Not long after the group departed from the wall, they reached a cobblestone road that stretched deep into the forest. On the other side, a pair of wrought gates, adorned with various runes and symbols, stood in the gap between stone wall, past which the welcoming arms of the forest did not extend. From within, chill breeze slipped out, clashing with the forest’s warmth for a mere moment, before fading away. Past the gates’ black bars, an imposing edifice could be seen casting a deary shadow over the courtyard. Three solemn statues stood before the doors into this building, as if guarding entry—to and from what, who knew?
While everyone else stayed well on the other side of the road, Cain took a step forth, expression of awe, and said, “So this is the Sanctuary.”
“No, it can’t be.” Bewilderment on her face, Charlotte took a step back and shook her hands at the castle. “I will not go in there even if that bloody dire wolf was chasing me. Those statues… they unsettle me.”
“Yes! Those statues! They were sculpted in the likeness of founders of Hunter’s Order. Apparently, they were all drinking at a tavern when a monster attacked. The three, being skilled in fighting, defeated it and decided to form an order to protect those of lesser skill from the monsters. It seems that monster were—”
“Oh, we don’t need a history lesson,” Theresa groaned, “are we going in or not? If you want to go in, then go. Whoever isn’t cowardly will follow.”
Gaze never leaving the statues, Cain gave her a distracted nod before walking up to gates and pushing them open. “Yes, monsters seemed to have been more prevalent. For what exact reason, I don’t know. It is interesting.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Caelyn, running up after him.
“Oh… I read in a book about the Hunter’s Order. Found it in the Lord Commander’s room, on the table. I suppose he had taken notes from it before departing. I haven’t finished it yet, but it is quite interesting.” Cain pointed his thumb at his bag, which was larger than Caelyn’s. “I have it in my bag, along with some other books I found. Plan to read them later.”
“Wait up,” shouted Charlotte as she ran and stumbled to catch up to them, Courtney strolling along behind her.
Cain glanced back over his shoulder, stopped, and turned himself around to face the girl. “Oh Charlotte,” he said, in a rather excited tone of voice, “I have something for you. Something you might find interesting.” While scuttling to Charlotte’s side, he rummaged through his bag before pulling out a rather thick book. “Heard you liked swords.” Flipping open the leather cover, he pointed to the boldly written title, which was faded from many reads. “A Compendium of Swords. Written by Gladiolus, translated and updated by the Lord Commander.”
“Gladiolus?”
“Yes, he seems to be an ardent collector of swords. He is good with the pen as well. It’s an interesting read.” He handed to book to Charlotte, who opened it to a random page and started reading.
“A sword forged from the sea itself?” She tilted her head. “And it’s of supreme quality and high spiritual attributes? What do those mean?”
Cain pointed to the book, gesturing for her to flip to prior pages. “It’s in the introduction. There is a section discussing the various grades of quality for weapons, though it lacks much detail. However, I found it to be quite enlightening. I won’t tell you anything for now. I’ll leave the reading to you.”
“How kind of them,” Charlotte said, before closing the book and hugging it close to her chest. “I’ll read it later when we’re… inside there.”
When the four of them neared the statues, Cain slowed to a stop and touched his finger on the downward-pointing tip of a sword one statue grasped. “I have read that his skill with the sword is exceptional. A single stroke of his blade could fell five monsters. Yet, there are some things that can’t be defeat by a mere sword alone.” He pointed to a staff-wielding statue standing right of the swordsman. “See there? She was a failed mage. The reason she was in the tavern that day was because she had been expelled from some magic academy. That is not to say, of course, her skill with magic was poor. Apparently, she was a talented mage. Finally,” he pointed to the statue holding a finely-detailed hammer, “that was the blacksmith who wanted to be a mage but did not have the aptitude in general magic to do so. But, for some reason, he was extraordinarily talented in the enchantment of weapons and such.”
Chuckling, Charlotte shook her head slowly and, quieting down her laughter, let out a sigh. “If I had not seen that ghost, I would’ve thought that everything you had said was mere legend. Yet, that is not the case. I find myself seeing truth in your words. Show me that book later, I’m interested.”
“Sure.”
By now, the rest of the group had already caught up to them and waited at the gates, not knowing how to proceed until Lucis pushed the doors open. Orange flames danced on torches mounted in regular intervals along the hall, from which corridors branched off like the streams from a river. Unlike the ascetic bareness of the fortress, the halls of the Sanctuary were built with ornate grandeur. The vaulted ceilings loomed over well-flourished pillars and a polished stone floor. Even the torches were decorated with swirls of gold.
“Shall we stay here for the night?” asked Lucis, hands clasped behind his back as he strolled down the hall and disappeared around a corner.
Looking up towards Cain, Theresa shook her head. “No, we can’t. It’s dawn right now. We just started walking. If we keep stopping like this every few paces, we’ll never… reach that man. And the lit torches—what if there are people here?”
“The better, then. Perhaps they could assist us.”
“Or they could pose a danger to us.”
“Or there is no one even here. The last two places we’ve visited were empty. What are the chances that there are people here?”
Theresa rolled her eyes. “What if the last two places were empty because they all came here? This is the place most likely to be filled with people, people whose intentions we don’t know. It is dangerous, and a waste of time, to stay here.”
“As much as I want to say,” Cain said with a sigh, “you’re right, we should keep moving. How about we just take a quick rest here? Search for anything edible. Hope that there isn’t anyone of ill-intent here. Also, I do worry about the demon. We may not have encountered it on our way here, but there is still a long journey ahead of us. Let’s get some equipment before we leave, so at least we will have some chance of survival. How about the two of us sneak around and find anything of use? See if anyone is here.”
“Fine, if you are too afraid to go yourself.”
“I wonder what equipment the Commander meant.” Just as the two began to leave, Charlotte unsheathed her sword, holding it up towards the light, and examined its blade from tip to guard. “Did he mean swords… or something else?”
Theresa, turning herself around, put a hand on Charlotte’s wrist, pushing it down. “Put that thing away, you’re going to kill someone.”
“Fine, I’ll go outside. Happy?” Lowering her sword, the girl slipped past Theresa and strolled into the courtyard. She turned back to say, “Happy?” before swinging her sword around as if she was the warrior whose statue stood in the middle of the three.
With a disapproving shake of the head, Theresa turned back around and followed Cain into the heart of the Sanctuary.
There was some grace in her movements, grace that Caelyn had not noticed before. Even her wild swings seemed to have some semblance of order. Perhaps if she had a good sword-fighting teacher, the girl could become quite a strong fighter. Though, what good would that be? The more confident she got with her skills, the more likely she would get herself into fights that she would be better off escaping from. Or, even worse, she would be the one starting them.
Courtney, walking up from behind, said, “She has talent.”
Caelyn did not say anything and simply nodded.
“I do wonder what she would look like after her technique is a bit more polished. Less of those extraneous movements. Better footwork. I have to say, it is fortunate for her to find such a fine sword.”
“What grade of quality do you think it is?” asked Caelyn, remembering what Charlotte and Cain had discussed earlier. “Though I have a disdain for swords, I have to admit that it looks quite well made. The edges seem to be quite sharp. Actually, I can say I have not seen a higher quality sword.”
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Shrugging, Courtney pointed to the book Charlotte had placed beside the feet of the warrior statue. “That book probably has an entry on it.”
“What do you think?”
“Well, I doubt it is of supr—the highest nor lowest grade. It is likely something in between. I’ll have to read that book to know what the names of the highest and lowest and middle grades are.”
Caelyn exchanged glances with Courtney. “Do you think Charlotte would mind if we peeked inside?”
“Not at all.”
“Well then,” she reached for the book, picking it up with some effort, and flipped to the introduction, commenting while skimming through the dense blocks of text, “let’s see. Yes, yes… I think we all know what a sword is.” She turned to the next page. “Okay, I don’t care for a brief history of swords.” She skipped past the next few pages before reaching to the section headed Of Grade For Sword Quality. “Now… I don’t care for the history of sword grading. Why is this book so verbose? No wonder it’s so thick. Ah, here it is. There are two grades that can be assigned to a weapon: Quality and Attribute. Quality refers to the physical while Attribute refers to the magical.”
Courtney nodded. “I remember Charlotte mention something like that. Supreme Quality and High Spiritual Attribute.”
“Yes, there are five levels for both Quality and Attribute. Supreme is the highest Quality while Spiritual is the highest Attribute. Hmm… interesting. Spiritual Attribute is then divided into three categories: High, Middling, and Low.”
“So whatever sword Charlotte had flipped to was surely powerful.”
“Indeed.” Caelyn glanced at Charlotte, who was beginning to tire from her sword-play while her sword glinted vivaciously as it was swung. “Unless Charlotte has the greatest luck in the world, I doubt that sword is Supreme Quality. But it can’t be just Common, right? Something in the middle…”
“Hey, what are you two talking about?” asked Charlotte, blade sheathed as she walked over to them.
Caelyn shrugged. “Courtney was just wondering what grades your sword was.”
“No, I didn’t,” Courtney said, “that was you.”
“Oh? I forgot then. All this text really isn’t good for my mind.”
At that moment, Lucis strolled out of the edifice, humming a little song, a pile of silver spears and wooden staffs in his arms. “Look at what I have found, deep inside,” he said, as he gently set the weapons on the ground. “Come around, I have brought something for everyone.”
Picking a spear from the pile, he gave it a twirl before pointing it at Caelyn. “For you. I do apologize there were no shields or arrows, but I hope that this shall suffice. Crafted by skilled hands—it is beautiful, is it not? Perhaps an heirloom of some sorts, judging from the rather ornate room I found it in. Though, I have to say, it is not of the highest quality, though it is still great.” With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it to Caelyn, who caught it quite easily due to how light and balanced it was. “Oh, I almost forgot.” From his bulging pockets, he pulled out a wide, silver bracelet engraved with runes, moons, and stars. “Found it in the same room. It, too, is wonderful.” He gesture for her to extend her wrist, upon which he slid on the bracelet.
Caelyn held the bracelet to the light, her eyes exploring the bracelet’s night sky. “What a wonderful piece this is. I wonder who it had belonged to.”
“A warrior, most likely, one who dwelt in shadows, in night. Or, should I say, a family. The banners on the wall were dark, with a full moon at the center surrounded by four stars.”
“Thank you, Lucis.”
“My pleasure.”
“What about me?” asked Charlotte, nudging Caelyn aside.
Caelyn nudged back at the girl. “You already have a sword. Any more and Theresa will yell at you for walking too slow.”
“Charlotte,” Lucis said, picking up one of the wooden staffs, “I want to give this to you. It is of a much inferior quality to the sword you currently have, but—”
“That’s a sword?” asked the girl.
Grasping one end of the staff, he pulled, revealing a blade glowing with a pale, ghostly light. “Though this is quite common in quality, it is more effective against demons and such. However, it is brittle. One wrong strike will shatter it.” He hid the blade back into its sheath and handed it to Charlotte. Then, reaching into his pockets, he took out a rolled-up sheaf of yellow paper held together by twine bindings. “This appears to be a hunter’s guide. It is in an old form of writing, but Cain will have what is needed for the translation.” He tossed the guide, which fluttered wildly as it flew through the air, to Charlotte.
An eyebrow raised, Lucis turned his head slightly towards Courtney. “Now Courtney. I have not brought you anything. For whichever reason, I do not know. But I am sure you do.” He put one hand on the hilt of the staff-sword tied to his waist and reached the other into his pockets, pulling out various pieces of jewelry and tossing them into the pile until his pockets were empty. “There we go. Now, everyone, take whatever you so wish.” With that said, he walked around the pile and sat down against the base of a statue.
As everyone grabbing something from the pile, Caelyn strolled away to an empty place where she could twirl her spear without hitting anyone. In her hands, the spear danced and sparkled, moving naturally to her like the clothes she wore. It was much better than the swords that Charlotte had. After all, the spear had a longer range.
Holding the spear by both hands, she gave it a thrust forward before doing a one-handed slash. Just as she was about the make her next attack, she heard the sound of clapping behind her. She lowered her spear and turned around to face Lucis, who was strolling towards her with that nonchalant expression of his.
“What a lovely day to be practicing the spear,” Lucis said. “Quite well, if I do say. But I doubt you could fell a demon. You lack speed, strength, agility, all that is necessary to reach towards greater heights. However, there is one that I know you do not lack. So instead, focus on that which you do not lack, and perhaps the others will come easy to you.”
Caelyn pointed the spear at Lucis and raised her chin. “And what is that one thing I do not lack? Grace? Beauty?”
“Spirit, and that is more important than anything else.” He held his hand to the light and narrowed his eyes. One of his fingers wore an unadorned ring, which Caelyn would not have noticed had he not brought it to her attention. “This ring. I found it on the floor while collecting gifts for all of you. A pretty trinket, no less.” Lucis lowered his hand and tucked it into his pockets. “I will take my leave, now. Consider my words.” Bowing his head, he spun around and walked away.
Caelyn blinked. Spirit? What did that mean? And what did that have to do with that ring of his? She shook her head. Lucis was just being as mysterious—and confusing—as ever.
A short while after Lucis had spoken with her, Cain and Theresa returned from the depths of the edifice. Though neither of them carried back any weapons or such, Cain’s bag seemed larger than before. They stopped in front of the pile, staring at it with confusing for a few moments until Courtney told them who had brought it back.
“Well,” said Cain as he picked up one of the swords, “we didn’t find anything.” Drawing the ghostly blade, he looked closely at its sharp tip. Then, returning it to its sheath, he shook his head. “It was a maze in there. But we’ve found our way through, nonetheless. We still have plenty of food for the next few days, and with all this equipment, I think we are ready to continue. Is there any objections?” He waited, and when no one raised any objections, he nodded and took a step forth. “Then, let’s go. The sun is already reaching noon, there is not enough time in a day to waste.”
He took a step towards the main gates leading to the cobblestone road.
“Couldn’t we go around this castle?” asked Charlotte.
Cain shook his head. “That is the only out, I’m afraid. There is no shortcut.”
“That is incorrect.” With his hands clasped behind his back, Lucis strolled past the gates and into the Sanctuary. “During my searching for those instruments, I found a hidden tunnel that leads deep into the forest. It shall save us much time.”
“A tunnel?” Charlotte shivered. “Not again. I say we take the longer route.”
“I will not say it is impossible, but the forest are dense and dark, an unpleasant place to be. Monsters, no doubt, roam beneath the trees accompanied by demons and ghosts. There is a reason why the hunters have built their sanctuary here. Trust me, the longer you stay in that forest, the more you will regret it.”
Regarding the boy with a skeptical gaze, Cain asked, “How do you know where the tunnel will lead?”
“I am swift.” Lucis turned around, facing away from them. “So, to follow or not follow, let it be your choice. I will be going now, for time is not thine to waste.”
Caelyn, with Charlotte and Courtney following, chased after the boy before he could disappear into the shadows and leave them behind. The corridors, though filled with torches, were seeped with chill air while stark shadows stained the wall between the circles of light; they felt endless, like a great maze without an exit. Closed doors adorned the ashen walls. Perhaps this castle had been more cordial in days long gone, but in the current moment, she could not imagine anyone living here. Yet, Lucis’ confident stride reassured Caelyn. Even as she lost all sense of time and direction, he, nor his pace, wavered even in the slightest. She could not imagine anyone living here.
“I don’t like this place.” Charlotte shuddered. “I really don’t like this place. I can’t believe I followed you here. Why is this place even called the Sanctuary? I would rather be in that monster, ghost, demon-filled forest. At least I could still see the sun and the sky.”
Putting a hand on Charlotte’s back, Caelyn whispered, fearing some ghost lurking in the halls would hear and take offense, “Then let’s quicken our pace. The faster we walk the sooner we can get out of this place.”
“We shall be at the tunnel soon,” Lucis said from ahead, “but beware of the ghostly light, look don’t touch.”
Pale light, of the same shade as the staff-sword blades, leaked out from an open door. Caelyn shivered. Even from afar, the air had become colder, as if whatever was held inside sucked out the warmth. Inside, upon stair-like shelf, sat rows and rows of small cages, within each held an orb of the pale flame. Whispers, so faint that they might have been tricks of the wind, filled the chamber.
Lucis pulled on Caelyn’s arm. “Come, do not get distracted.”
With one last glance at the light-filled shelves, she nodded and let herself be pulled along by Lucis. Soon, they reached a humble wooden door, adorned only by its plain metal hinges. Stopping before it, Lucis pushed the door open to reveal a dimly-lit tunnel that ran far into the shadowy distance.
“Oh,” Charlotte sighed, “this brings back unpleasant memories. I hope there is no wolf waiting for us at the end.”
“I assure you, there is not.” Tucking his hands into his pockets, Lucis took a step into the tunnel, quickening his pace until he reached his usual pace.
Caelyn looked over her shoulder to see Courtney, with her embellished hand, tugging at the teardrop pendant and Charlotte opening and closing her fingers around hilts of her swords. Giving them a nod, she said, “Well then, I don’t know what awaits us.” And so, she faced forward and took a step into the tunnel.