“Wait, don’t leave yet. What kind of powers does the sword have? Are there any special oaths?” Stan shouted, confusing Cal, who had just been trying to find his father.
“Where the hell did you come from, Dad?” he asked. He was sure the spot where his father was standing had just been an empty space in front of a wall moments before. Even stranger, his father was now carrying a sword, a sword that resonated with mana strong enough that Cal could literally hear it pulse. Wait, he had said Excalibur when he reappeared. Cal had a pretty good idea of just what had happened and who the weird spirit was now.
“Uh, well, I was just standing in front of a small pool, but now that I think about it, that sure doesn’t make a lot of sense. This chamber didn’t have any side passages. So magic then?” Stan laughed as he said the last words.
“Yeah, magic. Nice sword. Wanna come tell everyone about it? Jen might hit you, though, so be careful.” Cal looked his father over. As far as he could tell, nothing beyond the sword had changed. He didn’t sense any mana from inside the man, only strongly from his new weapon.
“Oh shit, I hadn’t thought about how scared she must have been, yeah, let’s go.” Stan took off halfway through his rapid-fire response. Cal wasn’t sure he had ever heard his father speak quite so fast.
It only took a few seconds to get back to the group, but it had been a long enough delay that he was greeted by the sight of Stan and Jen’s embrace, followed by her giving him a death stare.
“You did what?” She shouted.
“Sorry, I don’t think I had perfect control of myself, to be honest. I felt the call of something and it kind of played on my desires to find Excalibur considering what we had just discovered, and I mean I did. So there’s that.” Stan explained.
“Sorry, I missed the first part. You said you followed a voice?” Cal wanted to know exactly what had happened.
“Yeah, kind of, more like a beckoning. I felt it more than I heard it. Now that my head is clear, I realize I shouldn’t have done that, but initially, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I met part of the Lady of the Lake and earned the right to wield Excalibur. I’d assume it was all just some magical hallucination, but I do have this sword, so it seems true.” He hefted the sword up in front of everyone for examination.
“Huh, now that is a mana source. I thought you rubes were something, but wars have been fought over less potent artifacts. Any chance you wanna sell it?” Onelder was staring in awe at Stan.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“No. I don’t think I could if I tried. I think there are rules tied to this sword. Not sure what they are, but I can kind of feel something tugging at me while I hold it.” Stan ran a hand gently down the blade as he said that.
“Hrm, likely sentient on some level then. I’d tell ya to be careful, but that doesn’t really seem to be something ya’ll do. Which to be fair, I can kind of respect that.” Onelder responded.
“Yeah sure, it’s shiny, but what does it do? Can it wrestle a giant crab?” Frank extended an arm and poked the blade, causing a trickle of mana to leap from its tip and course through the tree-man’s form. Frank suddenly dropped to a knee with his head bowed.
“Uh, Frank. What are you doing?” Stan looked confused about the action.
“Sword said it was the right thing to do. Felt correct, so I did it.” Frank answered and stood back up.
“Great, now we’ve got legendary magic swords ready to make my son pledge fealty.” Ethel’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Is it really that much stranger than your son’s existence in general?” Cal fired back laughing.
“Alright, better question, what can my husband’s new sword, which he risked life and limb to get, actually do?” Jen asked, her death stare having finally relaxed.
In answer, Stan walked up to a nearby boulder, lifted the sword high above his head, and swung down with his full strength. The rock was cleanly split in two, leaving behind two smoking halves. “Yeah, I’m not sure why everything seems to smoke when I cut them. It happened during the trials, too.”
“That thing is emanating light. Actually it might even be transforming to plasma during the actual cutting step.” Onelder whistled. “What a powerhouse. Now ya just gotta stay alive to use it.”
“I’m going to have to find someone to train me in how to use a sword effectively. I can use a knife or a gun, but swords were never really a thing they taught me in the military.” Stan held the sword in front of his face and started inspecting it.
“See anything interesting?” Cal asked.
“Nope, nothing written anywhere that I can see.” Stan lowered the blade back down. “Hey, Cal, shoot a lightning blast at me. I wanna try something.”
“STOP!” Ethel shouted as Cal was raising his hands. “We will not be firing off blasts of mana in a burial chamber that may or may not be Avalon, which considering I’m currently learning towards is.”
Cal dropped his hands. “I suppose Ethel is correct, let’s head back to camp and then I get to shoot Dad uncontrollably with lightning.” Cal was hoping everyone could see his giant smile.
While their return trip was made without issue, Frank was sad that they hadn’t seen his new monster friend. Cal wondered if the crab had anything to do with the magic of the cave. It had led Frank there, so there was some guiding intelligence, and now, with it missing, it seems it may have completed its job the same way the remnant had. Not for the first time Cal wished he had an easy access to the history of Magic and Earth.