by Andrew Rowe
I coughed.
That...has some specific connotations to it, Dawn. I’m going to pass.
I’m vetoing that title.
You’re just making up whatever you want and calling it a contract!
I let out a deep sigh, focusing on more important matters.
Even with the point penalty, I was up to six hundred and three points. That was great progress. And, in spite of Dawn’s teasing about the ball, I felt pretty good about that round of the tournament as a whole.
I smiled and patted Dawn on the hilt.
Soon. I have one more thing I need to do.
***
I went to look for Soulbrand’s wielder. The attendants wouldn’t tell me where to find him — apparently, going to talk to your opponent right after a match often led to fights, so they had a policy of not directing combatants to each other.
That was irritating, but I had another means of finding him.
I moved at a modest jog, Reika following close behind me.
<....Aaaaand he’s gone.>
I stopped.
“Problem?” Reika asked.
“He’s out of range.” My shoulders slumped. “Must have teleported.”
“Why’d you want to find him? I mean, I want to give him an extra punch or two myself, but we’ll have more time for that in the next round, right?”
“Akadi.” I took a breath, my hands balling into fists.
Reika raised an eyebrow. “That Sun Eater follower guy? Didn’t Lia already handle that?”
I folded my arms. “I’m unconvinced.”
“Fine, fine. I get it, you’re the hero, no one can handle bad guys but you.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s...not what I meant, and you know it.”
Reika wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Well, it does seem kind of like you think that, Mr. Always Fighting Wielders Without Me.”
“You got to fight him that time!”
“Only a little.” Reika pouted.
I sighed. “You can fight the wielder all you want; I’m not worried about him. I wasn’t following him to fight him, anyway. I just want information.”
“Uh-huh. Well, if you’re done stalking him, can we get some food? I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving.”
She nodded sadly. “Such is my lot in life.”
I gave one last look in the direction I’d last sensed Soulbrand’s wielder — who I most definitely was not stalking — and went with Reika to eat.
Admittedly, I was pretty starving, too.
We took it easy for the rest of the day. I spent much of that time just trying to acclimate to the newly-heightened connection I felt with Dawn. As the day pressed on, it grew easier to block out stray thoughts, but I suspected it would be a while before either of us got used to it completely.
We agreed that food was a priority, but I wanted to talk to Reika privately, so we paid to have some food delivered instead of going out. Then, we sat in my room to talk.
“Lemmie see your hand!” Reika gestured at me while slurping down her latest bowl of some kind of beef and noodle dish. I wasn’t even sure what the dish was called, but she loved it.
I slipped off my glove and showed the newly-altered sigil to her.
Reika peered at it. “Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her symbol look like that before.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dawn wants to know if you like her new look.”
“Well, obviously. It’s very pretty.”
I felt Dawn preening in my mind in response. It was...an odd sensation.
I tried to ignore that and focus. “So, you’ve never seen that symbol...is that just because you’ve never seen another wielder?”
She shook her head. “No. Well, I mean, maybe. There were some alternate symbols for Dawn in older texts, but most of them were either simpler — like starting with a single circle and advancing from there — or completely different. This is...strange. Usually when something like an attunement changes, it only adds one line — this is a whole extra geometric figure.”
I shrugged. “It’s not an attunement, though. Different rules, I guess?”
“Yeah, I suppose. But what caused it? I saw the flash of light, but...”
I described what had happened.
“Hm. Well, uh, congrats I guess?”
“Dawn and I say thanks. So, we’ve confirmed this thing can change — do you know how many levels it might have?”
Reika shrugged. “Dad didn’t really tell me anything about that. I mean, if I had to make a wild guess, I’d go with six.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic. “Yeah, I suppose that would make the most sense. We can try to replicate whatever we were doing to make it advance further sometime soon.”
“Training is always a good idea. Hey, pass the red sauce? No, the other one.”
I passed her all of the sauces, content to eat my own food the way it was prepared. “So, I saw you paying a lot of attention to Shun...”
Reika coughed, nearly choking on her food. “Uh, you did? I mean, uh, yeah, he was...something.”
I laughed at her a little, then made sure she wasn’t dying, then laughed at her a little more. I had a hunch about why she was reacting so strongly and I decided to test it. “You’re adorable. First time you’ve seen another dragon our age?”
“He’s not a dragon.” She folded her arms. “At least, probably. I think he’s a serpent. It’s different. And that’s not the issue.” She jabbed toward me with a finger. I evaded. “I just haven’t seen any other dragons, or our cousin species, in general. It doesn’t have to be a romantic thing. You can’t blame me for taking an interest in seeing someone else like me.”
“No, but I can tease you mercilessly.”
A smirk crossed my lips.
Reika just gave a ‘hmpf’ and went back to eating.
I kept teasing her for a while after that, but for the most part, I just enjoyed having a night of peace and quiet with my friends.
***
The next morning, I got straight back to training with Walter. We spent most of the early morning with him continuing to tutor me on local fighting styles, as well as just sparring. While that was certainly valuable, I had something much more important to talk to him about.
Between sparring sessions, I paused to talk. “I should thank you for covering for me in the last match, when I had that flare of power from my hand.”
“You’re welcome. That was something related to Dawnbringer, wasn’t it?”
I ignored Dawn and nodded to Walter. “I probably could have just told everyone, but...”
“No, it’s better not to share details like that. Shun is a good ally, but ultimately, he’s another competitor. Giving away too many details about your most valuable asset would be unwise.”
I didn’t like to think of things that way, but I understood his reasoning, and I appreciated his help. “I wanted to talk to you about that. About a couple of things, actually.”
“Well, don’t dance around it. Talk.”
Walter was always more straightforward than most, and I appreciated that about him. “First off, Dawnbringer. I’d like to introduce you to her, and introduce her to Octave.”
“Introduce...” His eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen that look in your face, like you’re distracted in the same way another Soulblade might be. I knew you probably had an intelligent item, but...Dawnbringer itself? Or, herself, I suppose?”
“I realize this isn’t common knowledge, so please keep it quiet. I ha
ven’t even told Grandmother. She might have noticed, but I’m not sure.”
Walter gave an awkward glance toward Dawnbringer, then back up toward me. “I was under the impression you were a foreigner. And you were able to imbue her with a spirit, like a Soulblade does?”
I shook my head. “No, no. She was like this when I found her.”
“She was...that’s...” Walter frowned. “Soulblade weapons shouldn’t remain stable if the Soulblade dies, and I can’t imagine one abandoning a contract-bound weapon. Certainly not one so impressive as Dawnbringer.”
He also knows you’re listening now. Don’t be flattered too easily.
I put my hand on Dawn’s hilt, thinking. “You’re right that I’m a foreigner. And we do have intelligent items where I come from, although they’re extraordinarily rare. I don’t actually know how they end up that way, for the most part. The only other one I’ve encountered was a fragment of another entity, and...she was sort of an unusual case. Either way, I don’t know if a Soulblade attunement was responsible for Dawn’s state.”
Walter gave a considering look. “And she doesn’t remember?”
I shook my head. “No. She’s been self-aware for decades, but she doesn’t know how it happened. I suppose it could be that a Soulblade made a contract with someone and put them in Dawnbringer, but...”
“No, you’re right, that doesn’t match well with Soulblade behavior. It’s probably something else.” Walter gestured toward the sword. “May I?”
You okay with that, Dawn?
Yeah, that makes sense.
I unbuckled my belt and removed Dawnbringer’s scabbard. “You can put your hand on her hilt. You’ll be able to hear her that way. She doesn’t want me to hand her off entirely.”
Walter gave me a nod. “Of course.”
He approached, and gingerly set a hand on a hilt. “Dawnbringer? Can you hear me?”
He froze for an instant, and then gave a delighted, wonderful laugh. “My...it’s true, then. I didn’t...” He laughed again, shaking his head. “Extraordinary.”
He smiled. “And she has a sense of humor! Lovely. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dawnbringer. I’m truly honored.”
I snorted. “Don’t feed her ego too much, Walter. I have to live with her.”
Walter blinked. “Proposed...? Are you two...getting married?”
“Aaah, she didn’t mean it like that.” I waved a hand dismissively.
I couldn’t roll my eyes hard enough. “Sooo, Dawn, you wanted to meet Octave?”
Walter raised an eyebrow at that. “I can manage that, but...why would you want that?”
I heard what sounded like an indignant cough from the halberd, which was lying in a corner nearby.
“She’s never talked to another sapient item before, Soulblade or otherwise,” I explained.
“Hm. I suppose that makes sense. I’ll...go get Octave. And you can, um, talk for a while.”
Walter’s expression softened. “It’s my pleasure, young lady.”
He let go of the sword, and I admit, I felt myself relax immediately once he no longer had a grip.
I’ve been a little on edge since he put his hand on her, I realized.
I groaned. Having an even stronger connection with Dawn meant that, somehow, she was managing to find even more sword puns in my thoughts than usual.
***
Rather than summoning Octave out of the halberd — which was mana intensive, and which Walter could only do safely every couple weeks — we just ended up sitting down the weapons next to each other. From there, Octave talked — or rather sang — out loud, and Dawn found that she was able to communicate with him telepathically as long as they were in physical contact, just like she was touching a human’s body.
It was...an unconventional method of conversation, to say the least.
For your own sanity, I will save you the details. Suffice to say that I understood Walter’s reservations about letting Octave talk to Dawn a little more after their “chat”.
In the end, though, Walter and I might have found it strange — but for Dawn, it was the most important thing in the world.
When we walked back to the Study of Iron afterward, I could feel Dawn’s warmth and joy in my mind. That was enough to put a smile on my face, even if she kept singing incessantly in my head for the rest of the day.
***
That evening, when I met up with Reika for dinner, I noticed she was barely even touching her food. This was, for Reika, an extremely worrying sign. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She stared blankly at her plate, clearly not fine.
“I’m not going to be pushy about it, but it seems like something is wrong. You’ve barely touched your...whatever that noodle thing is.”
“I’m not hungry.” She pushed the dish aside.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You. Not hungry?”
She let out a deep sigh. “Okay, fine. You’re right. I’m awful, everything is awful, and I hate it.”
I blinked. “...What happened?”
She tilted her head down at her mostly-full soup bowl, looking like she wanted to dip her face into it. “I...talked to Shun.”
“Oh. And how’d that—”
“He’s a jerk!” She snapped, a little louder than needed. We drew a little attention from nearby tables. Reika withered at their looks, mumbling, “Sorry,” and sinking into her chair.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
Reika shook her head silently.
“Do you want ‘cheering you up cake’?”
Reika stared downward for another moment, then gave the world’s slightest nod.
I ordered cake.
Then, over the course of the night, I ordered many more cakes.
***
Later that evening, Reika asked for some time to herself to read before going to bed. I took that time to pay a visit to talk to Lia about the next round of the tournament, as well as any information she’d gathered for me.
“Any word back from Farren?” I asked.
“Not from her directly, but one of her subordinates.” I opened it to give it a quick read.
Dear Keras Selyrian, Wielder of Dawnbringer,
While we at Farren Labs have the utmost respect for all the Wielders of the Sacred Swords, regrettably, our founder is currently immersed in an important research project and unable to meet with you personally at this time.
We’d like to formally invite you to visit our facilities in Caelford after the tournament, however. You would have a much better chance of meeting Miss Farren at that time.
We wish you all the best in your future endeavors,
Kahi Zephyr, Associate Marketing Manager, Farren Labs
I gave a groan. It was about what I’d expected. The invitation to visit the lab in Caelford was better than nothing, but I’d been hoping for something that wouldn’t require me to chase Farren to another country.
Yeah. And I’ll see if I can find any other routes to approach her, too.
I folded the letter and tucked it away, then turned back to Lia. “Sorry for reading that right here, that was rude of me.”
“It’s no trouble. Can I ask about the contents?”
I e
xplained what I’d read to her. “Ah. Platitudes. I can see why you wore such a disappointed expression,” Lia replied. “On the positive side, I’ve heard that Farren Labs itself has many interesting facilities. Perhaps you’d enjoy a general tour?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. It didn’t sound quite as exciting as hunting monsters or fighting in tournaments, but I couldn’t discount the possibility that they’d have useful information or items there. “Okay, on to the next subject. What have you learned about the next round of the tournament?”
“Precious little, I’m afraid. I did discover that the theme is ‘choices’. That implies this test will have some sort of branching options available. In the past, similar tests have allowed contestants to choose between multiple potential challenges, such as different board games to play.”
I nodded in understanding. “I might need to get more familiar with the local board games, then.”
“Perhaps. Board game challenges have happened in the past. Usually, it’s Crowns, but with slightly modified rules for the tournament. The theme is vague enough that it could be something completely different, though.”
“Fair. Okay. Let me know if you learn anything else.”
“Of course.” She nodded. “Anything else I can help you with?”
“Yeah. Have you found out anything about my challenger for the sponsored match?”
She visibly winced. “Regrettably, no. Please, forgive my inadequacy in that regard. Whoever it is, though, they already had the thousand points to make the bid — they weren’t counting on points from the second and third rounds.”
“Don’t worry about it, you’ve been very helpful. Do you think my challenger earned those points, or is this some kind of wealthy noble that paid off their friends to give them points or something?” I asked.
“It’s difficult to say, but I’d lean toward the idea of them earning at least the majority. There are limits to how frequently people are allowed to transfer points to each other, and the charge for the transfer makes it unpopular. I also don’t think any of the wealthy nobles would have an incentive to spend that many points to fight you.”
“Lady Hartigan, wanting to settle a score, maybe?”
Lia shook her head. “It doesn’t fit what I’ve heard about her personality. She’s also recovering from an assassination attempt.”