Chapter 2: Oh, Look! A Talking Sword!
Without missing a beat Teus decided to climb up the dragon's bones with the most eagerness he had since entering the cave. It took him a while for him to eventually surmount the towering beasts remains, but when he did, the sparkle and glimmer he saw before shone more radiantly than ever.
It was alluring…
Almost as though it were calling him forward.
This weapon barely required an inspection from Teus, at this point, he was just admiring. The blade was in such perfect condition and its shine was so beautiful. Teus looked in awe, he was sure of the blade's worth. If he could somehow sell this blade, an orphan like him would be able to buy an entire house, maybe two. Not that he knew anyone who would be able to buy it from him though.
Obviously what was worth the most out of the blade would be the dragon core. The symbol on the inside of the gem was loosely resembling a fiery ember. This made Teus' eyebrows perk up in interest.
"I wonder what that means…"
He aloofly muttered to himself.
He took a couple steps closer to the sword and raised his hands towards its hilt. Thoughts raced through his head.
"I can't believe I'm standing right in front of a dragon core, and after so long! All I have to do is pick it up and it's all mine! It's that easy?… I guess so, afterall the hard part was looking for it, picking it up can't be that hard, right?"
Teus' hands continued to hover over the hilt before a sudden voice stopped him in his tracks. Loudly resounding throughout the cave.
"You'll keep your hands off me if you know what's good for you, child…"
Reflexively Teus backed away, shivers went through his spine as his head spun around trying to figure out where the voice had come from.
"Who was that? I could have sworn I was the only one in this cave! Was this person listening the entire time? If they were, that's kinda embarrassing!"
He pulled out the old, rusty dagger he previously stored in his pouch and pointed it at the abyss.
"Who said that…!"
His eyes darted around the area to find nobody, he was confused. He continued to search a while longer before hearing a slightly irritated groan resound from the direction of the blade.
"Who else could have said that, you imbecile!"
The voice bellowed, causing Teus to turn his direction to the sword once again. After awkwardly placing the dagger back in his pouch he looked at the sword with a sense of uncertainty. He was apprehensive, could this weapon really be talking to him right now. His jaw dropped in shock from the fact that no human was speaking with him in this moment. The voice continued.
"Only a worthy warrior with the necessary resolve to be my master, can carry this sword into battle…"
Teus stared at the sword, his eyelids blinked blankly in disbelief.
"Oh, look! A talking sword…Wow…I'm spending way too much time here, I'm actually going crazy! I should just grab the dragon core and get out of here, huh."
He began to scratch the top of his head as the voice snapped back in an aggravated tone. Its voice bellowed so loudly it caused the boy to fall to one knee in response.
"You're not going crazy! You're in the presence of a tried and true dragon core!"
Teus' eyes shot wide open as he watched the sword's pommel glow with more intensity.
"...I will not repeat myself again. If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your hands off this blade. If you're not worthy of being my master you're only wasting your time here!"
The eyes of the boy became filled with wonder as he gazed at the sword for a little longer.
"Wait…You're the dragon core!? I never knew they were able to talk to me!... Thank goodness, I had so many questions about how this worked!"
He quickly sprung his body from off the floor and hinged his hips leaning closer to the sword. So many questions ran through his mind. Like how could the dragon core know he was there? Could it see him? How did it hear him? Though he figured he would start with basic introductions as his first inquiry.
"My name's Teus, what's yours?"
The voice was only more vexed by this question.
"I'm not giving an unworthy warrior my name."
"Oh come on, I gave you mine. It's only fair!"
"Fair implies your name is worth something. It is not."
"You don't have to go spewing insults!"
"Get out of here child, this place is dangerous."
Teus' right eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Since when was the last time a dragon cared about a human's safety? You're just trying to scare me off because you don't wanna talk to me and answer my questions! Well jokes on you, I love danger!"
"...That is not a trait worth bragging about."
"Of course it is! Ever heard of no risk no reward!?"
The boy rummaged his hands in his bag before pulling out two dead baby hares by their ears and proudly presenting them to the dragon core.
"Look! I got these two pieces of meat after I stole them from a wild mountain lion earlier. It took careful planning, I was scared out of my mind and I could have died! But if I hadn't done it, me and Mister Fluff and Puff would not have been able to have such a delicious meal tonight!"
There was a deep silence in the cave before Teus spoke again, insisting he was right.
"...This stuff is way better than the rations back at town! Sometimes they're mixed with dirt and you end up getting sick. See my point now, no risk no rew-"
"Sorry, you mentioned the name, Mister Fluff and Puff?"
The dragon core quickly interjected, as though still stuck on that part of his explanation. Teus awkwardly replied.
"Huh? Yeah, why…?"
"..."
"..."
The silence continued for a while longer. Teus stared at the sword perplexed before the dragon core spoke.
"What an unfortunate name for a pet, you humans are so chronically unserious…"
"Gah!"
The boy recoiled back in shock. Teus never felt more insulted by an inanimate object in his life. He instinctually rebutted.
"H-hey! I don't care if you're a dragon core or not, don't insult Mister Fluff and Puff!"
"Enough!"
The core began to glow more as a flash of light erupted from the gem, zapping Teus' hares into a crisp. Being whisked away with a slight breeze the remains of what were in his hand fell to the ground like powdered charcoal. The burnt ash disappeared before the boy's very eyes.
Teus' eyes began to well up with tears as he saw the scene before him. The dragon core continued.
"I refuse to hear about your nonsensical stories and values! You are doing nothing but wasting your time here, child. Leave! Find me a suitable warrior if anything…"
A frown stretched its way across Teus' face.
"You didn't have to burn my food you big meanie!"
"...I have entertained this conversation for long enough! It's time you go home child, you don't have the resolve to be my master!"
He grit his teeth at the comment before responding.
"You keep talking about that! I've been searching for a dragon core for two years in here, showing up every single day! If that's not resolve to wield one then I don't know what is!"
"Oh please, you'd be better suited being a dragon disciple than a dragon's master."
"I have no idea what that is, but it sounded like an insult!"
Another silence took over the abyss. Teus felt that if he could see the dragon, it would definitely be rolling its eyes right now. The dragon core spoke with finality.
"I'm done with this. I'm going back to sleep, clearly it was a mistake to even be talking to you."
"W-wait! I wasn't done talking with you!"
"..."
Teus tried running towards the sword but its glow slowly disappeared. Only leaving the faint but distinct glimmer that it once had before.
He was too late. The dragon core had stopped responding.
He immediately tried to pull the sword from the skull.
It would not budge. He took a rest before trying to pull it again.
He got the same result. With fury Teus continued to pull.
He tried and failed multiple times.
Throughout the cave all that could be heard was the grunting and wheezing of the boy. The dragon core was silent.
Bracing himself again, with all of his might, he tried to lift the blade but it felt like the heaviest thing he had ever laid hands on in his nine year old life. He fell to the ground out of exhaustion as he was aggressively panting and his shirt was drenched in sweat.
"Damn it all! It's just as I thought, I can't lift it."
He violently slammed his fist against the skull of the dragon skeleton he was on top of. He lost his meat for the day, he searched for two years trying to find a dragon core and when he finally found one, it denied him.
The blood began to boil within Teus.
"I had no idea that once I'd find a dragon's core it would be so sassy!"
His eyelids grew heavy before he snapped them open.
"No! I didn't come all the way here just to leave with nothing! There's gotta be a way for me to get it from here…"
At that moment an idea hit Teus' head that made him feel like an idiot. He shuffled his hands through his bag before pulling out the somewhat rusted dagger he had in his bag from earlier.
"...If all I need is the dragon core, I might as well lighten the load!"
Thrust after thrust he hacked his dagger at the pommel of the blade. Each cut slowly, but surely, loosening the grip it had on the dragon core.
He fell to his knees again from exhaustion and looked at the sword that still was seemingly in perfect condition. With a determined grunt he looked at the dragon core as he grinned.
"I'll see you tomorrow!..."
For the next four days, Teus entered the cave, climbed on top of the dragon bones, and thrust his dagger into the sword's pommel in order to free the dragon core. He would sweat, exhaust himself until he could stab the sword anymore, leave the cave, before appearing the next day. On the fifth day, his efforts had paid off…
Eventually the core popped out of the sword's pommel and Teus caught it moments before it hit the bone beneath him.
"Yes!"
The boy dropped to his knees and celebrated with a tired body by wiping off the shattered pieces of metal off his newly acquired dragon core.
"Now that the hard part is over, all I have to do is figure out how to use this thing…"
Teus wiped the sweat from off his forehead. Struggling to speak in between breaths.
"...it can't be that hard, right? I'll try to get it working by tonight!"
He did not figure out how to awaken it that night.
As a matter of fact, awakening the dragon core proved quite difficult. It did not take long for Teus to find out that this presumption of his would age poorly, very poorly…