Mythshaper

The Phoenix visualisation method became increasingly prominent as I practised it. In the beginning, it would have taken me over an hour to visualise some details of the fiery wings. However, now that time had decreased to merely a few minutes. Now, if I could only keep that visualised state for much longer.

My Will and visualisations were all burnt away by the smouldering flame of my imagination in merely a few more seconds. Well, it was still an improvement, just more unnerving every time. I wondered what would happen if I went through the method nonstop without taking a break. For one, I would definitely be exhausted beyond measure. As for the improvement, I had no clue if it would be of any help.

Getting done with both forging methods, I moved on to practise some weavings and found that all my newer essence threads had grown to full maturity, which meant I could advance one more step right away.

That was great news, as any, since the competition date had been announced to be only a couple of weeks away. I would have more than enough time to accommodate the newer threads by then. However, that was not the only improvement I could make in the short span of time.

I was still missing some valuable training and a big revelation to form my ideal aura sword. It was not something that could be achieved by just practising hard. But the other thing would surely be attained by forcing my way into it. That was promoting the nascent Demon Hunter into a proper, prestigious class honour.

Just like the Journeyman Artisan, the Demon Hunter honour required me to kill at least twenty-five elite demons. Not an easy task, I must admit, although I had some luck defeating four or five during the demon incursion in Karmel. I had lost the exact count as the situation was beyond my control to keep track of things back then.

I played with the Monster Hunter Guild token between my fingers, deep in thought.

It was almost unthinkable for someone of my class to fight against a true elite demon. However, with proper tools and techniques, that implausibility became far more plausible. Just as back then, the lightning blade had dealt the bulk of the hard work against the corpse flies I had slain. And I had grown stronger since then. Perhaps with the help of my parents, I could get a more curated chance against these demons.

While that sounded near perfect to me, only I knew how tough it would be to convince my parents. It would take a monumental effort, and I began by working my way up from the easier opponent first.

"Father," I asked, "do you know of the Monster Hunter Guild?"

He gave me a sidelong look. "What about them?"

I showed him the token, explaining everything the receptionist had told me.

"You want to join this expedition where some higher classed folks will help you in defeating monsters above your station."

"I was thinking more of you helping me, but that works too," I said, noticing the slight irritation on his face. "Unless you think this is a disingenuous way."

"No, nothing like that." Father shook his head and stood up. "Too many of us face demons without someone to back us up. If something like what you're telling me worked properly, it can be most beneficial to a fledgling awakened."

I stood straighter, my expression brightening. "Then will you take me to fight demons?"

"Slow down, lad." Father chuckled. "You were talking about facing demons as if it were a picnic. At least go get permission from your mum."

I suppressed a groan. "Right now?"

"Now's a good time as any."

With that, both of us brave men hurried to break the final wall that separated us from our destination.

The study of the new house was wider than ours and emptier too, lacking the bookshelves and all the paintings I had hung on the walls. There were some decorations, more lavish than what we had in Karmel, but none of them gave that homey vibe.

Mum was currently mentoring Diana in the ways of rune formations. Since the girl had given up on the guild offer, Mum had been a little hard on her, which seemed to be the way with Diana. If you left her to her own devices, she would go around doing all the things she liked. She was not averse to work; however, what she liked was mostly related to housework, like cleaning or preparing food.

"What is it?" Mum asked, sparing us a glance. "You two didn't just saunter into the room without something foolish in mind."

"Um, I was—" I looked towards Father for help. Yet the most courageous man I knew actually pushed me towards Mum as if it was all mine to deal with.

This was the betrayal of the highest order. I did not expect this from Father at all.

"Let me guess," Mum narrowed her eyes, "You want to advance another step on your noble path." She shook her head. "No, I don't see why that would be such a bad idea that you'd have to bring your father along to discuss it. Out with it now."

Blighted hell, I was fumbling with stupid words in my mind. Perhaps I should have drawn a flowchart to show her how beneficial my idea was.

Thinking fast, I brought out a notebook from my blessed stone and handed it to her to buy me a moment to reassess my strategy.

"What is this?"

"A list of names for my sister," I said, "or brother."

Mum shot me an impressed look before gazing at the names listed on the note. "Hmm, some of them are genuinely good, but why do all the names have 'lyn' at the end?" She raised an eyebrow. "And what kind of name is Siblyn?"

Well, you know like Sibling, Siblyn. Alright, that was one bad example, but there were good names like Shailyn, Maylyn, Amalyn—just not enough good ones for a brother with the same rhyme scheme.

Mum stored the paper away. "I will give it a look when the time is right. Now spit out what you're scheming."

"I'm scheming nothing," I said with my utmost uptidiness. "Well, it's not a scheme. You know, Mum, how important the provincial tournament is. If I could perform well, I could get not only one but two prestigious class honours out of it."

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"It doesn't work like that," Mum said. "But go on."

"Either way, wouldn't you say honours are the best way to help an awakened grow?"

"They are."

"And I should prepare for every possible way to gain those honours?"

"I thought we have been preparing you," she frowned. "You still feel inadequate to face the challenges?"

I gave a slight incline of my head. "So I have been thinking," I said. "If I can get the Demon Hunter honour before the tournament, perhaps it will be enough to help me reach the top spot."

The line in her brows deepened as she narrowed her eyes. "So you are telling me you want to go and face more demons for your preparations?"

Her glare turned to Father, and there was almost a tangible weight in it. Thankfully, Father did not fold easily.

"Ashlyn, think about it. By how it's going, Arilyn will face demons whether you like it or not. We can only shelter him for so long. So why don't you prepare and give him all the tools to ready him for the world?"

"He's still too young."

"Really?" Father cocked an eyebrow. "How old were you when you first faced a demon?"

Mum sniffed. "That was a different time back then, and—"

"Give me an answer."

"I was a couple of seasons younger than him," she said, grinding her teeth. "But that was different. I only faced dregs, and I had help. Whereas he's talking about facing the elite ones."

"When did you face elite demons?"

"Of course, I was older than him by a year or two."

"But you were only in noble class back then, correct? And hardly had the same tools you and I can provide him."

Mum's face blanched. "I hate when you argue back, with all valid reasons and thoughts."

"That is to say, I pick my fights well," Father said with an impish grin.

Honestly, I had to suppress myself from hugging him. That was a great manoeuvre if I had seen one against Mum.

"Great," I said with an elevated voice. "So when can we go? The tournament's in two weeks."

"I believe you're up for disappointment, pumpkin, if you think you can just go, and they will let you enter rifts, where the elite monsters dwell."

I showed her the Monster Hunter Guild token. "I think they can help with that."

"So this is where it all came from," she snorted, taking the token. "I shall see how early they can give us a date. Just so you know, it will not be half a day's work of you hunting down monsters to get your honour. No, it will take longer. The elite demons will not show themselves and offer their necks for you to slay. I'll say we will be lucky if you can advance your honour before the tournament."

"It'll still be a valuable experience," Father added.

That quenched my enthusiasm a little, but I was still relieved that they had agreed to something I was not fully convinced about. I had had nightmares the first few days after the terrorising incursion. Perhaps facing them of my own will would help quash my fear.

"Now go prepare," Mum said. "We're yet to get you a good pair of formal clothing."

Decidedly, Mum had made an appointment for me with a famous couturier the other day, but I had wasted that appointment by locking myself in the Artisan Guild assessment. Apparently, to her, there was something wrong with the formal clothing I already had, as I needed new ones from a couturier, no less.

It barely took me a couple of minutes to prepare, which was limited to washing myself and a change of clothing, and there was still no sign of her. I sat in the study to see what kind of practice Diana was working on and if she needed any of my help. Noting her work, I felt that runes were perhaps greatly demanding to anyone without my gift. Diana's mastery remained at the elementary rank.

"Arilyn," Father called, "Someone looking for you."

"Me?" I cocked my head. There were so few people I knew in Klearon, and none of them would come to our house for me.

It was only after he brought them into the study did I recognise them to be the twin siblings I had met in the Artisan Guild.

"Sorry for intruding." The girl said. A yellow evening dress hugged her form, contrasting with the long spear in her hand. Her brother tagged along behind her, wearing a black vest, looking as if he had every reason to be not here.

Still, it must have taken them some time to figure out where we lived. Unfortunately, they had come at a bad time.

The girl introduced herself as Cassia Albia and her brother as Paximus Albia. The twins ' similarity was not limited to their facial features. To my surprise, both of their weaves were Augmentor and Mender hybrids. I did not know how I had missed that in our earlier encounter.

"You're here, so it didn't go well with the guild as you hoped," I said. "I'm Arilyn, by the way."

"No," Cassia answered, sneaking a look at her sibling. "Our Father—he did not like Pax's idea and withdrew the complaints."

The girl was rather calm and collected, but her brother seemed jittery. I would have liked more stories out of them. Unfortunately, they came at a bad time. For now, all I could do was inspect the spear and see if I could fix it in any way they needed.

I presented my new Journeyman badge before them and grinned. "Oh, now you don't have to worry about repairs from someone who didn't know what they were doing."

Well, for the most part, that was. Most times, I knew what I was doing. If I did not, I could always go to Mum for the answers.

I was just about to get on with the inspection when Mum stepped into the room.

"Arilyn, I told you to prepare—" She eyed the siblings. "Oh, I didn't know we had guests in our house."

"Pardon us for intruding," Cassia said, inclining her head in a curt bow.

"Wow," Mum said, her eyes glowing. "A pair of siblings, with both the mender and augmentor combination. Your parents must be very lucky."

"If they are, they certainly didn't show it," Cassia chuckled.

Paximus snorted, and upon noticing everyone looking at him, his face turned as red as a tomato.

"You don't have to feel reserved," Mum chuckled before she nudged Father on the shoulder. "Can you believe Arilyn made friends coming to a new city so fast?"

Well, they were not actually my friends, but I did not say that aloud, as it would be quite embarrassing to admit. Just so, I put my attention to inspecting the tool.

I did not have to inspect with my shaper skills to know the spear was crafted from good materials. The primary material was titanium with a good implementation of Steeler silver, and... Was that Emperyon gold? Good lady, that was such a waste for a fabricator of this standard.

As soon as I channelled my essence into its formation, I found the first inadequacy in its build. The runes imprinted on it were perhaps a standard or two inefficient compared to what could be prepared with material of this quality. Perhaps even more if it were crafted by the hands of a master Artisan.

Moreover, for all the quality materials, the enamel enchantment placed over the spear seemed to be rather flimsy and poor in quality. However, as I came to inspect it more, I found something else that did not measure up correctly. It was as if there was a disharmony between the rune formation and the spear itself.

"You mentioned something wrong with its balance," I asked Paximus, recalling his complaints.

I gave it a couple of test swings as wide as I could in the study and did not find all that much wrong with it. The spearhead did feel a little weighty, but I was unsure if it was my bias as a swordsman or if it was genuine.

There was something amiss, and I did not think it was all about its balance.

As my inspection could not figure it out, I handed it to Mum.

"There's something off with its reinforcement," Mum concluded as soon as she picked up the article.

The siblings exchanged a glance, seemingly unsure what that meant or unaware of Mum's expertise.

Mum's eyes glowed with a golden sheen as her essence threads invaded the metal body.

"Oh dear," she muttered. "The one who had integrated the empyrean gold into the titanium had done a rather lacklustre job of it. I guess it was easy to make a mistake if you were inexperienced in dealing with such rare materials. As the gold has a higher density than titanium, it created a rather uneven distribution of weight in the body, which the artisan tried to rectify by mixing some other material. Hmm, I'm guessing tungsten, as it is similar in density to gold." Her gaze returned to normal as she turned to the siblings. "You should have gone to someone older, preferably more experienced in dealing with exotic material like empyrean gold."

"That stupid woman, and that stupid guild," Paximus shouted, grinding his teeth.

"Well, if it means anything, it is borne more out of incompetence than malice."

"Then can you fix it?" Cassia asked.

Mum smiled. "Good thing, artificing is more cost-efficient. Unlike your alchemy, all the materials here can be salvageable."

The siblings sighed in relief.

"To get the most out of the material, you need to reforge the spear."

"Wouldn't that cost more money?" Paximus asked, his expression darkening instantly.

Mum cast a glance towards me. "Normally it would," she said, "thankfully, I know someone who gives big discounts to his friends."