Chapter 57: Vault

Headlines From Around The World:

Thomas Everett Found Alive With World-Shattering Revelation

Largest Mass Arrest In Human History

Hundreds Taken Into Custody Around The World

UNDF Releases Statement Related To Mass Arrests

You Won't Believe What Everett And The Xothicans Uncovered

Umbra: An Indepth Look Into Humanity's Hidden History

Dozens Of Individuals With Alleged Ties To Umbra Found Dead

Thomas Everett Suing Multiple News Outlets For Slander And Libel

US Vice-President Attempted Assassination Of President

US Vice-President Placed Under Arrest And Will Be Charged With High Treason

Hastur's Son And Henchman Witnessed At Political Rally

Senator Samuel Hawke Was Killed And Replaced By Wendigo

Umbra Plot To Have Thomas Everett Killed and The Xothicans Enslaved

Umbra's Leader Lucas Draig Was Killed During An Assault On His Estate

Draig's Estate And Assets Has Been Seized By The UNDF

World Stock Market Plummets After the UNDF Mass Arrest

Hidden Elven Colonies Found Under Iceland

Diplomatic Relationships Established With the Elven Colonies

This Video Of Elves Reacting To The Light Of Day Will Warm Your Heart

PETA Enraged After Leaked Documents Reveal UNDF Used Giant Spiders As Part Of Military Exercise

All Cruise Lines Closed Down Until Further Notice Due To Sea Monster Threat

Cargo Ship Was Destroyed In Kraken Attack

Large Deposits Of Thorium And Helium-3 Discovered Near Moon Outpost

Mars Mission Planned For September 25th

Scientists Release Their Multiple Models Of Rising Water Levels After The Merger Of Xoth And Earth

Scientists: At Least 23% Of Humanity Is At Risk of Flooding

Preparations Are Underway to Evacuate At-Risk Coastlines And Low-Level Land Masses

VVVVVV

Commander Steele stood outside of the Draig Estate. According to the files that Tep provided, Draig had a massive vault underneath his mansion that contained every artifact and specimen his organization has gathered over the centuries. Researchers, technicians, soldiers, Garza's team and he all waited in anticipation for Tom's team to show up.

Steele surveyed the area outside of the mansion. The evidence of the battle that took place there was self-evident. There were burn marks and craters left by explosions all over the estate grounds. Steele saw the skid on the ground where the Dragon crashed. The mansion they stood in front of was half gone from the initial attacks and the fires.

Like usual, Tom's group teleported in at the time they were ordered to. To the surprise of everyone there, Tom had an additional companion. Tom had a guilty look on his face as he saw everyone's shocked reaction. He glanced at the new companion and then looked towards Steele.

"Who is this, Specialist?" Steele demanded.

"Well, as a reward for the South African mission, I was given a seed," Tom replied. "I grew the seed. When I was ordered to turn over the Xothican materials, I had already planted the tree at my safehouse." Tom lied about planting Amber before being ordered to turn over his items. It was mostly to avoid angering Steele. "Just this morning, the tree gave birth to Amber here. She's a Dryad."

"Pleased to meet everyone here," Amber said. "I plan to join Tom's team and help the UNDF in every way I can."

Tom noticed many of the UNDF soldiers had a raised brow to show their incredulous face. He knew exactly what they were thinking.

'Another girl, Tom? Really?'

"Why do you wish to help us?" Steele asked Amber.

"Because I care for Tom, Reia, Vivian, Tala and Sylmae."

That response elicited groans from several people in the area.

"How old are you?" Steele asked.

"I am assuming this is about the 'birthed this morning' comment," Amber said. "We Dryads age differently than the other races. Technically, I'm around three hundred years old. We inherit memories and knowledge from our mother. As soon as we emerge from our cocoon, we are completely matured in every way."

"We are going to need to talk about secrets, Specialist," Steele said. "For now, I'll trust your judgment on this. We can always use more individuals who can use the SYSTEM. She will have to be processed like your other companions before she can officially join the UNDF. Understood?"

"Understood, sir," Tom replied. He gestured for Steele to get in closer. Steele leaned in and Tom whispered, "Sir, she is also an Elemental."

"Really?"

"Yes, sir. Plant Elemental. Her abilities are incredible and she will serve well in a support role."

"That's good news. That's five Elementals on our side. It'll bolster our strength in our war against Hastur." Steele stood upright again and loudly asked, "now is your team ready to go into the vault?"

"Yes, sir."

"Everyone!" Steele called out to the people in the area. "We are going to proceed into the vault. Right now we only have access to the personnel lift. The industrial lift is in the bunker to the side, but it seems like it can only be opened from inside the vault. The personnel lift can only hold eight at a time, so we will have Tom's team go first since they can teleport out if anything happens. After confirmation of safety, we will send the next team down." He turned to Everett. "Specialist, if you'd please."

Tom and his team went towards the elevator. According to the schematics that Tep provided, it was hidden behind a bookcase. The fire that took place during the assault, had destroyed the book case and revealed the metal door behind it. The door was ajar and had a note taped to it. Tom grabbed the note and read it.

"Here's hoping the UNDF puts these items to better use than Umbra ever did. Everything is unlocked. -Tep" Tom read.

"I wonder where that guy went," Sylmae muttered.

"No clue," Tom said. "But I doubt this'll be the last we heard from him."

"We should be thankful that Tep left everything open," Reia remarked.

"Indeed."

Tom's group rode the elevator downwards. The ride took a couple minutes before the doors opened to reveal a pitch black area. The only light came from a terminal console with a keyboard. They walked over to it. Tom looked at the screen which had several options listed.

1. Lights (Status: Off All Floors)

2. Map

3. Industrial Elevator (Status: Offline)

4. Catalogue

5. Research

6. Security (Status: Offline)

"Let's see what we have," Tom said.

"Looks like Tep turned the security system off too," Tala said. "That's good."

Assuming the screen was a touch screen, Tom pressed the "Lights" option. A new menu appeared.

1. Exhibit Lights (Status: Offline)

2. Floor 1 Lights (Status: Offline)

3. Floor 2 Lights (Status: Offline)

4. Floor 3 Lights (Status: Offline)

5. Floor 4 Lights (Status: Offline)

6. All Lights (Status: Offline)

7. Return To Main Menu

"All lights then," Tom said as he pressed the button.

The lights went on in sections. First, the lights over them turned on. Area after area lit up to reveal more of the vault's content. The area was massive. It was an open area where every floor could be seen. The railings were the only thing to separate the walkways from the atrium. Each floor was filled with items from Xoth.

"This... is going to take a while to get through," Vivian muttered.

Tom brought up his comm. "Commander, we're clear."

"Tom- Can't- Your signal-" Steele's response came back in fragments and intermitted with static.

"We're too deep," Tom sighed. "I'll activate the industrial elevator and just teleport to him."

Tom activated the elevator and then teleported out. He came back after a minute and said, "Okay, we're all good. We should start exploring this area and see what we can find."

The elevator behind them growled as it rose up towards the surface.

"Check the catalogue," Sylmae said. "We should be able to get an idea of what they have."

"Alright. A new menu appears and... gives me more options. Jesus Christ... How much does he have here?"

1. Specimens

2. Weapons

3. Armour

4. Magical Tools

5. Minerals

6. Books

7. Misc.

There was a rumble that grew louder. It came from across the atrium and behind Tom's group.

"Looks like they are on their way," Amber said. She walked near the edge of the walkway and closed her eyes. "I can sense some plants here. Magical ones."

"Mother trees?" Reia asked.

"No. Nothing too special. There's at least a garden of sana plants."

"The plants we use to make health potions?" Vivian asked.

"Yup," Sylmae said.

"What else do you sense?" Tala asked.

"Fels, venen, temero... There are a lot of poisonous plants here. Oh, no. Shade vines."

"How the hell are shade vines kept here?" Vivian blurted out.

"I'm not familiar with shade vines," Tom said.

"They're vines that just constantly grow," she replied.

"So do most plants..."

"I mean rapidly and uncontrollably. They are a plague upon any land they grow on. Many times the Adventurer's Guild will issue quests to wipe this plant out before they can kills forests or ruin farming fields."

"Ah, found it in the system," Tom said. "Looks like they keep it inside an unbreakable glass tank which has flames on all sides of it to regulate the vines' growth."

The elevator behind them opened and Steele, along with Garza's team, exited out.

"What's the status of the vault?" Steele asked.

"Tep left us the keys to the whole place," Tom replied with looking away from the terminal. "They have a bit of everything here. Magical items, books, weapons, plants, animals, and so on. I'm just quickly scanning through the catalogue to get an idea of what is stored here. I was excited to see he had Xothican books here, but sadly the one spell book he has is a Wash spell. Used for hands or to act as a bidet. These terminals are also connected to the Umbra database for all the research they have done so far on Xoth. Right now I'm trying to find... Yes! Found it!"

"What did you find?"

"The source of Draig's immortality. We can head straight there now."

"Tom, if you don't mind, I want to have a look at that terminal," Reia said. "I want to see if Draig has a certain something here."

"Sure," Tom replied. "What are you looking for exactly?"

"I don't want to raise any hopes if it's not here. You go ahead with Steele and I'll catch up."

"I'm going towards the books," Tala said.

"Weapons and armour for me," Vivian said.

"I'll stick with you Tom," Amber said.

"Same for me," Sylmae added.

"Garza, I want your team to check the specimen area. Make sure it's safe for our researchers. What floor is the specimens, Everett?"

"Floor one, sector 107 to 119."

"Understood, sir," Garza replied. She gestured for her team to follow her.

"Specialists, please lead the way," Steele said.

Tom nodded and walked in the direction of the magical item. The walk took them down a stairway to the lowest floor of the vault. The people that came down through the industrial elevator wasted little time to pick their stations. The researchers looked like children in a candy shop from the excitement they expressed inside the vault.

"So Miss..." Steele gestured towards Amber.

"Everett."

Steele raised a brow towards Tom.

"She adopted my last name," Tom muttered.

"You waste little time, Tom," Steele teasingly said. "What you do in your personal life is your business so long as it does not affect your duty."

"Yes, sir. It won't."

"Then it's fine. Are you enjoying Earth so far, Miss Everett?"

"It's pretty nice, but the pollution is a bit of an issue. This world is hurting, but it will get better once it fuses with Xoth. There are many plants and creatures that live on impurities."

"Nice that there is one silver lining to this convergence," Steele sighed.

"There it is," Tom said while he pointed at a stand with a glass case on top of it with a blue chalice inside of it.

Alchemist's Grail Rank SSS Currently Holds: Dragon Tears A grail created by master craftsman Lalu Nimue. When a vial of a liquid is placed into the base's compartment, this grail will fill up with this liquid whenever it is empty and held. Dragon Tears Rank SSS Tears from a dragon. When consumed, these tears will revert a person's physical body back to their peak form. This will not have an effect on anyone younger than their peak form.

"The Alchemist's Grail," Tom announced. "The source of the Holy Grail legend and the Fountain of Youth."

Tom picked the grail up and it immediately filled with a water-like liquid.

"This grail fills with Dragon tears and these tears returns a person's youth."

"Is it safe?" Steele asked.

"Oh ya, watch." Tom then chugged the grail.

After finishing the drink, he loudly groaned and made spitting and coughing noises.

"Tom!" Sylmae cried out. "Are you okay?"

"Ya, I am," he replied. "It's just that it was extremely salty. Damn gross. I'm fine. I'm just going to need something to wash that down."

"You don't look any different," Steele said.

"The grail only reverts a person back to their peak physical form. I'm just twenty-six. A Human's peak form is when they are twenty-four or five. This works though. You want to give it a go?"

"Maybe not now," Steele chuckled. "I do have a wife at home and she's not likely to take it well that I suddenly come back in my mid-twenties."

"But the option is there," Sylmae suggested.

"Yes it is. This somewhat creates a problem. This grail will put an end to death. We already have people chomping at the bit for your team and Garza's to heal them of their diseases and illnesses. How do you think people will react to this?"

"Amber, your people are immortal," Sylmae said. "Any insight into immortality?"

"I don't know what you expect me to say," Amber replied. "My people have always been immortal so I don't know how to explain living an endless life to someone who never had it. I am relieved to know I'm not going to outlive the people I love. That is the worst thing a Dryad can go through."

Tom placed a hand on Amber's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. She looked at him and smiled. He released his hold on her and looked towards Steele again.

"I'd imagine the world would demand loudly demand access to this drink," Tom said. "We would need to take a deft approach to this situation."

"Why don't you hire some guy whose only job is to pour this grail's liquid into containers?" Amber suggested. "Do that until you have enough for everyone."

"I feel like we should be able to find a more efficient method than that, but I honestly can't think of a better idea," Steele sighed.

"We'll leave it to people more well versed in logistics," Tom said. "With UNDF oversight. We should also make offers to scientists and other high-value individuals who are near the end of their lives to use this liquid so we can have their continued service."

"Commander," a voice called in over the radio.

"Steele here," he replied.

"We found something we think you should have a look at. Can you come to level two sector... uh... 201?"

"We'll be right there," Steele replied. "Everett, can you store away the grail? We'll hand it over to to the Special Research Division later."

"Yes, sir," Tom replied as he tossed the grail into his Inventory.

"Tom, look!" Amber yelled. She pointed to a nearby wall.

Tom, Steele and Sylmae looked where she pointed and saw a large stone carving with three lights pointed at it.

"That's the Dragon Prophecy," Tom gasped.

They walked towards the carving. The stone tablet depicted crude carvings of two orbs merging together, over a dozen figures stood under the orbs, and the edges have tendrils stretch towards the center of the tablet. Each individual has texture carved around them to imitate an aura of light.

"There seems to be writing underneath us on this tablet," Sylmae said.

"You're right," Tom said.

"What does it say?" Steele asked.

"Hmm. It looks like a poem. It was written in Dragonic so it doesn't flow as well in English. But here it is."

Tethered worlds

One of magic

One of mind

Bound by birth

Merged in death

Dreaming no longer

Darkness awakens

It writhes

It spreads

It hungers

Elementals stand

In its way

Convergence reveals them

The being of many bloods

Will awaken them

Elementals and the Darkness

The battle for existence

Fail and only Darkness will remain

Use the power beyond mortals

And victory is assured

"That's pretty foreboding," Reia said.

"The power beyond mortals?" Steele repeated. "What does that mean?"

"No clue, Commander," Tom replied. "Maybe the power of the Elementals? I'd assume."

"The battle for existence," Amber muttered. "No pressure."

"So this is the source of Artorius' obsession," Steele mused as he examined the carving closer.

"With good reason," Tom said. "Don't get me wrong, I hate the guy for everything he put us through, but I understand him. Having to burden the apocalypse on his shoulders for centuries is likely to drive you mad."

"We don't have to like him to learn from him," Steele said."This burden isn't for any one person. Not me, not the Elementals, and not you Everett. We are the UNDF and we are the caretakers of this world and the next. We will work together to ensure Hastur's fall. Now I think we've kept those personnel in sector 201 waiting long enough. Let's see what they have."

The four followed the path they took to find the grail back up the stairway. On the way, Tom noticed more researched have enter the vault and were quick to find their stations. While moving through the vault, Tom found himself chuckling at his own thoughts.

"Something funny?" Steele asked.

"Just thought of another couple of problems from immortality. Do we still have a retirement age? Do you still retain a senior's discount? I'm imagining a person who looks like they are in their twenties getting all pissy that a server doesn't believe that they are in their nineties."

Steele couldn't help but chuckle at the thought as well. "It's funny, but that is also going to be an issue."

Each area was identified with signs marked with numbers and a small description. When the four reached 201, they found there was a large digital map screen with many dots over it. A couple of UNDF agents stood near it while they talked. When they saw Tom, Sylmae, Amber and Steele approach, they stopped their conversation and saluted the Commander.

"At ease," Steele told them. "So what did you two want me to see?"

"We found this map that Umbra has been maintaining for a while," one of them answered. "At first we didn't know what the dots meant, but checking the computer next to it, we found that they are all monster appearances in all known history."

"You're kidding?"

"Look. It is organized by years."

The other agent typed in a few commands on the computer and the map went into an animation where dots appeared and what year they did.

"Our world and Xoth seems to have been transferring back and forth for centuries. Maybe longer."

"Longer?"

"According to some of the data here, Umbra theorizes that the Dragons of Xoth are descendant of Earth's dinosaurs."

"That's insane!" Tom exclaimed.

"They do provide some convincing evidence," the agent continued. "Mostly skeletal comparisons and bone structure. Very interesting. We'll get in biologists and paleontologists for further researcher. Back to our original topic. Umbra has been researching monster appearances for centuries, trying to find a correlation to when and where they appear. Everett's theory about an alignment between our worlds seems to hold up as each monster, that we have checked so far on this map, line up with a location on Xoth where they live. Now here's where it gets interesting. With the massive uptick of monster appearances, Umbra was researching the weather patterns that always appear before each monster attack. We should be able to continue this research and maybe develop a warning system for the world against future monster transfers."

"That's great news!" Sylmae exclaimed.

"It is," Steele concurred. "Whatever resources you need to continue your research, you will have it."

"There you all are!" a voice called out.

Everyone turned towards the voice and saw Reia hovering just off of the walkway. She was breathing heavily like she flew back and forth in the vault.

"I was looking for you all," she said.

"Something wrong?" Amber asked.

"Ah, no, no. The opposite. Commander Steele, I would like to make a requisition request. Sir."

"A requisition of what?" Steele asked.

Reia landed on the walkway and folded her wings. "While looking through the vault's database, I found that there is Mithril here! Not just ore but refined ingots. This vault contains fifty ingots of Mithril."

"Is that a lot?" Tom asked.

"It's a massive amount!" Reia was hopping on her feet. "All I need is three ingots."

"For...?" Sylmae asked.

"In our fight against Wendigo, Tom's sword was destroyed. I want to make a new one for him. What better metal than Mithril to make it? I also want to make a weapon for Amber. Please, sir."

Steele thought on the request for a moment before he replied, "I think we can spare a few ingots, considering what you all discovered for us here."

"Thank you so much, sir! I'm also going to need access to a weapon forge that can reaches temperatures of twelve hundred degrees Celsius."

"That's extremely hot," Tom sputtered.

"Mithril requires an extremely high temperature to forge," Reia explained. "The highest out of any known metals. In fact, I'm going to need Tala's help on this project. Her Flamethrower is going to be needed to get us that temperature."

"Have you ever forged Mithril, Reia?" Sylmae asked. "I didn't know Master Jux got that far in your apprenticeship."

"Well, uh..." Reia cowered a bit. "He didn't. When he wasn't looking, I read his notes about his methodology and I spied on him when he forged some Mithril items. I'm sure I can make the two weapons."

"Is it alright if we have some people to observe the process?" Steel asked. "The would be a great opportunity to observe Xothican craftsmanship and to watch the forging of a new metal."

"They are welcome to watch," Reia said.

VVVVVV

Several days later...

Research in the vault still continues. Since it was first opened, more researchers poured into the vault to discover the hidden history of Earth and to learn more about the world of Xoth. The database that Umbra kept in the vault proved valuable as it provided centuries worth of research into Xothican magic, biology, history and culture.

One area of research that greatly interested the UNDF was research into combining magic with modern day weaponry. Schematics were created by Umbra to incorporate the elements into bullets. These documents displayed designs needed to be carved into bullets for different elemental damage. Machines can be created to make these bullets but it still requires a magical sphere from a regular slime in order to power it or a magical person to operate the machine.

As for Tom's group, the last several days were quiet in terms of transfers. This time was put towards Reia's work in creating Tom's and Amber's weapons. The forge she used was located in central France. The owners were paid off to give Reia all the time she needed to create these two weapons.

The normally energetic and flippant Reia showed an uncharacteristic amount of focus on her project. She would spend hours saying nothing other than requesting Tala to use her Flamethrower spell to heat up the forge.

The forging process was long and tedious. Even the researchers who filmed the process occasionally let out a yawn. Not Reia. Her focus was completely on the creation.

The first project was to create Tom's weapon. The only thing she told Tom was that she was making a weapon that worked well with his combat style. She heated two of the ingots she had. One was left in the flames while she used her tongs to remove the other ingot.

Reia used her hammer to shape the ingot. As the ingot cooled, she placed it in the flames and requested more fire. She took out the other ingot and used a sharp tool to cut it in half. One half was dunked into the slack tub to cool it off so it could be put it to the side. The other half of the ingot had a small piece cut off and the rest was hammered to start its flattening process.

Reia alternated between the two ingots as she shaped them and heated them. Eventually they started to take their shape. The larger ingot took the shaped of a straight sword with a blunt end. She dunked it into the quench tank to improve the hardening process.

The other ingot was hammered into a curve and had holes punched in each end of the curved. Once the sword section was in its final form, the curved piece of metal, along with a hard wooden handle, was slid onto the tang of the sword to form the grip and handguard. The remaining small piece of metal was formed and heated until it was hot and soft enough to go onto the end of the grip to form the pommel.

This sword was allowed to cool before the next stage was reached. Reia took a long strip of dark brown leather and wrapped it around the wooden grip into a beautiful leather handle. The last stage had Reia take a file to the sword edges. Once created, she took the sword to an oiled whetstone to polish it.

The whole process took countless hours, where she saw her Weapon Crafting skill go up several levels as she flawless pulled off each step of forging a mithril sword. With the final swipe on the whetstone, Reia held the sword in front of her, smiled, and sighed with relief.

Reia got to her feet and approached Tom. She carefully held out the khanda-style sword with it resting on both of her hands.

"Happy Birthday, Tom," she said.

Tom grabbed the sword by its grip and said, "this sword is beautiful. Just incredible."

"I called it Nephilim's Will."

"I like the fancy name."

"Check its stats!" Vivian said excitedly.

Nephilim's Will Rank SSS Durability 1000/1000 Physical Damage 500 Element Damage - Effects Elemental's Love This legendary blade formed by an Elemental has the rare effect of Elemental's Love. This blade's elemental damage (500) depends on which Elemental blessing it currently has. The blessings can be switched out with another without any penalties.

"This sword is incredible!" Tom said. "It's better than Sky's Fury by far even with its level scaling."

"I'm so relieved," Reia said. "I put everything into that sword. My skill, my love."

"And it shows."

"I based this weapon on your fighting style. Its made for slashing and is double edge. With its handguard, its perfect for close-range melee combat."

Tom held the blade and waved it around.

"It has a nice balance."

"It seems like you did learn a thing or two from Master Jux," Sylmae said.

"My crafting skills are all in the Intermediate range," Reia groaned. "What did you think I did at the smithy?"

"Create a disturbance for him," Sylmae joked.

"Not fair, Syl."

"What are you doing with the last bit of mithril?" Tala asked.

"I'm creating Amber's weapon."

"What kind of weapon are you going to make for me?" Amber asked.

"Well, I haven't seen you in a fight, so the weapon I'm making is based on your skill set. Tala could you continue to help me after we get a quick bite to eat?"

"Of course," she replied.

After a break, they continued their work at the forge. This weapon was more complicated than Tom's sword. Another piece of metal was cut off of the half section of ingot and put to the side. The rest of it was place into a smelter cup and heated until it melted. From there, Reia added several other metals. Aluminum, titanium, copper, and zinc. Once mixed enough, she poured the molten metal into an ingot mold.

Reia turned her attention to the last full ingot of mythril. Like Tom's weapon, she hammered it into a sword-shape. The blade was thin and pointed. Once it was hammered into shape, it was heated again until soft. This was then cut into five pieces. Slotted holes were then punched into the middle part of the sword sections. The pieces were removed from the forge and cooled.

The ingot alloy that Reia created earlier was heated and she hammered away at it until she created a long wire with pegs on it.

"Why did you add all those metals to the mythril?" one of the UN observers asked.

"Mythril is an extremely versatile metal," Reia answered. "You can make anything from it. It's one of the reasons why it so sought after. Even turning it into an alloy you can change its physical properties. You'll see soon. I must say that your people have made this process so much easier. In smithing, we usually have to get rid of impurities before we can make alloys. Here you have just the pure samples which will make my creations so much better than back at home."

Once the wire was given its form, the end of the wire was super heated until it was slightly melted. This molten wire was pressed into the hole slot of the blade tip and held there until it cooled. The other sword sections were then slid onto the wire. With the wire through the blade parts, it held the sword pieces together. She heated the tang end of the weapon and then hammered the wire and tang together.

With the main blade done, Reia slid the wooden handle onto the tang and used the very last bit of mithril to create the pommel. She filed the edges of the blade and then polished it on a whetstone. After all her hard work, both weapons were done. Reia presented the weapon to Amber.

"I guess this is a birthday present to you as well, Amber," Reia said as she presented the blade. "I call it Nature's Howl."

Nature's Howl Rank SSS Durability 950/950 Physical Damage 250 Element Damage - Effects Elemental's Love This legendary blade whip formed by an Elemental has the rare effect of Elemental's Love. This blade whip's elemental damage (500) depends on which Elemental blessing it currently has. The blessings can be switched out with another without any penalties.

The weapon resembled a long sword with no crossguard.

"Now Amber, I want you to get into a large space and swing that sword like a whip."

Amber stepped outside of the smithy building into the weapon testing yard. Tom, the girls and the observers followed behind Amber to see the kind of weapon she was given. Amber found herself an open space and took a stance.

"Try it now, Amber," Reia said.

Amber lifted the sword and swung it like a whip. The blade stretched into a whip. At the end of the swing, the whip retracted back into the sword.

"H-How?" Amber muttered.

The observers with the cameras looked back to Reia for the answer.

"It was what I learned from Master Jux," Reia replied. "Mythril is extremely versatile. I modified its physical property by adding other metals into the alloy. To summarize, I made the wire both solid and stretchy. Without any force applied to the wire, it's hard. When Amber swings the blade, it becomes elastic. The pegs I put on the wire makes sure that the sword sections stay in place during the swing. Also as an added feature, when the wire stretches, it will become razor sharp."

Reia looked around and saw several foot-thick trees.

"Amber can you use your weapon against those trees?"

"Sure," Amber said. She faced the trees and held up her weapon. Amber swung the sword and it extended into its whip form. The weapon swung through the trees effortlessly and then retracted back into its sword form.

Everyone stared at the trees expecting something to happen but the trees stayed up. After a minute of waiting, Tom walked up to the trees and gave one of them a slight kick. The tree fell over with a clean cut.

"I might have made it a little too razor sharp," Reia admitted.