Prince of The Abyss

He had never had a relic made for him; it was his first time. He was surprised that someone could actually still make a relic without the Codex. After all, he thought it was impossible, but he also just had no idea how it worked or how they did it in practice. Only slightly in theory.

Walking through the small town, he reached some kind of dirt tent... one that he had no idea how it was still standing. Entering, he saw a woman inside; her cheeks were dirtied, but he could see her freckles through it. Her hands were covered in little scars, with a rubber band tight around her arm near the shoulder. Her overall was dirty, really dirty, and the worst part was that it was worn over a white shirt, which had now become yellow.

Seeing him enter, she tilted her head, putting her hands on the table inside the tent, and leaning forward. "Never have I seen you here?"

Aether shrugged his shoulders. "It’s my first day. Though, I’m confused; I heard this is the place of someone who makes relics... how can anyone do that here?" The place was pretty empty, just a bed, a table, and a small closet. Nothing related to relic making.

The woman rolled her eyes, a bit embarrassed, as shown by how her cheeks turned slightly red under that mask of dirt. It was evident that it wasn’t a topic she liked to talk about, but he didn’t understand why. Because she didn’t have a lot inside her tent, sure, but what could she even have? It was impressive that she even had all of these; he was surprised they even had wood. It also meant that the dirt wasn’t the only thing in the buildings; probably wood too, just covered by it.

"Well, you came to the right place; I am definitely the relic maker of this group..." She raised her hand, putting it over her heart, as she shouted her comment to him, showing her authority and love for her job... not that it mattered anything to him, but it was clear she had done it to make his opinion of her better.

Which was interesting; he had never had... a bad opinion, but she understood it that way. Was it his gaze? He knew it had gotten quite cold lately, but at the same time... the woman was older than him; should she really care that much if a teenager looked at her weird?

"I see. Then you probably know what I’m here for, but I will tell you that I want a blade specifically."

The woman nodded, turning serious, which was a nice surprise; at least now she was actually focused on her job. "Do you have a material you want to use? Or do I have to use one of mine? It will cost you more."

’Cost?’ He hadn’t thought about it, and he had a good reason. They were in need of strong people; they were dying left and right, and no one had a promise that they would live. So what was the point of trying to get money out of someone who was probably going to fight for you soon, since he wasn’t sure how he was staying here, if you don’t even know you will survive?

Aether sighed; he was going to deal with it. When it came to materials, he had sold them all... at least, except for one: his antler, the weird one that lacked something every other material had...

To this day, he had no idea what was up with it, but he had no idea what it could be, if the Codex had made an error, or anything like that. But he couldn’t just keep it forever, and he thought that this was a good time to make some use of it. So he summoned it, showing it to the women.

When she saw it, her eyes widened slightly as she took it in her hands carefully. "It’s... quite beautiful, if I have to say. Its color... I will make a lovely blade, that’s for sure. I would ask you the class and rank of this material, but since I will also be using some of mine... what matters is what class you want it to be and how many abilities."

This was the beauty of making relics: being able to make the perfect blade for yourself, whatever you want it to have, you could get; it was a real honor. Smiling, he thought about it; he could ask for a Harbinger, but at the same time, with it being a Seeker class only, he doubted that was possible for any relic maker, even more someone working in these conditions, and probably with hardly any resources left.

It would cost him his whole life.

He also didn’t want to make it a Seeker class; the reason was obvious: he was trying to get a better blade than Voidpiercer, and getting another of the same class with different abilities might be able to make him stronger.

But the difference between Seeker and Bearer is much bigger than that made by abilities.

A Bearer blade, that is what he wished to use. Was it an ambiguous dream? Was it going to cost? The answer to both was yes, but he was allowed to dream, right?

When it came to its abilities, as ironic as it was since he had all the freedom in the world, he had no idea what to give it. He thought about basic stuff, like poison, but he already had that with his bow, or maybe the ability for his thrusts to get stronger each time, since he wanted to get a rapier again so his skill would work, but Voidpiercer already had that.

So he had no idea; he didn’t have the creativity to make a powerful set of abilities.

... He was going to make a pretty stupid choice... and let fate do it. Pretty dumb, he knew; it made no sense, but at the same time, he really had no idea at the moment, and truly... the Codex knew what abilities to give better than he did.

He was confident in it.

"I wish it to be a Bearer Rapier, if that is alright... and for abilities, if it’s possible... could you let the system choose them?"

The woman’s eyes widened, out of pure confusion. "You don’t want to choose the abilities?" Aether nodded his head; he had fully expected this reaction, and really, it was the most normal one. What else would a relic maker have when a customer doesn’t take advantage of their biggest quality?

"If you say so... I will try, but I can’t know since I never tried it with it just... gone. Also, you know you won’t know its abilities until the Codex is back, right?"

’I... didn’t think about that.’ Aether bit the inside of his cheek before sighing. "It’s fine, I’ll deal with it."

She sighed, tossing the antler from one hand to another. "If you say so, I can’t really argue with what a customer specifically wants, even if, for me, it sounds stupid, and I can’t see what possible advantage you could get from it."

Gripping it in one hand, she intensified it until the veins in her hands were standing out. After some seconds, she let go. "It should be able to hold around three abilities."

...

"Which makes it so your total is probably around ten gold coins?" She said with a burning smile on her face.

Aether looked back at her with a smile... one filled with pure shock more than anything. "How... much? You’re joking." He said, shaking his head, thinking he had heard it incorrectly.

"You heard me, kid, ten gold coins. You expect me to make relics out of dirt? I mean, come on, I’m low on materials and work in a bad place; plus, all the effort I put in, you pay all that, of course." She sighed. "You will pay after we get out of this place, so you don’t have to worry about paying for now; just focus on keeping the people like me who can’t fight alive."

"Um... yeah..." Aether said, laughing, but inside, he really wished that she would die after giving him his blade, since he really did not want to pay ten whole gold coins. He didn’t even have an idea of where he could get that much money; it was beyond anything he ever thought he was going to achieve anytime soon.

...

But he really did need the blade.

"So, how do I transfer you the relic?" Aether asked, confused, since the Codex wasn’t around anymore.

The woman shrugged. "From what we tested, it worked, but it’s weird, since it feels as if nothing happens.

’I guess?’ As he offered his hand, the woman took it, as he did the same thing he did when transferring with the Codex... nothing happened, but that was exactly what she said was going to happen. Nothing.

"Then... I guess I’ll see you when it’s done..." He said, a bit awkwardly, as he walked backwards towards the exit. The woman nodded.

Outside, Aether smiled... he was excited.

He was finally getting a new weapon... he just had to...

wait.

...

...

’I wonder what is happening back in the Blue Rose.

..."