Chapter 52: Beneath the Moon’s Gaze...

[Analysis Complete]

[Moonlit Radiance]

[Type: Magical Sword]

[Tier: Epic]

[Condition: Pristine]

[The Skeleton King’s original sword. This sword, along

with his name, was lost to the passage of time and history.

The Skeleton King’s Decorated Greatsword was no more

than a crude, false copy of this blade.

It has the appearance of a disproportionate blade which has

a two-handed handle, but only a short sword’s blade.]

[Special Ability: Moonforged Blade

(Base) Mana Cost: 100 Mana

Project a Greatsword, forged out of pure Moonlight.

This Greatsword could be unleashed into a wave-attack

which tears its targets apart, but destroys the Greatsword to do so.

Greatsword can be reforged repeatedly, but its Mana Cost

is doubled, up to a maximum of 800 Mana Cost per reforge.

Mana Cost reverts back to base cost after letting the sword rest for one hour.]

[Damage (Shortsword):

100 Physical Damage (+100% STR) (+75% DEX) (Slash)

100 Physical Damage (+75% STR) (+100% DEX) (Thrust)]

[Damage (Greatsword):

200 Physical Damage (+150% STR) (+50% DEX) (Slash)

200 Magical Damage (+200% INT) (+100% WIS) (Arcane)]

[Damage (Wave Attack):

600 Magical Damage (+400% INT) (+200% WIS) (Arcane)]

How amazing, actually.

This was the first time Jacques had ever seen any Artifact ranked this highly.

Clara’s recently found Artifact Bow was only [Rare] tier, and as for the Sorcerer...

His grimoire was a strange one, if nothing else. It was a [Unique] tier Artifact named Grimoire Red, but aside from that... he knows nothing about it. No history, no special abilities, no nothing is displayed. The information displayed for those were only three question marks.

But that only meant that his Level wasn’t high enough to comprehend the Artifact, wasn’t it?

And so, there was no more need to think about it... Because there was something more important that needed to be addressed right now.

“So... You and Tobias both use a sword.” Bastille slowly said, as he stared the sword in his hands. “Who’s going to get that, then?”

“I haven’t really told you yet,” Jacques replied, “But out of everyone in this room, you, Bastille, is probably the one who could use it most effectively.” When the Sorcerer only tilted his head to look at him with confusion, he continued. “This is a Magical Sword, and scales with Magical Attributes; something that you have in excess.”

“Huh.” Bastille intoned, as he studied the blade with particular intent, his crimson eyes narrowing behind those spectacles of his. “A sword’s not really my style though. I’m fine with being a typical Sorcerer.” He shrugged. “And besides, don’t you wanna experience throwing around magical blades?”

“Is that so?” He asked, then turned towards the other sword-wielding person in the room. “How about you, Tobias? You want this?”

“... Not in particular.” Tobias spoke, and even though his words were said like that, his eyes seemed to sparkle with certain interest which he normally reserved for either food, or towards the newfound spear he attained earlier.

But that was before it got cruelly taken from him, and left him in a state of minor depression, it would seem.

Jacques shrugged. “Catch.”

Tobias’ right hand reached out, and caught the tossed sword by its handle. He blinked once, before slowly looking towards the weapon with a calculating, methodical gaze, as he seemed to figure out the mysteries of such a blade.

That was before he held the sword with both hands, and his eyes widened, as if he discovered the secret. Then he raised the blade over his head, and it shimmered once, before quickly projecting a greatsword of light.

Jacques realized that Tobias’ intellect really was sharper than he thought... Because after all, this was the guy who figured out his ability to read the future after a few sword exchanges.

And unlike Jacques, Tobias didn’t shatter the greatsword to form a wave of light. He took up a stance – one that utilized two-handed longsword stances, and sent out a series of slashes, cleaving strikes, and even a few thrusts here and there. Each strike had a small after-image of light following about, as light and steel merged into a blur.

While his moves weren’t anything fancy and only looked like the most basic of sword formations and strikes, the Swordsman could tell that each move was more than refined after hours and hours of practice.

And when he stopped, he only looked at the sword, then back at Jacques with a complicated expression. “... Are you sure about giving this to me?”

“Yeah.” Jacques nodded. “Bastille’s fine with it, I’m fine with it, and I’m sure Clara’s also fine with it.”

He subtly turned towards the Archer, who gave a firm nod at the decision.

It wasn’t really the optimal choice – with Bastille and Jacques both possessing superior Magical [Attributes], but then again, Tobias had more than fit the criteria when it came to using its actual Greatsword form, and not simply relying on the wave attack.

So Tobias let the greatsword of light disperse, before he bowed down. “My sincerest gratitude to you.”

“... You’re welcome.” Jacques coughed, and gestured for him to raise his head. “Don’t worry about it, and you really don’t need to be so formal around us.”

Really... Sometimes, he forgot that beneath Tobias’ (oddly enough) mild personality, he was a force to be reckoned with.

And it was his polite mannerisms like these were he just forgot about the sheer savagery of what he could bring to the table, as he tore through hordes of monsters with a cold, calculating gaze.

It simply was the case. So he stopped thinking about it, and only appreciated the fact that he had a strong ally like that.

***

They were currently hiking back towards Springlake Town. If anyone bothered to look at Tobias, they would notice that a perplexed expression clouded about his face.

In his hands, he held the strange sword named Moonlit Radiance, and it was the most amazing thing he had ever held.

But then... he had a small problem.

By his left hip was his unnamed, reliable longsword, and by his right hip was the dagger he used. And that was exactly the problem; he didn’t know where exactly he was supposed to place it.

He thought about it long, and he thought about it hard...

He remembered the various adventurers back at the guild. He didn’t particularly care enough to know who they were, or what their exploits were, but he did remember that some of the sword-wielding adventurers wore their swords over their backs...

Maybe he could borrow their technique, and get a sheath which strapped to his back...?

Actually, on second thought, that sounded stupid. Was his arm even long enough to fully draw the blade – wait.

On third thought... It might just work.

He looked at the strange sword he possessed right now. A handle fit for a two-handed longsword, and yet, its blade was only the length of a one handed short sword at most...

He gripped the sword near its guard, and raised it over his shoulder. Then he slowly lowered it, feeling the faint rasp of silver rubbing against the fabric over his right shoulder blade. And by the time the cross-shaped guard had touched his neck, the blade was only touching the bottom, left-most part of his back.

Then he raised the sword carefully, once again feeling the blade sliding against the back of his cloak, and found that it was possible to draw the blade from his back, in theory.

So he did it once more, and found the sheathing and drawing motions possible. Now, he idly thought how he would get a back sheath for the sword to begin with...

“Toby, does your back itch?” Clara asked, and he idly turned to look at her. “You can always ask me to do that for you if it is. That’s a dangerous way to scratch your back, don’t you think?” She had a confused, yet slightly amused expression over her face.

It was at that moment when Tobias realized that it did look like he used a sword to scratch his back.

“No.” He replied, and shook his head. “I was trying to figure out if a back sheath could work for this sword.”

“I see.” After she said those words, her lips curved into a smile. “You’re really happy with that sword, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation when he answered. Obtaining a Magical Sword that was capable of projecting a sword forged out of light – it was something that everyone didn’t know they want, until they saw it happen in front of their eyes.

“You’re also happy about your bow, right?” Tobias asked, and she quickly gave him a nod.

“Definitely! It’s Magical, and it’s really easy to use...”

And there she went. Clara began to describe her bow’s capabilities in full detail. Just like his newly acquired sword, her bow also had a name; Nightshade Bow.

“Nightshade?” He asked. Then he looked at the bow which she carried over her back, and noted that the material used to craft the limbs of the bow really were dark.

But on closer inspection, it wasn’t completely black – it was more of an incredibly dark blue resembling the night sky, hence, its name.

“Yep. Nightshade.” Clara nodded.

... But he felt like the person who named such an Artifact could probably do better...

And then, she went back to explaining her bow. Her bow was capable of enchanting her arrows to give it various properties. So far, she was capable of enchanting her arrows to become armor-piercing to a degree, and that she could enchant her arrows to home towards their target with added accuracy.

“That sounds really flexible.” He said, which was met by a nod again. “I wonder if I could use your bow’s enchanting features so that I could actually use a bow for once...”

“Wait...” She blinked, then tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I really can’t use a bow.” He replied, and his words only made her blink slowly, before letting out a small confused ‘huh?’ at his statement. He sighed. “I actually can’t use a bow, and the last time I tried, the string snapped on me while I was drawing it.”

Clara winced. “Are you alright?” Her eyes began to scan over his arm, and while he didn’t know what she was searching for, he had some idea. “Did the string snap hit you anywhere?”

“I’m alright, and I don’t think so. The moment that happened to me, I didn’t pick up another bow again.” Tobias said, but then his gaze lowered to her hands. It was very subtle, but he could see that the tips of her four fingers had developed small, slightly discolored calluses. “How long were you practicing Archery for?”

Her eyes widened with some surprise, before began to count with her fingers, as her closed fist extended a digit, then another, before all fingers were extended. And then she moved on to her next hand, before stopping at three fingers opened.

“Around five years and a few months or so.” She answered, with a small smile of pride at herself. “How about you? How long did you learn how to fight?”

Tobias wondered if it was a good idea to tell her or not. But then he just shrugged, and decided that she probably deserved the truth – even if it would make him look just very slightly proud of himself.

“... Six months or so.” His words caused her to blink, and her gaze slowly turned to one of uncertainty, morphing into one of surprise, before finally settling into acceptance of sorts. “If it makes you feel better, during those six months, all I did the entire day was train and learn to fight. My day started with training, ended with training, then I slept, woke up, and repeated that.”

“That’s...”

“Remember Old Man Magnus?”

“Oh.” She said, then her eyes finally shone – an indication that she finally understood what he said. “Yeah, that’s perfectly logical now, haha...”

Her nervousness was perfectly justified. Because the last time they visited Magnus, he told Tobias to perform the full set of exercises he used to do throughout the day. But when he noticed that his student wasn’t even winded, he only made Tobias do triple of that.

... It was that day, when Tobias had found his new limits. It was also amazing to think that while his stats weren’t exactly tripled from when he started out, his body was able to be pushed to new limits like that.

The System really was amazing...

But then, his gaze flicked back towards Clara’s hand, and her fingers with the calluses.

“By the way, did a string also snap on you?” He asked. “I mean, the only reason why I didn’t bother with Archery anymore was because of that reason. So I wonder if you ever experienced that.”

“Mhm, of course.” She replied. “I’ve had my fair share of strings snapping on me. Here, look.” She rolled the sleeve of her left arm, revealing her upper arm. He idly noted that she was muscular in the leaner kind of way, and she really was stronger than her lithe frame would indicate.

But when he saw the blemished patch of reddened skin, he understood what happened. That blemish was the healed scar of something which impacted against skin and muscle. In her case, it was most definitely caused by the bowstring snapping on her.

Tobias himself had a few of those – mostly hidden underneath his clothes. But he looked back at her face, and her eyes were only glazed over; as if silently reminiscing to herself about how she had gotten that injury.

“... You’re still practicing Archery, even though you’ve got that?” He finally said.

She looked at him, and slightly narrowed her eyes while frowning. “That’s somewhat... I mean, I became an adventurer for a reason, Tobias. A little pain like this isn’t enough to stop me.”

Ah. He finally realized that his question was insulting and demeaning to her – or anyone, really. He remembered the man who spoke on the foot of the stairs a long time ago – back when their party was attacked, and he unintentionally insulted every single adventurer in the guild when he delivered his speech about their supposed safety in light of the events at the time.

He felt no better than that man as of that moment.

So he bowed to her, and kept his gaze firmly planted on the ground beneath as he stopped walking.

“I apologize. I did not mean to offend you.”

“N-no... I’m not really offended... Please raise your head...!” She stammered nervously.

He slowly raised his head, and found that she was frantically waving her hands around him, and quickly shaking her head. So he straightened his back, and faced her again.

Was that apology too formal? But he insulted her, even if it was intentional... Yes. On hindsight, they were friends – and if he was so brave, he might even call her a close friend at this point. So that apology really was needlessly formal, and he could have done so casually.

“I see, my bad, then.” He said.

And then, there was silence for the longest time, as Clara stared at him blankly. He stared back, before frowning and fixing his gaze elsewhere.

“Tobias.” She began, before she sighed. “Listen, you don’t have to apologize for apologizing. It’s, uhm, somewhat redundant, and really, it’s fine.” She awkwardly said, clearing her throat with a cough. “So don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Alright.”

And after that – they ran out of things to say, and a comfortable silence fell between them. The path in front revealed Bastille and Jacques walking ahead by a dozen steps or so, and that only meant they were giving them the privacy they needed to have such a talk like that.

It was the little steps – little conversations like these, where he began to shed some light on their backgrounds, who they were, and how they came to be the persons they were today.

It was amazing... Because aside from Bastille, then he would have never been able to get to know who they were, and how they became the persons they were right now.

And so, he gazed up at the skies – where the sun was sinking in the distant horizon, and the trees blocked half of the sunset that he didn’t notice – did not bother to notice until now.

And he thought to himself that he really was fortunate.

For what reason, exactly?

He didn’t know, and he just felt like so. After all, emotions were called emotions because they sometimes couldn’t be defined or interpreted in a logical way, were they not?

...

Maybe they were correct, after all. He really was hanging out way too much with the Sorcerer if his thoughts could be this articulate and technical.

***

Tobias stared at the darkened ceiling of their shared room.

They spent way too much time on the Magical Dungeon than they had initially thought, and night arrived just as they got back to the town. So just like that, they all decided that it would be an excellent idea to rent out one of the tavern’s rooms.

While Adventurers were typically rowdy and arrogant to some degree, the fact that they helped remove the danger of Magical Dungeons didn’t change. So while people were more than suspicious and didn’t trust Adventurers, they couldn’t deny that they were a necessary service.

And besides... money was money. In combination with Jacques’ eloquent words, it was more than enough to secure them a high-quality room, with enough beds for them all.

Their Leader really was in charge of their logistics, wasn’t he? Planning, budgeting, commanding... Those things were all of his domain. The reason why they were capable of safely (and comfortably) completing quests and Magical Dungeons were because of Jacques, who really was an excellent Leader.

It was easy to overlook these things, until he found time to settle down and think. And now that he was thinking about it, every one really did contribute something to the Party in a way or another, aside from their fighting abilities.

Jacques with his management, as he already thought about earlier. He was also too generous at times, and didn’t even hesitate to allow Tobias to own the newly acquired Artifact Sword... Even if that guy’s lips were sealed with knowledge that he had to pry out by dueling and winning said duel, but that was in the past already.

Bastille with his knowledge that he shared with everyone who bothered to ask. The fact that they both died at some point, even if the Sorcerer didn’t know that, was one of the reasons why Tobias hung out with him frequently. It really was amazing to listen to the insight of a person from another world, entirely.

Clara with her ability to keep everyone morally in check. Now such role might not seem significant, until one remembers what their party is composed of. If she wasn’t around, then who knew what kind of morally questionable decisions (atrocities) would they would come up with?

... In comparison, what exactly did he even contribute?

Aside from his fighting potential, he didn’t have anything to offer to everyone else. In fact, he noticed recently that his personality is just an amalgamation of everyone else’s best or desirable traits.

... He really wasn’t giving anything to them in return, and he was only taking from them.

Even back then... Even with Marcus, that was the case. His base personality was formed around Marcus’ own personality, because he was the only friend he interacted with on a daily basis.

And now that he’s dead... He was supposed to be go on a quest to get stronger to get him back, right?

... It was that line of thinking. Again.

It kept circulating in his head. Some part of him wanted to give up the quest entirely, and yet, another part of him wanted to keep going... To get even stronger than he was right now.

And even if he denied it as long as he wanted, but he knew that at some point, he would need to face even more dangerous, much more challenging odds to do so...

It would only be too selfish to ask his party to risk their lives like this...

Maybe the description of his Class was correct, after all. ‘Strength through Solitude’, and its obvious meaning.

... He wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe he needed some fresh air right now.

So he stood up. The moonlight filtering through the opened window, in combination with Tobias’ eyes which were already adjusted for darkness, meant that the room was visible enough for him.

His footsteps were silent as he walked over the table, and he wore his belt, wincing when the belt locked into place with a soft, yet thunderous click. He scanned the room, and found that his party was still asleep, so he sighed in relief.

And after that, he knelt down to retrieve his longsword and its accompanying leather sheath. He held the sheath’s woven string, carefully inserted it on one of his belt’s loop, before carefully tying it in a knot that was tight, yet could be removed by firmly pulling on the string.

It was strangely euphoric. He had already done this action so many times before – and now that he was observing it in its purest, most detailed form, it was amazing in its own way.

He shook his head, and sighed. He carefully walked to the door knob, opened it as softly and as narrowly as he could. And with that, he slipped away from the room, and from the tavern they were staying in, without anyone noticing that he did.

...

He idly sat by one of the outside tables by the tavern place.

The air was unique. While the town wasn’t beside the sea or ocean, the scent of night lake was something similar – but much fresher, and less saltier. Lakes contained freshwater, didn’t they? Bastille told him so, like that.

He glanced towards the direction of the lake, but wooden buildings only blocked his sight, and all of their windows were close. If they were left open, they only revealed darkness within.

The town really was unfamiliar to him... So he looked around, and found something familiar that would never change; the night sky. No matter where he was, the night sky above him was always the same, aside from the shifting of the moon.

Even if he was sleeping in the middle of the woods... Even if he was sleeping below a roof... It never changed.

The moon was bright, and the stars shimmered brightly, ever so beautifully.

Who knew how long they were there? Before him? Before his parents? Before history was even recorded?

... Before the Gods themselves even came into existence...?

It was during these nights – these nights where he couldn’t sleep, and the thoughts in his head just circulated and flitted from one topic to another ceaselessly – is when he had the deepest reflections within himself.

So then...

What was he supposed to do now?

...

And right when he was thinking about it, a footstep came from behind him. His right hand quickly fell to his sword, as he hopped away from the table he was seated on and turned around to face who had tried to sneak to him.

He let out a tense breath, and placed his hand away from his sheathed sword when he finally recognized who it was.

It was none other than Clara. She looked at him with a small, melancholic smile, before slowly walking to him with balanced steps.

When she was in front of him – just an arm’s length away, she stopped. Those abyss-colored eyes of hers shone warmly down on him, and he found himself staring at them for longer than usual.

“The night is beautiful, isn’t it?”

He glanced back towards the sky. The moon was almost too bright in comparison.

“It is.”

And with that, she sat on the wooden table behind him, before she patted the spot next to it. He understood the intent, so he scooted closer to her.

“What’s wrong, Toby?” She asked, with that concerned face of hers. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “What about you? I thought you were sleeping.”

“I kinda woke up.” She replied, glancing subtly towards the sheathed longsword. He followed her gaze, before letting out an annoyed sigh to himself. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault. I was already awake, and my attention got caught when I heard you.”

“I see.” His gaze flicked back towards the night sky.

But he only felt a persistent warm gaze fixed on him, and he idly craned his neck to look at her again. Her face was very slightly tilted to the side, and her eyes were narrowed – as if trying to figure something out.

He only stared back at her, and she met his gaze without doing anything else.

...

“So...” She slowly began, finally breaking the silence between them. “What are you thinking about?”

“Just thinking about the future, that’s all.” He answered, giving a shrug.

“Hmm...” She stood up from her seat, before walking in front of him, and bent her head down so their eyes met directly. Her abyss-colored eyes never returned back to their ocean-colored blue.

“I’m surprised you’re not embarrassed right now.” He said, pointing out the fact that their faces were incredibly close. But unexpectedly, she didn’t flinch back, and only continued to stare at his eyes. “... What are you even doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out what you’re thinking about.” She replied, her voice just as serious as her eyes were. “I wanted to see if that Sorcerer was correct... If the eyes are the windows to one’s soul, or whatever he said.”

“I see...” He carefully spoke, and focused on her eyes as well. He couldn’t see anything in them – aside from the most serious expression she bore, and the sheer blackness of her eyes.

Those eyes really were tainted by the Abyss. But he only thought that it fit her well.

And after the longest while... She finally stepped back. Tobias let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding in, as she stared at him with a confounded expression.

“... That didn’t work.” She said, with particular disappointment. Then she turned to him, with a particularly inquisitive gaze. “You’re not really the kind of person to let your emotions show on the outside without you letting them, aren’t you?”

He blinked. “Didn’t you say a long time ago that I was the kind of person where you can tell that I’m about to do something, but you’re not sure what exactly I’m going to do?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly it.” She nodded quickly. “I know that something’s going through your head, but I’m not sure what it is.”

He looked at her, and sighed. “From what you’re saying... you want to know what exactly I’m thinking about.”

“That’s right.” She said, and gave him a pleased smile. “So... do you want to talk about it?”

He thought about it. For the shortest while, he wondered if it was alright to tell her – wrong question to ask himself. He already knew that he could trust her, so why exactly was he hesitating about it?

Their futures were already linked. And their destiny together, inevitable.

So he turned to face her, and took a deep breath to prepare himself for his next words.

“I’m planning to leave the Party.”