WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 5

A pained cry followed by the sound of a body collapsing echoed behind me. I whipped my head around and became shocked to see one of the Battling Valkyrie members collapsed on the ground, an Elite standing behind her.

“Samantha!!” Erica screamed.

As Erica called out the woman’s name, the Elite tried to merge into the shadows at the feet of the person he had stabbed, but I didn’t let him. With a quick application of the Flash Step, I was right next to him. I swung the Dragon’s Tail Ruler. The mythril weapon, coated in lightning, the Runes etched onto its body glowing, cleaved the Sekbeist in half. I only felt a short moment of resistance before one half of the body flew from the other. Both hit the ground with a wet splat.

“Samantha! Samantha!”

Erica knelt down and lifted Samantha into her arms. She was heedless of the blood that soaked into her battle dress. All of her attention was on the limp body dangling in her grasp. However, no matter how many times she called Samantha’s name, the woman did not respond. Her eyes were wide open, but they were half-lidded and glazed over in death.

“Dagan! Can you heal her?” Erica looked at the older man.

Kneeling next to Erica and Samantha, Dagan glanced at the woman in Erica’s arms and slowly shook his aging, bald head.

“I sadly cannot,” he said. “I can heal many injuries, but I cannot bring the dead by to life. This girl was pierced through the heart. Her death was instantaneous.”

Erica stifled a sob as she set Samantha back on the ground, stood up, and looked away. Her arms were trembling. She reached up and wiped at her eyes, but her hands were covered in blood, so she ended up smearing some onto her cheeks.

“Let’s… keep moving,” Erica said. “We cannot afford to linger here.”

None of our companions said anything at first. We glanced at each other as Erica began walking. I was the first to recover and quickly caught up with the woman, while the others followed behind me shortly after.

This was not the first sneak attack performed by a Sekbeist since we had entered the lower parts of the palace. Several of them had made use of Shadow Walking to launch a surprise attack. We’d already lost two people before this, making Samantha the third. The other two had been from the Paladin Sect. Now we were down to 11 people.

The underground palace we were exploring was like a maze. There were so many twists and turns that it was easy to get lost in. We had been met with numerous dead ends, rooms containing traps, and corpses. There had been a lot of corpses.

If there was one good thing from there being so many Sekbeists, it was that they had already triggered most of the traps. We had only been caught within one. Fortunately, our armor had been enough to protect us from it.

“Maybe it is just my imagination, but the Sekbeist seem to be growing more powerful for some reason,” I said as we turned a corner. I was keeping a wary eye out for anymore potential ambushes, straining my senses and Spiritual Perception to their fullest.

Tungsten nodded as he looked at the vaulted ceiling. “It is not your imagination. I’ve noticed it as well. We’ve been running into Sekbeist that can use Spiritual Techniques a lot more.”

“Back when the Sekbeist first started appearing, none of the Elites were Spiritualists,” said a thin woman who appeared quite young, even though she was actually in her late twenties. Her name was Karen. “However, more and more, it seems like the only Elites we’ve been running into here are Spiritualists.”

“Not only that, but it appears they can use Spiritual Techniques without the need to use movements like Eryk can,” said Janet, a woman with red hair, blue eyes, and an intense demeanor. “I thought he was the only person who could do that, but now it appears these Sekbeists are able to as well.”

I didn’t say anything to her words, and neither did Erica and Tungsten, who knew the truth behind my abilities.

I was of mixed blood. While half of me was human, the other half belonged to a race from a higher realm. I still didn’t know which of the other eight realms my other half originated from, but what I did know was that it was higher than Niðavellir, the original home of the Dweorgs. Gilm had theorized that I was either half Light Alf or half Guddemmelig. According to him, they were the two races that most closely resembled humans.

He also said I could be half-Drakvar, who could supposedly take on a human shape, but I didn’t think that’s what I was.

We continued traveling deeper into the underground section of the palace, descending stairs, traveling through hallways, and moving across large rooms that had once been majestic but were now derelict.

Because I had the ability to use Spiritual Perception, I acted as our eyes. However, I soon learned that Spiritual Perception had its limits. I couldn’t detect someone if they were using Shadow Walking. This was how the Sekbeists were able to launch surprise attacks on us, and we ended up losing two more people—one from the Battling Valkyries and another from the Paladin Sect.

Fortunately, our healers were still alive.

It felt like hours had passed since we arrived at this floating island, but I was sure it hadn’t been that long.

We eventually arrived in front of a massive door. Easily three or four times larger than any of us, this door was made from a type of alloy I didn’t recognize and covered in Runes. I recognized many of them thanks to Kari’s conversations with Immig. There was Uruz, the rune for untamed potential; Thurisaz for directed force of destruction and defense; Kenaz, which meant the power of light; Gebo for gifts, both in the sense of sacrifice and of generosity, indicating balance; Hagalaz, wrath of nature and uncontrolled forces; Isa, meaning a challenge or frustration; and Tiwaz, which stood for honor, justice, leadership, and authority.

These Runes were carved into the surface of this door, connected through lines of power, but I had no idea how they all came together. What sort of meaning did they have? How did they work in conjunction with each other? Maybe Kari could have told me, but while I could create Spiritual Technique scrolls with my Runic knowledge, it was not extensive enough for me to figure this one out.

“It looks like the door has already been unlocked,” Erica said as she placed a hand on the door. “All we need to do is push it open.”

“Then let’s get started,” Tungsten exclaimed as he walked up to the door.

Myself and the others followed suit, placing our hands on the door and pushing with all our might. This door was heavy. It must have weighed several dozen tons. Despite that, we kept at it, and the door eventually released a soft creak as it began opening. Once it had opened enough for us to slip inside, we did so.

On the other side of the door was a room. A massive room. I glanced at the columns that stood in two lines on either side of us, noticing the intricate decorations they possessed, and then looked at the intricately ribbed ceiling.

My gaze was eventually drawn back down, and I peered further in. At the end of this long room was a platform. It looked like there was some kind of crystal coffin standing on the platform, but most of my attention was on the three beings beside it.

Two of them were Sekbeists. Their large bodies were covered in bulking, rippling muscles, which caused their pale skin to stretch across their bodies like rubber. They wore armor covered in Runes that I recognized as Dweorg made. I couldn’t tell what the armor was made of, but the blackness, darker than obsidian, seemed to frighten away the light. Given their sheer size and mass, these Sekbeists were obviously of the Warlord variety.

However, it was the one in the middle who caught my attention the most.

He was stout, coming up to no more than my stomach, with flaming red hair and a beard. Golden armor covered in scratches and dents adorned his short but thick body. While his armor was a mess and his back was turned, I still recognized this person. It might have been years since I’d last seen him. However, I still vividly remembered this man who had sacrificed himself for his people.

“Hreidmar!” I shouted in shock.

The two Sekbeists turned around and gazed at us. Both of them had large tusks jutting from their lower lips. Their square jowls quivered as they gazed at us with crimson eyes.

“It looks like we have company, brother,” the one on the left said.

“It seems some fools have discovered what we are doing,” the one on the right commented.

“It looks like the Dweorg still needs time to undo the seal.”

“Indeed.”

“In that case, let us destroy these fools before they can interrupt the breaking of the seal.”

“Let’s.”

The two Warlords held out their hands, gathering the darkness element to them. Specks of dark light coagulated around them. When the darkness turned into ominously glowing balls, they clenched their hands around it, which caused the darkness element to transform.

The left Sekbeist created a giant halberd, which he spun around his body with surprising nimbleness and skill. On the right, the Sekbeist created two curved and wicked-looking swords that it swung several times. With their weapons in hand, the two Sekbeists advanced.

I had no idea what was going on, what Hreidmar was doing here, but I understood one thing.

In order to save the former Dweorg king, we needed to defeat these two advancing enemies first.

***

It took about seven days for Empress Hilda to find me a building that would suit my purpose. This was partly because of the reconstruction effort, but it was also because I needed a building that was located close to the north gate, which had suffered the most damage.

Many of the buildings had been destroyed and needed to be rebuilt, meaning construction workers were still traveling through this area at all times of the day. As I walked alongside Kaleb Eieren, I looked at the buildings undergoing construction, observing how most of them were now nearing completion. Only a few still needed to be rebuilt.

“The building Empress Hilda requested from us is just up ahead,” Kaleb said. He was a young man who wore a red tunic with the Eieren Family coat of arms stitched onto the front. As we walked, he continued talking. “I was quite surprised when the empress herself came to us and requested we find her a building that could serve as a base of operations for numerous people, but when she told us what it would be used for, the entire family agreed to find her the best building we have.”

“The best building, huh?” I muttered. “This one wasn’t destroyed during the Demon Beast attack?”

“Oh, it was,” Kaleb replied with an easy smile. “However, its location is great for people who will be traveling into the Demon Beast Mountain Range a lot, so our family spared no expense in having it rebuilt.”

The building Kaleb led me to was located close to the rampart surrounding Nevaria. While the rampart was still much larger, at nearly 30 meters in height, the building itself wasn’t lacking in size. Located in a sectioned off area that separated it from the rest of the city, the four-story building had plenty of space outside. The entire structure was walled off. It looked like it had a large front courtyard and an even larger courtyard in the back.

“This is it.” Kaleb gestured toward the building. “Why don’t we take a look inside?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Kaleb led me to the front door, unlocked it, and let me proceed him inside.

The entrance hall was quite something. There was a counter close to the back, and the door behind it led further into the building. While the floor was empty of adornments and furniture right now, I could see where we could strategically place several tables and benches for sect members to sit on. The billboard where requests were posted would also go next to the counter where the receptionist would log any taken quests into the logbook.

Over on my right was a staircase that led to a loft. Kaleb bypassed the stairs and headed for the door behind the counter.

“The first floor consists of this entrance hall and twenty other rooms,” he said to me as we walked through the door and entered a long hallway. “There’s the kitchens, the armory, the treasury, the library, the communal bath house, the private bathing room, a training room, and several meeting rooms. Of course, we also have rooms that can serve as bedrooms as well. None of the rooms are furnished right now since this building was only recently rebuilt. Furnishing it will take more time.”

“I understand. I’m not too concerned in how its furnished right now. I’m more interested in seeing whether or not this building will serve my purpose,” I said.

“I believe you will know the answer to that question once I show you the rest of this building,” Kaleb told me with a mysterious smile.

Kaleb showed me all the rooms on the first floor, and indeed, every single one of them was empty. After showing me the rooms on the first floor, he led me back into the entrance hall and traveled up the stairs.

The second floor was indeed a loft. I imagined it would be good for this section of the sect to have several couches where higher-ranked members could relax. However, it wasn’t like a loft was all the second floor had. After leading me through another door, Kaleb and I traveled through a hallway that had multiple doors on either side.

“These are all bedrooms,” Kaleb explained. “Like everything else, they are unfurnished. However, if you plan on letting the members of your… sect, was it?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Right. If you plan on letting the members of your sect stay here, then these rooms will serve that purpose well.”

The rooms on this second floor weren’t big. I’d say they would about 20 square meters. While that wasn’t very large, if the purpose of these rooms was merely to let members of our sect sleep in them, then it wouldn’t be a problem. Most of the bedrooms in Brave Vesperia weren’t much bigger than this either.

There was another staircase located near the back, which led to the third and fourth floors. Like the second floor, the third floor consisted of mostly bedrooms, but there were also a few meeting rooms, which were about three times larger than the bedrooms. These rooms could also serve as bedrooms for higher-ranking members of the sect. Both the second and third floors contained the same number and type of rooms.

The last floor could have been considered a suite. To enter, Kaleb took him to the back where a solitary staircase led up.

The suite consisted of four rooms, which were carpeted unlike the rest of the building. I could easily see myself, Kari, Fay, and Lin living on this floor. The first room would serve as a simple living room. Meanwhile, the room on the left would make a great guest bedroom, and the larger room on the right could serve as our bedroom. The only room I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with was the last room, which was smaller than the others and didn’t seem to have much use aside from closet space.

After showing me all the rooms, Kaleb led me back outside, locked the door, and turned to me.

“Well, what do you think?”

“What do I think?” I tilted my head and pondered the question. “I think it’s a great building, but I’d like to see it again when it’s fully furnished.”

My words made Kaleb smile. “We, of course, plan to furnish this building for you, but we haven’t yet because we assumed you had a specific aesthetic and design you wanted. I plan on having several of our designers work with you to supply furniture and decorations that match your desired look.”

“That is a good idea,” I admitted. “It seems members of the Eieran Family really do think of everything.”

“We’ll contact you once we’ve selected the designers. Also, here is a spare key.” Kaleb handed me a set of large keys. “Each key goes to a specific room. That big one there is for the entrance.” When I looked at him with confusion, he shrugged. “I thought you might want to show the building off to Ladies Kari, Fay, and Lin since I assume they will also be members of this sect you plan on creating.”

“Oh. Yes, I do,” I said with a nod. “Thanks.”

“I still have some work that I need to get done, so I will part ways with you here. Until we meet again.”

I said goodbye to Kaleb Eieren and began walking through the Northern District toward the Merchant’s District, which bordered the north and east districts of Nevaria. Several children ran past me as I walked. Carpenters, construction workers, and other people wearing peasant clothing traveled through the streets. No one paid any attention to me despite my fame.

It was probably because Kari, Lin, and Fay weren’t with me.

The Merchant’s District was called such because it was centered around commerce and therefore a place where merchants congregated to do business. Not only did this place contain a lot of street vendors, they also had shops, cafes, restaurants, and other places where wealthier commoners and government officials liked to shop and do business.

All of the buildings were much wider in the Merchant’s District, and while it was called a district, it was really more of a town square… or maybe a circle would be more accurate. This section of the city was built around a wide, circular path made of stone. A large statue of Elandile Astralia, the founder of the city-state of Nevaria, sat in the center.

My current stop was the smithy. I entered the one-story building that had smoke billowing from a large chimney. It was sweltering hot inside, and I quickly circulated the water element through my body to cool me down. A force near the back was roaring with life. Meanwhile, a large quantity of weapons and armor hung from racks and sat against the walls.

I paid no attention to that as I headed toward the counter that separated the smithy from the storefront.

A man whose bare chest glistened with sweat stood over an anvil and was pounding away at a hunk of molten steel with a hammer, the sound of the hammer as it struck steel echoing around the room.

The man who was forging something was taller even than I was. He stood at least a head and shoulders above me. With every strike of his hammer, the muscles in his arms, back, and chest rippled, making me think of a hairless Werebeast. While he had a head of full hair, it was tied in a ponytail at the back.

Seeing the man like this was not all that unusual, so I stood by the counter and waited for him to notice my presence, which he did, but not until after he had dunked the steel into a barrel of water.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you,” the blacksmith grunted. “I take it you’re here to pick up your slab of metal?”

I nodded. “I am here for the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, yes.”

“That’s such a pretentious name,” the man mumbled, but I merely smiled at him. He clicked his tongue. “Give me a minute.”

The blacksmith traveled into the back and returned awhile later with a box, which he set on the table and opened for me. I looked inside. There were several large chunks of forged alloy inside. Unlike normal steel, this alloy had a red tint that made it look like blood had mixed into the metal.

“It took a lot of work to forge these,” he said with a grunt, taking one of the slabs and hefting it up. “That alloy did requires extremely high temperatures to make malleable. You’re lucky. If I didn’t have a wind affinity, I’d never have been able to make these.” He set the slab on the table, then grabbed another one. “Just as you requested, I etched in all those strange symbols you wanted. I’m not sure why you wanted them, though.”

“They weren’t just for decoration, if that is what you are thinking,” I said. “There is a reason I requested you etch Runes into my weapon.”

“It’s not like I care why you wanted them.” He shrugged. “I just handled your request to the best of my ability.”

“And I appreciate that.”

Very soon, all of the chunks of metal were set on the table, and the blacksmith removed the box so he could lay them out properly. While it would have been confusing to most people, once the forged alloy was laid out, it was easy to see that they formed a sword when combined. However, unlike the one I had asked the blacksmith to forge previously, this one looked a lot more like the original Dragon’s Tail Ruler that had been forged by the Dwoergs.

While it lacked the jagged edges that made it look like scales, the sword was about two meters in length, making it even taller than me. Just as I had requested, there were Runes carved into the surface. Uruz, Thurisaz, Hagalaz, Nauthiz, Sowilo, and Eihwaz. Each Rune was etched into the segments, creating what appeared to be ancient sentences of unknown meaning. I doubt the blacksmith even knew what he’d been doing when he carved these symbols into the alloy.

I grabbed the hilt, which was attached to a large crossguard and one of the segments that made up the blade. Taking a deep breath, I channeled Spiritual Power into the Runes, which glowed a vibrant blue and began crackling with power. The first segment began vibrating. This was followed by the second, third, fourth, all the way to the eleventh segment shaking against the table as they became engulfed in my Spiritual Power. I narrowed my eyes and directed the lightning element through the blade, creating a static shock.

Each segment quickly combined as if they were magnetized. I waited for a moment, then stopped channeling Spiritual Power through the blade and lifted it into the air. The segments remained firmly locked in place. The Runes glowing on their surface were functioning perfectly, it seemed.

I took a few practice swings, wielding the weapon with one hand, and then nodded. This weapon was still a far cry from the Dwoerg-forged Dragon’s Tail Ruler, but I was satisfied. The alloy was made from an A-rank Demon Beast, Giant Rock Golem, which meant it should be capable of handling my Spiritual Power without breaking like the other one did. Until I could find a way to reach Niðavellir again, I’d have to make do with this.

“What do you think?” asked the blacksmith.

“It’s good.” I nodded as I placed the weapon against my shoulder. “This will work perfectly.”

The blacksmith grunted as he crossed his arms. “I know I said I wanted you to give me a more challenging job than making those silly cylinders, but don’t you think this is going a bit overboard?”

I smiled. He had said the same thing back when I asked him to create the first Dragon’s Tail Ruler.

“What are you talking about? Aren’t you supposed to be one of the best blacksmith’s in town?”

“Cheeky brat. I am the best blacksmith in town.”

“Then why are you complaining? I’m coming to you because you’re the only one who has enough skill to forge what I want.”

The blacksmith had nothing he could say nothing to that, so he merely grunted and went into the back once more before coming out with several other weapons. There were a pair of gauntlets, a ranseur, and even two boxes worth of armor, all of which had the same red tint as the Dragon’s Tail Ruler.

“Here. These are all the weapons and armor you requested I make for you,” he grumbled.

“I’ll have to get a cart to carry all this back,” I said.

The blacksmith shrugged. “I’ll leave them on the table then. Come back quick. This is some of the best stuff I’ve ever made. You wouldn’t want anyone taking it, would you?”

While the man seemed impatient to be rid of the equipment I had him craft, I knew he was quite proud of his work from the way he straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest.

Giving him a nod, I decided to hurry back home, purloin a cart, and return so I could gather all the equipment he made for me.

***

I returned to the blacksmith with a cart about two hours later, loaded the weapons and armor onto the cart, and drove back to the Imperial Royal Palace. By the time I arrived, Kari, Fay, and Lin were back from wherever they had gone today. I wasn’t sure what they’d been doing, but all of them had said something about having a girls day out and left early in the morning.

When I informed them that the armor and weapons I asked the blacksmith to forge were ready, all of them had grown excited and decided we should try them on.

That was how I found myself in Kari’s room, helping the girls put on their armor.

I helped Kari first. The armor itself was fairly simple. The breastplate only covered her breasts and didn’t extend to her stomach. It used leather straps to wrap around her torso and attach to another plate in the back. Similarly, the shoulder pauldrons were small and used leather straps to attach to the breastplate. Aside from the breastplate and pauldrons, the armor also came with shin guards and elbow guards. Underneath this ensemble, Kari wore a light colored dress that didn’t even extend halfway past her thighs, white stockings, and black boots.

“How do I look?” asked Kari as she grabbed her new ranseur, which had a two-pronged blade instead of three. She took a stance with her feet spread shoulder width apart, the butt of her ransuer resting on the ground, and grinned. “Do I look like an adventurer set to explore unknown ruins and brave all kinds of danger?”

“Someone is a little too excited,” Fay commented with a smile.

Kari puffed out her cheeks. “As if you aren’t excited about trying out those gauntlets of yours.”

“Wha… well, that’s…”

“Not any different than this.”

“I think you look good, but before you get too excited, I want you to channel Spiritual Power through the armor,” I said.

“Through the armor? Well, okay.”

While Kari was clearly confused, she did as requested. The moment her Spiritual Power began flowing out from her body, the Runes carved into each set of armor began glowing with a vibrant golden hue.

“W-what is this?!” asked a shocked Kari.

“This princess has never seen anything like this before,” Lin added as she slithered around Kari, studying her glowing armor from every angle.

“Those runes create a powerful barrier that adds an extra layer of protection,” I said. “As Spiritualists, standard armor doesn’t protect us as well as our Spiritual Aura does, which is why most people only wear armor for aesthetics instead of functionality. However, before the Catastrophe, Spiritualists used to wear armor that had Runes carved into them. These Runes offer more protection than even your Spiritual Aura, which is the true purpose of having armor like this.”

“I see!” Fay’s eyes lit up. “This armor can protect us even if we’re using the Second State of Spiritualism!”

“Yes.” I nodded. “The purpose of this armor is to provide protection to people who use the Second State of Spiritualism, since we no longer have our Spiritual Auras to shield us from physical and spiritual attacks.”

Like most aspects of Nevaria, the purpose of inscribing Runes into armor for added protection appeared to have been lost. I could only assume this was somehow Skygge’s doing. Empress Hilda theorized that our loss of knowledge was somehow the fault of the Sekbeists, and I believed she was right.

With Kari now outfitted, I helped Lin and Fay into their armor.

Lin’s armor wasn’t quite as extensive as Kari’s. It consisted of a similarly-shaped breastplate that was fitted for her smaller chest and faulds—pieces of segmented plate armor that was worn around the waist and acted as a skirt. Because she wasn’t fond of wearing thick clothing, she only had some basic cloth underneath the armor to keep it from chafing. A skirt that covered enough of her no one would be able to see the goods and a sleeveless shirt that didn’t extend past her chest. Her stomach and arms were completely bare.

Meanwhile, Fay had her gauntlets in addition to pauldrons, elbow pads, and shin guards. The gauntlets this time around were a bit larger than her previous ones. The segmented fingers ended in sharp points that could be used as weapons, but the main feature now was the small slot located above the hand. It was currently fitted with a fire-affinity monster core.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed the difference in design for your gauntlets,” I said as Fay clenched and unclenched her hands. “That monster core is tied into the Runes around it. When you channel Spiritual Power into it, you’ll be able to unleash a powerful Spiritual Fire Technique. Because it doesn’t rely on movement but on Runes, you also won’t have to make any specific movements. Just channel Spiritual Power into the monster core.”

“That sounds pretty incredible,” Fay said, her eyes sparkling. “That’s really incredible!”

“Now who’s excited,” Kari teased.

“I should mention that you should only use this during emergencies,” I added before Fay could respond to Kari’s teasing. “The monster core has a limited amount of Spiritual Power stored up. Once you’ve used up all the Spiritual Power, the monster core will become useless and we’ll need to have the gauntlets fitted with a new core.”

“I understand,” Fay said with a serious nod.

With my explanations now out of the way, the four of us decided we simply had to try out our new equipment.

Empress Hilda would eventually receive several complaints from the earth-affinity Spiritualists whose job was to fix any damage done to the Imperial Royal Palace about the amount of property we had destroyed.

Kari, Lin, Fay, and myself would receive a very long lecture about not testing out new equipment in the palace.