The skies around the village have darkened as grey clouds gathered. The beautiful glowing leyline was reduced to nothing but a faint light for the spectators from down below. Raindrops were beating against the windows of the tower and the occasional thunder here and there was adding an unwelcome extra flare to the noise.

"This sucks!" Cia groaned and looked into the bottom of her mug. "Why the hell do we have to be stuck here today?"

"Come on now, it's not that bad. At least we're warm and dry," Kaili tried to look on the bright side.

"I know, but it's just stupid! No work today and we can't even have some fun outside! And Manuel went god knows where with the Cordicon." She whimpered. "What would I do to be able to go somewhere nice now."

"I suppose you can't really move the clouds away from the village?" Jin asked Airo.

"Sorry, that's just too much. The entire sky is dark. I doubt my whole family combined could make the weather better in these conditions."

"Great. There's nothing to do than read books in languages we don't even understand and sip from Manuel's endless tea collection all day," Cia muttered.

"Eh, not really." Jin's words made her ears point up with high hopes.

"Sounds like you have a plan," Airo asked.

"Sounds like it's gonna get us into trouble," Kaili added.

"No! Of course not! I was just thinking, we have the best adventure right at our doorstep. Literally!"

"I don't follow," Cia mumbled in reply.

"Well, think about it. We found the tea closet by complete accident. A tiny little door but with a room much bigger on the inside. This place is like a labyrinth of secrets. We've only ever been in the first three floors of the tower and not even those are fully explored."

"True, we only saw the living room, dining room, and kitchen on the ground floor, along with the hidden tea closet. Then there is this library and the bathroom on the first floor and our rooms on the second. The place has at least five floors though. Not including the cellar." Airo shrugged.

Jin snapped his fingers. "That's it! The cellar! Wouldn't you want to know what's behind those doors in the portal room?"

"Jin, this is a bad idea," Kaili warned them. "It's a wizard's tower. Who knows what sorts of things will we find here? It could be really dangerous. And Manuel is not home to help us."

"Look, I'm not saying we should go picking locks and sneaking where we aren't supposed to, but if a door's unlocked then it can't have anything harmful inside, right?"

The remaining three had nothing to add that would help dissuade Jin from setting off on a bit of a domestic adventure. Not that they wouldn't want to. After a morning spent doing nothing but tasting tea and deciphering incomprehensible literature, they would all welcome some change.

The young farmer led his group into the cellar with a cheerful hop to his step. "We'll start at the bottom and then try every door we find until we reach the attic. I wonder if there's like a treasure room."

The basement looked eerily empty without the Cordicon sitting in the middle. They all understood that Manuel wanted to take it with him to prevent them from getting lost somewhere without his supervision, but that was clear evidence that he still didn't trust them all that much, despite the past two weeks full of successful deliveries.

"Come on, please open, please, please," Jin muttered as he turned the doorknob and then let out a cheerful "Yes!" as soon as the door yielded under his push.

"See, it's unlocked! Nothing to worry about," he assured the others but still peeked inside very reluctantly. The bathroom wisp was the perfect example of harmless, but shocking. Should every room be like that, they should most certainly stay on their guard.

"Whoa..." he gasped as soon as he noticed what the room was for.

It was entirely made of stone, just like the portal room, but with three strips of unknown dark blue mineral running around the walls, floor, and ceiling. Tiny lights were embedded in this different rock. It was as if tiny fireflies had decided to queue up into organized lines just to provide them some illumination.

"It's an armoury!" Cia's eyes lit up when she noticed all the different weapons that filled the room. There were rows upon rows of weapon stands and racks, each housing something different. There were spears here and staffs there, with so much variety between them that nothing looked even remotely similar.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You think all of these are magical?" Kaili asked and gently touched one of the nearby daggers. Its blade was strange. It was straight, that much she knew, but the longer she stared at it, the more it seemed to curve and bend until the entire weapon turned itself into what looked like the coil of a snail's shell. A few blinks would, however, quickly return the blade back to normal.

"If they are all magical, then what do you think that one is for?" Airo asked and pointed to a longsword hanging on the far side of the long room, perfectly opposite the door.

Its design was especially intricate. It was as if layers upon layers of thin metal sheets were added on top of one another just to form the handle. It was unlike anything the kids had ever seen before. Almost like a blooming rose that unravelled its red leaves and crept up over the entirety of the hilt. The pommel then looked like a giant tooth, possibly torn out of the mouth some some massive monster. The crossguard was large and with two pointy edges twisting upwards. Their sharpness indicated that they too may have been once used for impaling the wielder's enemies. The blade was probably the only thing about the weapon that looked underwhelming. It was chipped in numerous places, and upon closer inspection, it was evident that nobody bothered to sharpen it for years.

"You think we can touch it?" Airo asked, fascinated by the armament.

"I wouldn't try it," Kaili warned him.

"It wasn't locked, it's fine!" Jin said and gently poked the flat side of the blade with his finger. "See? Nothing."

Everyone waited for a moment but it truly seemed like there was nothing harmful about a mere touch. The sword did not move, glow, or let out a single sound. This successful test of safety caused Airo's curiosity to grow even stronger and he began reaching for the hilt.

"Hey!" Kaili slapped him over the hand. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"Relax. My family has some swords in their treasury too. They're our royal heirlooms. I took classes when I was little, remember? I know how to use a sword."

"That sounds like something one says before they show just how much they have forgotten over the years!"

The young Cloudfolk paid her little attention and took the sword from its stand.

"Oh no, someone's gonna get hurt," the dryad muttered and took a few steps back. "Just remember that Manuel is not around to 'fix us' today. Anything happens and we're on our own."

Airo carefully tried to weigh the sword. It was surprisingly light. Reminded him of the wooden blades he used for training, rather than of an actual weapon.

"Step back guys. Far back, just in case."

They listened to him. Despite having faith in his abilities, they were absolutely certain that he could mess something up.

Airo raised the sword and took a proper stance. It's been years since he last practised sword-fighting and he had to admit that going back to it, albeit even for a brief moment, was nostalgic. The blade danced through the air as he began with the simplest of moves. His memory now only contained the very basic stances and techniques, but even those were satisfying to perform.

"Wow, this sword feels amazing. It just cuts so easily. Bottom-heavy, but still light compared to other longswords. Wonder what it's made of. Probably not that sharp. The edge is chipped. Manuel hasn't been taking very good care of it. I wonder if it's seen battle." He turned around and continued with a different set of moves, imagining himself parrying incoming attacks. "The handle is surprisingly comfortable but I can feel my hand slipping a little. Could use some wrapping maybe for a better grip. Or perhaps gloves. The guard and pommel are quite sharp too, so I could attack in different ways and from different positions. Quite practical."

He turned once again and performed a series of quick slashes, finished with a powerful downward strike. The blade didn't hit anything. He was quite sure that he was standing far away from things that could break and people he could hurt. Therefore, when he heard the soft "ting!" as the blade snapped, followed by the noise of it bouncing off the floor, the blood froze in his veins.

"Did you just break it?" Jin's eyes widened.

"I just broke it," Airo muttered and raised the sword in front of him. Now barely a few centimetres of the blade were still attached to the hit.

"Did you just break me?" an unknown voice came forth as a big red eye opened on the pommel.

Airo screamed and let go of the blade while quickly backing away. It fell to the floor with a loud metal thud.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you? Do you want to break me even more?" The sword yelled out, eyeing the youngsters. "Hang on. Who in the blood hell are you? Manuel had kids? Nah, four distinct species. He's crazy but even he wouldn't be that careless with four different people. Who are you?"

"A-Apprentices," Jin replied.

"What? Hah! He actually took some? He never wanted even a single one and now he has four? Goddamn, he really did change!"

"Are we really just talking to a sword right now?" Cia looked at her friends to check whether it wasn't just some illusion the tea played on her mind.

"I'm not a sword!"

"Yeah, now you're more like a dagger," Jin muttered, causing the eyes on the weapon to frown.

"I didn't mean it like that! I never was a sword. I'm a demon!"

Everyone looked at Airo as if they wanted to murder him.

"Yeah, the place isn't locked. What is the worst that could happen? Not like we could accidentally release a demon!" Kaili yelled at her friends.

"Oh calm down! I'm not released nor am I dangerous. Manuel and I had a little disagreement a couple of centuries ago. I tried to lead an uprising of some oppressed demons, but he thought our cause was too radical. We fought and, well, you can guess the rest. But I guarantee you I'm harmless."

"That's exactly what an evil demon would say," Cia growled at him.

"I know, I know, but I don't know how to convince you that I'm not. Look, I've been just stuck here and in my own mind for so long. It's been boring. Manuel rarely visits. And it's not like I want you to set me free. Although I certainly would appreciate it if someone wouldn't be trying to break me!" His frowning eye turned to Airo. "You never held a sword in your hand, kid?"

"I-I did. You just snapped in half."

"Well sorry that I wasn't properly maintaining myself in this dungeon! Not that many supplies for proper blade care around here, you know?"

"Let's just put it back where we found it and get out of here," Kaili suggested.

"Absolutely not! You wake me up, break me, and then just want to brush it all under a rug? No! I demand a compensation!"

"Hah, we will not fall for that," Cia exclaimed. "We know it's a trick!"

"It's not! Come on, you are the only new faces I've seen in hundreds of years. Can I at least have a look outside? I would give anything to witness those sun-bathed meadows and hills again."