[TWS] Chapter 300 – The Fated Armaments

A week had passed since Imadil and Cynthia joined Ast’s side. Nothing much happened during that time and they just continued to hang around the Garden of Sinners while trying their best to aid the queen and her investigation team in gaining more information on the moles amongst their ranks and the evil cult’s plans in general. The elves were still working on their masterpieces and things were generally moving slowly.

Asterios was having tea with Fievedem, discussing her side of Summoning Magic that was taught in elven academies and other institutions—as they’d come to often do during their free time—when a man in a sentry uniform approached their table. They paused their chat and turned to him.

“My sincerest apologies for the interruption, Lord Asterios, Lady Fievedem. I bring a message from the queen.” He made a polite bow. “She would appreciate your presence whenever the two of you have a moment.”

Fievedem nodded at the man respectfully. “Thank you. You may inform Her Majesty that we will arrive shortly.”

“Very much so,” Asterios confirmed as she glanced his way.

The guard bowed once more and departed with a quick step. Fievedem faced Asterios once more.

“It looks like this is where our little debate ends for today. It was a very interesting discourse,” she said with a soft smile.

“I agree. The little differences amongst all the similarities are so intriguing and fascinating. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to review them more after our current issues are finally solved for good,” he replied with the same.

“Let us go, then. The sentry should have gotten enough time to gain a comfortable lead on us.”

They stood up from the table, gathered all their notes and documents, and headed back to the snowy keep. One by one, the girls joined them, stepping out of the crimson gates. Miria first, then Selene, Grea, and finally Bryn. If they weren’t wrong, Tina and Silvia were already waiting for them by the queen’s side.

Soon, they were intercepted by the palace guards and guided to one of the private meeting chambers, deep in the beautiful, winding, wooden castle. They guessed correctly, and the two noble ladies sat in front of Civienne, who had the magical mirror by her side, currently empty, reflecting their figures on its surface as it was directed toward them. The duo smiled gently after locking gazes with Asterios through the silvery window.

“Your Majesty.” He nodded respectfully as the other girls curtsied and they all settled down on the sofa. “What is the reason behind this summons? Is there some new development in our investigation?”

After the door closed and multiple formations lit up to secure the chamber, Althea’s sitting figure appeared in the rippling mirror. The queen let out a tired sigh while shaking her head.

“It’s just meant as a general report on our progress. Which is… not great, if I were to be honest,” Civienne began. “While the research team focusing on the chaotic mix of poisons seems to be moving forward step by step, our efforts in discovering more about the creators of those vile substances is starting to stagnate.”

“Thankfully, with the help of your winged mate, my condition isn’t worsening any further. Her continuous magical support allows me to be a test subject for the antidotes our people constantly do their best to come up with,” Althea joined in with a grateful nod toward Asterios.

“I can’t help but feel like she wouldn’t have to go through all of that if only we located one of the major facilities belonging to the cult and secured their records or samples,” the queen added. “Yet that feels like such a distant, almost unreachable goal. I’m grateful for your assistance in its pursuit, though.”

“I thought we were doing quite alright,” Tina chimed in. “We identified plenty of moles and traitors, constantly monitoring them.”

“That is correct, but also pretty much all.” Civienne rubbed her forehead. “It’s possible that we have even caught all of them already, but the problem lies elsewhere. Their movements don’t reveal a lot to us, besides the identities of other people involved in this nefarious plot. There are some orders and messages we have intercepted, but nothing led us to any possible locations yet. Somehow, they keep getting instructions without leaving the capital, spending most of their time in the palace as they normally should if they weren’t double agents.”

“There’s nothing that can be further done about them?” Miria asked, tilting her head cutely. “If we know who the bad guys are, can’t Umbra just read their minds?”

“I’m afraid that this could potentially risk exposing our operation, judging by what I know about that familiar’s abilities,” the queen replied.

“That is true,” Asterios agreed. “Umbra has been observing them in turns, but to complete a full mind scan, he would need to become quite invasive. You remember what happens to the brains of those who are subjected to his deep memory reading, right? Going light and slow might get him noticed.”

“Ah. Right. They become useless.” Miria’s ears flopped down onto her hair.

“And anything happening to those individuals could signal the cult that something is wrong,” Silvia added. “We are in a tough spot. But we might be running out of options. And who knows how much time we still have until the next step in their grand plan.”

“That’s what worries me.” Civienne sighed once more. “We will have to come up with a new approach. In the meanwhile, you should visit the Spellsongs. A word reached me that they have finished your artifacts. You might want to get yourselves used to them before something big takes place so that we can use every benefit to our advantage.”

“Fuck yes! Finally!” Grea threw her fist into the air. “I can finally reunite with my baby! I was starting to get withdrawals!”

“Don’t lie. My Lord was expending a lot of effort to keep your mind off that weapon.” Selene chuckled impishly. “You didn’t seem that concerned at that time.”

Asterios smiled wryly. “We’ll pay them a visit right away, then. I’m extremely curious about what they had come up with too.”

“Would you mind me accompanying you? It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen their unparalleled creations come to life,” the queen asked.

“Not in the slightest. It will be our pleasure.” He bowed his head.

“Let us meet in front of their forge in twenty minutes, then. I’ll have to prepare.”

Everyone nodded and Ast’s group bid farewell to their Dragon friend, leaving the chamber. They unhurriedly wandered through the city and descended to the undergrowth. Taking a slow stroll through the earthen streets, they timed their arrival at the tree stump workshop with the queen’s directions. After waiting for about three minutes in front of the forge, Miria spotted movement.

“Someone is coming. But… Who is that?” The panthergirl furrowed her brows.

Instead of Civienne, a different female elf was heading their way with a somewhat springy step. She wore a neat military uniform used by the most important sentries, which consisted of slim white pants, a tight-fitting white jacket with a visible vest underneath it, and matching leather gloves. Her long, black hair was tied up into a single ponytail. She had a tall but slim figure with a moderate chest. At her hip, a silver rapier hung in an ornamental scabbard. A happy smile painted her youthful face, adorned by gleaming, blue eyes.

“Well, then. Are we ready?” she asked with a kind, somewhat upbeat tone. “I’m not late, am I?”

They all stared at the woman in confusion. But, the moment Asterios met her deep, piercing blue irises, he recognized the familiar note of maturity, wisdom, and calmness they were already so used to seeing.

“Civ—”

She stepped forward in a blink, interrupting Asterios by placing her slender finger on his lips.

“Now, now. Let us save those nicknames for when I’m off duty, shall we?” The woman chuckled at him softly with a teasing wink. “You promised to properly call me Cini if you stumbled on me in my sentinel uniform.”

Still a little befuddled, Asterios nodded. The girls caught on pretty quickly and did their best to hide their surprise. Selene covered Miria’s mouth just in case, hiding her sudden gasp of recognition.

And they all realized one thing.

They might have just possibly witnessed Civienne’s personality from before she had earned her title of the Ice Queen.

“Are we going in?” the disguised queen asked with a raised brow.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Asterios shook his head with a wry smile.

He hastily led the group to the door and went straight in, just like the last time. Their arrival was noticed immediately and Imadil approached them with a warm smile, wiping his hands from sweat accumulated during whatever he had been working on.

“Welcome! We were eagerly awaiting your visit! Oh, and who might you have brought—” The man paused abruptly as his eyes widened to the brim.

Imadil then snapped his fingers and multiple additional formations lit up all over the inside of the giant tree trunk, joining those already functioning ones. The windows became dark and murky, making it impossible to peer outside, and most likely inside too.

“Your Majesty.” He then dropped to one knee as Cynthia rushed to his side and mirrored his action.

“Rise,” Civienne commanded, back to her cold tone.

While her overall appearance remained the same, she now wore the icy expression they were all familiar with.

“Looks like it’s only us who have gotten fooled initially.” Asterios chuckled.

“Trust me, we have been surprised just as much as you must have been the very first time,” Cynthia said with a gentle smirk. “It’s only natural for Her Majesty to avoid unnecessary attention to us and herself during some visits.”

“It’s not like this is the only way in which I leave the palace, but as Cynthia said, there’s nothing wrong in being thoughtful of others. We don’t want a small crowd of people surrounding us just to check what their queen is doing around the city. Curiosity is a powerful emotion,” Civienne elaborated.

“I can wholeheartedly agree.” Silvia smiled knowingly.

“But, let’s not mind my person. We have much more interesting matters to focus on here, do we not?” The queen glanced at the Spellsong duo.

“But of course.” Imadil bowed politely and grinned at Ast’s group. “Everything is now ready. Come.”

They followed the father and daughter pair further into the workshop and stopped in front of one of the beautiful, wooden counters. Cynthia picked up a charming, black, rectangular box with Ast’s Summoner’s Brand carved in the upper lid with a gleaming, crimson filling. She showed a bright smile while taking hold of it. Looking through everyone’s eyes, she raised it majestically.

The next moment, all the girls gasped in unison and Ast’s brows shot to his hairline as his mouth fell agape. On a dark scarlet cushion, rested two rows of three rings in a rainbow of colors. They looked enchanting, like the most valuable treasure anyone could imagine, calling to the observers with some magical charm.

“We experimented with a lot of ores and minerals, managing to find plenty of those that showed incredible reactions with your blood and essence,” Imadil began with a big grin. “Curiously, only the lowest tiers of metals evolved. Things like tin, iron, copper, nickel, zinc. Anything with much better spiritual conductivity like mithril, adamantite, or platinum just doesn’t want to react the same way. We have a theory regarding those basic metals but I bet you don’t want me rambling about technicalities at this very special moment. Go on. Do the honors.”

“Which one is whose?” Asterios asked, even though he could make a guess judging by the colors.

“You’ll know it the moment you get closer to them. They will too.” The man winked at him.

Asterios nodded and received the box, realizing that the elf had been right. He could easily sense which ring belonged to who. They were just like a mirror image of their supposed owners. In spiritual terms, at least.

Taking one glance at the awed and astonished girls, he decided to indulge in the clearly orchestrated situation and dropped down to one knee in front of them, looking up with a warm smile. The moment his gaze landed on Miria, she squealed in delight, getting all red from embarrassment at uttering such a sound afterward. Even though her people displayed this kind of tradition differently, she knew exactly what Asterios was doing and how this looked.

Shaking faintly, she stepped closer and offered him her left hand. He brushed through her soft fur affectionately and slid the deep scarlet band onto her ring finger. She beamed at him charmingly, stroked it with pure affection, and dropped down to quickly kiss him on the lips before jumping away to make way for the next person.

Selene came next and received a bright, cerulean ring, gracing Asterios with a fond, ladylike smile and a passionate kiss too. After her, Tina somehow overcame her greatly increased bashfulness and he slid a deep azure band onto her delicate finger, receiving a chaste peck in return.

Grea basically threw herself at him, making it hard to slip her black ring on, and smooched Asterios almost to death, practically devouring his lips. Silvia approached him with more decorum and noble poise, though he could feel how elated he felt from the unusually big and joyous smile curving her delicate lips as he presented her with the gleaming, amber band. Last but not least, Bryn got her shining gold ring with her complex halo glowing equally strong as she healed up his lips a tiny bit during their tame kiss, fixing the result of Grea’s assault.

Finally, only his ring remained to be received. Asterios hadn’t noticed it during the initial opening of the box, but the girls could clearly see it as he held it towards them. The band with a crimson and onyx flame-like pattern was attached to the upper lid, surrounded by various depictions representing them, like the head of a panther, a fox, Tina’s Summoner’s Brand, or Bryn’s halo. They picked it up all together and slipped it onto Ast’s finger in tandem. Only after it was in its rightful place did they notice the faint streak of green running through the two other colors battling each other fiercely.

“These are so pretty…” Miria marveled over the rings with a blissful sigh.

“Right? And that’s not even the best part.” Cynthia chuckled happily. “Who wants to start?”

“Definitely Ast. We can then go in the same order as we received the rings,” Tina suggested and the girls all nodded in agreement.

“Alright. I think I know what to do.” He smiled at them and glanced at the mysterious band.

Extending his hand forward, he let the ring connect with his sources and draw on his energy. A spiraling mix of red and black flames shot forward to a certain length and stopped. After they dissipated, they revealed a sleek, fierce-looking greatsword, which made Miria and Tina gasp in awe.

The blade was as wide as about two heft palms set side-by-side and its double edge was of a gleaming crimson color, closely resembling dark blood. Its core in the very middle was flat and pure black as six circular openings were evenly spaced over its massive length, definitely slots for his crystal sigils. The hilt was covered in a scaly pattern with the same, dark shade, and the pommel was finished by an equally crimson depiction of a fierce Dragon head.

“As you can see, you can still use your little tokens,” Imadil pointed out with a faint grin. “The sword goes great with your flames and all the energies your body stores inside. It’s designed to mix them in the most efficient way possible if you decide to use all of them at once, and even accommodate additional ones at the cost of sigil slots. Easy to imagine, red works best with red, and black with black. As long as you have any drop of essence left, it’s almost indestructible and can reform indefinitely. I’m sure you will be satisfied with it.”

Asterios made a few test swings with the massive greatsword, which felt just right in his hand. It wasn’t too heavy, but it wasn’t exactly extremely light. Yet, he knew that no one else could possibly lift it and all the blows he would conduct with it would smash bone and stone to dust.

“It’s incredible. I don’t know what to say. It feels just… perfect.” He shook his head with a wide smile.

“My turn now!” Miria exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down. “How do I bring it out?”

“Just focus for a moment and you will understand.” Asterios smirked at her.

She nodded at him a dozen times in quick succession and took a deep breath. A few seconds later, she extended her hands to the sides and black mist flowed out of them, uncovering a pair of shortswords after it receded.

But, compared to Miria’s previous blades, those were vastly different.

They were still made of gleaming, silvery metal, but their general design was much more ferocious. The edge was jaggy with huge spaces between the protrusions, and somewhat irregular, with the part near the tip slightly curling upwards like a sharp fang or claw. The swords were thicker, bigger, and definitely longer. The place where the blade connected with the hilt was adorned by the head of a panther split in the middle. The blade was held in its strong jaws. The depiction was black, just like the rest of the grip. The pommel had a rhomboid shape with three hollow nooks set in a Y-pattern.

“I love them! They look so aggressive!” Miria beamed at the elf duo.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Cynthia grinned. “Join them together with their pommels.”

The panthergirl stared at her in confusion and then examined the ends. She quickly realized that the nooks were mirrored and slid into each other with a perfect fit, locking the shortswords together.

“Now fill them with your mana and pull away,” Cynthia continued instructing her.

“Woah!”

Miria did as told and jumped a little as the joined hilts suddenly extended about thrice in size, or more. She now wielded something akin to a short polearm with blades on both ends. Her reach and possible maneuvers rose by a magnitude.

“You can now put even more force into your strikes like this or spin it around if you would like to. After being thrown, the swordstaff will return to your grasp like a boomerang. It can split at any moment, even with the hilts extended. Naturally, I don’t think I have to mention how well these blades work with your usual techniques and everything else,” the elf lady added.

Everyone chuckled as their feline companion had most likely missed quite a bit of the explanation while twirling her weapon with pure joy and enthusiasm. They let the panthergirl have her fun and refocused on Selene.

The fox lady closed her eyes briefly and flicked her wrist. Cerulean wisps of ethereal energy materialized her weapon, which showed as a long and curved blade of a similarly silver shade to Miria’s. The curve was gentle, spread over its entire length like a barely drawn bowstring. Same as with Miria’s too, the head of a fox bit into the blade at the top of the hilt, though it was deep blue. The checkered pattern running further down was a combination of blue and white. From the simple pommel at the end, a tuft of white fur hung down on a decorative string, its tip tinged with azure too.

“A great katana,” Imadil chimed in. “Massive demons love them. We honestly thought that gauntlet and greaves would be your perfect companions, but I’m sure you feel just how well this one feels in your hand. It’s made of evolved metal with the highest spiritual conductivity out of all our discovered ores. It’s so attuned that you can just let go of it and see what happens.”

She did as instructed and the massive weapon remained suspended in the air. A ring of cerulean energy manifested around the fox’s head and the sword floated to Selene’s back, starting to hover behind her. Whenever she moved, it followed her motions perfectly, swaying gently. It stayed rooted in place like it was in an invisible sheath.

“It will always return there, as long as nothing blocks your back, then it just hangs somewhere around you.” The elf man smirked. “You can do something similar with yours, Asterios, if you want to show it off. Yours will glue itself to your back at the height of your shoulder blades. Part of the ring transforms in a magnetic patch that weaves itself into your body.”

As the mentioned duo experimented with their new artifacts, Tina made her move. Water-like energy of deep blue flowed onto her hands, covering them entirely. After washing off, it revealed dark azure fingerless gloves. A complex magical array was inscribed at the back of her palms. They looked enchanting and comfortable.

“Those will aid your control over the offensive summoning techniques you pride yourself in,” Cynthia said. “They will reform themselves to match your needs perfectly. Try that thing with your water familiar, assuming different shapes.”

Tina called Hydran forth and requested him to shape into a scythe. The change happened in a flash and the liquid was clearly immensely sharper and more powerful. Her gloves extended and covered her hands entirely now. She could feel the incredible grip she now had on Hydran’s form, additionally experiencing their connection like they were truly one, with no physical barriers in between.

Switching curiously to a bow, she watched the material covering two of her fingers retreat and leave just the upper three she used to draw the bowstring the way they were. The hand she held the base of the bow with remained fully protected. It was an interesting experience.

Grea was next, and most likely everyone expected her result. Pinkish smoke obstructed the appearance of her weapon, which seemed to be a sleeker, much more beautiful version of the giant crossbow she had been infatuated with in the past.

The new weapon was thinner and most likely a tad longer. Its base was made of black wood with dark red metal details. She couldn’t see the rectangular bolt container along the bottom of it, and a new part appeared at the top, above the rail housing the bolts. It resembled a spyglass, but had some kind of crossing patterns inscribed onto it with tiny numbers everywhere.

“Now, to load the ammunition, you have to raise the protruding lever on the right side near the middle of the weapon and pull it all the way to yourself. The bolt will materialize in its proper place as the string reaches the end. You can look through the aiming device at the top for distant shots. It will calibrate itself according to the distance and allow you to hit targets even kilometers away,” Imadil explained. “Watch out, because those bolts pack quite a punch now. And you can strengthen them with your mana. It obviously hasn’t been tested, but they might even pierce a Dragon’s scales. Naturally, they return to your spiritual storage shortly after hitting. You can store about two hundred or so, depending on your capacity.”

“Hell yeah! This is what a girl likes!” Grea giggled maniacally. “Now give me some targets!”

While the crazy demon lady aimed her crossbow at literally everything around them, the real lady with scarlet-amber hair reached into herself for her own weapon. This time, everyone’s expectations weren’t met. Instead of something akin to a staff, orange flames uncovered what looked like an ornamental, meta cuff of a beautiful amber shade with a big rusty gem embedded near its front. Mesmerizing patterns ran all around it while the princess stared at it confusedly.

“The cuff functions as your focus.” Cynthia brought her out of her pondering. “While you certainly are great with staves, this is what will bring your dances to another level. A long, hard pole won’t be limiting you anymore. I assure you, you will know exactly what to do with your hands the moment you jump into one of your spells. The potency will be unparalleled too.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your guidance.” Silvia nodded at her politely.

“But, try to reach for the crystal with your energy,” Cynthia continued with a smile.

After prodding her new weapon with her mind for a second or two, Silvia stumbled on something, and the gem suddenly popped out of its slot, hovering in the air above her hand with amber sparks lazily falling off it.

“Grab it and try to think of some weapon,” their female elf friend added.

Following her instructions, Silvia gasped lightly as a staff made of pure amber crystal grew in her grasp. It felt perfect in her grip, as natural as always. Or perhaps even more than her previous one. With just a thought, she was able to bring out the shapes of plenty of other weapons. They definitely could still function as her focus, though not as efficiently as when the gem remained in the cuff.

Finally, it was Bryn’s turn to check her gift.

“Yours was definitely the hardest to nail down,” Imadil admitted and his daughter nodded in agreement. “We hope it doesn’t disappoint you.”

Particles of light flowed from Bryn’s finger to her forehead and formed a circle around it. A moment later, a royal, golden tiara rested on her hair, just above her ears. It had a sleek, winding design with winged motifs. In the very center at the front, a big, bright yellow like the sun gem was embedded into the thin frame, its shape resembling that of a shield. The moment everything was set in place, her halo pulsed strongly and Bryn gasped as it continued to bathe them in white glow.

“Amazing…” She breathed out with a shaky voice. “I can feel just how much more powerful my magic became… And this tiara… It’s connected to my halo so deeply… I could never access my energy this directly before… I’m astonished…”

“It looks great on you,” Asterios complimented her with a kind smile. “And makes me feel relaxed just by basking in its light.”

“Well, these beauties might look quite nice, but I think it’s much more important to check how they handle themselves in action, no?” Cynthia snickered lightly. “Let’s move to the testing grounds. I can’t wait to see you bring out their full potential.”