"Thank you for letting us stay, ma'am" Mark greeted, head bowed in appreciation.
After spending basically a week in Jugrin, I learnt that the dwarves in this world were not much of exhibitionist as there were no places befitting sightseeing.
Except of course, the view from the mountains.
It was finally time to head back to Ethos and surprisingly enough I didn't feel down about the idea, since I was able to acquire something useful in the process.
"Have you thought of a name for it?" Rosemary chirped noisingly, peeking at the blade from my shoulders.
According to the laws of this world, naming a blade helped to increase its growth potential and also efficacy.
For example; Bazoth, meant ultimate subjugator in the lost tongues, giving it the remarkable ability of boosting the users advantage in battle.
'If there's even the slightest chance that it can apply to my sword too, I better tread lightly then" I thought, putting the blade behind me as we sat.
"I hope I'll see you again, Milo" A voice from outside the carriage spoke. It was Nadi.
"I hope so too" I waved, a wry smile hanging on my face till our vehicle departed from her sight.
'Well that's finally over' I thought, sighing in relief.
The chances of us meeting afterwards were close to, if not zero, and I couldn't afford to feel bad about it.
Not when I had a lot on my mind to think about.
The letter I received from Jade the previous week was troubling me, and recent developments pointed towards the possibility of a next attack.
But when and where, remained oblivious facts presently.
"If only I was back at the county" I sighed, staring at the rough road as we descended.
"What's on your mind, young Lord" Natasha questioned, peering into my eyes.
She was the first character in this world that I had trusted with a lot of secrets and she always did a good job protecting them.
But what I was trying to uncover wasn't something she needed to know.
"Nothing at all" I replied, staring back at her.
THUD!
Our carriage hit something on the road, causing us to stop as a damaged wheel surfaced.
We all came down soon afterwards, as we waited for the coach man to complete the repairs.
It had barely been an hour since we left, and we were already impeded along the way.
I decided to take a short stroll into the forest while the repairs continued, coming accross a small pond not too far away.
The air in the area was thin, since we hadn't descended completely from the mountains.
I pulled out the sword from my side, glancing at both sides as the remarkable craftsmanship, stunned me.
Although I had concluded on giving it a name in Ethos, doing it at the moment wasn't so much of a bad idea.
I clenched the sword, lifting it directly above my face as various ideas began rushing through my mind..
'Dragon slayer, fate reformer, absolute annihilator, The dominator'
They were all good takes even though some were awkward, but the main purpose wasn't a flashy name.
I wanted a simplistic name with a deep meaning to it.
'I guess I'm caught in a bind with this one'
Almost as I made to return the sword to it's former position, my right eye flashed over its transparent blade as it passed, sending a great pain to my head as my right eye burned.
AHHHHHHH
I yelped, feeling the veins all over my face, gather and become visible, like a rough knot of tree roots.
This was nothing like I had ever felt and the very act of trying to subdue it, caused the pain to grow.
In that same moment, the raisin black sword levitated as an engraving slowly appeared on its blade, slowly like as if it was being written by an invisible force.
With the last conscious stare I could spare, the sight of the words written, stuck to the back of my mind, shoving me into a deep sleep.
******
The sound of wood snapping in flames grew distant as I opened my eyes, a piece of cloth carefully wrapped around my eye.
It was nightfall and tents had already been made as Mark stood watch at a distance.
I picked myself up gently, feeling the ache in my head grow as I sat.
'I must've blacked out while giving my sword a name' it occured to me, as i turned around to look for the sword.
"Looking for this?" Bartov questioned, waving the sheathed blade at me. He was sitting in front of me, holding a bowl in his other hand.
He tossed the blade soon after, as I caught it, feeling the weight of the blade for the first time.
Before now, the blade had remained as light as a feather, often causing even me to doubt it's proficiency from time to time, but now all that had changed.
"Thank you." I replied, lifting myself up.
"You do know the meaning that's engraved on it huh?" Bartov asked, stopping me from walking away.
I turned towards him, before proceeding to reveal the sheathed weapon.
A red marking appeared on it, glowing as I stared at it, trying to make sense of the writings.
"Zarvrioth. The same name as the blade wielded by Sundra" Bartov answered, with a relaxed tone.
I turned towards him, confusion written all over my face at the strange turn of events.
"You must really be loved by the mad god huh?" He scoffed, getting up as he joined Mark.
In the books I had come accross in Brithuel's library, Zarvrioth was mentioned at one instance, regarded as the weapon which Sundra used in the latter part of his life, pushing him to attain his third eye and evolve to the rank of god eventually.
Zarvrioth- meaning eradicator, was so powerful that it was claimed to have leveled entire mountains with a swing from it's wielder.
But there was one problem though.
The blade was rumoured to consume the life essence of its user, hence why Sundra had chosen to evolve to the status of a god in his lifetime.
'Meaning as it is, it's completely and utterly useless!!'
I slumped back on the tree log I had gotten up from, feeling a sense of defeat.
It was as if this world, was constantly trying to play tricks on me to test my resolve each time.
"Your finally awake, young Lord" A voice cried from behind me, as the sound of wood dropping to the ground alerted me.
It was Natasha and she had just come back from gathering wood.
She pulled me towards herself without a thought, her clothes smelling like the trees and a light perfume.
"It was no big deal, I was just exhausted that's all" I replied, pulling myself away from her grasp.
She shook herself, apologizing for her sudden reaction but I waved it off as unimportant.
"Did we stop right after" I enquired, resting the blade far off from myself.
"No, we kept on going after we found you, till it got dark." She responded, dusting her uniform as she stood up.
'So for quite a while huh'
It didn't matter though, since nothing else had happened to me.
I decided to forfeit my plans for stargazing as I quietly laid to rest inside the tent prepared for me.
But even that wasn't possible after hearing Mark's voice.
"Who's there!" Mark shouted, the sound of him pulling out his sword was loud and it reached even my tent.
I crawled out from within, staring at the figures that made their way through the bushes with hands raised.
"I asked you a question!" He yelled again, this time, his sword was pointed at their leader.
"Please there's no need for that, we just want to camp out with you all till morning" The man pleaded, a cheap sword swung carelessly around his waist, with dirtied trunks and a fur coat over his shoulders.
"I'm sure you can do that by yourself" Mark reassured, gesturing for them to return back to where they came from.
It was a reasonable approach since the number of bandits roaming the continent, had drastically increased.
No one was to be trusted, especially strange people from deep within the woods.
"Look, I'm an adventure that was paid to escort a newly wed, they have a baby with them too" The man pointed out, showcasing a frightened mother as evidence of his claim.
The woman was scared, even more so than the child who was wailing in his mother's arms.
The father and a maid surfaced from behind them, as the man proceeded to join in pleading.
"Please our carriage ran into an accident by the cliff and we lost most of our supplies in the process. Please I'm begging you sir" The man pleaded, unlike the adventurer, he was dressed in a more appealing attire, including his wife and maid.
His short beards quivered as he spoke, showing that he too was afraid of the night.
"I'm sorry but I can't just believe your story so easily. You'll just have to g-"
"That's enough Mark, let them through. Natasha, brew some tea and prepare the leftovers for them now, they must be famished from their encounter" I ordered, walking towards Mark as I directed them towards the fire.
"Thank you" The adventurer greeted.
"Thank you young Lord" The man and his wife followed suit.
I waved off their greetings, smiling as I watched them all seat while Natasha handed them tea.
They all flashed smiles back at me, the look of relief replacing the fear they had on their faces a while ago.
"Now then, shall we get started" I offered, crossing both hands behind my back.