Rain scratches his ear, a touch embarrassed, as he responds to Ronin's question hesitantly.
"Uhm...right...what I want. Honestly, I...don't know what to ask you for in return. You don't really have any information on the students, or allies you can introduce me to, right?"
Hearing his assessment, Ronin frowns in disapproval, and her expression becomes conflicted for a few moments. Her tone comes out quiet and thoughtful.
"I don't...but..."
As she trails off, she cuts her eyes at him...seeming to decide something. She sighs and levels him with a calm gaze.
"If you point out a specific student, I can tell you about their attributes...Talents, Lineage, Bloodline, Nature...Quirks...everything you'd find in their Soul Temple except Relics."
His eyes fly open in shock.
'S-...she can just...read everyone's abilities and weaknesses? That's...ridiculous! What kind of broken ability is that!? She can already see into the future and predict their actions!'
If she hadn't already told him that her abilities were ineffective on him, that realization would have left him very nervous right now.
There's something else that's even more concerning about her ability though. Since he already knows that she has a foresight Talent, this ability of hers should be a Nature attribute. That alone would be astonishing, since Nature attributes aren't supposed to be as powerful as what she's describing...Rain's own are abnormal. However, there's also another possibility...
Rain lets the surprise linger on his face, obvious for Ronin to see. He keeps his tone incredulous but lighthearted as he responds.
"That's...incredible, Ronin. I'm guessing that's a Talent of yours?"
As he watches Ronin, his mirrored eyes scanning her stoic face, she doesn't react at all for a brief moment. Then, she responds in a calm voice.
"No, it's part of my Nature. You already know about Foresight, and Champions only have one Talent, remember?"
Hearing her response, Rain feels a pang of...disappointment. Hearing about her incredible abilities made him wonder for a moment if she might be like him in some way. He should have known better, though...her Lineage abilities are clearly associated with Fate, not some primordial's.
Rain gives her a sheepish smile and rubs the back of his neck.
"Oh...right. Sorry, sometimes my education as a Rim orphan shows. Well, anyway, that's incredible...I had no idea that Nature attributes could be so powerful. And before you ask...I remember our deal...I won't mention it to anyone. I don't know if there's anyone I want you to tell me the abilities of yet, but I appreciate that you're offering."
Ronin studies him for another couple moments, her blue eyes seeming to hold a question she can't decide whether to ask, but it fades quickly. Then, she frowns at Rain, her face thoughtful.
"Can you think of anything else you want, then? You're helping me with two rather crucial endeavors right now, and you have yet to ask me for anything in return. I don't like being in that kind of debt, Rain..."
She continues to stare at Rain after posing her question, her gaze rather...insistent.
'Yeah...I wouldn't like that feeling either...'
His lips press together tightly, his expression becoming thoughtful. There's little else he can think of that will definitively help him in the Crucible. As he considers the situation further, his eyes widen as a thought occurs to him. There is something that he desperately needs before the Crucible. He was going to talk to Bright about it, but...
'It can't hurt to ask. It's kind of an unreasonable trade, but she can just tell me no...'
He directs a hesitant gaze at Ronin, who's still watching him patiently.
"Uhm...well...there is one other thing I really need, but...it's not an easy favor to grant. It's also kind of unreasonable to even ask."
Ronin raises her eyebrows at him questioningly.
"Ask anyway...I won't be offended. If it's unreasonable, I'll say no. That's what you said earlier, right?"
He suppresses his urge to smile at her quippy retort...he did say that to her.
"Right...well, I currently don't have a weapon Relic, and I'd really like to get one before I enter the Crucible. Problem is, I have no idea how to buy them, and even if I did, I have no money and no idea how to earn any as a Champion without citizenship. Is there any chance you can set me up with a job or something, and act as a Relic broker for me, since you're a Legacy? Like I said, I know it's ridiculous."
He has the Fated Shard, but he'd have to be quite literally suicidal or dying to try wielding it again. Since his makeshift javelin from the Trial obviously disappeared, he has no real weapon in his arsenal. He'd have to kill creatures with his bare hands in Asphodel until one granted him a suitable Relic...not an idea he finds appealing or wise.
Ronin stares at him blankly following the request, her voice conveying surprise.
"Rain...you don't even have a weapon?"
Feeling like that much is obvious, he just shakes his head and frowns in response. After a few more seconds of gawking at him, a small smile forms on Ronin's face as she looks at Rain with an expression that's vaguely...pleased.
"I see...then I think I can help you with that after all..."
As his eyes widen in surprise at the unexpected response, Ronin reaches out towards him. Her hand hesitates briefly right before touching him, but then she takes his hand in hers. As Rain stares at her in confusion, feeling an awkward tension rising over the unexpected physical contact, he feels a surge of heat race towards his Mark, then the Echo whispers to him.
[You have acquired a Relic…]
Rain blinks in confusion, staring blankly back at Ronin. She's wearing a pleased expression, and when she speaks, her tone carries a hint of satisfaction.
"There...now you have a sword. I'm happy there was something I could do for you after all."
Glancing back and forth between her and his hand, Rain's expression becomes shocked, his voice carrying a trace of shrillness to it as he stares back at her in disbelief.
"Y-...you just gave me a Relic!?"
Seeing the look on his face, an amused smile finds its way onto Ronin's lips as she nods.
"Yes, it's a lot easier than all those other steps you mentioned. Before you say it's too much, though...don't. While I've lost a lot of my family's resources after my parents' deaths, I'm still a Legacy and the daughter of the Fated Blade. If there's one thing I don't lack, it's sword Relics. I'm much more comfortable giving you this than letting you leave here with nothing."
His face still the picture of shock, Rain slowly looks down, his gaze resting on the hand that Ronin continues to hold. Following his gaze in confusion, Ronin notices that she's still holding his hand in hers. Her eyes widen, and she drops his hand abruptly, pulling her own hand back to her side. Her expression quickly becomes embarrassed, and her tone flustered.
"Oh, I didn't...that wasn't intentional...I'm sorry!"
However, Rain just continues to stare at his own hand, the reason for his shocked state completely lost on the frazzled Ronin. After a few more moments, his expression slowly regresses into an eerily calm one, and he turns to stare at Ronin intensely.
"Ronin...quick question..."
Still not understanding the reason for his strange behavior, and flustered by the unexpectedly awkward situation, her demeanor becomes uncharacteristically timid.
"Uhm...yes?"
Rain's lips twist into a humorless smile, and his eyes seem to darken unnaturally.
"If...hypothetically...one wanted to murder a Demigod, how would one go about such a thing?"
*****
A couple days later, Rain is sitting in his room, staring into space. Or rather, that's what it would look like to an uninformed observer. In actuality, he's in his Soul Temple, once again reading the descriptions of the weapon Relic that Ronin gave him.
Item: [Severing Ties]
Prestige: Paragon
Type: Weapon
Effects: [Guiding Hand]
Severing Ties
"I think that one would much enjoy the irony," said Fate, "a blade that can both sever strings and be guided by them. They are kindred, are they not?"
Guiding Hand
At its wielder's behest, the blade may return to the hand it departed from, pulled by the strings of Fate.
He is, of course, absolutely ecstatic about his new ally giving him a sword Relic, especially one of Paragon Prestige. After she gave him the Relic, he left soon after and went to bed. The next morning, Nik was quick to find him, deeply curious about what had transpired with Ronin. Naturally, Rain didn't share any of her personal details.
All he told Nik was that Ronin gave him a Relic in exchange for meeting her for tea every evening, to discuss what he's learned about other students. Unsurprisingly, that arrangement perplexed the young Legacy to no end, but Rain just shrugged and agreed that it was a weird request. Once he reminded Nik that, as an orphan, he wasn't going to turn down something as precious as a Relic just because a request was strange, Nik stopped pressing him about the odd arrangement.
Yesterday evening, Rain had his first tea party with Ronin, which went about how he expected. She messaged him to come over whenever he was ready, and when he arrived at her room she had a pot of tea and two cups set on a mat on her floor. They sat across from one another and drank tea, and Rain tried his best to make idle conversation with the stoic Ronin. More to keep the awkwardness at bay than anything else, Rain ended up telling her everything he already knew about which students were Legacies and which were normal citizens.
After that, they got to talking about hobbies...both of them realizing they didn't have any real ones. However, Rain found out that Ronin is, unsurprisingly, very good with a sword. So, they spent the rest of the tea time having her tell him all kinds of facts about swords and swordplay. After about an hour total, he left.
In the present, Rain returns from his Soul Temple, then stands up and stretches in his room. Extending his hand forward, he summons Severing Ties. As the black mist solidifies in his grasp, he's treated to the sight of a beautiful, silver-bladed sword with gold, runic etchings. According to Ronin, it's a type of sword called a gladius.
'Fascinating...'
Rain is not only referring to the sword itself, but also the item's description – the quote from Fate. Perhaps he's seeing the enigmatic primordial in everything these days, paranoia at its finest, but he can't help but feel like Fate is referring to Chaos in the description. After all, a being friendly with a god that loves contradictions...
'Yeah...that fits the asshole to a tee...'
Sighing impatiently, Rain dismisses the Relic and looks around the room with a bored expression. It's first thing in the morning, and he doesn't have any classes today. Normally, he'd be downstairs eating breakfast, perhaps pestering Nik for a sparring match. This morning is different, though.
Rain glances over at his desk, where a pot of tea, two cups, and some pastries are already prepared. Today is, of course, the day that Bright is supposed to visit with him. It's also the day he's going to the movies with Tess. He's already told the Demigod that he has afternoon plans, but he didn't go into details.
Just as he's trying to decide how to stifle his boredom, he hears a knock on his bedroom door, and turns towards it with a mischievous smile.
"It's unlocked, you can come in!"
After a brief pause, the door opens to reveal a women with long, silver hair and stormy grey eyes, radiating an otherworldly aura of beauty. She's carrying a small bag stuffed with papers and other miscellaneous items, and it's none other than Rain's friend and government Demigod, Bright.
For a moment, he's struck absolutely speechless...he'd forgotten how mesmerizing her appearance is. To make matters worse, she's arrived in casual clothes this time, her body accentuated perfectly by a simple, blue dress.
The sight of her is so stunning that, for a moment, Rain almost forgets that he's rather cross with her right now...almost. Forcing himself to remain focused, Rain gives Bright an unusually enthusiastic smile, his voice full of forced excitement.
"Bright, it's so good to see you again! How has life been treating my favorite hobbyist researcher?"
Bright directs a puzzled gaze at Rain as she closes the door behind her. Her tone becomes suspicious as her eyes narrow at him.
"I'm...fine. Work has kept me busy, but I'm happy that I can fin-...err, I mean, it's nice to have an off day, even if I'm losing half of it to your nonsense. But Rain...you seem...different. You didn't get mixed up in any shady business with other students, did you?"
Rain smirks at her.
"Funny you should mention it, I did have a rather strange experience with the Relic of another student a couple of days ago. Ever since, I've been having these unfamiliar...urges..."
Bright's expression suddenly grows serious, and she walks over to Rain. She places her hands on his shoulders and looks at him intensely.
"Okay, Rain, you need to tell me exactly what happened."
Rain sighs theatrically and nods, looking off to the side of the room. After a moment, his voice comes out low and somber, as though reliving a traumatic memory.
"Ah...you see...another student grabbed my hand, quite suddenly, and while I was distracted. Before I even knew what was happening...well..."
Rain trails off, as if struggling with the memory. He throws a glance at Bright, who has a dire expression on her face.
"What, Rain? What happened next? You need to tell me."
Rain sighs heavily, and gives her a reluctant nod. He continues his recollection, his voice haunted.
"Then...well...she just gifted me a Relic...without even touching my Mark. Ever since then, I've been having the strange urge...to murder the silver-haired Demigods in my life."