Lynn said nothing, but walked over to where Amadeus was standing.

“I’d check your food for poison for the next… life.”

“She’ll be fine. She got cocky, and that’s what happens. Anyway, that decides it. You fought me and won, and I won against Lauren. I believe you win, Amadeus.”

He scratched his head, thinking. “So, ‘no need for me to duel Lauren’, is what your saying?”

Lynn nodded. If he lost to Lauren, it would make everything a tie, which would be… stupid, to say the least.

“I won’t contend that result. Lauren! You cool with calling it my win?”

“Eat shit and die, fuckface!” She gets riled so easily…

“I think that’s agreement.” Anthony laughed. “We can always do this again in the future… once we’ve managed to win.”

Lauren continued her tirade in the background as the two spoke. “You think we’ll manage? There are… a lot of monsters left. And that big one…”

Anthony smiled wryly, and faced Lynn directly. “We’ll win.” An intensity burned in his eyes as he spoke. “We don’t have many people, it’s true, and we’re up against a force… many times our number, but we’ll do it. Even if it’s just because we have the system backing us up, and can improve faster than our enemies, we’ll make it. Dean took down a ton of them all on his own, and even if he outclasses any one of us, I think… that difference in strength is ultimately temporary. A quick path to power isn’t always the answer, and the consequences of his choice were plain to see. We’ll find the strength we need to far surpass even him, because every one of us is a survivor, don’t you think?”

“Y-yeah…”

“All we need is the time to make it happen.”

Lynn nodded, but a part of her wasn’t sure. A part of her firmly believed they were part of a much bigger game, and closer to pawns than pieces with any real power.

There was a very real possibility that each of them would die horribly.

----

With the hierarchy of my team, such as it is, figured out, we commence training for the day. We had wasted some of the time with our combat efforts, but even that was fairly fruitful. Getting to fight a true ranged combatant was a good experience for me, and observing the fight between Lauren and Lynn gave me some useful insights on combating rogue types. Though, truthfully, I should challenge Lauren one of these days, just to get practical experience… that might be a terrible idea.

I ditch the practice sword back in the forge room, and secure my sword to my back. Even just having it on my body makes me feel… stronger. Whole, even. It’s strange, but this weapon feels more a part of me than the stick at this point. I believe that’s a side effect of the reforging process, but it might also be a natural progression from having my soul shattered. Having my Energy mixed in as an integral part of the sword… probably sped the bonding process along substantially. The ‘Soulbound’ tag is new, and I’m not entirely sure what it means, but my best guess is that it’s probably almost impossible for someone else to use the sword, or even touch it without my sayso.

There’s also the addition of weird flavor text about ‘hunting for warmth’ or whatever. It’s… cold. All the time, the blade is cold. It’s never unpleasant to me, but other people don’t even like to be near it because the cold gets so intense close to the blade. The sheath is almost perpetually covered in ice. It’s… really awesome. When I strike things with the blade, even stone, my targets freeze and sometimes shatter if they’re small enough and I hit hard enough… and hitting hard enough is never a problem anymore. The whopping twelve Strength the sword gives is enough that the relatively hefty weight of the sword feels like nothing to me. I can swing it around at a combat-level intensity for thirty minutes before I need to take any sort of break, and that’s without burning Energy to buy myself some recovery time.

It’s almost a blessing that the sword doesn’t provide me with Dexterity, or I’d be at the level where Zathis probably couldn’t train me anymore.

“Good. This is an ideal level of ability. You are ready.”

“Seriously?! Finally!-”

“Is what I would say if you were not so callously relying on your weapon to save you. Where is your ability? Your strength? It is almost overshadowed by that of your own weapon! I wonder, if it had any will of its own, would it not be wielding you?”

“Hey! I was an integral part of creating this sword. It literally contains my own will! But fine, maybe it does make things too easy. What would you recommend?” The words barely leave my mouth before I regret it.

Zathis does not reply, but a sword made of pure stone, that looks closer to a buster sword from a video game, rises from the ground.

“You may use this to train.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve got to be kidding-” Stone encases my legs, locking me in place, and more stone protrusions smash my sword out of my hands. I try to grab after it, and the blade seems to waver in the air, as if fighting to return to me, but more stone encases it and drags it away.

“Give that ba-!” I start to shout, but the stone releases my legs and I’m shoved to the floor. The stone sword lies on the ground with me.

“Better hurry, I will be beginning now.” And that was all the warning I got.

I grab the sword and start to stand, but the weight is even more than I had anticipated, and I end up stumbling instead. I try taking the time to lift it, but a block of stone smashes into my back.

“Far too slow, young warrior, move faster!”

“You’re testing my patience you- OW, YOU CROTCHETY GIANT!”

“If you have the breath to be rude, the training must not be intense enough. Allow me to rectify that.”

“FUC-” The rest is drowned out by a giant’s booming laughter.

I grab the sword again, burning Energy just to get it up, and try to use the limited time I have enhanced Strength to get a feel for the weapon, all while dodging a relentless assault of both melee and ranged strikes from Zathis. The sword is much larger and more broad than any I’ve used before, which makes it a much better defensive tool, but also significantly more unwieldy.

I’m starting to do alright, when I drop Fortify and try to entering River’s Flow so I can more reliably maintain my defence. The skill protests for a moment, as though my mind is pushing against an elastic barrier that just pushes back harder for every ounce of effort I put in. The momentary vulnerability allows countless projectiles and strikes through my guard, draining my health to near critical levels in a heartbeat. Bastard! It’s like he’s trying to kill me! Fine. I’ve gotten stronger.

I have 20 more Energy than before, and it seems to regenerate significantly faster as well. I can’t keep burning Energy forever, especially at the Health percentage I have now, but I still recover fast. With that in mind, I start burn Light and golden Energy simultaneously, and slam my Will against the stubborn battle trance skill. So what if the system doesn’t recognize it as a sword? I don’t need a weapon to fight. Does the river not need water to flow? Yes, but I am not the river, and the water is not my weapon. I am the water, and the river is where I am, a testament to the path I have carved with my own will. Whether still or in motion, armed or barehanded, I flow where I will it. This stone is not a weapon, but it will help me carve my path regardless.

The skill bends very slightly, and I feel the fog and concentration descend over me. Good. Let’s go, you smug bastard.