Leresa was blushing as she stripped down to her underwear. “Is this really necessary!? And why in a dungeon of all places!?” She cried angrily.

Rexir was having trouble deciding on where to look, as he too stripped down to his undergarments. “Although I don’t really mind too much…” his eyes flitted to and fro, frequently landing on Leresa’s exposed body.

“The dungeon is just so we have a place with sturdy walls. Sometimes the ritual can take a very violent turn.” Vanessa chimed in, having seen her fair share of rituals performed.

“Speaking of violence, I’ll tell you about the downsides that could possibly occur.” Rexir looked at me curiously and raised an eyebrow.

“It seems to be a little late to be telling us about these things when we’ve already stripped. We’ve already decided to do this, is there any point?”

Leresa walked up behind him, and pinched his arm while averting her eyes from Rexir’s body. “Of course it matters, idiot. Whether we’ve already decided to go through with it or not, that’s no excuse to be uninformed about your situation.”

“Don’t call me an idiot, Less! I know!” Rexir turned to admonish the woman, and his words lost their steam as he appraised her body up and down.

Leresa blushed furiously, but allowed him to indulge in the sight of her body, and indulged in his as well. “Alright, enough of that, you two.” I said, and the two separated as though reacting to touching fire.

“I’d like to hear this as well.” Hazeel stepped in behind me, and gave me a big smile. She was wearing white lingerie that hugged her curves tightly, and stood out against her dark skin. I felt like I understood Rexir a little too well at that moment, and practically had to tear my eyes away from the wood elf.

“Of course.” I coughed to get myself in order and asked, “Has anyone ever heard of these phrases: Amaterasu, the Void, or transfiguration?”

I was met with the gazes of three people who had no idea what I had just said, and sighed. “Well, that’s alright, I guess. I’ll give you the rundown from the beginning, then.”

The three nodded, and stood around me in a circle. “To begin with, we’ll explain Amaterasu’s importance in this ritual. Amaterasu is a goddess in Shinto Religion back on earth. She oversees the ritual we are about to perform, or, that’s the story, anyway. Vanessa’s father always told me that it was important to have faith in Amaterasu in order to succeed in the ritual.”

“Why is that?” Rexir asked, and the other two looked at me expectantly. However, it was Vanessa who answered.

“Our ancestors believed that the more in tune with nature a person was, the more that the energy of the gods would fill them and empower them. Of course, we call that power by a different name now, but the principle still applies. Belief in a divine being is just one of the better ways to be connected to the world.”

Rexir nodded, and turned to me. “Do you think that this will be a problem for us?”

I shook my head, and replied, “No, not at all. I thought that any old god would do well for you. All you need is that belief. You could use our recently ascended Shar as one to believe in, or even use Tirania if you so choose.”

A rumble of thunder echoed in the distance, and Rexir looked upwards. “Are you one of the chosen?” He asked, looking at me. “Most people don’t invoke a reaction from the gods upon speaking their names.

I smirked. “No. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to learn about Tirania yet. Unfortunately for whatever plans she had laid out, Shar spoiled her existence to me, and now she’s having a bit of a fit every time I mention her.”

Lightning struck the space beside me, and Leresa’s face paled. “You should stop saying her name so casually, in that case. She’s known to be a fickle goddess.”

With another distant rumble, the smell of ozone ceased in the area. I sighed, and said, “Fine. I’ll stop until her tantrum is over.”

Leresa looked as if she were waiting for a bolt to strike me down, and when one never came, she relaxed.

“Next, we’ll go over the Void. You are all aware of the powers I possess, right?” I saw them all nod, and asked a follow up question. “Well then, how much do you know about how my power works?”

The three looked at each other, and Hazeel spoke up first. “You use… particles? I think they were particles. But you use them in order to manipulate ‘black holes.’ Right?”

“Yeah, that's a solid understanding. Now, what connection do you think the void and the ritual have?” Hazeel, who had previously been outspoken about her knowledge, was now tight-lipped.

“No one? Well, I guess it is a complicated subject. Here’s a hint: this ties in with our last subject, transfiguration. Now that I’ve given you a clue, does anyone think they know what the connection is?”

I felt as if I were back in the military and giving a lesson to one of my juniors on science again. It was a nostalgic feeling, but a sigh from Hazeel brought me back to reality. “I feel like i’m really close to understanding, and it’s frustrating!”

Despite her own beliefs about what she knew, both Rexir and Leresa looked to be at a loss. “Ok.” I smiled. “Let me tell you then. The secret to the technique is that it does actually require you to both transfigure and use your powers of the Void at the same time.”

“With all do respect, that doesn’t tell us anything.” Rexir sighed, and Leresa nodded in assent.

“Sorry, I guess I’m still not great at explaining. Ok, Vanessa, would you mind helping me here?” She reluctantly came up to me and grabbed my hand.

I chose to forego the chant we usually used when Vanessa transformed into her blade mode, simply because I didn’t want to further complicate things before I knew they had actually succeeded in the ritual.

She squeezed, and I could feel her trembling hand on my own. I tried to give her the most reassuring smile I could, and reached out for her in the void. Our two senses overlapped, and she gasped as her body was encased in a golden light.

She transformed into her sword form, only, it was a bit differently shaped from the one I was used to seeing. Her overall shape was the same as normal, a katana blade attached to the hilt of a bastard sword, but her colors were drastically different.

She now had an ornate, golden hilt with dragons running along it and up towards the blade. The knuckle guard was a slightly darker shade of gold, and was styled in a star shape, reminiscent of a shuriken.

Her blade was the signature crimson color of Akalite, the native material to the Gold continent. I marveled at the sight of her in my hands, and it was only when Rexir coughed that I realized I had taken a bit too long marvelling at Vanessa’s new form.

“Apologies, but let me explain what Vanessa just did. She used her powers to keep her consciousness chained to this world, but transfigured herself into a sword. Does that make sense?”

‘Of course it doesn’t.’ I shivered hearing Vanessa’s thoughts in my head after so long, it felt foreign. She transformed back and stood by my side, at a distance that was a little closer than she had stood in the past few days.

“Sorry, apparently he really is bad at explaining. What people becoming weapons actually need to do is a bit different. “First, decide on a weapon that will house your consciousness. The blade won’t actually disappear in real life, so don’t be concerned about losing something expensive or precious.”

Hazeel drew her buster sword, and planted it into the ground. “My old faithful. I have no qualms that it’ll make a good weapon for Leo.” She smiled at me, and I shook my head. I’d need to seriously train to be able to lift that monstrosity one-handed like Hazeel had just done.

To my surprise, it wasn’t Leresa who was becoming a weapon, but Rexir himself. He took out a silver sword with a crimson hilt before giving me a knowing look. He said, “The only thing about me that’s good for the battlefield is my brain, and I can’t relay messages across long distances to my subordinates. For my circumstance, this makes the most sense.”

I nodded, and Leresa looked at the princeling nervously. “Are you sure you don’t want me to become your weapon instead, Rexir? I-”

The princeling cut her off with a kiss. “Of course not, Less. I love you, and I believe in our bond. Please believe in it as well.”

This time Leresa leaned in to initiate the kiss, and I was the one who had to interrupt them before their flirting got out of control. “Any other questions?”

The three remained silent, so we moved on to applying the ritual’s markings on various parts of their bodies. Before we began, Vanesa pulled me aside.

“Wait, you aren’t Japanese, right? Who did you use for your god, then?” Vanessa asked me, and I just gave her a smile while remaining dead silent.

After all, how could I tell the woman that I had so much respect for her that I had grounded myself to the world using her existence as a catalyst.

She sighed, and handed me the ink and brush, whereupon I started applying the silver ink we had Rexir buy to other people in the room. Rexir wanted his mark on his chest, over his heart.

Leresa echoed his sentiment. I handed the ink off to Vanessa, and Leresa made sure that Rexir was definitely turned the other way before loosening her bra for Vanessa. Afterwards, Vanessa drew me a copy on a piece of paper so I could make sure that she didn’t have any mistakes in the runes she drew.

Lastly, Hazeel chose a very peculiar spot. “I’m telling you, you should choose somewhere else. There’s no telling what’ll happen if I draw the tattoo there.”

“Oh, don’t be such a downer, Vee.” I raised my brows at the nickname. Since when had the two of them had time to bond? “Do you know for a fact that it’ll mess up the ritual?”

Vanessa had to think for a moment, then sighed and dipped her ornate brush into the ink. “No, I don’t know that for a fact. The tongue is just a really weird place for that.”

Hazeel grinned and hugged the woman. “Thanks Vee.” I walked up to her, and my heart skipped a beat as Hazeel stuck out her tongue and presented it to me to draw on.

I sighed, and said, “Whatever you do, keep your tongue out of your mouth. The marking is going to be liquid until the ritual is complete, and definitely don’t swallow any of it.”

“Ohay!” Hazeel said, tongue still out. I shook my head in exasperation as I started applying the markings.

When all was said and done, the three people undergoing the ritual were lined up in front of Vanessa and I. “Please, touch the emblem on your partner with the emblem of yourself.”

Rexir and Leresa settled into an awkward, naked hug to ensure their emblems met, and I had to use a piece of glass that was on the floor in order to draw a marking on my own tongue.

Hazeel and I touched tongues, and the wood elf giggled before giving me a wink. Honestly, she’s so unruly. “Weapons! I want you to envision your partner holding that weapon, only that weapon is you. Become one with what your partner wants. Become attuned to the world as you keep your god or goddess in mind!”

I pulsed out photon particles into the surrounding area and guided them into Hazeel and Rexir simultaneously. Unfortunately, that was when everything went wrong.