"Hey have you heard?"
"About what?"
"You know the rumor going around that country"
"Ooh you mean the far eastern country?"
"Yes that one, I heard that half of the country is almost destroyed by the demons"
"That’s what I heard too, the great alliance even sent some reinforcements even though they knew that they won’t make it in time but when the reinforcements arrived what they saw is that the demons are already dead and above those pile of corpse is an individual holding a strange black sword with glowing red outlines"
*gasp* "then what happened?"
"The individual flee the scene, some of the reinforcements tried to pursue but this individual is too fast and left the chasing people dumbfounded"
"What about the survivors?"
"Well they all said that if this individual suddenly appeared and single handedly eliminated the demons and saved their lives"
"Did they discover this individual's identity?"
"Sadly no, but there is a circulating rumor based on this individual's weapon"
"What is it?"
"Ooh come on don’t you get it, 'black sword with glowing red outlines' there is no one in the entire world who won’t recognize that weapon"
"!?, wait you mean him? But he is dead for about 200 years now? How could that be possible, that individual might just be someone who use the same weapon"
"That’s what makes it more interesting and besides you know that no one ever succeeded forging a similar sword much less a replica that behave that way"
"certainly even if it looked like the same, if you infuse the sword with mana the whole sword will glow and the color depends on what type of mana is used which different to that sword which only those red outlines glow and you will never tell which element is used until it hit you."
This type of conversations is something that is circulating around for quite some time now. At first it is just some rumor about the sudden invasion of the demons that had been defeated by nearly 200 years ago by the heroes. It is said that during those era, magic is something that does not exist but after the sudden invasion of the demon army widely known as 'Demons of Greed'(D.O.G.). It is revealed that humans and other races have their power sealed until the greatest hero breaks those seals. It stated first with the elves become capable of summoning spirits and wields their power then the humans learned how to use magic with the blessing of the one true god.
Soon enough this events are followed by the dwarfs and the beast men race. Everything is a race against time to gain more strength and repel if not destroy the invading demons.
The war lasted for ten years and finally manages to corner them but at the place where the final threshold of the demons remains, a very powerful barrier was erected and only those who are strong enough can enter.
In the end each race sent out the best brave souls ad end this war.
Those brave souls won and forever regarded as heroes but the greatest and strongest of them all did not make it alive.
It is said that during the final breath of the one responsible for this war suddenly released a huge spell that can reduce the whole place into nothingness at this moment the greatest hero sacrificed his life to suppress it and in the end succeeded with the cost of his whole body turning into dust.
And how is it related to the rumor?
Records of the war 200 years ago testify that the greatest hero used a mysterious weapon with unknown material his swords color is pitch black and has deep red outlines which glows every time he infuse it with magic and concealed the element he is using.
"What is your opinion on these rumors Lady Mae?"
"Jem what did i tell you about calling me when we are outside?"
"m-my apologies, I mean Mae what do you think about these rumors?"
"Well as they say there won’t be a smoke without fire and some rumors have some truth behind them, but still it’s impossible for that hero to return, hmm maybe it’s his descendant or a successor he had when he miraculously survived the last battle"
"It is a good analysis and a possibility since no matter how powerful is that hero he is still born as a human"
At the corner of a busy tavern two young ladies are eating their lunch and listening to the people talking about different things and hoping to catch some bits of good information.
*bang*
Suddenly a big burly man the counter using his hands and began shouting.
"You useless piece of shit, are your brain still attached to this head of yours? You let that man deceive you by offering this piece of trash for the food he eat"
"I-I’m sorry boss but he said that this is something that cost not lower than a platinum coin"
"YOU YOU LOOK AT IT DO YOU THINK THIS BLACK PIECE OF ROCK HAS ANY VALUE?"
"But it looks different from a simple rock and i felt something strange from it"
"Damn it you and your bull shit instincts again, if it isn’t for my dead brother I already kick you out of this place"
At this commotion all guest are now looking at the scene.
"Jem"
"Yes mil- I mean Mae"
"What do you think about the stone that that youth is holding?"
"Hmm it’s too far but it is really not a normal stone. I never seen one so pitch black before but has a very round and has such smooth surface that rivals a precious gem like a Perl"
Thinking about her companions comment she placed her smooth white hands on her chin and began thinking.
Then she move forward and barge in the scene
"Dear sir may i ask what happened here?"(Mae)
"It’s none of your business missy"(boss)
*GLARE*
"I'm asking you what it is."
"Nice try but I’m a former a-rank swordsman you won’t be able to-"
before he even finish what he is saying Mae took something in her pocket and showed it to the boss, he noticed the emblem on the woman’s hand and turn pale.
"Fo- For give my rudeness I did not know you are a member of the <
The man began sweating as he know what authority the <
The emblem’s design has a black sword at the center with a very small magic circle engraving at the center of the guard. The sword is encircled with ancient runes which mean ‘Destroy evil and protect the innocent’. The emblem has two distinct color representing the holders rank, one is the outer outline or the rim, representing your rank in the order and the second one is the main color of the emblem representing superiority or your position within that rank.
"Now speak"
"Yes, earlier a man wearing a black cloak ordered a huge amount of food equaled to five servings and then left this useless stone as a payment. I did not noticed it earlier because I am busy cooking in the kitchen but this brat here accepted it and you know the rest"
"Let me take a look at it"
"ye yes certainly"
The man grabbed the stone from his worker and gave it to Mae.
Upon inspecting her eyes began to widen and looked at the worker who is still a small girl around 10 years of age.
"From what I heard earlier you notice something strange on this stone. Tell me what did you noticed?
The girl became nervous and stuttered while speaking
"y-yes i-it has a-a-a strange glow"
"hoo, have you practiced learning magic?"
"n-no I-I haven’t there is n-no one who c-c-could teach me and bo-books are expensive"
"I see, JEM"
Another woman move forward that is close to the first one by age and respond to the call
"Purse"
"Yes"
The woman called Jem then lifts her right hand forward and the ring on her finger began to glow and a small pouch appeared on her hand.
"Storage ring!"
Most people gasp in surprise it is not uncommon to see a storage ring and but most people cannot afford to buy one, it can be said that a storage ring is a symbol of status.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The woman called Jem the hand it over to the first woman and that woman retrieved a single coin then tossed it to the boss.
The man became surprised on what the woman tossed, it was a platinum coin. The man look at the woman wanting to ask something but.
"I will give that to you in exchange for the stone and the rights to take that girl into my custody"
Facing the girl "take all of your belongings you are coming with me"
The man became confused but deep inside he was quite happy because finally he has a reason to get rid of his bad luck.
“Clarisse go take all of your stuff”
In her surprise the girl named Clarisse said “but boss, no uncle, are you throwing me away” with her moistened eyes.
“Listen here brat, from the looks of it this lady here has taken an interest in you and don’t you want to go to a school? This might be your greatest opportunity so don’t waste it”
The girl got hit by the thought of an opportunity to study magic in a good school and then she nod in agreement.
“See, now get your stuff and don’t let them wait for too long”
Then the man facing the two women, bow to them and said.
“Thank you very much for taking in that girl. She is a really hard working girl and wants to become a mage but with my lack of funds I cannot make her dream come true”
“No need to be humble, I merely took an interest in her but for her to achieve that dream she has to work harder”
After that commotion the two women left the establishment together with the girl. Clarisse sitting on a horse behind the woman called Jem riding towards the destination only those two know of become exited towards the uncertain yet a future she knew will change her life.
At a good distance a man whose body is covered in full by a black cloak, stares at them while having a grin on his face.
“he he he, She was really a good girl and a rare talent at that but her circumstances were so bad that it affects her growth. Good thing those nobles are in the tavern and my plan worked perfectly, well I intend to take her with me and personally train her if the plan failed but, I’m afraid she might get traumatized by it. Well let’s put this matter to a stop since she is already in good hands but *sigh* that woman who took her, she really is like her ancestor personality wise of course ha ha ha ha.”
Then the man left the area heading towards the other direction.
“Lady Mae is it really worth it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Placing the girl aside, what about that stone?”
“You mean this?” she took the black round stone from her pocket.
“Yes, even if it is quite strange is it really ok to spend a platinum coin for it?”
“Jem my dear friend, what color does an empty mana stone look like?”
“Pitch black of course. When a mana stone became empty its color became darker and the quantity of the mana it has depends on its color, wait don’t tell me it’s?”
“Yes it is an empty mana stone”
“But to spend that much to a single empty mana stone with that size”
What her companion said is right, empty mana stones do not cost that much since its empty and you can never tell how much mana you can store with it. Thus mana stones are usually sold having its mana capacity to its maximum storage capability. The color of the stones which is the basis of its quality are Gray, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, white and finally Transparent. Black being the lowest and transparent being the highest which is only said exist in the legends.
Most common color you can see in the market is red and is already considered a good quality mana stone. The size of the stone also matter since the bigger it is the more mana it can store. The largest mana stone in existence is at the Great alliance Temple which is at the size twice that of a full grown man and up to this date since its discovery the mana quality it contains only reached up to green in color and a faint blue outline.
“Indeed that is true but this mana stone is really strange. I tried to put some mana in it which is enough to turn an ordinary mana stone with the same size to its maximum capacity, forget about changing its color, until now I’m continuously inserting mana inside it and there are no indications that it is almost full”
Normally you can tell that a mana stone is almost at its capacity when the stone began to leak small amounts of mana and forcing more would break the stone, releasing all the mana stored inside it.
Surprised expression can be seen on the face of Jem since this is indeed a strange thing. There are no records that a mana stone that size can store more mana than normal.
“Then that means”(Jem)
“There is a probability that this stone is a very high grade one or it can be an ancient artifact that stores mana. Who knows it might have other features other than storing mana”
“How how can such a thing exist?”
“That I do not know but the proof is in front of our eyes”
Then Mae asked the girl they brought along
“What is your name?”
“C-C-Clarisse”
“Oh named after one of the heroes eh, do you recognize the man who gave this stone to you?”
Clarisse shakes her head and said “N- No his face is hidden from his cloak, B-but we talk for a bit and whe-when I told him I want to become a great mage, He he gave me that stone a-and said ‘have this as payment for the food and if everything goes well you will have your wish’ then he also told me that e-even idiots ca-can tell that th-this stone is worth more than one platinum coin”
The group continued to travel until night fall. After setting up the tent and ate their fill Clarisse the little girl fell asleep.
Outside the forest facing the camp fire Mae gave out a deep sigh and chuckled for a bit, when Jem noticed this reaction she asked.
“Did something make you glad?”
“No Jem, don’t you get it? We got used on a scheme”
“How?”
*tsk *tsk *tsk
“Jem my dear friend. This stone is just bait for us to take this girl with us”
“Don’t tell me this girl is a spy?”
“I don’t think so, my guess is he noticed something about this girl and decided to help her then paid the highest price to gamble weather we will take her or not”
“Based on what you are saying this girl has some unknown talent?”
“Yes, when she answered my question in the tavern earlier I had my suspicion that is why I took her in but now from that man’s action it’s possible that this girl has something that caught his attention”
“Aren’t you over confident towards that man?”
“Think about it Jem, if you have this stone will you just let it go just for the sake of a girl god knows who? Even if the girl is a spy isn’t it too much to give out a stone this precious for a mere spy which if you properly utilize this stone you can even get the highest nobles to do the work for you and get more reliable information”
“That is certain but if he did notice something about this girl then why did he not personally take her?”
“Well everyone have their own personal circumstances and maybe his is in quite complicated situation that he can’t bring the girl with him so he passed the responsibility towards us”
“If that is the case I can’t wait to see the results of her assessment when we return”
“Yes and I hope she won’t disappoint us”
Later that event happened and the result? She is too average. Mana capacity is average for her age, single element which is water, but what shocks them is her mana sensitivity to the point that she can even tell the smallest fluctuation of mana around her. What does this imply? In the future her mana control will be too great and with proper guidance her magic capacity and power will increase as she grows. Imagine a water mage with a very precise control over her mana.
Water mages are capable of healing and its sub element which is ice has a huge offensive capability. If she can utilize both then god knows how strong she can be.