Chapter 3 Satisfied?

“That’s… not what I was expecting.” Aria said while staring at the illusory panel in front of them.

“A standard returning enchantment, basic five levels of sharpening, twelve levels of hardening, and a Dawn Capacitor.” Edward read aloud.

“What’s a Dawn Capacitor?” Isaac asked.

“A pretty standard enchantment for high level paladins. It stores the power imbued in the weapon from their aura until a time when a strike lands. What is odd is that it is only the basic variant.” Edward explained. “He was really confident in hitting his targets reliably.”

“Yeah.” Aria agreed. “As far as I am aware most high level paladins run a few Dawn Capacitors on their weapons.”

Edward nodded. “Yes, it almost guarantees a one hit kill on the first attack. It is really good against targets that are hard to pin down because it helps keep the paladin from wasting as much damage potential.” He explained.

“Will it work for Lenna?” Isaac questioned.

“No.” Lenna, Edward, and Aria all said at the same time. Lenna looked to Aria and Edward nodded towards her as well.

Aria cleared her throat. “The Dawn Capacitor needs to be made with the user’s specific aura in mind. From the ground up they need to be in sync. If they aren’t then the Capacitor is likely to explode and take the weapon out with it.” She frowned down at the blade. “It is effectively a wall ornament for any other paladin.”

“Damn.” Isaac swore. “I was hoping to have fixed your weapon problem.” Isaac told his mate.

“It’s still usable for other classes though. The Dawn Capacitor is great and all but it isn’t a large part of the weapon really.” Aria explained.

“It is still a returning weapon with five levels of sharpening and twelve levels of hardening.” Edward added. “It is a double platinum level sword but it isn’t anything special up here.”

Isaac raised an eyebrow at Edward. “What do your swords have on them?” Isaac questioned.

“I realized after our chimera incident that my weapons and armor were a bit… outdated. I hadn’t had a good upgrade for two decades so I decided to splurge.” Edward said with a grin. “The sword I was using today was delivered to me yesterday morning.” He pulled his long curved sword out of its scabbard. The blade was five feet long and the handle was another foot and then some. Yellow lightning arched up and down the blade. “Adamantine coated, five levels of hardening, nine levels of sharpening, tier two lightning enchantment. I had to be careful not to cut through their armor because I didn’t want it to get stuck halfway.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Boys will be boys.” She replied under her breath.

Isaac chuckled and shook his head. “How much did that cost you?” He asked.

Edward’s grin faded. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He replied and Isaac started laughing.

“Well, with all of this out of the way, Lenna and I are going to leave.” Isaac informed them. “Aria, Claus, if you need anything let us know.” He nodded towards the Guild Master. “Edward, you know where to find me… tomorrow.”

Edward frowned. “Thanks.” He grumbled.

Isaac tossed Jallen’s gear into his Inventory because Lenna hadn’t taken her Bottomless Bag into battle with her and the duo left the paladin’s corpse to be burned with the rest in front of the city. The ashes would be used as fertilizer. A fitting end for the man, who tried to raid Safeharbor, to be used as the food for the crops that would feed its citizens.

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“Isaac.” Lenna whispered. She knew that he was awake by his breathing but she wasn’t sure how close he was to falling asleep.

“Yes?” Isaac replied and rolled over to face her. He looked worn out but not sleepy. A type of tiredness that would take time more than actual sleep to cleanse.

“It doesn’t feel real.” She said quietly. “Is it really over?”

Isaac searched her face as her gaze looked towards a moon that was hidden behind two floors of an inn and another few thousand feet of stone. “Gods I hope so.” Isaac replied. “I think, at least for now, we can relax.” He assured her. “Jallen is dead, I killed him.”

“What if it was a body double?” Lenna questioned. “You’d never met him and I didn’t get to see his face.”

Isaac laughed. “If Jallen had a body double that was that strong then he would have to be the head of the V’Nova clan by now.” He explained. “He was a monster unlike anything I have ever seen. He would have shrugged off everything Fable had to throw at him until the old man tired out, then he would have eviscerated his corpse for the fun of it.” Isaac continued. “Without the Ten Men potion it would have taken everything Fable and I had at the same time to even have a chance at killing him and that was after I poisoned the hells out of him.”

“I want his corpse Identified.” Lenna said and sat up. The blanket fell from her bare chest and Isaac couldn’t help but ogle. She put her hand on his face and turned to get up.

“Lenna,” Isaac began but was silent for a long moment before he sighed. “if that is what you need, then so be it.” He said and joined her. Half an hour later they were back at the front gate, this time in street clothes, staring out at the four pyres reducing bodies to ash.

Captain Tim walked up to them. “Lord Wexler, Lady V’Nova.” He greeted the pair. “I was told you had retired for the evening.”

“We did.” Isaac replied.

“Where is his body?” Lenna asked the Guard Captain.

Tim raised an eyebrow. “I take it you mean Jallen V’Nova’s?” He requested clarification.

Lenna nodded. “Yes.” She replied.

Tim nodded towards a headless body that had been placed off to the side. A team of guards stood around it to prevent anyone from getting too close. “It’s there. We were waiting for a priest to sanctify his body to prevent his resurrection before we burned it.” He explained. “The problem was that all of our clerics had used up all of their mana. Most of them that are capable of performing the ritual have already left for the evening but one stayed behind specifically for our purposes. He is still resting.” Tim finished and gestured towards a cleric in bloodied, but still somehow shining, heavy armor with a shield and mace resting beside him. He was one of the clerics to a war god who had taken part in the battle.

“Has his corpse been Identified?” Isaac asked for Lenna.

Tim shook his head. “No, should it be?” He asked. “Based on everything that had happened and some testimony, including the duke’s, we were certain that it was him.”

Isaac shrugged. “I am certain that it is him too but it would still give some extra piece of mind if it were proven.” He explained to the Guard Captain.

Tim nodded slowly and looked toward one of the wizards who were maintaining one of the pyres. “Mr. Andison!” He called and the wizard turned to look at him.

“Yes, Captain?” The wizard asked.

Tim waved him over and the wizard began to approach. “I would like you to perform Identify on that corpse as soon as possible.” Tim told the man once he had gotten close enough that Tim could talk to him at a normal volume.

The wizard nodded slowly and looked at the corpse Tim was gesturing towards. “Isn’t that supposed to be his corpse?” The wizard asked.

Tim nodded. “Yes. Please be quick about it.” He replied and the wizard gave him a worried look before he started jogging towards the small group of guards and the headless corpse. One of the guards had watched the interaction and looked to Tim for a last confirmation before he let the wizard into their open formation. Tim gave the guard a nod and he waved the wizard inside. A few minutes later and the wizard sat back. He sighed deeply and wiped sweat from his brow. By that point the trio of Tim, Isaac, and Lenna had arrived at the scene. “Well?” Tim asked the wizard.

The man turned back to look at the Guard Captain and grinned in relief. “It is him.” He replied. “Please don’t scare me like that, Captain.”

Tim looked at Isaac and then at Lenna. “Satisfied?” He asked. He wasn’t being rude as he had no way of knowing if there was some way that the Identify could have been misled so he was simply asking for clarification.

“What is his name?” Lenna asked the wizard. She needed him to say it out loud.

The wizard paled slightly before he looked back at the corpse. He swallowed hard and then turned to face her. “Jallen V’Nova, ma’am.” He replied.

Lenna nodded. “Good. I am satisfied.” She replied.

Isaac looked at the wizard incredulously. “Why the reluctance to say a dead guy’s name?” Isaac questioned. “He’s not going to come back from the dead just because you said his name.”

The wizard nodded. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s just that all of us who grew up here remember hearing stories about him.” He explained.

“What kind of stories?” Isaac asked with a raised eyebrow. “Scary bedtime ones to keep you from leaving your bed at night?”

The wizard’s eyes widened slightly. “Y-yes, sir.” He confirmed.

Isaac wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry out or laugh in surprise so he just stared at the wizard for a long moment. “Oh.” Was his only reply after the wizard started shifting about uncomfortably under Isaac’s gaze.

“Well, if that is all,” Tim began. “I must get back to work.”

Lenna nodded to the Guard Captain. “It is, thank you.” She told him and he returned her nod before he left to get back to whatever he had been doing before Isaac and Lenna had shown up.

Isaac nodded towards the gate they had come from. “Come on, let’s go get some sleep.” He told her. “The relief alone looks like it’s going to knock you out.”

Lenna swayed her feet slightly. Her body had just gotten incredibly heavy. Her chest felt like it was heating up. “Yeah…” She started to tip and Isaac hurried to catch her.

“Lenna? Lenna, what’s wrong?” He demanded.

Her hand clutched her chest over her core and heart as her jaw tried to set but she just felt so incredibly weak. “Ancestors… angry…” She got out before all the strength left her body.