To craft the ideal charms for specific prophets with specific Totems, the level of information a charm-smith must possess on their customers must be profound. Profound in the sense that the charm-smiths would have to understand things that even the prophets themselves are unaware of, or cannot explain clearly by mouth.
And while there are different ways to achieve this level of understanding, the most efficient method, was the use of Talismans of intimacy.
Talismans are objects of miracles, giving extraordinary effects and aiding people to perform various tasks that machines and hands cannot accomplish. They exist in various parts of jobs and vocations, and take on a variety of forms based on the materials they were made of.
Izel carried a jotter-full of paper talismans, mostly with the ability to add pre-inscribed elements onto objects without affecting the object's usual state. Just like she had set her sword on fire previously, she could set the water in a glass cup on fire with a similar talisman, yet the water would not evaporate. It would heat up to boiling point, but still remain the same. But if the same talisman was used on the cup, the water within it would boil and evaporate, leaving the cup aflame until the talisman ceases to work.
There were other talismans, like the plastic books the weapons were stored in, and many others.
Those aside, the main focus now was on the talisman of intimacy.
Izel and Ikky soon walk into a dark secluded room.
"Follow my lead." Izel said, clapping her hands in a special pattern. Faint blue light soon came from the ceiling, making a spotlight shine down at the center of the dark room.
Ikky did as the young woman asked, before sitting down on the floor right in front of her.
"You ready?"
"Yeah." Ikky replied. "For what though?"
Izel shifted her hands on the ground behind her before pulling out a metallic sheet talisman. Holding it up and facing the surfaces of the talisman to their faces, she let it go, leaving it to float in the air.
"Okay, this thing here is a metallic talisman of connections. Now what I'll be using it for is to link both of our inner minds together and shuffle it."
"What?"
"Yeah. It will shuffle our memories, and give me all the information I need to create your charm. Then you will also receive some of my knowledge of the arts, so we can help each other."
"Wait wait wait? Crazy talk aside, doesn't the sword just need fixing? What do you mean by, create?" Ikky scratched his head.
"Well professor, was the sword made for you? I don't think so. This is someone else's charm, so it'll be useless to you and your Totem. And in time, the sword will disintegrate, and its shards will become useless. That would have been a sad waste of such precious metal."
"Huh. No wonder it looked like the blade was getting sicker."
"Yeah, now back to what I was saying— when we're done with making the charm, the talisman will rearrange our memories, putting back all the things I've learnt and found out about you, in your head, and same with everything you know about me, to me. So at the end of the day, you'll be equipped with my perspective of your Totem, and also all the uses and functions I've inscribed on the charm."
"And what do you get?"
"Well at the end of it, if you think I'm lovely, then I'll love my sweet abs even more."
Ikky rose an eyebrow. To think that this woman had so much confidence about her toned muscles, that she expects it to be the first reason a person would be attracted to her.
"Your abs ain't all'at. It barely shows." Ikky taunted. Izel wasn't the buffest person he'd seen. Even he, as slim as he was had more muscle; not fat, just muscles.
"But I'll give you points for being such an eye candy." He flicked his finger at her and winked. Ikky had lived practically two thug lives, so he was quite loose with his language and cared very little about how people saw him. However...
"I do look good, but you might never want to call me that in front of those two back outside. The last guy who did still works a cleaning job. And that was since five years ago." Izel tapped Ikky's stomach with the hilt of the white sword and would have sworn she heard a clang sound.
"Damn. Man must drink iron concentrated milk." She chuckled with a nervous smile.
'Well the guy literally fell standing on his feet from three floors high.' She reminded herself.
"Alright... uhm. What do I call you, mister?" Izel asked.
"The name's Ikky Summers. Yes, that kind of Summers." He introduced.
"Huh. I'm a Summers too. Guess that makes us bros." Izel chuckled. "Alright, let's get down to business. Tap on the talisman when I do."
Ikky, surprised by her last name snapped out of it and carried his finger up to the floating talisman.
"You're a Summers too?" He asked.
"Hm mh. My uhm, parents got caught in a calamity when I was little. You?"
Ikky shrugged, "Not sure..."
The atmosphere suddenly became gloomy with both their hands still in the air.
Summers was a collective name. It was given to the orphans around the planet by the mighty king of Svarga, so that they could use it and be assured that there was at least one person around who still cared for them, and recognised their existence. What a lie that was.
Breaking the awkward silence, Izel asked with uncertainty, "How about a fight... late(uhhr)?"
Neither Ikky nor Izel was the emotional speeches type, so Ikky just chuckled in agreement.
"Alright! Let's do this thing — woah!" Ikky exclaimed.
As soon as both their fingers both touched the talisman, Ikky and Izel felt their bodies being pulled into another dimension. And after a few moments of their physical bodies sitting lifelessly, they suddenly sprung back awake.
Now the talisman was spinning slowly, floating between the two.
"Wow!" Izel shook her head.
Usually she was only supposed to know things concerning Ikky's Totem, however, caught in the moment, the two had dived deeper into their heads. This was mostly out of nosy curiosity and wanting to know more about each other's back stories.
They would forget it all at the end anyway.
Izel saluted with her voice shaky and dramatic, "I swear, with all my heart, that your charm will be—"
"You've failed at both your attempts at making them?!"
"Yeah but, in my defence, my brain only operates at fifty percent without the motivation."
"What drives you then?!"
"Cheese and a gruesome battle!" Izel answered straight away with a thumbs up .
"You CANNOT be serious!" But Ikky was aware, that she was very much serious.
———
And so the two Summers spent the next couple of days getting under each other's skins, laughing and getting into awkward moments caused from messing around in their heads— Ikky's mostly. All while they moulded his charm to perfection.
The sword of the late Captain of the knights would be broken down and reforged into something better suited for Ikky's hands-free style of fighting, and carved to enhance his Totem.
Izel might have failed twice in her attempts at making charms, however there was a reason Lion had given her a job the third time. She was a creative genius.
Though the Nian wasn't really expecting her to take so long; so long that Ikky would almost miss the Prophet anointment by the time they stepped out of that solitary place.