"But before the alternates were banished, the legend states that the hegraphenes had also discovered a way to fight back against them, though exactly why they were banished to the Underworld remains a mystery to this day. All we know now is that they used to live where the country of Harut now stands," he concluded with a slight raise of his upturned palms.
"That's a lot of information," Siraye said with a long, slow blink. "I apologize, but that's still the shortened version of it," Elhael said, scratching the back of his head.
"Is it possible, Aurae, that the hegraphenes were the first wielders of Wraith mana?" Siraye asked as soon as the question entered her mind. "No, it's not. In fact, it was a member of the Arwydus clan, the only ones to ever best the hegraphenes in combat, who discovered it. They did help develop the techniques for it, however," she replied quickly, getting a nod of agreement from Ren.
"Alright then, so what about this alternate? Do you think it's possible that Nexis, during his time in exile, found a way to use these runes to allow it to use mana again?" Thorn asked, causing the room to be as silent as the corpse on the table. "Fuck me, he's right, isn't he?" Nenvalur said, moving towards the foot of the table.
"I'm afraid that may be the case," Aurae sighed heavily. Siraye grunted, nearly slamming her fist on the table. "I hate the fact that we've lost so many lives and so much knowledge because of his mistakes," she began, seething as she said it.
"At least we still know about the Wraith realm," Ren said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's something that can never be taken away from us. The Nethersong Mask, given to us by the gods themselves, is a prime example of that since its powers were based on the principles of Wraith mana in the first place," he began, turning to face the others.
"Even so, there's still so much we don't know about the artifacts, like how to use them or why they were even given to us to begin with. Even the Realmwalker Blade seems like a distant dream to be able to use," she said dejectedly, prompting Thorn and Ren to glance at each other. "I'd be willing to take a look at it if you have it here, that is," Thorn suggested with a shrug.
Siraye's eyes widened in realization. "Sweet mother of fuck, you could, couldn't you?" she said, glancing up at him slowly as an idea began to form in her head. "Y-yes?" Thorn asked awkwardly, beginning to fear the wolfish grin that immediately grew on her face. "Your Majesty, can you take us to the blade?" she asked quickly. "Of course, right this way," Elhael replied at a similar speed.
Sometimes, it's best not to get in her way, he thought with a mental sigh.
He opened a door on the far wall of the laboratory and led them down yet another flight of well-light stairs to a vault. The massive roots that formed the door wove into each other and held an aura of mana that was palpable even from halfway down the stairs.
Four fully armored guards stood by it, but when they saw the king himself leading the others, they rapidly undid the warding spell that protected the door. "A-after you, Your Majesty," they said in a panicked voice, not because of the king but because of their commander standing beside him.
"Thank you, gentlemen. We will only be a few moments," he said, patting one of them on the shoulder as they walked by. "Nice work," Siraye quietly said with a wink as she passed by the youngest of the group, earning her a nervous smile in return.
As they entered the vault, the mana-flame lamps ignited with their presence. It stretched as far as the light could reach and was often compared to being of dwarven make rather than elvish due to its complexity and depth. However, the titanic roots that supported the underground cave were braided into each other and held a similar aura of mana as the front door. Countless rows of shelves itemized by name filled the space beneath and between the roots; nearly reaching the ceiling with how tall they were.
"Welcome to Hynafiaethydd, also known as the Antiquary, the largest deposit of relics and objects from bygone ages on the Continent," Elhael said as the others who'd followed him stood in awe of its grandeur.
Nenvalur whistled critically. "I'd be willing to bet there's a nice weapon or two in here," he said, nudging Anwill with his elbow. "There are, but each one of them contains a piece of history that goes as far back as the Great Partition, so no one is allowed to use them," he replied quietly before Elhael began to lead them down the path marked by matching runes.
"These are the same ones we saw in the focusing chamber," Thorn noted as they walked. "Indeed. My ancestors made these to help prevent them from getting lost down here since this place spans nearly the entirety of Myrdin," Elhael said over his shoulder. "I had no idea such a place even existed, Your Majesty. This is a true honor like no other," Thorn replied before glancing around at the artifacts.
After the better part of an hour, they'd finally reached their destination. In front of them sat six glass display cases, though only four of them were filled with the original gifts from the gods. "Here we are," Elhael said, releasing the sealing ward placed on the knob before he turned it.
The glass pane shuddered with the release of the ward, refracting the light from the nearby lamps as it did so. The Realmwalker Blade's broad, twin edge glistened in the light as the king grabbed its intricate hilt of an unknown material. As it was surprisingly light for its size, he had no difficulty raising the blade, holding it aloft for the others to see.
"Thorn, if you'd be so kind," Elhael said, tipping it on its side and presenting it to him. "It's magnificent, Your Majesty," he said, gingerly taking it from the king. "I'll need you all to step back for a moment. I don't want there to be an accident if it rejects my mana," he cautioned. Promptly following his order, the others took a few steps away from him and allowed him a wide berth of space.
"Before I begin, I don't make any promises, but I'll see what I can learn from it," he said, looking at Siraye, who gave him an approving nod.
Here goes nothing, he thought.
He closed his eyes to focus as he reached into the Rivet realm. It was one filled with innumerous paths interconnecting with each other, forming geometric shapes like a spider's web as the tendrils of pale mana reached for one another. Far above him, he could see the source of these pale tendrils, a geometric maelstrom backed by a darkened sky, continuously creating and dissolving vast amounts of them simultaneously.
He outstretched his hand, the outline of which looked like a hollowed, vascular frame built by the pale tendrils that morphed far overhead, and called out to the mana. Recognizing Thorn as being a part of the realm, the maelstrom above sent a swirling braid of these tendrils towards him as his arm began to glow in the Between.
It's beautiful from the outside, Siraye thought, seeing it with her own eyes for the first time.
He transferred the glowing mana into the blade, which began to glow and emit a low hum. His face twitched as he tried to find the right balance of mana to use since the blade could reject him at any time, and began to focus more intently. "Tell me your secrets," he commanded in a strong yet soothing voice as he began to push more mana into the blade.
It glowed briefly but immediately dimmed when the mana suddenly retracted into his arm. With a defeated sigh, he tried again, this time pushing a little bit less into the blade. Emitting a louder hum this time, the blade's glow further illuminated its surroundings, casting a bright light into the air.
Again, however, the mana retracted back into his arm.
"Damn it," he said, absorbing the remaining mana in his arm to the rest of his body. "What happened?" Siraye asked curiously regarding both him and the blade he held. "It's not working," he began, looking at the others. "I'd gotten the amount wrong the first time, while correcting the amount on the second attempt, but even so, it's like something has drained the mana that was once held within it," he said, getting confused looks from everyone.
"What do you mean it was drained? No one could have gotten in here to tamper with it without Aurae or I escorting them," Elhael said, furrowing his brow. "Let me try to put it this way," Thorn began, handing the blade back to the king.
"When you use Rivet mana, the mana that's contained within whatever object or mana you imbue it with will react and create a direct link to my mana. That connection allows me to adjust or alter how the object is or responds to external inputs of mana. This blade, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to have any mana left to connect to," he said with visible confusion written on his delicate features.
"How is that even possible?" Aurae asked, but Thorn could only shake his head. "I don't know for sure, but nothing I know of could ever hope to control that much mana," he said dejectedly. "So what does that mean? It's just a hunk of metal now?" Anwill asked frustratedly, taking a step forward.
"That means that something or someone took away this sword's ability to do what it was originally intended to do: Realmwalk," he said gravely as everyone's face began to pale beneath the light of the lamps.
I'm going to have to ask him for help, aren't I? Siraye mentally sighed, already thinking about how she was going to word the message.