Chapter 70 - Sword Mjolnir
Climbing onto the giant rock, the three of them were exhausted and leaned against each other's backs.
After sharing the canteen, they continued resting. Anna was the first to fall asleep, lying on the giant rock.
The wind was a bit stronger than usual, making their cloaks billow, but Luke's scarf remained still and static.
"Do you regret it, Luke?" Alice was the first to break the silence. They had been so quiet for so long that they hadn't decided who should sleep first.
Hearing the blonde girl speak, he thought about many things before answering. "Jumping to the Campaign Map? It was that or get eaten alive."
The girl remained silent, her blonde hair blowing in the wind.
"A good line of reasoning," she stayed quiet.
The wind seemed to listen to their conversation and began to die down a bit.
"Or did you mean following you from the wolves' cave to here?"
"That too," she replied immediately.
"To be fair, if it weren't for that recall error, none of us would be here. And I'm grateful not to be in this end of the world alone. Can you imagine making this journey without anyone? I don't know if I could, and I'm hard to give up."
"It would also be hard to be alone, for me."
Sitting side by side, they stared at the horizon.
"Lucky we have Little Anna to balance our moods."
Alice looked at Anna, who was sleeping, the archer snoring softly.
"She has siblings, you know?"
Luke was surprised to hear that and imagined even smaller versions of her with red hair and even shorter hair.
"No. She's never mentioned them."
"Of course, when she starts talking about family, you divert the conversation…"
Luke stayed silent.
"The youngest is one year old, her little brother, and the other two aren't even six years old. I think maybe I would have given up? I don't know. But knowing she has someone to go back to… and seeing her not give up after going through all these things… who am I to stop moving forward?"
"You talk as if you don't have anyone to go back to."
"And you? Do you, Luke?"
"Touché…" he replied.
They continued staring at the horizon in silence.
Alice looked at Luke, then drew her sword and handed it to him.
"Don't say anything, just look."
Luke took the sword, and Alice touched it. As soon as Alice touched the sword, an ethereal screen appeared in front of him.
[Fragment of the Inner God: Sword Mjolnir
Description: A sword born from the teeth of one of the greatest monstrosities of the seas. For 7 days and 7 nights, the two enemies fought, and in the end, only one emerged alive. The beast, recognizing the warrior, gifted him with the sword made from its sharpest canine before dying.
Enchantments: (Fragment of the Inner God), (Thunder Conductor), (Sole Owner)
(Fragment of the Inner God): This item is a piece of a god's soul and thus can be evolved.
(Thunder Conductor): The sword can call down thunder from the skies.
(Sole Owner): The fragment recognizes a single owner.]
Luke looked incredulously at the sword in his hands. The silver blade had runes etched into it, and the weight was different. Somehow, Luke felt something while holding the sword, as if a force was preventing it from being moved. The sword was extremely heavy.
"Why? Why are you showing me something like this?" Luke asked.
This is a Fragment of the Inner God!
"Aren't you going to ask how I got this? Or what it is?"
"No! You told me to never show my cards, especially the good ones, to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Why would you, so cautious, show something like this? This isn't a common item."
Alice paused and then looked toward the horizon.
"I don't know."
She remained silent.
"I won't ask how you got this, but having something like this… I imagine not just anyone has it."
"That's the biggest truth in this world, Luke. The truth behind everything lies in the existence of what's in my hands," she said while holding the sword.
He remained silent, watching the girl who seemed to be searching for words to express herself, but even so, she continued looking at the horizon.
"I'm still weak. If I were strong… I could have helped us back there. I could have stopped us from jumping into a Campaign Map or faced the Undine in better conditions. If I were strong… we wouldn't be in this situation; it's my fault. Having a Fragment of the Inner God is powerful, but I'm a poor bearer. It adapts to the user, and I'm limiting its power… besides, the fragment doesn't fully recognize me as its owner yet. The Fragment of the Inner God is the truth about the existence of the cards."
Alice returned her gaze to the blade of the sword.
"What do you mean the truth about the existence of the cards? Explain how the Fragment of the Inner God is connected to the magic cards."
Alice conjured a card in her hand, and Luke recognized it as her shield card.
"The Fragment of the Inner God is the final result, while the cards some monsters drop are just an 'imitation.' Luke… I can only tell you this, don't ask me more."
Luke remained silent. Around his neck was his own Fragment of the Inner God. He wanted to tell Alice, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"But how did you get something like this?" he asked, trying to understand how the Fragments of the Inner God worked.
She sighed.
"It was my mother. This isn't the fragment of my Inner God… it's the fragment of her Inner God. She was so incredible that she said she could fly because of the sword. And I, her daughter, inherited her fragment. The fragment can be enhanced by receiving more powers, whereas normal cards only retain the same effects. That's the difference between a Fragment of the Inner God and a card. She received her fragment after a battle of seven days and seven nights against a giant serpent that destroyed our country and gave me this fragment before she left…"
"A giant serpent? What do you mean, your country?"
She laughed a little nervously.
"I wasn't born in the kingdom where you and Anna are from. I was from a small country in Europe, a small kingdom. My mother… she was the highest authority in that country. But I also belong to Obliquan, I'm a citizen of both worlds. I lived on Earth and now… I live in the Capital of Obliquan."
"Europe? That continent has fallen; at least half of it is now a dominated land, right?"
"And it would have been the entire continent if it weren't for my mother, who sacrificed one of her arms and nearly died to kill the giant serpent."
"The way you speak, it sounds like your mother won… but your emotions aren't conveying happiness."
The girl sighed, looking at the horizon.
"My mother got into trouble when she fought that creature; she went against the Heralds. And unintentionally, she discovered a 'Requirement.'"
"Heralds?"
"They are the ones who rule the Oblique World. You know them as the Royal Family and the Houses. They wanted the continent to sink."
Luke was absorbing the information but didn't dare to question more than necessary.
"Actually, they didn't want anyone to fight that serpent. When she killed it, she discovered why. Because of the Requirements."
"The way you're talking, I can't help but ask what a Requirement is."
"Why do you think the kingdom has a series of laws that practically lock away knowledge about the Deviant world? Even claiming a bonfire is a crime. Without royal authorization, you can't do much. They control everything, from the areas you can access in the Oblique World to the cards you can acquire… of course, they enforce this control more strictly on their subordinates. But the point is that even a simple familiar you can't have without proper authorization; they seek to have control or knowledge of everything. They claim this knowledge, the claimed areas, the cursed relics, even the golden trees that have grown in our world on Earth have become their property."
"You still haven't answered what a Requirement is…"
"I'm getting there… they don't want normal people to know about the Deviant world and powers. If it were up to them, only they would become Deviants. That's why they impose such strict control, even undermining Deviants who emerge by acquiring knowledge and power. They have their own circle of who they authorize to acquire parts of this knowledge they've decided. They were even willing to let countries sink to the giant serpent; the greater the chaos… the greater the control. At least, that's what I theorize… I still don't know."
Luke listened attentively.
It's not much different from what I've experienced.
The girl looked at the horizon, holding her sword, as if seeing something beyond it. As if only she could see what was written in those runes.
Luke said nothing about the silence that fell; he knew she was choosing words to say only what was necessary… or maybe choosing not to say anything more and ending the conversation that way.
The blonde girl sighed and looked at him for a few seconds, then looked back at the horizon. It seemed like she was checking if he was still there beside her.
Alice looked back to see if Anna was still sleeping.
Then she looked at him, staring intently.
"Now, Luke, we can talk about the Requirements."