Sanctified Hope Sword [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczO1m7bnEEKs8y-1XUW-shzn39YZXkAzgB_FOZpolF_IN0TPju5VsOFCesP8PD43h4KAq8aIlf9fndPUzbEr6xW_xfkJ-knAl8h3r-qBwm8Vmws9_N3SYboqs8NgtQdS9JUqx_kiZVARvX8jE2lBFgqr=w661-h992-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Jerem was feeling oddly nervous as he waited in the back room of Madam Malik’s chaotic shop for the potential arrival of his liege’s adopted children. He wasn’t sure how much they already knew of him, and if they might react as poorly as Patricia had. Would they at least let him finish his self-imposed quest to deliver the relic he had traveled all this way for?
He realized now that he had been hoping to reconcile with Paul, and now that doing so seemed impossible, trying to explain himself to Paul’s kids seemed like the next best thing. Perhaps there was something else he could offer?
If they would be more willing to give details about the curse Paul had fallen under, perhaps he could help search for a way to lift it? Director Trayvious seemed to have little information in that regard and his hope to get more from Pati had been stopped before even starting.
“I told you all that I would be fine coming here on my own,” a young feminine voice with an odd accent said as the door to the large room opened. “It’s not like we can’t trust Madam—”
The voice broke off as emerald eyes locked onto him. Jerem had been told that the lass would be pale with red hair, but he hadn’t truly been prepared for the sheer amount of wild curls it consisted of.
The gemite next to her was actually less of a surprise to him since he had met plenty before in his travels across Pyrin. Especially with how often the cults they hunted liked to fund their illegal activities with even more illegal products that often involved gemites, faeforged, and plenty of other rarer species.
“What’s wrong?” the lad asked before his gaze too found Jerem, and he tilted his head slightly in confusion and curiosity. “Who’s this?”
Another lad entered behind them then, and Jerem felt his own fists tighten at the sight of him. He had been warned by Agatha back at the AOA that the Annihilator had somehow managed to become an Adventurer and was in the same party as Paul’s kids, but it still couldn’t stop his visceral reaction to being so close to him again.
The Annihilator froze worse than the first two had before backing himself against the wall as he managed to choke out, “J-Jerem?!”
Dazien glanced back at the obviously terrified man and immediately went on guard, conjuring a glittering diamond sword in his hand and holding it between them as he angrily asked, “Are you here to do what you failed to years ago? I warn you now, if you want to kill him, you’ll die as well.”
Before he could answer, a pair of walking fluff entered the room as well, one set of tails wrapping around the Annihilator as she cooed comforting words, and Jerem could feel the calming effects of her aura suffuse the room. The other set of tails was acting more like the diamond sword as they became covered in gem-like scales and fanned out to protect the man behind them.
Despite his baser instinct screaming at him to destroy the destroyer, he lifted both hands and said as calmly as possible, “I’m not here for him.”
Apparently, that wasn’t entirely the right answer to give as all five glared at him, and the redheaded lass also conjured a dark onyx stiletto as she asked, “Who are you here to kill then?”
“It better be no one! I won’t be havin’ any blood spilled in my shop!” Madam Malik shouted over them all as she pushed her way in to stand between them and began berating him. “You didn’t tell me they’d react so negatively to ya! Were you tryin’ to fool me into gettin’ at them instead of repayin’ them for everythin’ they’ve done?!”
“I’m not here to kill anyone!” he managed to get out. The kids didn’t seem to believe him at all, so he stepped down from the stool he had been sitting on to fall to a knee and bowed his head towards the siblings as he tried to explain, “My name is Jerem Oerwynt, and I was Paul’s liegeman and party Defender. I would never raise my hand against his children.”
“Uriel isn’t his child,” he heard Dazien retort. “I doubt that protection extends to him. You tried to get everyone to kill him after you found him on that island. You claimed he was an abomination—”
“I thought he was!” Jerem snapped, glaring up at the source of their conflict, who was still staring at him as though he was an executioner… which he was still sorely tempted to be, but he knew better now.
Green fabric blocked his vision, and he had to look further up to see an angry young lass glaring down at him as she said, “He is not! He’s my best friend!”
He winced at that proclamation. This wasn’t going the way he had hoped at all. He bowed his head again as he tried to calm himself and say clearly, “I was wrong.”
When they didn’t interrupt, he continued trying to give his apology that had originally been meant for Paul. “I was wrong about so much back then… I thought I knew the difference between right and wrong. That there was no middle ground. The Annihil—”
“His name is Uriel!” Phoenix yelled at him, and he shrank slightly, not wanting to mess this up even more.
“Uriel had murdered innocents!” he tried to explain. “Slaughtered hundreds of them for the cult of the Voidsworn god he sold his soul to! I thought there was no excuse worthy of something so evil!”
“He protected his family!” Dazien firmly stated. “He did what he had to in order to keep them safe.”
“They would have been better off dead,” Jerem retorted. Then he amended, “That’s what I had thought at least… I realize now that there are… areas of gray.”
He glanced back up to see the adopted siblings standing side by side, shielding their friend from him, and said as sincerely as possible, “I did not travel halfway across the continent during a blood moon to kill your friend; I came because Paul asked me to, and I wanted… I want his forgiveness.”
Jerem reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the rumpled note Paul had sent him months ago and handed it out in offering to the lass before him, his liege’s daughter and Protégé, and his last hope of redemption.
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Phoenix stared down at the stranger for a moment longer; he was a rugged-looking elf with pale skin and gray hair that would have made her think him much older than his face appeared. He was wearing a gray tunic with a matching fur cloak that looked worn from travel. The most striking feature, though, was the scar that ran horizontally across his forehead, disappearing into the silver hair on either side. Uriel was the only other person she had met with a Soul Scar like that.
She reached out with her aura first to brush against his in the type of polite nudge that Paul had taught her, and she equated it to an aura handshake to learn a little about one another. She was surprised at first to feel he was at the pinnacle of Emerald like Paul had been most of the time she had known him but that made sense when she remembered the elf said he had been in Paul’s party.
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Her surprise mostly came from the fact that if Jerem was as powerful as Paul had been… there would be no point to him kneeling before them. If he had truly wanted to kill Uriel, her friend would already be dead.
Phoenix reached forward and took the slip of paper he held out. She read the surprisingly short note and snorted a laugh at her ridiculous mentor.
Jerem,
I’m back in Tulimeir.
I have a Protégé now.
Bring the weapon.
– Paul
She handed it to Dazien who cautiously took it before glancing down and giving a short laugh as well before saying, “Good to know he was short with everyone and not just us.”
“That seems a bit much, though,” she replied with a grin, then glanced down at the elf, “You said you traveled halfway across the continent during the blood moon based on three sentences?”
“I am his liegeman,” the stranger repeated, and she turned to Dazien for answers.
“It means he has sworn allegiance to Paul and his House. It usually comes with an Oathbond that can only be done completely willingly. Oathbonds of servitude or devout loyalty can’t be made if under duress or not truly willing, which is actually why true liegemen are so rare,” he explained, “The magic simply doesn’t take if there’s any doubt in that case. If he’s talking about that kind of liegeman, that means he vowed to serve Paul for life.”
“If that’s true, then why wasn’t he here with Paul the whole time?” Rayna spoke up beside them, peeking over to read the note herself, “Why didn’t Paul ever mention this guy? What was your name again?”
“Jerem Oerwynt,” the elf replied, glancing back up at them with a frown before asking a bit brokenly, “He never even mentioned me?”
Phoenix felt a bit bad for the guy for a moment before glancing up at Dazien to ask, “Why didn’t you mention him? You’ve obviously heard of him.”
Dazien scowled and glared back down at the elf, “I’ve heard of him from Uriel, not Paul. This guy was the party Defender advocating for Uriel’s death upon reaching Tulimeir after being a victim for over a year with the DOD. Paul’s probably the only reason Uriel wasn’t tossed into the sea by him.”
He glanced back to Uriel, who seemed to have calmed down a bit, and her brother softly added, “I half-hoped he had died years ago after their party broke up and Paul was cast out from his home.”
“Dazien,” Saiya lightly scolded, “He’s Paul’s friend. You shouldn’t want him dead… we’ve already lost too many friends we’ll never get back.”
“He would have killed Uriel before he had ever reached me if given the chance, I’m not going to apologize for wishing this man wasn’t around anymore because he’s already a monster in my eyes.”
“Please…” the elf surprised them all by almost begging, “Please don’t say that. I’ve come here to make amends… I swear to you I won’t harm any of you. Even Uriel. I told you that I had been wrong. I was so caught up in my duty as an Adventurer that I let that duty blind me to compassion… please at least give me the chance to make things right.”
Rayna responded first, pointing at the note still in Dazien’s hand, “This says you brought a weapon? Why? It must be important if that was the only thing Paul asked of you.”
Jerem nodded, bowing his head again as he explained, “During our travels years ago, our party found an ancient relic—”
“Please tell me it’s one of the Monarch’s Authority pieces,” Dazien suddenly interjected, “That would be the best news we’ve had in months.”
The elf glanced up with a curious expression but shook his head, “It’s not part of a set, but… well, it may have a little bit of a prophecy around it and very specific requirements to wield it.”
Her brother groaned, and Phoenix remembered his disdain for prophecies that they had discussed long ago, shortly after he ascended to Sapphire Caste.
“I thought you said the prophecies here are all garbage?” she clarified.
“They are,” he almost growled, “Like I said, there’s no point to them because many go unfulfilled, and you won’t know until after it happens. It’s just fuel for zealots and fools to—”
“It mentions the weapon being given to ‘the hero of light’ by ‘the heart of steel’ in one of the first lines,” Jerem stated and firmly added, “I didn’t use to believe it. I thought it was complete nonsense as well, but now I can’t deny this piece of truth within it.”
“Why?” Phoenix asked in confusion, “Those titles could mean anyone!”
“I’m a Steel Heart,” Jerem answered, “That’s my actual Class, which is why Paul insisted I carry the weapon all this time.”
“You have it with you now?” Rayna asked, ears perking up, and Phoenix almost laughed at her insatiable desire to see awesome loot, “Is it some kind of sword? All the legends seem obsessed with that kind of weapon for reasons I honestly don’t understand. My gauntlets work just as well.”
Jerem nodded and slowly reached inside his jacket to pull out a small crimson bag. Rayna gave a gasp and exclaimed, “Is that an actual Blood Bag?! I’ve wanted one since forever, but hardly any crafter wants to make them.”
“What’s it do?” Phoenix asked curiously, the vain hope that she might be able to make one herself flitting through her mind before Tala firmly shoved it back out for her.
“Daze will kill you if you try that and end up burning more Bits.”
“It doesn’t really matter to someone like you, Miss Collector,” the bard retorted with a roll of her eyes, “But those of us who don’t manage to get a storage ability would kill to have a Blood Bag. They can be attuned to the Caster and are only accessible by that attuned person. And it can’t ever get lost! Not only can you sense where it is, but it can sense you and will always return itself if left behind! It’s basically the next best thing to having a power for it.”
Jerem nodded again as he reached into the bag, “That’s correct. Paul… Well, he was kind enough to buy me one to help safekeep this relic. I think… I think we had all secretly hoped Paul would end up being the ‘hero of light’ mentioned in the prophecy since he does have the right Attunement for it, but he could never fulfill the other requirement on the weapon itself.”
He pulled out a small orb of what looked like solid silver and held it out to Phoenix, “A requirement that I’m certain you can meet.”
She raised a brow and conjured her [Guide Book]. Carefully, she lifted the odd orb that looked nothing like a weapon and touched it to the book to read the details about exactly what weird requirements it needed.
Item: Sanctified Hope
A sacred weapon forged in the hope that a worthy hero would one day wield it.
Caste: Crystal, Cultivating, Blessed.
Availability: Legendary Unique.
Type: Weapon.
Requirements:
* Wielder must be Crystal Caste or higher.
* Wielder must be Attuned to Light and Radiant magic.
* Wielder must have a Divine connection to the deity: Hero.
* This item must be Attuned to the wielder.
Effects:
* As the Attuned Caster cultivates their Caste, the weapon increases with it.
* Can shift form into different weapon types. Each form type grants the wielder a different Boon.
* Each Caste level further entwines itself to the Attuned Caster’s nature.
* Inflicts low Radiant damage with each attack and an instance of [Fallen From Grace].
* Fallen From Grace (bane, divine, radiant, stacking): Decreased resistance to Radiant effects.
She stared at the singular requirement that she had already met, and Paul didn’t. Her Soul Mark connecting her to Hero made her eligible.
Dazien stared at the book as well, then slowly looked down at Jerem before saying quietly, “I think you need to tell us more about this prophecy you seem to believe in now.” Then he added as he finally dismissed Excalibur, “But first, you owe Uriel an apology.”