There was silence in the chamber besides the sounds produced by the light beams and the 'water' flowing in the previous room. There was nothing in the air, no tension or trouble, nothing at all that would disturb Rodent.

He leaned back, arms crossed and a smirk worn, holding it despite the time that had passed since his idea.

And then the Sword started to laugh.

It was a low laugh—a couple of chuckles that could barely be heard until they grew loud enough to be heard by listening ears—and soon, it echoed inside the chamber. It laughed, and it laughed, an old, cackling voice finding great humour in the suggestion.

Rodent chuckled and laughed, his head leaned back, and his eyes closed, laughing at the idea.

Soon, the two of them were laughing together for different reasons, but Rodent didn't care since he just liked to laugh with others. Their laughter soon reached its resting point, and the two came down from it.

The Sword was quiet for a moment… as if recovering from the news that had overloaded its consciousness and had caused it to burst out laughing in the first place.

"Let me get this straight…" the Sword spoke, a voice just entering Rodent's head, no need of his gift required. "You just want me to tag along? Just like that?"

"Yup!" Rodent nodded and leaned forward. "Just you. No powers. On my back. Like any sword."

The Sword burst out laughing again, bellowing in the cavern with a force that could crack through stone, the sound lasting only a few seconds. It was the laughter of a drunk, mad fool that, no matter how many times they blinked, they could not believe the reality around them.

"All this way!" the Sword exclaimed after all its chuckles. "You came all this way… for an ordinary sword? One that could be picked from a corpse—or bought with a few bronze coins?"

"Correct."

"You expect me to buy that?" the Sword replied. "That, in your heart, you're not seeking power from me?"

"Don't I get smoked if I'm not strong enough to wield it?" Rodent returned. He put forward a hand. "So why would I try to trick you? Screw it. Isn't there some test you can do to prove my intent?"

The Sword was silent for a moment.

And then.

"All right." The Sword, sticking out from the encased mound, seemed to settle. "Tell you what. Place your hand upon my handle… and I'll test the contents of your heart."

"Alright." Rodent went to reach a hand for the Sword's grip… but halted inches before. "This is just to check if I'm lying." He looked at the exposed steel of the blade, shaking his head. "Not if I'm worthy—which allows you to kill me."

"Shut up and grab me," the Sword said.

Rodent watched the steel for a couple of seconds longer, exhaling what could possibly be his last breath. He placed his hand on the handle of the Sword and closed his eyes. His eyes clenched as if he were sticking a fork in an outlet and knowing the outcome.

And then.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Rodent blinked and opened his eyes.

He wasn't dead.

"YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!"

Rodent glanced down beyond the Sword's guards. "Y-Yeah? I thought—"

"I MADE THAT SHIT UP!" The Sword nearly heated up, and Rodent let go. "I can't test your heart by mere hand contact. Are you for real?"

Rodent winced and leaned backward. "Y'know… for an old soul… you're quite hurtful and up-to-date with your words."

"Buddy. Look around me."

Rodent actually did that—and felt like he shouldn't have.

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"I've been stuck here for an unspeakable amount of times, surrounded also by an unspeakable amount of consumed lives." The Sword, despite lacking lungs, was out of breath. "What else is there for me to do or become?"

Rodent's head shook. "That's not the same as seeing the world for yourself."

"You actually want to bring me along?"

"I just need you to make a bully screw off." Rodent pushed off from the ground and stood. "And I needed a weapon to begin with. This was just the best result."

"What?" the Sword began. "All shops were closed? No houses to rob?"

Rodent squinted. "Weren't you once a hero?"

"Legends and people are two different things," the Sword said. "I don't have to abide by what the masses think of me."

Rodent shrugged. "Guess that's fair." His head leaned to the side. "I feel like people have a better impression of you than they should."

"Their problem, not mine."

"Fair enough."

The Sword waited for a moment.

"So that's it, then?" the Sword asked. "You don't want my power? Nothing special at all? Just me?"

"Dude. I'm not taking you on a date," Rodent returned. "I just need a sword. You're a sword. It works out."

The Sword considered this.

"Can't be terrible for you either," Rodent followed up. "Isolation for too long isn't good for you. It's nice to get out every once in a while." He smiled. "And hey! You'll get to see the world and how I die."

The Sword would have smirked if it could. "Never... did I foresee this." Seconds passed. "Alright. Very well. You got me."

"You'll come?"

"For a time." The Sword started to glow a little, and energy was sent downward, leaving the Sword. "And you seem like an amusing fool worth watching. Alright. Come and take me."

Rodent nodded and stepped back to the Sword, unsure as he was before it. He twitched his fingers and hovered his hands around the hilt.

"Why do you hesitate?" asked the Sword.

Rodent winced. "Well. It's just… there's a lot of Deskar here."

"Yeah?"

"So... does pulling you… y’know…”

"No." The Sword dulled. "My seal will remain here. You're not taking my powers, after all." Calm settled back in the room. "So consider me any other sword."

"Just sword doesn't work." He looked at the blade. "What's your name?"

"My name? My name..." The sword paused in silence, one that was not rushed and broken only when the sword spoke again. "I forgot it." It hummed. "Delt. Call me Delt."

"Delt!" Rodent pumped a fist. "I'm Rodent."

"Rodent?" Delt the Sword said. "You'll be the one to wield me after all this time?"

"Guess so!" Rodent shrugged. "Best not to think too hard about it."

"Seems like something you excel at."

"Don't butter me up."

Rodent drew his hands to the grip of the Sword, feeling a beating in his chest and a strained breath in his lungs. The moment was still special. His eyes closed as his feet spread to support the weight he would have to pull from the rock.

From there, he pulled upward, feeling the Sword wedged in the rock. He was forced to wiggle it around and felt it release upon the pressure, more and more being required to free the blade.

White light shone from where it was being pulled as if the absent space was being filled, and the steel came out more quickly.

Rodent felt something very special inside himself at that moment, pulling the weapon, the Sword, from the rock that it had been impaled upon. Something was happening inside of him. Something that he dared not to describe. Even though he wasn't the chosen one, the right one, any of that stuff…

…he still felt something special in pulling the Sword.

And pulled it was when it slid out of the rock and was held in the air, pointed upward with a glimmer upon its steel surface. Rodent looked into it as beams of light shone upon it. Seconds later, Rodent lowered the weapon, standing like a proper adventurer.

A Sword in his hand.

"Having a moment?" asked Delt.

"...a little."

"Know how to even swing a sword?"

"Nope."

Delt sighed. "I've made a mistake."

"Hey." Rodent raised the blade to his face. "You're a sightseer. Your input isn't needed."

"Don't care." The sword felt proper in Rodent's hand. His heart thundered at finally having one. "I won't help you on your adventures… but I'll show you how to hold a weapon."

Rodent blinked. "How do you mean?"

"Point me at the beams above," Delt said. "Trust me."

"But I have people waiting for me."

"Your stick is fine," Delt said. "Time moves differently here." The beams above stretched toward the Sword. "Besides. What's the point of a sword that cannot be swung? I'll only help this once. Still want to refuse me?"

Rodent made a face and shook his head… holding the blade up to the light beams. "Fine."

Like that, a beam of light touched the Sword, and within its steel, a world was born, one that Rodent looked into and, in a flash, was pulled inside of.