Chapter 63. Blade

"Ok. I just have to activate it near the materials and then the token does all the work?"

"After that stand back a little and let the token do its magic." Chloe's skin had started to gain color within 10-20 mins and by 30 she looked like she had never been injured in the first place.

Her body still ached, but to someone clueless, she looked the healthiest she had ever been.

The materials for the weapon creation were her two swords, some mana crystals, the half-formed Essence Crystal, Chloe's blood, the monster's body, and a black shell.

We decided to use the corpse because Chloe said that it was a half ascended beast. I did not know what that was nor what it indicated, but the vines that made its body were one of the strongest materials that I had ever seen.

And the black shell was a part of the Ant queen that I had killed in the underground tunnels. After Chloe started practicing with us, I asked Garry to make one armor for Chloe.

He had already planned to make four, one for me, but now that he had to make one for her, there wasn't enough material left. This plate was all that remained.

Sadly, the queen shell armors kept getting delayed because of the other armor that had to be given to the soldiers, and Garry not being confident in his skills.

I had not used the clothes given by that old man till now, and when I was 'experimenting' with them, let us just say that whatever those clothes went through nothing managed to damage them.

With everything gathered and not much time left, Chloe activated the token and took a step back. Like the last time, a blinding light covered the token, and the materials were slowly absorbed by it.

When I used my token, my eyes had to avoid directly looking at the token because of the bright light but this time though it was bearable.

A hazy rune hid behind all the radiance and when I tried to look closely, a strange pressure fell on my mind. I averted my eyes right before the pressure became unbearable.

It was another rune, just like those in my mind but this one was too complex. A single attempt to understand it almost made me lose my consciousness.

I glanced towards the materials to notice something odd.

The swords, Essence Crystal, shell, blood, everything had been absorbed by the token. Everything except the mana crystals.

The token absorbed hovered up in the air and a vacuum, formed around it. The mana around was being dragged into the token, it was similar to rank ups as the body needed more mana during the process.

A few minutes went by after the token started to descend, the light being drawn back to its source. As the light faded two curved swords fell into Chloe's hands.

The swords looked exquisite. Its edge shone not needing the light to reflect as it contained a brilliance of its own. The hilt was made from two intertwining vines, and the guard formed from a black piece of metal.

A flower was engraved where the hilt and the guard met, but it was not a moonflower.

"A rose," Chloe said as she touched the engraving. "Every color has a unique meaning, a flower that can portray countless emotions."

I did not understand what that meant and before I could, the swords once again surprised me.

Chloe gripped the sword and brought their hilts together. The vines split and fused in an instant.

The weapon that was now present in her hand was a double-bladed sword.

She spun the weapon, as the sound of air being cut was heard. It was sharp and deadly, a single spin made that obvious. She twisted the hilt mid-air, and the next instant the swords separated.

"These! Are! Amazing!" Chloe jumped around like a little girl that had received the Christmas present she had wished for.

"These are so much better than my previous ones, and they fit perfectly. The double blades don't feel uncomfortable at all like they were made for me. Was this how you gained your weapon?"

"Yeah. I do not want to experience that again though." I remembered the feeling of my arms being cut and I shivered just at the thought.

Chloe noticed that and inched closer, "Looks like there's a story behind it."

I did not say anything.

"Why? Did you almost die from the blood loss? Or did you cut a limb to use as the material?" My body flinched as she mentioned a limb. Now we both stood there quiet not saying a single word.

"No way," she said slowly and kept staring at me. I ultimately sighed and nodded, "My arms, both of them." I coughed saying the last part.

"You overreacted for two liters, while you- you cut off your arm for a weapon? Both of yours at that!" She exclaimed and turned around returning to the tent.

She was upset the rest of the day, not because I scolded her for recklessly drawing so much blood but because I acted so recklessly back then.

It was right in a way, you can't trust can't some stranger for a matter that serious. But if he had any ulterior motives, there was no need for him to trick me or earn my trust.

He could just some force, as he said, the guides could not hurt the trial taker unless the taker wished for it. There was nothing against forcing or pressuring, just hurting.

He did have some plans for me, giving me the token and clothes that talked about arriving. The token would take me somewhere when I use it, it could be a trap or as he said an opportunity.

I did explain everything, that I only did that because of the regeneration potion, but the only way she said that I could lift her spirit was by agreeing to two requests that she had.

One, to never do something like this ever again.

Second, to learn about flowers from her. I had no idea how that related to the reason she was upset, but I agreed. She would be teaching me about flowers.

How to grow them, take care of them, what each one symbolized, and other stuff. It was a relaxing activity, something that I needed desperately to calm myself, to stop myself from drowning.

The voices were slowly taking over. Only during the moments I was with her did they stay quiet and leave me alone.

'Do I-, no.' The line of thought disappeared as soon as it came, becoming a fleeting image, a passing thought.

*Yes, you do.*

^Yes, you do.^