At dawn, after having passed my guard shift with my mind in chaos from last night's reading, I went out to hunt some animals around the area to try to clear my head and think of the definitive way in which I would fix things with Zoe. After managing to bag a couple of prey, I returned to the clearing, noting how she was already finishing packing up our camp as usual, moving in silence while preparing everything to leave as quickly as possible towards the border.
Looking at her from a distance, a sudden fear and nervousness invaded me, wanting to postpone the conversation with her again to avoid the awkwardness and fear that quickly transformed into guilt and disappointment in myself for the cowardly way in which I was behaving...
Fuck! What the hell did you agree on last night!? Do it now! You have to talk to her once and for all! Don't be a damn coward! I reprimanded myself internally, clenching my fists before taking a deep breath and forcing my feet to walk towards where she was.
"Z-Zoe…" I said finally, feeling my throat dry while I clenched my teeth in an effort to look her directly in the eyes. Ahhh!! Since when did this become so damn awkward?
She stopped for a second, stopping folding one of the blankets to slightly turn her head and look at me with a somber and distant tone that chilled me to the bone.
"What is it?" She asked dryly, without showing even a hint of the warmth she used to have, making the knot in my throat tighten even more.
I swallowed hard, feeling my palms sweaty while I desperately searched for a way to break the ice without dropping the bomb all at once.
"I-I… was thinking that we could stay a little longer here today." I blurted out nervously, scratching the back of my neck while I looked towards the horizon to avoid her scrutiny. "The weather is perfect, it's not as cold as yesterday, and… well, I thought it would be great if we trained a little before continuing towards the border."
Zoe stopped moving completely, staying in silence while she looked at me with an expression of clear confusion, as if she were trying to decipher if I had gone crazy or if there was a hidden intention behind my proposal.
"Train?" She questioned, frowning while she resumed packing things with mechanical movements. "Why do you want to do that now? We should take advantage of the daylight to advance."
Shit, she is right, but I can't let us leave like this. I thought, looking for anything so she would accept.
In my mind, the plan I had devised seemed to make sense: relieve the accumulated tensions through a physical activity. Or at least, I wanted to believe that, since a part of me seriously doubted that this was a good idea for the emotional problem we were going through, feeling how my insecurity fought against my desire to fix things.
"It's just that… well, it's been a long time since we trained seriously, you know?" I continued, inventing an excuse on the fly while forcing myself to hold her gaze directly, implying that I wouldn't give up easily. "Besides… I thought we could spend some time together, since lately we have distanced ourselves a bit, and I don't like us being like this."
Zoe, upon hearing my words, stood still once again, trying to process what she had just heard before returning my gaze, noting how this time she didn't avert it, implying that I was serious. Averting her gaze, she let out a small sigh of resignation, while lowering her shoulders a bit accepting with a light smile.
"Alright..." She said finally, lowering her gaze to avoid me continuing to look at her. "But as soon as we finish packing all the things."
Wait? Did she just smile? I thought with a mix of relief and fear, realizing that now it was my turn to fulfill my part and not chicken out after this first step.
After packing the rest of the things with the help of Atlas, we headed in a somewhat heavy silence towards a clearer wasteland, walking while we both immersed ourselves in our own thoughts about what we would do now that, finally, we had taken the first step to try to get closer again.
We stopped almost in the center of the plain, leaving Mork and Ness far enough away so they wouldn't interfere with our space, but close enough to watch them. There, Zoe, showing a calmer and more serene attitude that gave me a bit of hope, broke the silence while turning to look at me.
"Okay, we are here..." She said, crossing her arms expectantly while waiting for my instructions. "Now what do we do? What did you want to train or talk about?"
Hearing her sudden question, my mind went completely blank, feeling how the panic returned for a second while my mind desperately searched for a plan that I never got to formulate because I was thinking about other things.
Damn… I didn't think about this part at all. I admitted internally, feeling like an idiot for having focused only on convincing her to come and what I would say once we talked with more confidence.
"D-Do you have… any suggestions?" I finally blurted out so as not to be exposed, after seeing her waiting for an answer.
Zoe looked at me, put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh, but not one of annoyance, but an amused one, reminding me of her reactions from a long time ago.
"Maybe… but well, this was your idea, so you must have had something in mind to bring me here, right?" She asked, taking a step forward with a defiant expression, pressuring me in the same way she did in our trainings when we were still kids back in Birton.
Understanding what she was trying to do to ease the situation, I decided to play along, starting to make exaggerated expressions of thinking deeply, scratching my chin and looking at the sky as if looking for the answer in the clouds, imitating my child self when I didn't know the answers to her questions about magic theory.
"The truth is… I don't have the slightest idea." I said with feigned honesty, managing to make Zoe let out a small genuine laugh that made me feel much better.
Playing dumb never fails to ease the tension. I thought with an internal smile, feeling how the atmosphere became much lighter.
"But, I think before training you could help me with something, just like the old times." I continued, making her wonder what it was.
Using Atlas, I took Belarus out of my dimensional rune, holding it in front of us while I analyzed the dark metal that shone under the morning sun.
"You see, at first I thought that Belarus had some real rune engraved because of how well it channels mana, but over time, I understood that in truth it is just a good quality sword with some inscriptions carved with mana... unlike the weapon that… Mom had." I said at the end, feigning a confidence that I didn't feel while my mind jammed not knowing how to refer to Irisha now that everything was so confusing.
Zoe, smiling, got closer until she was right in front of me. Without warning, she took my hand and raised it so we could both see the weapon and my runes up close, making an involuntary blush rise up my cheeks at the warmth of her touch while she spoke naturally.
"Both your rune, mine and those of the others, are subject to powers that go beyond our mana core, something that helps us do incredible things…" She began to explain, before stepping back a couple of steps to give me space while she started to gesture. "But true runic weapons are different, since these are linked directly to the user, functioning as an extension to the runes we can obtain in our own body."
I looked at her carefully, letting her technical explanation distract me from my nerves.
"You see, our bodies have a physical limit. Runes take up a lot of space in our mana circulatory system, saturating it if you try to put too many." She continued resuming her role as an instructor, making me feel like a kid again. "That is why even in the castle of Clifland it was normal to see people with a maximum of four runes, or even five, for geniuses like… Kadian.
I-In conclusion, runic weapons allow breaking that runic limit thanks to the fact that the weight of the power falls on the object and not on your body."
"So they work like an extra slot..." I whispered to myself, using terms from my other life.
"Eh? What do you mean?" She asked, stopping her explanation.
"Oh, nothing, nothing, please continue."
"A-Alright... I was saying, runic weapons, since they are extremely difficult to get, are mostly reserved only for people with a lot of power and money, being very difficult to obtain nowadays."
"Ahhh… that is why Irisha had one." I commented, before Zoe confirmed it with a nod.
"Exactly." Continued Zoe, crossing her arms while a shadow of nostalgia passed through her eyes. "But there is something else... there are records about legendary pieces that defy all logic, like the armor of the God of War. It is said that each of its five pieces allowed carrying up to three runes, giving the user a total of fifteen... an amount of power that no one has seen again in millennia."
Upon hearing that number, I remained speechless, looking at Belarus in my hand and feeling how my warrior ambition suddenly awoke at the mere idea of possessing something similar.
Fifteen runes...? That is complete madness. I thought, doing a quick mental calculation of what it would mean to have so much versatility and power in combat. Even with my knowledge and theFragment of Bernal, my body will never surpass that physical limit, that is why… a weapon of that caliber would completely change the rules of the game in a battle against a great enemy.
Without realizing it, I looked towards the horizon, losing myself for a second in the magic theory that last night's book and Zoe's words were forming in my head.
Yes… it makes sense, if that armor and weapon belong to the God of War, surely they must have something similar to theFragments of Bernalin their interior or composition, since that would be the only way for something like that to exist. I thought, before returning to reality under Zoe's gaze.
"Hahaha, sorry, you know me, sometimes I get lost with things like these." I said with laughs before gripping Belarus tightly and getting into a battle stance. "But well, I think that was enough theory, how about we move on to some practice this time? Just like years ago. Since I want to see how much I have advanced since the last time we faced each other."
"Haha, that's the attitude." She answered smiling, before taking her distance and drawing her short sword from its sheath.
Breathing to calm an emotion I couldn't contain, I put a large cloak of mana over my body after feeling a mix of dissatisfaction for my current equipment and a burning desire to find one of those legendary pieces.
If the enemies looking for us are Legend Rank or higher, a sword like Belarus won't be enough to protect what matters to me. I thought, seeing how Zoe also became serious after months since our escape in Barton.
I will need a weapon like that if I want to survive what is coming and protect Zoe, I cannot settle for less. I have to get a real runic weapon, whatever it costs. I concluded, activating my rune on par with Zoe.