Aboard the Pride of Orleana, The Port City of Orleana. Day 03.

Clarke led Nix and Raine deep into the Pride’s interior. It was a maze of tight stairs and corridors up and down as they moved aftward. The room Clarke took them to was cozily tight with a bed tucked against one wall with a window looking outward and a desk fixed to the other. A combination wine cabinet and bookshelf took up the third wall, netting affixed to the shelves to keep them from spilling their contents under way.

“I know you Guardians can speak telepathically to each other. Let Will-I-Am know when you are finished and I will come for you.” With that, Clarke turned and closed the door behind her.

Nix leaned against the desk and waited until he was certain Clarke was gone. “It’s the sword, right? That’s why you don’t want anyone going to those islands.”

Raine pulled her sword from its sheath and set it on the desk beside Nix. “Would you summon Clarent, please?”

Nix did as asked, setting the blue and gold sword down beside the red and gold Caliburn. The two weapons looked like they had once been a single longsword.

Raine picked up Clarent and studied it, running her fingers along the blade’s length gently. There was something like relief in her expression as she set it down. “Do you notice anything different about these two swords?”

Nix shook his head. Aside from one being blue and the other red, they were virtually identical to each other.

“Look closer. At their enchantments.”

Nix did so, looking at Raine’s Caliburn first.

Item: Caliburn

Type: Weapon - Rapier

Construction: Soul Forged — Remnant

Rarity: Remnant

Stats:

* Base Damage: 2,500 (Fire)

* Durability: Infinite

Enchantments:

* This weapon's base damage scales with the level of the wielder.

* Damage dealt by this weapon cannot be mitigated by any means.

* This weapon is Soul Forged. As it scales in power, so too shall the wielder scale in power with it. This weapon draws upon the experience of those slain by it to level the wielder beyond their natural limitations.

Aside from the infinite durability and the inability to mitigate the damage the sword dealt, Caliburn’s stats weren’t all that impressive compared to the catalogue of high level weapons Nix had repaired over his eight years of gameplay. Clarent was nearly identical, though it dealt its damage as ice. But it only had a single point of durability and…

Nix immediately spotted the difference. It was only Caliburn that held the experience draining and leveling enchantments. He’d initially overlooked that, misreading it for the scaling level enchantments most weapons had. Gear typically scaled over a range of levels so players could get more use out of them without having to immediately replace them as they leveled.

But that specific language, leveling the wielder beyond their natural limitations, that was interesting. Did it mean someone with that sword could break the level cap? Could an NPC wielding it reach the same level as a Guardian?

Nix turned to Raine. “Does that enchantment on your sword work as I think it does?”

Raine nodded. “Exactly as you might suspect. Your copy of Clarent is a fair imitation, but it is not the real one. I do not know how you were able to copy it, but you can see now why I cannot allow anyone to get either sword. I grew quite formidable with those swords. But it seems a stab through the heart is still a great equalizer.” Raine ran her hand along the wound in her chest. “If those swords ever fell into the wrong hands, hands like mine, the devastation they could cause would be unfathomable.”

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“More unfathomable than millions of people like me, Raine? People who cannot die and have no end to our ability to level already?” Nix shook his head. While traveling from Firestone to Orleana, a mutual friend of Nix and Saiph’s, Sinnamon Roll, had told them about an attack on NPCs north of Araedi. There hadn’t been any provocation that Sinnamon could tell, but she believes they did it to force the admins of Annwyn Online to show themselves and send them home. It hadn’t worked.

The mention of the attack was the note that struck Raine. She took a step backwards like she had been punched in the gut.

Seeing as he had broken through to her, Nix pressed further. “Not everyone from my world is a good person. There were boundaries placed on us before we were brought here. Boundaries that limited the things we could do. Those boundaries are now gone. And we still cannot die. It’s not a matter of if someone gets those swords, but when.”

“In my day, we did not have beings like yourself who could throw themselves, undying, at the safeguards I created. I have seen you and those you’ve fought alongside do incredible things.” Raine pulled her necklace off and let it dangle in her hands.

The air grew uncomfortably silent, save only for the gentle crashing of waves against the ship outside the window. The room had darkened considerably with the setting sun since they’d entered and the only other source of light was the faintly glowing crystal nightlight on the desk.

It was bright enough to cast a shadow on Raine’s face. Her dark brown eyes held none of the vibrant confidence he had come to associate with her, but rather a kind of ancient weariness.

“I don’t know if what I’m about to say will make sense, Raine, but you need to understand that before a few days ago, I didn’t even know this place, your home, was a living, breathing world. I never knew magic like this was even possible. Where I’m from, there is no magic. I’m not a grand adventurer or a heroic spirit. I am an ordinary man barely into his twenties who has somehow been caught up in something far greater than himself. And I don’t even know why.”

Raine set her necklace down on the table. “I was only twenty-seven when I died. I don’t know if the legends surrounding me mention that.”

Nix shook his head.

“I was not a good person for most of those twenty-seven years. But in the end, I tried to be. I don’t think I will ever right all the wrongs I’ve committed in such a short time. Not even with the help you’ve given me to do it.” Raine suddenly picked up the necklace and thrust it into Nix’s hands. “That was given to me by a man named Logran. He was the one I stole Caliburn and Clarent from. He was part of a religious order, they called themselves the Revi. The swords were two of many items of power they worshipped. Logran told me they had been given to his people by the Remnants, their ancient gods.”

Raine shook her head and let out a laugh with little mirth. “I wasn’t a religious person back then. I wonder what Logran would think of me now, forever trapped in this hell. To always leave your service and return to those moments before my death when Avanyu stabbed me with my own Caliburn and pushed me overboard.”

Raine paused, a flash of embarrassment on her face. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. I have enjoyed fighting on your side and I would answer your call every time.”

“No offense taken. But you mean that’s where you go when I dismiss you?” Nix had never really given much thought as to where his summons went, or even came from, when he was done with them. His Archdruid, Gwydion, had made a similar sentiment to Raine’s when Nix and his friends had killed him to beat a dungeon boss the previous day.

But to answer his call, taste this bit of freedom and know exactly where you were going when you left. Nix shuddered. That was hell.

“I’m sorry, Raine. I wish I’d known.” Nix managed.

“If you had known, would you have stopped summoning me? Do not feel sorry for me. Remember, I willingly answer your call. I know what I am being asked of. Of what I will return to when I am done here. And believe me when I say I will die a hundred, a thousand deaths over and over again if it means I can wield Caliburn in the service of bettering this world instead of plundering it. I can think of no greater penance. What you give me is a gift, Nix, not a curse. Remember that.”

“I will, Raine. I promise you that.”

“Then you have my word: I will not stop answering your call should you choose to aid your friends in slaying Avanyu and reclaiming my swords.” Raine walked to the bed and looked out the window. “I realize you are right. I would be foolish to trust my safeguards to keep those weapons hidden from the hands of terrible men forever. There may even come a day when they will need to stain themselves with blood again. I only hope that your friends are as deserving of your trust as you believe they are.”

A wave of relief washed over Nix and he took what felt like his first deep breath since he and Raine had entered the room. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d been dreading the exact opposite response from Raine. To lose her, the thought of that bothered Nix.

Raine turned to Nix, a mischievous smile on her face. “But I will tell you, if they really do intend on going after Avanyu, they will need more than this single ship. Far, far more.”

Nix couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll tell them that.”