He didn’t invite us. But we came anyways. He stayed in a wooden hut abandoned in the middle of the nothingness of the forest. There was not a single feature that would distinguish this place from another, so you would be likely to get lost without a map or a guiding trail like a smoke column. But the man managed to bring us to this lost place in the middle of the darkness of the night.

It was not an especially elaborate building. But it wasn’t in a bad condition either. It was made from wooden tree trunks piled one over the other. Where two walls would meet, the interconnection between the two identical piles was made in such a way that each trunk would get a hold on two of the other side, leaving a robust but simple structure. The windows were simple squares cut on those surfaces. No glass to cover them. But the fact that they were hiding the inside with a red curtain made it feel comfortable instead of rudimentary. It was hard to see the roof from that perspective, but its triangle-like shape left some leaves to be seen over the borders of the structure.

The path to the hut hadn’t been taken care of. The grass grew highly on the sides without much control, but the plants had left an untouched piece of ground right in front of the door. I imagined it was because of the affluence of people to the hut. But I wondered if a man like this would have anyone to come to this place, other than himself.

The door had been left open, as if someone had left in a hurry with the will to come back quickly., leaving the light of a small flame to light up the building from the inside.

—Are you kids willing to come in or do you prefer staying outside.

Syl and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do, so I ended up gesturing to open the way to his house.

The inside was peculiar, to say the least. The arrangement was simple. A table at the centre, a chimney on one side and what looked like a kitchen on the opposite one, with libraries and more libraries in the remaining spaces. The issue was that the whole place was covered in many and many weapons. Mainly swords, but there were of many kinds.

—Most of them are useless, so don’t pay too much attention to them. I keep them in here because otherwise they would be wasted.

The candle at the centre of the table was lighting the room dimly, but it was still hard to see any details. The man then grabbed one of the swords and pointed it at the empty fireplace. A couple of sparks scared both Syl and me, before a flame came out of its tip lighting up the wood. The warmth and the light made the place look much more comfortable.

—Are these all yours? — said Syl, probably with as many questions as myself.

—Well, they are now. I’m looking for a specific one, but I can’t seem to find it in all this mess. They all come from trades or duels. It’s been a pain to collect them all.

He made space for us to seat on a couple of chairs, pushing some of the swords on the ground. We both waited on the same side of the table.

—Sit down, I’ll be glad to talk thoroughly with a fellow swordsman. You don’t seem to know much about them, so it’ll be interesting to answer your questions.

I was still staring at the fireplace, wondering if I had actually seen what I had seen. Syl snapped me out of it, gesturing to talk to him.

—Was that your image? — I said, pointing at the chimney.

—My image? —he pondered—. I thought you wouldn’t know much about these weapons, but I didn’t think you wouldn’t know them at all.

He looked at us inquisitively, expecting an answer from us. But our confusion was too much as if to even formulate a coherent thought.

He then gestured with exasperation.

—Ok, let’s start like this.

He grabbed one of the weapons from the ground. This one was not a proper sword; it was more like a dagger. Short, with its handle taking up almost half of its length, almost making it look like a knife. The shape was curved, slightly bent backwards and the handle was a simple elongated cylinder which followed the curve of the blade.

—These are not simple weapons, they are items with powers. In the same way that a human gets an image, there are some special weapons with abilities —he flicked his wrist, making the blade leave a green luminous track in the air, like one it would have left on the ground, but floating in the space between us. It was just that this one was floating—. You can think of it as a weapon with an image.

He left us some space for us to make sense of it. We hadn’t seen anything like this before, so we were still gathering our thoughts to make sense of everything we were seeing.

—In the same way that a person can obtain an image, the case for weapons is similar. I am especially interested in swords, but it can be with any kind of weapons: spears, bows, guns. When an object like this obtains a power, they receive the name of vital. What you have right there is but another instance of this phenomenon.

I lifted my sword, still on my right hand since we had left the bear to linger in the woods. It was weird to think that this weapon would interact with the world in such a way. It was likely to have its own set of rules and conditions for its powers to show up, like an image did. Probably the red light coming from within the orb marked when such conditions were met. I didn’t know my brother was involved with anything like this. Its involvement with these so-called vitals might have made some sense of the situation. There were still so many unknowns, but it was a giant leap forward.

—Now. I am especially interested in knowing how and where you obtained that weapon —he said, pointing to the blade in my hand.

I was about to open my mouth and explain my situation, but Syl quickly stopped me from speaking.

—We still don’t know who you are. Don’t think you can just show up and throw in some half-assed explanation and have us go with it from the beginning —she looked at me as a warning—. We first need you to explain some other things. If these are so common to have you store so many of them, how come we haven’t even heard of these before? How did you obtain so many of them? What do they do? And most importantly, who are you?

He looked at Syl, annoyed at her inquisitiveness.

—Well, I shouldn’t have expected anything else from you considering the situation. I guess a wild hut in the forest doesn’t inspire much trust into newcomers —he said looking around—. But don’t think I’m going to answer all your questions for free, kid. I’m going to ask for payment after this if you don’t mind.

I wasn’t too happy with a sketchy guy asking for anything from us, but Syl looked like she knew what she was doing.

—That seems fair, but only if we are happy with your explanations.

The man stretched his hand, and Syl grabbed it strongly. I hadn’t seen her so confident ever before. He spoke again.

—So, the fact that you haven’t seen a vital ever before is nothing out of the ordinary. This country has never been happy with promoting the use of this kind of weapons. They are not prohibited to be used, in the end they are not too hard to find inside your country, many participants in the Guard’s challenges already use them. You probably have seen them already; you just didn’t know they were vitals.

Now that he mentioned it, weapons were not forbidden in the student tournaments: the Guard’s challenges, like he said. I had even seen them use some quite skilfully, but I thought their abilities were images, not something so different.

—That doesn’t make sense then. If vitals give you a second image, how come we haven’t seen anyone with two abilities instead of only one —she made a fair point.

—Having a combat-apt image is already hard, finding a combat-apt vital is even harder. What do you think are the odds of having both?

His words lingered in the air.

—Well, that still doesn’t answer the fact that you have so many —I pointed out.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

—Your government is not too keen on promoting the use of vitals. Any one of vitals that are found are regulated by the Guard to take them out of the streets, most of them ending under their control. Your country has a robust border control, which is justified by the conflicts it has with other territories, but what do you think is the actual reason?

I remember Drest having issues with bureaucracy before starting his journey along the continent. I was a child back then, so I didn’t know to what extent, but from my memories I imagined it as a quite rigid border control. But that didn’t add up. If they didn’t want vitals to cross the borders, how come my brother had come back with one specifically for met. Was that how he had gotten his injuries? He might have fought with the Guard for it, maybe even a Guardian if things were as serious as this man was putting it.

—You said “our country”. Does that mean you are not from here? —asked Syl.

—I come from another nation in the continent. Vitals are much more popular in other countries. The only one that regulates such matters is this one, and it does so with such an obsessive behaviour that it sickens me.

—How did you move them to here then? —I commented.

—I was coming right up to that. I’m kind of a connoisseur in the field. In the same way that there are people studying images, I am studying vitals. The Guard doesn’t want to fall behind in this matter compared to other governments, so I managed to secure a ticket into here. But they want me to stay away from the general population, so that’s why I’m locked in this rotting place.

Silence fell in the room. His information made sense, and we even had proof that vitals existed. Not only because we had seen him use one himself, but because I had been playing with one just hours ago. I looked at Syl wondering what she was thinking. She still didn’t look happy with this.

—Any other questions? —said the man.

Syl looked at the man unsatisfied, but she didn’t put up any other new questions to the man. She was still reticent to let go of anything this man wanted. She wasn’t wrong though, in the end all that he said wasn’t proof of his trustfulness. But I did have other questions he could answer.

—Do you know which power this sword has then? I have been trying to figure out along the day, but I can’t seem to determine its ability.

A wide grin appeared on the man’s face.

—Well, there are complicated techniques that involve precise machines to determine a vital’s ability. But you are lucky to have found me since I am able to tell from just a look at the weapon. Your fight with the bear made nothing but to confirm my suspicions.

He had been looking for a while then.

—That weapon, my friend, can steal a living being’s vitality.

I looked at the orb. It reminded me of an eye staring back to me. Did that mean that with each slice, the following one got stronger? Is that how I was able to hit the bear with such a blow? The red light still shined on my face in my memories, unable to get rid of the thoughts that fight had brought me.

—The deeper the cut the more strength you steal from your opponents. Basically, it translates the damage you do onto someone into strength for yourself.

That’s why it lit up every time I hit something. And that’s why it didn’t work with inanimate objects. He left us some space to think about it before opening his mouth again.

—Excuse me for my impatience. But now, it is your turn to fulfil your part of the promise.

I noticed Syl had been staring at me, but she turned suddenly at that remark.

—We’re only going to pay if your answers were worth the price – she protested.

—I don’t think you kids are in the position to demand any more than you already have gotten from me.

A faint metallic sound resounded as he moved his hand, placing it on top of the hilt of one of his swords.

—All right. Let’s hear out your wishes — my expression turning stern.

He moved his hand, pointing in our direction. The tension building up as we waited for his response.

—Considering my information is quite valuable and that it is even considered to be a secret from the average civilian, I could only ask for something worth as much— he paused—. So I’m only going to ask for something easy to give from your part. I only wish for you to give me that — he pointed in our direction, his smile still brightly lit by the fire in the room.

I followed his finger until it laid my attention onto my brother’s sword.

—We are not willing to go that far! — said Syl angrily.

—We listened to your demands, but I am not interested in giving this away to you— my hand sliding onto the handle — you will need to reduce your expectations.

But his expression didn’t falter.

—Calm down, calm down. I knew you wouldn’t be willing to. So, I have a proposal to you.

I looked at Syl and she looked at me, not sure what to expect.

—You couldn’t hold your guts against that bear kid, and I know your pants didn’t come out unscathed either. My interest is not specifically into me possessing the sword, but I would like to be able to study it properly. For that, I need to be able to see it in action and collect data about its behaviour. This is a process that takes weeks, maybe months. So, I could provide you with my knowledge in the field if you let me observe its mechanisms. In other words, I am willing to train you in exchange for you letting me have a look at that sword. Think of it, what better than a vital expert to train you? It’s a win-win situation, you would gain skills in the art of sword fighting and I would learn about that sword. I don’t think it’s a bad deal at all…

What he just said wasn’t really out of place. My intention was to learn about this sword, but it would be hard without a teacher. It is obvious that learning from someone more skilful than you is always a benefit. I was still aiming to catch up to Drest. Since he had become a Guardian, things had only gone downwards. My forced rupture didn’t go well either, so that didn’t help. After I had gotten a hand on this sword, I had felt that this would be my only chance to take control of my destiny again, and I wasn’t willing to let it go at all. This chance was more than perfect for me.

—Deal! — I said, tending my hand to the man.

—Wait a second! — her squeaky voice stopping the momentum of the conversation —. Don’t you think it’s a bad Idea making such a deal with a man you just met? Think about it. He knows way more than you about the matter. So how do you know he is not taking advantage of you in some sketchy way?

She was right to be worried. But I wasn’t willing to let go of this opportunity.

—Syl, I understand you. But he’s already helped us a lot, and he’s the only person we know that can help me. I’m not willing to let this slide.

She let her face down, defeated.

—Ok, then. But I’m not going to let you do this alone —she told me—. If you are going to train him then you will have to train me too! — she said turning to the man, her arms crossed.

The man chuckled.

—You are one worrisome kid, aren’t you? Very well, training one or two of you will not make a difference. But if you want to get trained you will need to get a weapon… You can get one from here, choose one of your own and I will let you keep it.

She was decided to do it, her posture was clear about it. The ground was a mess, but it looked like she knew exactly what she was looking for. She discarded weapon after weapon as if they were worth nothing, focussed only on finding the perfect one. After about half a minute of searching she came up with a winner. She held her hand up, grabbing the blade, and turned towards the man. Her expression wordlessly asking for permission.

—Ughhh… I don’t think you’re going to be able to take that one…

She discarded it violently, throwing it over her shoulder. The metallic sound of the sword hitting the ground echoing inside the room.

—Hey! Be mindful of that will you!

But she didn’t bother listening to him. She kept looking for the perfect blade.

She came up with a second one, holding it in the same way as the first.

—Oh… Yeah… That one… I think you should pick a different one.

Irritated, she discarded that one too. She looked more concentrated, mindful of every tiny detail she could find on each of those items. Looking deeply into the details of each candidate. She wasn’t too much of a caring person when taking decisions. But her determination transpired into me through her movements. After some time, she stopped. She had found something.

The sound of her excavating through the mountain of metallic items marked the end of the search. She grabbed something, but I was unable to discern it behind the silhouette of her body. After some instant of examination, she pulled it out of the pile of stuff, showing it to the both of us.

It was a sabre. Like the ones used for fencing. Its colour was a shining silvery golden, with pointy details on its guard. Its blade was completely straight, with no cutting edge, just a pointy tip, meant to pierce the opponent’s body. It looked like the one of a royal knight, with its wavy details giving its guard a noble appearance. At its handle there was a hanging element reminding of a feather but made of metal.

Our host looked like he had nothing to say about her decision.

—Seems like you made a good choice. I think that one will fit you –I said, smiling at her.

Syl stared at the weapon for a while, examining every detail. She was caught up in her own thoughts, probably wondering how it would be to wield such object.

—I still have a question to ask —my voice turning serious—. You seem to be using those three blades regularly —my thoughts shifting to the swords to his side—. Or at least, that’s what it looks like. I want to know more about them. What did you throw onto that bear?

His smile was already becoming a common annoyance as he just stared at me without saying a word.

—I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to spoil that one for you guys. If you want to know you will have to figure out on your own.

I was irritated at his reply. But I could allow him to keep his secret for as long as he wanted after everything he was willing to give us. Syl now held her foil at her side. She gave off a kind of majestic atmosphere with her back straightened and her confident pose. She was already getting used at her newly obtained swordsmanship apprenticeship. I always thought she was a fast learner.

—Very well. It looks like we’ve got a plan. I will train you daily so I can get as much information from that sword as I can. I hope you can keep up, or our deal will be broken. That would be quite unfortunate —he left a pause to let us think about his words —. I hope we can get along during the times to come. Be ready to come tomorrow evening. We’ll start with the basics.

I wondered if the excitement I felt about this was as much as Syl was feeling.

—There is one more thing I need from you —a light pouting expression on her face—. If you’re going to train us, we will need to know your name.

She was right. I had completely forgotten.

—Haha! You’re right —he laughed—. Very well, let me introduce myself. My name is Jonathan Fireheart. Researcher and vitals enthusiast under the Guard’s orders.

—Silvia Silverlight, currently a student. Nice to meet you —This time with a grin on her face.

I was told introductions were important to make a good first impression. So I perfectly knew what to say.

—Nathan Allen. Student and aspiring Guardian. Nice to meet you.