Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Pawn and Power

Flatly, I said, “Weapons with separate consciousness are illegal in Sumar. It is quite a serious crime to be caught with one, even nobility.” 

“Yeah. In the games, there’s a couple, mostly mid-game stuff that if you use them, they can influence your decisions if you don’t have a high enough Perspective. You can also get your companions corrupted.”

“So why are you suggesting to me a blade that will certainly give me both an external and internal struggle to contend with?”

“Because I think you can handle it. Because if I’m reading this right, this blade will grant a score of feats, bonuses to both Brawn and Muscle, and can be recalled at will, can switch between dealing magical damage and not, and that’s only when you first commune with it. It could grant more bonuses over time.”

“Provided I survive the opposing cognizant.”

“Yeah. It usually depends on your Perspective and how you vibe with the weapon. This one belonged to a Tragae slave-rebellion leader. It looks funky because the leader took his own blade and installed it into the hilt of his late master. He, uh, was responsible for his master’s death, according to the blurb.” She gestured to the dark violet Guidance Screen that hovered beside the weapon.

Unrelated, I hated that word, ‘master’. It implied inherent superiority from master to mastee. In truth, it was owner and slave, a transaction that indicated someone was being controlled by a simple quirk of law. “You are saying it is pre-Tamaran? Twelve centuries old?” I wanted to ask if getting along with or clashing with the spirit was better.

“Yeah, I think so. Look, you said we needed to pull out all the stops, right?” She swallowed, “Most everything here is trinkets and fun baubles with slight advantages. We can get some good gear, but they’d mostly be sanding down our rough spots. This would give you an entirely different playing field, a huge edge for tomorrow.”

I considered the weight of the decision. “How long, in your knowledge, does it take for full sentient opposition to take hold?”

“Usually a week.”

“Is this a weapon you are familiar with?”

“No, it is only described in the game as a showpiece. Story wise, there wasn’t a way to get enough money to offer for it in the original game. I’ve read a few fan fictions, but those are just stuff written by the players, not the people who made the game.” I was pretty confident that there were listening charms about the room, so the assassin guild could learn about their customers, but Justice’s bizarre talk was confusing enough without context that I wasn’t worried about it. 

“Okay. If this significantly depleted our funds, would you still be able to get what you want?”

“Yeah. I just wanted some things to save time or boost stats. We can see what else we can get aside from the dagger. If you want it.”

“Yes. If nothing else, I need to be able to keep up with you.”

“Pff, you’ve been keeping my ass alive this whole time.”

“You’ve gotten better at using your abilities this whole time with real experience. I’m only keeping up by throwing everything I have into our fights.”

“I don-”

“You beat a person three times your level to a pulp and still managed to cast spells to support me a few hours ago, while I was scrambling. I’ve done nothing a hired mercenary couldn’t manage.”

“You k- took on those three wizards who-”

“Who were kids, and not combat oriented, and I nearly died. Once you learn to not trust gifts without conditions, you won’t fall for that sort of thing. Jarrec was a career fighter, and not one of the dumb brutes that kill just to raise their level without managing skills, and you supersede me in everything but practical social skills you can’t learn in a cave.” I looked away from Justice’s blush of embarrassment and back at the ugly blade. “You convinced me. We go for broke.” 

You are reading story The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame at novel35.com

I was not going to kid myself. I could not keep up with Justice’s extraordinary stats and knowledge. I’ve only been able help with my grounded perspective and creativity. I was just a kobold with the incredible luck of having not spent my life subsistence living, because I was collected by an actually charitable organization as a child. I doubt my clutch siblings were not so lucky, if they survived. My clutch parents likewise. 

I would be a fool to take my past experiences as evidence of my future capability compared to Justice, an eighteen year old Human with knowledge of the future.

She was suddenly reluctant. “Are you sure? I am sure we can do without. Possessed weapons are really dangerous…”

“Well, if I start acting like an anachronistic Orc, you have permission to leave me behind.”

Justice and I went over to the counter, and started haggling. I did most of that, Justice had no sense of value. 

The dagger did cost the largest portion of our winnings, but it was not as expensive as I feared. They must have wanted to get rid of it. As a showpiece, the ugly blade had a lot to be desired. The rest of the items were smaller baubles. Justice got us both Bracelets of Fresh Air, and several other small baubles for herself. 

Once the total price was bartered, which ate all but a dozen silver of our winnings, the shopkeeper stepped over to the door that separated us from the other side of the counter, and unlocked it. They walked around and pulled the items out that Justice had purchased. They offered to wrap up the items, but Justice deigned to place them about her person instead.

When it came to our last item, the shopkeeper hesitated at the case, saying, “You kids are not to tell anyone where you got this weapon, understood? We are not above breaking into a prison to murder the hell out of snitches.”

Justice seemed surprised, “Uh, yeah, understood.” I was not. Sentient weapons were incredibly dangerous. Even notionally immobile items like weapons, records state their the ability to turn any flower shop owner or malnourished, homeless person into a killing machine. As the stories describe, possessed items were incredibly vengeful and usually had few scruples as to who fit the description of who wronged them. 

Even the highly favored Sumar University was not allowed to create  or bring even autonomous magical items, like golems or repeater engines, within the city unless they only run simple commands without a will. Rumor has it they have a secret facility excavated deep under the tributary below the harbor, so they could flood it in an emergency failure of safety. I wonder if Justice knew if it was real or not. 

The shopkeep seemed to evaluate us for a few moments more before being satisfied and opening the case. They pulled on a pair of felt gloves that I expected were enchanted to suppress magic, or otherwise isolate the shop owner from harm, and then unfastened the blade from the wall. At first, it was offered to Justice, who waved it off and pointed at me. 

I considered it a moment, then took the hilt. 

I blinked then looked at them, both of them waiting anticipatorily, the shopkeeper having already stepped back as I dismissed a guidance screen. “Well, it is certainly still possessed.”

At the back of my head, I heard a deep, growling voice that said. “Oh, I see they’ve given me to a raptor. Do they think that will contain us? Little one, tell me your woes, your worries, and of your world. I’m so tired of resting.”

—

For wielding Katarachin’s Victory, you gain the following bonuses:

+1 Muscle

+ 1 Rank in [Finesse Weapons]

Further bonuses will be available if attunement is achieved. Attunement will occur as this weapon is used and in your possession, but there may be other means to accelerate attunement.