Chapter 16. A Gift, and a Duty

The forge was located at the far east of the village.

Avaln had rarely seen one, since he could be considered quite the bookworm given the life he'd led until now, so all his eyes allowed him to infer was that the place seemed quite simple, yet sturdy and managed for efficiency. It was laid out in the open, and was also annexed to a little, humble house made of grey rock.

He nodded to himself. It may be a good idea to bring his iron spear in the future to have it sharpened and learn how to maintain it.

“Jeff!” Shouted grandma Mira at the opened window. “Come out, old boulder!”

A few breaths later, the door opened, and from the darkness inside a bronzed hand emerged, followed by a burly man of big belly, greyish beard and few hairs on top of his head. His arms and shoulders, Avaln noticed, were wide and made of firm, voluminous muscle which identified him as the forge’s owner.

“What do you want, you babbling witch!” He retorted, scratching his beard. Then, he noticed Avaln. “And who is this?”

“This is Little Ri’s saviour.” She answered, a full smile in her expression.

The man’s brown eyes opened in surprise, then looked at Avaln with new found curiosity, and even some gratitude.

“It seems Rei is more than just another ‘youngun’” He thought, as the smith opened his mouth to say something.

“Weapon?” Jeff asked, as Avaln’s mind quickly guessed the only reason for the smith to be interested in that.

However, just as he was about to answer, Grandma Mira interjected, “There is no need, Jeff.”

The smith was left with a puzzled look, then realization struck him as he held the elderly woman’s gaze, tacit concord between them.

“I see… “He turned around and added, “Wait there for a crystal drop.”

It was Avaln’s turn to wear a puzzled expression, as he saw grandma Mira with a knowing smile staring inside the house. Indeed, after the time a dropped crystal meets the ground, the smith came out with a long object covered by a simple cloth. He approached a table at one side of the forge, and laid it there.

“Could it be?” Were Avaln’s thoughts, as he felt a gentle hand pushing his back.

“Take a look for yourself.” Was grandma Mira’s advice, and Jeff took a few steps back to give way.

Avaln nodded, understanding he didn’t need to be polite, and quickly unfolded the two steps long object, already suspecting what was inside.

It was a spear.

He became fascinated by it, for he didn’t need to inspect it closely to know it wasn’t just any spear. In fact, he cast a reevaluating glance at the smith, realizing his occupation and expertise wasn’t so simple.

If it weren’t for his now great memory, Avaln wouldn’t have recalled the title those capable of forging objects out of monsters and rare materials bore...

“Don’t look at me with such awe, kid. I’m just a first ascension artefact crafter. That spear is the best work I’m capable of.” The old man explained, and Avaln noticed he didn’t hold the expression of someone feigning humility, and almost spat the last words.

However, that didn’t stop him from admiring the work in front of him. It was a bone spear, its ivory color unperturbed from edge to end, the latter finished in the form of a short, one-bladed dagger, while the spearhead was slightly larger than usual, with a curve on both sides of the shaft at the joint, much like a chakram.

Avaln released his seventh sense, and found another surprise.

The spear possessed demonic essence. He didn’t need long to infer what it was made of. “Demon Boar bone?” disbelief evident in his voice.

Jeff and grandma Mira exchanged a look, then gave Avaln a reevaluating glance.

“How did you know?” Asked Jeff then, without being able to hold back.

Avaln shrugged, without the intention of commenting more than necessary, “I’ve had my opportunities, and I don’t think I’m far from the Tempered Essence realm.”

Realization dawned on both of them then, and grandma Mira added, “So that’s how you knew I could beat the men of yesterday without much trouble. You’ve begun developing your seventh sense! In that case, indeed, the Tempered Essence realm should be within your reach once you refine a creature strong enough.”

Of course, Avaln didn’t mention anything about having a seventh sense capable of reaching a fifty steps radius around him, for such a feat shouldn’t be achievable by a mere Nascent Essence realm adventurer-wannabe like him. However, seeing as he had faced demon boars before, it was plausible for him to recognize their essence within the bone spear.

Returning his gaze to the weapon, Avaln nodded and spinned it in a flourish, testing its weight distribution. The movement was quite superfluous in most cases, yet for that particular purpose turned out to be quite a good way to judge its balance, which Avaln quickly discovered was perfect. Jeff was indeed being a bit too humble when talking about his abilities, for even if he was just a first ascension artefact crafter, being able to create such a weapon was definitely not easy.

And so Avaln decided to claim when his gaze returned to the old man, only to find him and grandma Mira staring at him, agape.

“Y-You are quite skilled with a spear, kid.” Commented the latter after a cough, quickly regaining her composure. “So, you like it?”

Avaln nodded, yet doubt became apparent in his expression. “But, can I seriously keep it?”

Grandma Mira’s lips twitched, repressing a smile. “That is my wish, however, there is a condition… “

Upon hearing that, Avaln gently left the spear at the table, not without some reticence.

“Don’t get cautious around me now. And don’t worry, it’s nothing too out of your way. Remember I asked you about your plans this morning?” Led grandma Mira with a kind smile “You said you’d hoped to stay here for a while. What I’m about to ask you is not against that. In fact, I’ll let you stay at my house for as long as you need!”

Avaln couldn’t repress his skepticism. “In exchange of what?”

Her gaze turned stern. “I’d like you to help me and this old man to defend the village in case of demon boars. Despite the many people living here, none of them would last a breath against one. We’ve found out as much during the first month.”

Using his seventh sense, Avaln quickly realized Jeff’s essence had the same density as grandma Mira, meaning he had reached the Tempered Essence realm.

“If you accept, that spear will be yours, and you’ll receive lodging and food.”

Avaln’s mouth visibly thinned. “And if I refuse?”

Grandma Mira shook her head. “We’ll let you stay a while, given that you saved little Ri’s life. But as soon as you’ve regained your strength, we’d like you to leave. Having a stranger around, given the anger many feel... it would only cause trouble.” She cocked her head to the side. “However, if you were to stay to defend them from a possible future danger… “

Jeff chuckled, a sardonic smile threatening his mouth. “The village is full of chickens, you see.”

Avaln looked at the spear, his seventh sense examining quite carefully the essence inside.

What they said was true: helping defend the village wasn’t outside the scope of his abilities. It was also quite within his possible courses of action, as demon boars could be the perfect target to practice against.

However...

“I need to ask you a few questions before deciding.” He declared, casting them a stern gaze. Despite his young appearance, that stare led the elderly to straighten their backs instinctively. “And I won’t be able to answer any doubts you get from them.”

They looked at each other for a long breath, then grandma Mira nodded.

“How long will the essence inside the spear last?” Avaln inquired.

Through Sgithe’s teachings, He learnt it wasn't in essence's nature to stay in one place. That is, it needed to flow.

How come the spear was able to keep it then? In fact, one of the reasons his runes were drawn inside a circle was precisely so the essence could keep flowing inside, prolonging its active time... yet even that had its limits.

Jeff was startled by the question. How could he know?

In the short time they’ve talked, time and time again he had been surprised by that kid. It was quite amusing for him to find someone so sharp among the young generation, as any other adventurer would have jumped at the opportunity of possessing such a weapon. He shook his head in disbelief, wondering about Avaln’s background.

Grandma Mira shared a look with him, quickly realizing they were of the same mind. So, he took a deep breath, hesitating a bit about revealing the next details, “Those are quite the good senses you’ve got there kid. Indeed, the essence inside the spear won’t last long. Thanks to the method I used, I managed to keep the demon boar’s essence inside its bones, for it wore my soul imprint after I killed it, but as soon as I finished it, my imprint disappeared. If you use that spear on a living target, part of that essence will run through it, causing damage… but it won’t be replenished, and after a few twenty uses, it will become spent. Once it runs out the weapon will return to being a common bone spear, worse than one made of iron.”

“It’s not like we were trying to deceive you,” quickly explained grandma Mira, gesturing the possibility away much like Rei had done back at the cave. “The spear was made with the only purpose of defending the village, you see. If what you kill with it bears demonic essence, like a demon boar, the spear will recharge itself!”

Avaln nodded, probing the weapon with his seventh sense. After a few breaths, he furrowed his brow. “The spear is not only made of bone, is it?”

Jeff’s eyes bulged out, and if he had been drinking something, Avaln thought, he’d have probably spat it all over him. “How…?!”

Avaln didn’t answer.

Grandma Mira elbowed his sides, to which the artefact crafter quickly regained his composure and explained, “Indeed, I don’t know how you noticed, but you are right. I can give you the long explanation, or the short one. Which one do you want?”

“The long one.” Avaln replied, without hesitation.

Jeff coughed, repressing his shock. He was quite used to being disregarded every time he wanted to explain something about his craft. “Well, there is this metal called Caidanite. When you want a normal weapon, you use iron or a stronger metal, but when you want one made of monster parts, you use Caidanite because of its properties. When melted, it can be absorbed by parts with essence, conferring flexibility, endurance and creating a sort of cage inside, so that the essence doesn’t return to the world immediately.”

He walked by the forge and after some rummaging brought a piece of ore back. It had a silvery shine, and could reflect many colors even to the point of creating tiny rainbows on its surface. The piece was quite small, however, and could be held in one clenched hand. “It’s not a rare metal per se, and it doesn’t have many other uses. In fact, unless you are an artefact crafter or a mage you won’t really seek it. It also doesn’t work well with stronger essences beyond 5th order beasts, so high level adventurers won’t look for weapons made with it, yet for the demon boar’s spear it was perfect.”

As he quickly went through his shallow pond of general knowledge, Avaln recalled that a 5th order beast was equivalent to a Manifested Essence realm adventurer. It made sense then, as not only were artefact crafters rare, the use of Caidanite was even rarer given that not many would seek weapons with a limited use which became weaker than a normal one once spent. And when adventurers reached the Manifested Essence realm, better options became available for them, as being able to materialize their essence outside their bodies gave them a greater versatility and combat power.

However, when looking at the spear, Avaln felt that familiar sensation of his mind being pulled by an idea he couldn’t quite grasp.

It’s not in essence’s nature to stay still, so it made sense that each time the spear hit a living being, part of its essence was lost in the process. In fact, Avaln guessed that any target, even the air around the weapon right now, would slowly return it to the world.

That meant that even if he were to only slay demon boars with it, the spear would one day become spent.

Yet he couldn’t help but feel there was something that could be done there.

It wasn’t in essence’s nature to remain in one place. It flowed between the body and soul, creating a circulation. This fact was something not many knew, if at all; the general knowledge dictated essence only flowed inside one's body, and its circulation never changed. Jeff probably only realized the spear had limited uses from previous experiences crafting such weapons, and from the common knowledge that unclaimed essence from slayed creatures would slowly return to the world after a while.

Essence circulation.

That was the answer.

But how?

Avaln’s gaze went through the spear as he took it again, his hands brushing the delicate work made when shaping the start of the edge, a curve on each side of the shaft, leaving a tiny gap that if seen from one side it created an “O” figure around it, before joining into an pointy, long two-sided blade.

That required an incredible precision.

A smile flourished on his expression, as he turned towards Jeff. “I’ll take it. But I have one condition.”

Both of them leaned in slightly, quite curious after watching him so deep in thought.

“I’ll need you to make a few modifications to the spear. Do you have something to draw on?”

The artefact crafter nodded, and in quick steps brought a parchment and some chalk. After Avaln was finished, he couldn’t but suck in a breath and ask, “What is this?!”