dispersed around Britannia (modern-day Britain), to lessen its power. To sum up, the sword of greed can only be acquired if all ten shards are collected in one location and a reverse ritual— known only to a select group of wizards worldwide, including me, of course— is carried out.", Amon ends the story with his praise.
"Man… Has anyone told you that you are a bad storyteller? Look at Ace, he has been sleeping for quite some time now…", Luxman points at Ace as he snores like a buzzsaw. "I think I will learn proper storytelling when you learn how to thank someone.", Amon says with a smirk. (He is suppressing his anger with all his might) "Ok… never mind that. Tell me one more thing, I knew Ace was unarmed all the time he was fighting me… So how did a sword suddenly spawn in his hand when he attacked that demon?"
"Oh, that was because of B.O.S.S.! ZzZ…ZzZ…ZzZ…", Ace wakes up, answers Luxman's question, and goes to sleep again in just a single minute. "AGAIN… You are not being helpful with your short and vague explanations… and you, stop nodding your head like you understood everything by his 6-word explanation!", Amon shouts at Ace and Luxman simultaneously. "Oh god! I AM SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS… Ok, So, do you see that bracelet Ace is wearing?", Amon asks Luxman as he points toward Ace's hand. "The one he is wearing in his hand?"
"WOW! No shit, Sherlock." (I know, Sherlock didn't exist at that time but who cares… It sounds good.) "What about the bracelet?", Luxman asks. "This bracelet is known as B.O.S.S., which is a short form for 'BRACELET OF SACRED STASHES." "But 'Bracelet of awesome funny and super-duper valuable surprising surprises' sounds much cooler. ZzZ…ZzZ…ZzZ…", Ace wakes up for a single moment, gives his opinion, and goes back to sleep. "Geez… Does this guy even listen to himself?", Amon exclaims. "'Bracelet of crazy shocking dark killer weapons… with a food storage' also sounds good.", Luxman thinks in his mind.
"Yeah… So, B.O.S.S. basically provides the bearer a separate dimension to store weapons and sacred treasures which they can access anytime and anywhere, instantly. However, you can see how our beloved captain uses this sacred tool.", Amon says with disappointment as he points toward Ace who is taking out a ton of valuable stuff to show off in front of Luxman but again gets distracted by the stored food. "Gosh! Why is he such a greedy little brat", Amon says.
"I still can't believe that Galahad stole the greed sword shard even though it was stored inside B.O.S.S.", Amon adds. "OK, but if you are really that troubled about Ace having this B.O.S.S. bracelet, then why don't you just take it back?", Luxman asks. "Trust me… I would if I could! But B.O.S.S. doesn't leave the bearer's wrist once it's attached to them." "Why does it sound so familiar?" (a reference to an American Animated series "Ben 10") "Never mind, so why did you let him wear that in the first place?" "Long story short, it happened when we first met, he stole my pouch thinking it had something interesting inside it but when he opened the pouch, he found the bracelet which got attached to him thinking he was worthy." (Amon knows Bracelet cannot think but he just doesn't want to believe that the bracelet of sacred stashes accepted Ace as his bearer.) "Then I had to join him on his journey to prevent its misuse."
"Hey Lux, I take it we have answered all the questions you had in your mind, right?" "We?", Amon thinks in his mind." "So now it's time for you to respond to one of my questions," Ace asks Lux as he finally gets rid of his sleepiness. "Yeah, go ahead… Although I cannot guarantee to offer a proper explanation.", Luxman replies.
"That knight guy who attacked us seemed to be someone you knew, but if he wasn't your friend, how did you know him?" and at last makes his point.
"Are you kidding right now? How can you not know about King Arthur and his KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE? Did you have a childhood at all?" "Just answer the question, will ya? I'm not very good at things like patience, you see." Luxman begins to explain without wasting much time, but Amon cuts him off. "I believe it would be beneficial for all of us if I did the explaining." "Tsk! Fine, suit yourself."
"You are aware of King Arthur, correct?" Amon asks at last, launching into an explanation of his background. "The Knights of Round Table were an order whose mission was to maintain peace in Arthur's kingdom after a period of early warfare. Later on, they were tasked with embarking on a mysterious quest for the Holy Grail. The Round Table, where they gathered, represented the members' equality and mutual trust… Even though there were a lot of knights of King Arthur's Round Table, some of the names are still famous throughout the world including Sir Lancelot who is renowned for his exceptional prowess in combat and a nearly unrivaled swordsman and jouster. He was also the first knight of Round Table. Sir Gawain was known for his strength and valor, he was one of Arthur's most trusted knights. Sir Percival was a noble knight on a quest for the Holy Grail. It is said that Percival is the epitome of purity and virtue. And lastly, Sir Galahad was the son of Sir Lancelot, he is the knight who ultimately achieved the Holy Grail, symbolizing his purity and righteousness."
"Hmm…" Ace replies, "So they were basically a bunch of strong guys led by that Arthur dude," after giving Amon's story some serious thought. "But in this story, they all sound like pretty cool dudes, then why was that knight guy after Lux's and my life?" "That's a good question, but you know what's a better question? Even if the legends of King Arthur and his knights are true, it should not be possible for them to be still alive. It should have been around a century or two since their deaths according to the legends.", Luxman adds his question to Ace's.
"Well, those are pretty insightful questions, but I'm afraid I'm at a loss for words. All of it is just too bizarre," Amon responds. Luxman taunts Amon, asking, "Now who is the stupid one?". "What? Amon asks Luxman, "You wanna fight?" but before they can engage in combat, they are startled by a huge roar. "Grrrrrrrrr ----." "What? What was that?" asks Amon. "Oh, it's nothing to be afraid of, all of the chatting and strolling has just made me hungry." Ace says with a pale expression and also asks, "By the way, how long till we reach this place that you are taking us to, Lux?" "Oh… that… should be…. Where exactly are we right now?", Luxman gets confused.