In the middle of the streets, Lyn walks around with Avalon on her back with a large grin on her face as the sword asks question after question for everything that comes into view. Lyn makes her way to the Witches shop hoping for Rayne to have made any kind of progress so she can understand just what Avalon is

So, what’s a Witch? Avalon asks curiously.

“A Witch, their kind of like a group of magic uses. They research magical stuff and take in orphans, aside from that I don’t understand what makes Witches so special.”

That’s kind of disappointing.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Rayne can explain it better than I can.”

That’s the girl in the black outfit, right?

“Yup, she always wears that outfit. Pretty much all Witches wear outfits like that, I think it’s kind of like a uniform.”

Interesting, I hope she can tell me about myself.

“You don’t know either?”

Yeah, I have no idea, the only thing I remember was you pulling me out of the hill and using me to cut into that monster.

“Wait, then can you explain why you cut sometimes and don’t other times?”

I don’t know.

“Well we can always count on Rayne, she always knows what she’s doing.”

Lyn opens the door to the shop to see Rayne sitting around in a pink frilly outfit without her hat as she looks at Lyn with a glare. Lyn simply stands there and looks stunned by Rayne wearing the outfit as her mind tries to catch up to her eyes.

“Not a word!” Rayne yells out annoyed.

Cute. Avalon says happily.

“No Avalon, don’t say anything you’ll make her mad,” Lyn says nervously talking to the sword.

Rayne looks at her confused. “Why are you talking to the sword?”

“Oh right, I’m the only one who can hear Avalon’s voice.”

“Avalon?” Rayne asks confused.

Lyn pulls the sword out and places it on the counter. “Yeah, I gave him a name. It felt rude calling him the sword over and over again, especially now that I can understand his voice.”

“A voice?”

“Yeah, I pick up a voice coming from Avalon,” Lyn says seriously pointing to her ears. “I could hear it ever since I pulled him out of the stone.”

“Huh?” Rayne says curiously as she walks ahead staring at Avalon. “Interesting.”

“So, did you find anything out?”

Rayne stares at the runes on the blade and holds out her hand. “Light.”

“Huh?”

“That’s what the runes say, it spells out light. One of the ten central elements that make up the world. Light, Grass, Water, Thunder, Wind, Darkness, Earth, Fire, Ice, and Metal; these ten elements make up the world that surrounds us and our own lives.” Rayne says seriously as she turns towards Lyn.

“So, what does this have to do with Avalon?”

Rayne sighs as she pulls a book out from behind the counter. “You really don’t know. Even children have learned about this old story.”

“What story?”

“How do you function?” She says opening the book. “When there was once nothingness, suddenly ten beings descended onto the world. These beings created a world within the void and after some time created life each in their own images. The ten races lived underneath their gods and worshipped them with gifts and tributes to keep the gods happy at all times.”

“Why does this sound familiar?” Lyn asks confused.

Rayne continues reading the book ignoring what Lyn says. “One day one race created life of their own and presented it to their god. As a result, the god whipped them all out and with their created beings taking their place. Seeing the cruelty of their gods, the races of the world united using gifts they created to give to the gods to strike back against them.”

“Oh wait, I know the rest of the story. From there the races went to war with the gods slaying each of them one by one until only one was left.” Lyn says happily. “After that, the god used the power of all the gods to curse the world creating the Monere.”

“Correct,” Rayne says seriously. “You really should remember this stuff, literally everyone knows this.”

Well, I didn’t. Avalon says.

“Well, you’re a special case, Avalon,” Lyn says before turning towards Rayne. “But what does this have to do with Avalon?”

“This Avalon, this is one of the ten blades that was used to fell, gods,” Rayne says seriously. “This is the legendary sword Lumen, the Blade of the Homid. One of the ten swords crafted by the legendary blacksmith Zwaard. And they use his name to refer to the swords in general as a sign of respect.”

“The Blade of the Homid,” Lyn says mesmerized by the thoughts of wielding a legendary sword.

Rayne holds out her hand as it shakes over the sword. “Because of its nature only a Homid can wield it, and because of its power it chooses its wielder.”

“Does that mean you chose me, Avalon?”

I don’t know. I have no idea how any of this works.

“What you're hearing is quite possibly the spirit of the sword, but I have no idea just how much control the spirit has over the sword’s power,” Rayne says seriously walking away and sitting behind the counter. “And that there is the origin of that sword of yours.”

Lyn picks up Avalon and holds it in her hands. “So, a legendary sword that killed a god, I love this.”

“Don’t let your ego get too swelled, any Homid can wield it if the sword chose them,” Rayne says seriously as she leans back in the chair. “As the blacksmith said because it’s a choosey sword you can’t sell it because the buyer might not be able to use it.”

“So, do you think he recognized what it is?”

“Most likely.”

Lyn smiles as she holds the sword before looking towards Rayne curiously. “Now I have to ask, what’s with the outfit?”

“The Rules of Witchery, the rules every witch has to follow in our order,” Rayne says annoyed as she looks at the dress. “I asked the Mother for help on this and she as a price made me dress up like this for a day.”

“Why?”

“When one Witch asks another a favor, she has to pay the price, and that Witch gets to ask the other to do something. And in this case, the Mother asked me to dress up like this for a day because she said I’d be cute in it.” Rayne says annoyed.

Lyn simply smiles as she takes in the sight of Rayne. “I have to agree, you're very cute in that outfit. The Mother has great tastes.”

“Just shut up and go to work,” Rayne says annoyed.

“Alright, I’ll see you later!” Lyn says leaving as she grips onto Avalon.

Rayne blushes annoyed at the outfit as she looks at the book checking the pages before coming to an illustration of a series of large monsters. Each one targeting one of ten figures as she looks on with a horrified look.

“Sorry, but I can’t tell you this. The Zwaards, what their true purpose is, and the curse places upon us all that’s signaled by their awakening.” She says gripping the book. “I can understand why no one wanted to write this down, it’s just too horrific.”