Chapter 19: Growing Ones Arsenal

Sakura

“First, who I am.” The heavily armored red eyed ‘teacher’ said as I sat in one of the handful of empty stone desks. “My name is Mathrus Kalgar. I have mastered dozens of weapon’s from seven of the twelve continents. And dozens of styles with each of those weapons. I have hunted and slain beasts and monsters of every kind imaginable on this continent, and others, and I am second in the kingdom to the king himself when it comes to the use of the sword. Do you have questions about me before we begin?”

I blinked, confused. Why is he telling me about himself? I asked my spirits.

Within the Kingdom of Man, it is common practice for teachers and professors at formal institutions to explain their credentials to their students.

I blinked and the text floating in my vision disappeared. Thank you, uh system? What name should I give you?

System is sufficient

We’ll find something better. But for now, thank you System. “Thank you teacher. This student's name is Sakura Gamra. I am the scion of House Gamra. It is this student's hope that teacher will find her efforts exemplary.” He stood there, staring at her from under the shadow of his helmet, his eyes blinking only a few times as he took her in.

“You’re from the southern kingdom of the Jade Empire, if I am not mistaken. Your mannerisms scream southern kingdom.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Good. I’m sick of teaching sycophantic teens thinking they’re skilled because they picked up a bow and hunted their first elk on their fathers estate.” He unfiltered the scroll and laid it out in front of me on my desk. “I created these when I first started teaching here. They’ll instruct you on the basis of whatever weapon you decide to learn. Now, what weapon are you currently working on mastering?”

That is a fascinating artifact, I thought as I examined the tattered scroll. Its surface writhed with black ink showing warriors of different ethnicities and sometimes species using many of the simple and strange weapons hanging on the walls.

“I’ve studied the use of twin daggers, and throwing daggers. I am currently learning to use a bow.” I showed him the plate on my wrist. “This bracelet was a gift from my family. It allows me to store weapons inside, and call upon them as needed.”

He took my wrist and examined it closely. “Interesting. I have something similar with my armor. It holds a small space where I can store my arms, but it will only hold up to seven weapon sets at a time.”

“Thank you. I earned it as a reward for helping with the evacuation west. It is named the Arsenal Gauntlet.”

“Well done. Tell me, what is it limited to in terms of storage space?”

I pushed my aura into the plate-like bracelet, and as I did information filled my vision. “Uh. My mind spirit estimates it can hold roughly ten weapon sets. But that is not accounting for spiritual weight.” I didn’t like the feeling of relying on the mind spirit. It felt lazy in a way. I must have grimaced, because Kalgar noticed.

“Your mind spirit quantifies information precisely. It's work you are perfectly capable of doing. But it allows you to do it much quicker. And in a fight, being quick is how you stay alive. Never be ashamed to use a tool in your arsenal.”

Despite his logical sounding argument, I still didn’t like the idea of relying on the mind spirit too much. It would make my will weak, and I'd grow complacent. “Teacher Kalgar, what if an enemy uses an ability or technique that disables the spirit. Would I not be at a disadvantage If I could not care for these issues myself?”

Kalgar nodded. “Good question. Most attacks or effects that affect a mind spirit also affect the mind directly. As your mind spirit does not reside in your mana or life mana cores, they overlap with your brain, they are largely protected from spirit disruption techniques, spells, and abilities. So the problems overlap one another. The ones designed to affect a mind spirit directly are highly specific, and often take a high amount of concentration and willpower to perform relative to the mind spirit in question. Someone with those attributes would more than likely already have a significant advantage over you in raw power. Regardless of a disabled mind spirit or not.”

“So it's a mute point?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Correct. Now, what are you currently working on?”

Stolen story; please report.

I produced the bow and allowed him to examine it. “Beautiful craftsmanship.”

“Thank you, it was a gift from my uncle Raif.” Raif had purchased it for me using his Contribution Points to the family after I had chosen the arsenal gauntlet.

“I can feel the mana core inside. This weapon will grow with its use.”

“Weapons can have mana cores?”

“Indeed. It's a very expensive practice, and you don’t often see it unless the family in question has immense faith in the child they gift it to. This bow is worth several fiefdoms. Perhaps even a county. I do not know about the Empire, but here in the Kingdom of Man, it is extremely expensive to produce even one Legacy Weapon such as this.”

I felt a pull at the edges of my lips, and I fought the growing smile on my face. Raif has faith in me. My family always said they did, and they showed their faith in many ways typical of parents or siblings. But this gift seemed like something else. A tangible sign of belief in my skills, despite me falling behind Rayce in my growth. Something inside seemed to heal a little hearing those words.

“Over time, this weapon will soul-bind to you, and eventually as it grows your bloodline. Becoming an external mana source for its user of the given mana type it eventually adopts.”

“It had dark aligned mana saved inside it when I first used it. Would that have affected it negatively?”

Kalgar shook his helmeted head slightly. “No, that is a common enough practice when storing newly made Legacy Weapons. Umber mana, or Dark mana is used to preserve the enchantments matrix while it sits in storage. Dark mana has preservation like qualities to it, on top of that, in most cases storage is done in darkness.”

He manifested the string, and watched carefully as the energy in the weapon ran through it. I felt his aura brush up against mine accidentally as he explored my bow, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. His aura felt like the sharp edge of a blade, ever ready for deadly use. Even that incidental brush chilled the blood in my veins.

This is not a man to be trifled with, I thought. He will make an excellent teacher.

Indeed. I like his bite. Tastes too much like metal though. Sky said pleasantly, and I had to fight from smiling. I knew he would, the two had an intensity about them that was singular and nearly all consuming.

You would like him, King interjected. He feels cold, and sharp. I don’t like him. That made just as much sense to me, as King’s entire personality seemed bent around warmth, life, and protection. A thick shell, and thicker wooden armor would protect him from many things. Kelgor seemed almost diametrically opposed to the giant turtle's life philosophy.

You’re just saying that because I do like him.

The two continued bickering as I forced their conversation to the back of my mind, and I refocused on what Kalgar was saying.

“Here you go.” He handed me back the bow, and I made it disappear back into my Arsenal. “The darkness in most vaults allows for some of the excess mana in the storage area to eventually be aligned to that element, and easily absorbed by the enchantment and fed into the mana core. If it was left there for decades, perhaps it would become truly aligned to dark mana. But this feels young. Nearly new, as a matter of fact.”

“How would I best take care of it?” And where are the other students? I asked myself, Class should have started nearly ten minutes ago.

“Like you would any other weapon. Only seek out what mana might resonate with you. If you're extremely lucky, it might even turn into a true core, and ignite a weapon spirit within it as it grows. But Spirit Weapon is as rare among Legacy Weapons as Legacy Weapons are among a common armory. Nearly unheard of.”

He handed me the scroll. “This will teach you the basic forms of archery, for this make of weapon. I once used a bow very similar to its build decades ago, when I stood with the people of a pleasant valley amidst the Silver Mountains, when we faced down a horde of the Blood Kahn's riders. They were highly effective at great range. Learn, practice, without magic first, then incorporate different spells, abilities, and eventually even techniques as you learn them.”

“I’m sorry teacher, will you not be teaching me?”

He blinked at me, his red eyes disappearing and reappearing under his helmet as if he were confused by the question. “Did you not read the full description of this course before you selected it?”

“It was selected for me, sir.”

“Ah, then that explains your confusion. This is not a formal class, child. This is directed study. When, or if you get stuck I'm here to provide advice. And to test you when you think you’ve mastered a certain skill or set of techniques. I’ll then advance the scroll for you as you go.”

“Is that why there are no other students?”

He chuckled then, for the first time. It was a cold sound, like steel grinding on flint. “There are three other students I am helping with their studies in a similar way. You are one.”

“And the others?” I asked curious.

“I won’t reveal their names. As that might give you an unfair advantage in tournaments or contents in the future. However, I can tell you all of them are at least third year or higher. And all of them are seeking mastery of at least two weapons. Speaking of which.”

He went behind his desk and pulled out a clip board with a blank piece of paper and a magical pen. “How many weapons do you wish to master?”

I thought about it for a moment. I had already gotten to a high level of proficiency with my daggers, both thrown and twin bladed. I had passed the tests for mastery with those two sets of weapons among the Silver Star Sect, so I was comfortable with what I knew when it came to them. At least so far

And I was growing more and more familiar with the bow, despite my lack of formal education with the weapons. So the bow would certainly be the first on that list.

But the question wasn't which weapons, was it? It had been how many do I wish to master? In that case, perhaps I would be best served by saying a smaller number. If I achieve the goal quickly, I can ask for more training on other weapons I am sure. But a moderately difficult to obtain goal, while reasonable and fair, won’t set me apart. Raif showed me real trust and faith with the bow . . . perhaps. Perhaps I should match that faith in myself.

“Ten total. Including what I believe I have currently mastered with my daggers? That would leave eight remaining for me to master to fill my gauntlet. Will you help me do so?”

Again the sound of his laugh grated on my ears, the sound of steel and flint scraping against one another. “Ambitious. Yes, I would be honored. But first? Let's see if you really know how to use those daggers.”