Chapter 507: Golden Dragon

Entering the smithy, Iris had a bright smile on her face; after all, her blade was finally ready after two weeks of waiting. How she couldn’t wait to get her hands on it... After all, she had some important tasks to do.

With some convincing, she managed to make her father let her join a team on an expedition inside another Kingdom, to deliver some news on the situation in the Wonderland. And really, the only reason she was allowed is because they were really good friends with them.

She also knew the King of that nation quite well, so of course nothing was going to happen if she went on this expedition.

Waiting at the counter, Iris watched as Atlas arrived, surprised to see her already there. He was holding a blade in his hand. It was straight, symmetrical, and, more importantly, double-edged. It could thrust and precisely cut, a powerful blade, and at the same time quite beautiful.

Its hilt was covered in leather, but had small cracks where gold sparkled through, and at the end, the pommel made of gold had a dragon pattern. This was a bit strange, since she had no idea what her connection to dragons was. But it was pretty cool, so she wasn’t mad about it.

The guard was smaller than it normally is on other blades, but it was also marked in the same golden dragon pattern. The blade itself was gorgeous; the light sparkled on it.

Atlas had carved Praise on it with pure gold, a small detail she liked. It wasn’t made out of metal, the blade that is, but rather it was made out of beautiful jade, and definitely a very expensive one, as its inside looked... like something you could stare at for eternity.

The blade also had a tassel with a jade ring attached at the end of the blade. This was a nice detail she appreciated.

"That’s... amazing..." She said, covering her mouth with her fingers as her eyes sparkled with pure joy.

Atlas chuckled as he rested the blade on the table. "Thanks. It’s a Bearer blade. Since you said you were a Seeker, it should be enough. Now for the abilities, you never told me what you wanted, so I just let the Codex choose, since it’s probably better than me at doing it." Raising a finger, he stopped her from jumping to grab the blade as he ran back to get a scabbard, one made out of leather and gold.

"Here, if you want. It doesn’t really matter for us, Reader, since we can just summon our blades and then let them back into our cores, but if you wish, you can also use this."

Iris nodded, her hand already moving to touch it, but Atlas stopped her again. "It isn’t done; I need to finish it with a name. You want to name it, or should I let the Codex?"

’Hm... a name?’ She said, biting her nail. Names, she believed, she was always bad at them. When she was younger, she had a dog, and she had named him Boy, which, to this day, she believed was a good name, but the others never thought so.

"How about Dawn? The blade with the grace of the sun’s rise."

"So Dawn? Alright, if you say so. You could have said anything, and I wouldn’t care, so you don’t have to explain why you chose it; it’s not my blade." He said as he finished naming it. Holding his hand out, Iris took it as he transferred the blade to her.

When the message popped up, Iris jumped in happiness. "Thank you so much! You don’t understand how grateful I am."

Atlas waved his hand in an X. "No, no, I should be the one thanking you, since I was able to put my skills to a test and see how powerful and beautiful a blade I could make. When the day comes when he needs a blade, I will be able to make him one worth his glory."

Iris sighed as he began talking about Aether again. She hadn’t known that her classmate had this influence, but since they were both from the Withered, it did make sense. Though he had never seen what type of blade Aether had, she was pretty curious.

After all, the blade wielded by someone says a lot about who they are.

Leaving the shop, Iris couldn’t wait any longer, as she summoned the Codex to inspect it.

[Dawn]- A blade blessed by the dragon of the sun, one promised to bring harmony to the world, uniting it all. The powers of the dragon flow deeply into the blade in order to help Praise in her quest.

This was one thing she didn’t like about made relics: the crafted always included the wielder in the description, and really, it was a bit embarrassing seeing herself in it. There was no harm; it wasn’t like anyone else could see it, but still, it made her feel slightly awkward.

Category-Weapon

Class- Seeker

Knowledge rank-Beast.

Abilities-[Benediction],[Dragon’s Guard],[Golden Hymn].

[Benediction]- You hear their prayer, their need for help, and asking for blessings; how much they worship you and love you. Until now, you may not have been able to help them that much or answer their requests, but that changes now. This ability makes it so that whenever making contact with an ally, the awakened can choose to boost one of their aspect, such as their physical strength, speed, perception, or essence regeneration.

’Oh...’ Iris said, looking at the ability. It was pretty powerful, she had to say, but she wasn’t sure if it was the best for her. She already used a lot of essence with just her powers, but even more with this one. Plus... she had wanted something... maybe more offensive or defensive... but at the same time, it was fine. The Bearer class was already enough, and it fit her role perfectly, so she wasn’t going to complain just because she suddenly wanted to be the main man fighting.

[Dragon’s Guard]- The dragon feeds on the attacks of others; while their strength might be scary, do not fear, as the stronger they are, the more they feed you. Each of their strikes that you manage to block shall be their demise, as you absorb that power and store it in the guard before being able to release it all in one slash, or only a slight amount of the stored energy, one at a time.

Iris stared with her jaw dropped; she... had an offensive ability, and in her opinion... which probably wasn’t the best, since she hadn’t had that many offensive abilities to compare it to, was pretty strong.

She could definitely fight with it, though... she was going to have to get used to blocking, as before in her training, all she did was swing; she had no idea how to block. But she was going to figure it out.

She had one more ability, and really she hoped this one was a defensive ability, since it was probably the zone she lacked the most. She was pretty powerless, with no way of protecting herself; it was why she wasn’t able to join the expedition and many other events.

It was ironic; she believed her whole life that defensive abilities and qualities weren’t the best, and yet she was being denied because she didn’t have any and was forced to watch people like Aether, who were very good in that department, get accepted.

She shouldn’t have looked down on it.

[Golden Hymn]- The sound of you fighting is a beautiful song for many, almost godly. And maybe it is. Each time you fight, people tend to get inspired, and miracles tend to happen. This ability makes it so that whenever you are successfully able to strike someone, a wave of Praise washes over your allies; the stronger your emotional connection with them, the stronger the effect. The hurt might stabilize, the hollowed ones might gain their essence back, and the weak might get stronger. All these can happen under the sound of your melody.

’So it’s quite similar to what the first ability was like... It’s also not a defensive ability... but It’s fine, since it still seems pretty cool and powerful. I also don’t think I have to use my own essence for it, and if I do, only a bit, to activate it.’

Putting the blade in front of her, she couldn’t be more proud; she could have chosen its abilities and given it two offensive and one defensive, or reverse, but at the same time, who knew, maybe the Codex knew something that she didn’t. It tended to know things before they happened, to predict the future as if it had already lived it.

It was pretty strange, but cool.

Either way, what mattered was that now, with this blade... she could protect herself and actually fight, if she needed in her expedition. Which, speaking of which.

It was time for her to go and meet the others.