310. Edna on Caval

310. Edna on Caval

Caval.

Edna returned this time to Caval with a purpose to place a node tree, preferably somewhere friendly. Caval was a land of knights, and a land of small feudal kingdoms. These feudal kingdoms laid claim to [hero sword], and that served as the foundation of that kingdom’s power.

How this actually worked was an interesting mechanic at play in this world, and it was something she wanted to see more of.

The descendant swords.

“So, Ebon. How many more levels?” Edna asked as they both approached the small fortified town. They could feel the magic that leaked out of the city, but Caval was a fairly safe world, and so, they were both in rather ordinary village wear. A tough outer tunic and pants, though they both had much more comfortable inner clothing.

“One.” Ebon said. “Level 149.”

Edna nodded. She knew he’s been at the very edge of the path for a long time, though the exact details often eluded her. Ebon’s service to the Order was probably a hundred years long. Edna nodded, she remembered many years ago, he was just a young [Aeonic Battle Knight]. “You’ve come a long way, my disciple. There’s but a few more steps to take.”

Ebon nodded with a brief sigh, a mix of frustration and exhaustion. Ebon was not the only one.

Many Valthorns reach Level 149 and never move for years, even decades, like Ebon, his service is almost a century long, even with all the breaks he took in between service. Even Roon and Johann stared at that final level for years before they made it. “This last step feels a lot further than all the ones before.”

Edna tapped the man that was once her disciple on the shoulder. “Keep at it. We’re almost there.”

It was a small fortified town, and six guards stood at the gates, decked out in polished steel armor. They wore the liveries of a nearby Lord. [Knights] and [Squires], perhaps with the ability [Clean Armor] or some variant thereof. Edna’s eyes, in particular, noticed one of the guards who stood nearby wielding a magical blade. A blade that has a faint presence of the hero sword.

“Visitors?”

“Yes.” Edna and Ebon both smiled. “Can we come in?”

“Bags?”

Edna and Ebon both handed over their bags and just briefly checked them. One of the knights whispered to the other. “I keep getting nothing.”

The other knightguard replied. “Really? Let me try. [Security Inspection].”

Edna and Ebon glanced at each other and immediately, they both activated small rings on their hands. An illusionary object meant to throw off [Inspect].

“What are you talking about? I get [Villager] and [Traveller] for both of them.” The other knight tapped the man. “You must’ve drained your magical energy.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, you two are free to go. If you’re here to live permanently, you’ll need to speak to the Town Lord, but other than that the laws of our town are similar to all others. Don’t cause trouble. If you’re here to watch the Seed Drawing Ceremony, it’ll be in four days.”

They were exactly here for the Seed Drawing Ceremony, and entered the fortified town.

At first glance it seemed just like any other town. In fact, that was what the scouts thought at first. They didn’t have much time to dive deep into how they worked back then, but now that there was only one real demon-king infested world to deal with, time was quite plentiful.

This town had one hero sword, and unlike most other towns, it had its hero sword out in full display. It stood at the town’s center, a gleaming golden sword that stood embedded into a large stone. It’s presence wasn’t really that great, for both Edna and Ebon, it didn’t seem particularly interesting.

They built a small water fountain around it, and there were at least two knights present, standing guard. The sword itself had a massive steel chain that tied it to the ground. At this distance, they could feel the subtle pulse of the hero swords, and strangely enough, a voice.

Well, only Ebon could, and was partly why she brought him along. “You could hear it?” Edna asked. Edna as a domain holder couldn’t interact with this aspect of the hero sword. Strangely enough, Edna didn’t detect her domain blocking anything.

It was as if whatever ‘feelers’ the sword had knew it couldn’t reach her.

Ebon paused as he focused, and then, he nodded. “It’s- it’s whispering. It’s saying something, I can’t quite make out what it is.”

“I see.” Edna nodded. The Valthorn agents claimed they’ve heard strange voices when they were around the cities and towns, but most of the hero swords are hidden in secluded courtyards and spaces. Edna checked her dates again. “Well, don’t think too much about it, we still have time. Let’s rest.”

The fortified town didn’t get many visitors normally, but there were slightly more than normal. So, at the inn, the two managed to talk to some other slightly drunk villagers to find out more about the Seed Drawing Ceremony.

“I’m still amused that every year or two there’s still visitors that want to see the ceremony. It’s nothing much, really.” The visitor said. “Nothing much for us to see, at least, but it’s a lot of work for the swordsmiths.”

“We’re travelers, and we’ve not seen a seed drawing ceremony. What is it about?”

“It’s when the swordsmiths offer their blades to the divine blades, and the divine blades share fragments with the blades. It happens every year or so, when the divine blade is ready. The swordsmith with the best blades gets to work with the fragment.”

Ebon couldn’t help but ask. “How is it judged?”

“Judged? It’s no eating contest! The divine blade chooses whichever blade it wants. Sometimes it chooses none at all and the swordsmiths will be in trouble with the town lord.”

“The sword chooses?” Edna found that strange. “Do the swordsmiths hear the sword talk?”

“Oh! Those that hear the sword’s words are the sword whisperers! They have a destiny to be great swordsmiths!”

Ebon frowned. He was nowhere near a swordsmith, but he knew he heard the sword. “Doesn’t it just say weird things?”

“No one knows. Swordsmiths are very secretive about that sort of thing.” The slightly drunk villager said. The town was a little more crowded as the day of ceremony got closer, and Ebon noticed the voices from the sword began to sound more like a chaotic mess.

There just wasn’t much in the townfolk’s lives that even supposedly boring Seed Drawing Ceremonies become an event.

The town square was converted into a podium, as the fountain’s water was drained, and replaced with temporary wooden floors.

A priest appeared, but he was different from the normal priests. He looked like a priest, and yet, also a swordsmith. He was large, muscular and filled with scars from years of work in the workshops. Even though he wore the deep brown robes of the priesthood, they could tell he was once a swordsmith.

The priest seemed like a fairly mid-level individual. He was likely around level 60 to 70. In one cordoned off area, a group of swordsmiths looked nervous, and they all held a set of weapons wrapped in thick cloth. All of them have done it before.

So, Edna focused her observation on the gossip and rumors from the travelers. Merchants who had seen more places.

“I heard this isn’t a powerful hero sword.” One of those in the crowd whispered to the others.

“It’s not, that’s why the town lord’s only a town lord.” Another one whispered back.

The priest-smith walked to the hero sword, and began to chant.

Edna felt him channel priestly powers. Holy powers common in priests and those who had a leg in these sort of classes. The sword glowed and emitted a powerful magical presence, as if it was a sword in its prime, as if it’s original creator still lived.

For a moment, this was a hero sword as if a hero still held it.

The priest turned and roared at the swordsmiths. “Present your seedling candidates to the Holy Sword.”

The swordsmiths were ready, each of them held a finely crafted sword in their hand, and they all walked towards the platform. Once they approached, the hero sword seemed to glow, and it had wisps of light that reached out. The wisps touched the swords presented by the swordsmiths briefly.

The priest continued to chant, as if continuing to supply magical energy to the hero sword, and then, the hero sword pulsed.

“The Sword has chosen.” The priest said.

The hero sword pulsed once more, and then, two of the swordsmiths’ creations floated up. The hero sword shot a beam of light into each of them, and those swords glowed.

“Two of the crafted blades are worthy!” The priest said, and the crowd cheered. Those that failed looked dejected, but some looked relieved. The floating glowing swords landed back in the hands of the swordsmith, and they looked nervous.

The priest said a prayer, and then turned to face the crowd.

“And so, it is now the duty of the swordsmith to forge the greatest blades with the seedlings granted to them.”

Their goal was an old priestess and a great sword whisperer. In her youth, the rumors claimed she made powerful descendant swords. But mainly, because she was really old, and thus knew things many didn’t.

Ebon checked. “She’s inside.”

“Got it.” Edna knocked on the door. “Let’s go.”

“Hello, we’re looking for Priestess Shuwan.”

“I’m not a priestess anymore.” The old woman responded.

Edna grinned. “Then we’re looking for Shuwan, we wish to speak to her.”

“Come in.” The former priestess’s home was clean, and well lit with ample sunlight from the large windows. The living room was fairly narrow, but it didn’t feel that way. Two of the walls were decorated with scabbards, their swords nowhere to be found. “Sit, sit. Do you want some tea? What can this old woman do for you?”

Edna and Ebon smiled, and so Edna started. “That would be nice, but we’re here to learn about the past, and the hero swords that are all over our world.”

Shuwan smiled, brewed a pot of hot tea and sat down on the table with three cups. Ebon quickly helped her pour the tea.

“Oh? You want my story?”

“Yes.” Edna said.

“That’s probably the third time someone ever asked, and in the first two times, it was a hero. Are you a hero?” Shuwan smiled.

Edna smiled back, and shook her head. “No.” Most of these worlds didn’t have an appreciation of the truth and history. They were busy surviving year on year, and even when they did create documents about history, it often spoke about the glories and achievements of their cities, kings, lords and knights. Things about the nature of hero swords would be mentioned in passing, but not much attention was given to them. The swords were how things are, and how things were, and how things will be.

Someone like Shuwan with her long history, knew and seen a lot of things, and interestingly, it was only people like heroes that would think about speaking to someone like her.

The woman was old, and at almost three hundred years old, it was probably the limit of her level-extended lifespan.

“And if you’re not the hero, why should I tell you?” Shuwan said.

Edna smiled. “What would it take for us to hear the truth?”

Shuwan found that funny, and nodded. “I jest. I’m an old woman happy to talk about my past. Too bad few want to listen and many have long forgotten who I once was. Where should we start?”

“What are the hero swords?”

“It is what you know. They are the remains of the heroes’ journey. Each hero arrives in our world with a seed, which with their nurturing, grows into a powerful weapon. Depending on the Three Sword’s blessings, the swords gain different types of powers. When I traveled with the hero Yoru so many, many years ago, he would visit each old hero sword and he would then imprint a memory of that hero sword into his own. The old heroes gain a wide variety of powers, because they can summon the swords they have met during their journey to aid them.”

“You traveled with the hero?” Edna asked.

“Yes! I traveled with two heroes, actually. Yoru, when I was a young woman, and later Zahar, when I was an older priestess of the sword.” Shuwan said proudly. “But it’s an old story, that was- maybe two hundred years ago. Back when the three or four heroes arrived and I was the one chosen by the Lord to accompany the hero and provide my wisdom.”

“But why?” Edna asked. She knew why, but she wanted to hear it from her.

“Heroes need knowledge. They need company. They need someone to be there for them, care for them, and love them.” Shuwan said frankly. “They are fragile men and women, and even if they have strong powers, the temples know they must be cared for, and the temple- well, the temple wanted children from the heroes.”

“Oh. Did you have any?”

Shuwan smiled. “Yes! My grandson’s now the Knight Commander of the city! Of course, the hero’s blood is a little diluted, but still!”

“But, why?”

The former priestess laughed. “Why else? Our children can draw more out of the hero’s descendant swords.”

“Ah.” Edna chuckled. “So, these hero swords, what else do you know about them? What’s something we don’t know?”

“Hah. Such a hero-way of asking questions, I’d almost think you came from their world.” Shuwan laughed, but talked anyway. “Well, the heroes- well, Zahar gave away one of his hero swords when he was level 90 or so, just because he saw a village that was really vulnerable and wanted to protect them. So he planted his hero sword there and then.”

“Must a hero plant the sword?”

“Not always. That’s what I’m for, as well. If the hero falls in battle, I’ll retrieve his hero sword. The hero swords actually contain a fragment of their being, a part of their soul, and it resonates better with me than anyone else because I was their companion on the journey. The companion is always a priest-smith, because we can work with the sword he left behind. We can speak to it, better than anyone else.”

But eventually, they too die, and so lesser smiths must learn to pick up the slack.

“Is it always a girl?” Edna wondered.

“Not always. A man is fine, as long as the two have a strong friendship. Sending a woman to be a hero’s companion has its challenges, since a woman may find the hero less appealing and there’s a lot of complicated feelings that don't make us a good companion. I was lucky that I liked the two heroes I was assigned to, but it’s not always the case. Romance and love isn’t necessary, all that is needed is a strong connection that the hero sword inherits. Are you two trying to be the next hero companion? There should be a demon king in another five or so years, but it’s hard to say whether there will be a hero.”

Edna just nodded. “You can say that.”

“Ah. Hopefully they send more than one. It rarely ends well with only one hero.” Shuwan said with a sigh.

“So, a hero can create a second hero sword?” Edna tried to redirect the question back to the earlier question. “Why not create more? The world clearly has space for many more.”

“Each new hero seed costs levels. Five to ten levels of the hero’s [Hero] class, and the new hero sword starts from scratch.” Shuwan said.

“Starting from scratch?” Edna asked. “Do the hero swords have levels?”

“Yes!” The old woman smiled. “They are special like that. They are a part of the hero, and so, each hero gains two sets of levels. One for himself, and one for his sword. Once given away they stopped growing, the swords transformed into the objects you see out there, but they gained some other abilities to protect their new home.”

Edna’s mind immediately thought of Aeon’s idea of creating a living weapon. That was possible with a titan soul, but here, the hero’s sword was doing something else altogether.

***

“Do you think we can do something similar? A living weapon that’s so powerful that we could use it on the demon Sun-Rings?” Edna asked. “Something that outlasts even the heroes.”

If the hero swords were living weapons, then the natural idea was for a hero from Caval to gain power across many, many worlds to create a super-hero sword. Or whether they could make something with a titan soul, and push the living aspect to it’s limits by cobbling multiple titan soul-like weapons together.

“This makes this world a dilemma for us. If we stop hero summons, we’re fulfilling our end of the bargain, but we wouldn’t be able to experiment with the heroes.” Edna said. “I’m being a little selfish, but I really want to see what it’s like to have these living swords pushed to the limits. Could they be more powerful than the heroes themselves?”

“Then we should let Aeon know to just hold off on this world. I think we could afford a delay to our plans?” Ebon wondered. “Skipping one cycle is what, ten or twenty years? Aeon could wait that long, no problem.”

Edna agreed. “Aeon won’t be the problem. Time is hardly a concern for him, and waiting a decade more or two is indeed nothing. I am more concerned with my peers. Would my peers be willing to hold off for twice as long? Alka may be on my side, since he’s willing to experiment, but will Stella let me do this? Are we playing with the lives of my fellow warriors?”

“We could let the demon king appear but don’t kill it? Leave it incapacitated and allow the summoning of heroes to trigger?”

“Agreed. That’s possible with Lumoof’s powers and my swords. Now, I’ll have to convince the rest of my domain holders to hold on for a little longer.”

Spaizzer

So I have a book launch tomorrow. Book 6 of Tree of Aeons on Amazon. Wow. I have 6 books. It still makes my mind twist a little. But my 7th book will only be out maybe mid 2025, so, that's a really long time away.

I do want to write faster. But my brain's capacity to thinks limited. I have a tendency of writing things that takes me a long time to think about. RSM requires me to think about interpersonal relationships and choices all the time (which is why its so slow). Tree requires me to think about civilizations and societies on a macro scale and kinda estimate how they go.

Anyway why am I rambling. Here's book 6's link. please add it to your library if you have it. Also on Patreon, a few peeps volunteered to help me edit. Yey! So yey for edit squad. We're still working out the flow but hopefully it'll be better edited stuff once it hits RR/SH a few more chapters down the /gp/product/B0CZ14CLS4

Check it out, thanks for reading, please buy my book so that I can save enough more money and be a full time writer. Someday. Some daaaaaaaaaay.