"An intelligent weapon"

The sun was rising on the horizon and its rays filtered through the curtains of clouds that covered that small town in the kingdom of Eden. It had been some time since I finished with Aaron Goodwin.

The priests and paladins were looking for the culprit of his death but had managed to avoid them until now. I did not know how much longer I could do it. To tell the truth, I should have left the tavern several days ago but I wanted to give Annie some time to adjust to the change. Or to regret her decision.

In the habitation next door of the room I was in, a young woman and a girl were sleeping in embraces, as they had been doing for almost a week. On the faces of both was something similar to happiness.

I sighed.

"Annie, are you sure this is what you want?" I asked the ghost standing next to me, staring at the sleeping beauties.

"Yes, it's exactly what I want. Besides, that's what I promised you that day when you came into the tavern. You have already fulfilled your part of the deal and now it is time for me to comply with mine, "the dead girl answered me.

"Because if you're not sure, it would not bother me at all if you would rather stay, now that your sister is… recovering."

"Recovering from what? Of getting intoxicated with 'sugar bread dust'? Or maybe you meant that she stopped prostituting herself? "

"Ahem ... I meant about the two, I guess."

"Isaac, the only reason my sister can recover is because she knows she will not have to pretend to be me to entertain that monster you righteously devoured. Now, she can finally forget me once and for all. "

"Honestly, now that your sister decided to invite the girl to live with her, I thought you would be a little ..."

"A little what? A little jealous? From a little kid? Do not be naive, Isaac. I died as a little girl twenty years ago but time goes by for everyone. I may still have the figure of a child and I may accept that I behaved like a little girl the night we met each other for the first time. "

"You did it."

"But that was just to trick you into helping me. I'm definitely not the child of the past. I am 26 years old now. I know what I'm doing."

"It's okay, Annie. What you say. Then, it's time to leave. Are you ready?"

"Stop worrying about me. Just do it all at once, "she told me, her voice jaded.

So, as she asked me, I stopped worrying and started the ritual.

I took out my trusty poisoned dagger and went through Annie's ghostly heart from side to side.

She moaned in pain and I was quick to use dead mana to break the bonds that bound her soul to her sister's. Cut them one by one.

The threads that bound them was stronger than I had thought, with the elements of blood and bone in the core of each thread and a runic wrapping of light and darkness on the outside, but the dead mana was the nemesis of all living magic.

Once it was over, Annie and her sister were completely separated. Now the ghost girl was free to move where she wanted. But the ritual was not finished. Annie took the dagger on her own and began channeling all her ectoplasmic energy into the weapon.

I started with the songs of a binding spell and joined Annie with the dagger through each element I knew for added safety. And that was a lot of elements. It took me about six hours to merge the ghost with the poisoned dagger and by the time we finished the sun was high in the sky.

And now, Annie was no longer a ghost. Now it was the first intelligent magic weapon I owned.

Downstairs, in the backyard of the tavern, Blondie and the little girl played to outrun each other. The young wench had a smile on her face that I had never seen, even if I counted that night when I had paid for her services with gold coins. It was the smile of someone who has a reason to live. After all that time, she had a new little sister.

Now that Annie resided in my dagger, I could feel her envy and resentment as if they were mine.

Not good.

Blondie's newfound happiness was for Annie like a bittersweet cream. It felt sweet enough to made her wish that her sister could be like that forever , but it also felt bitter enough because Annie wondered why it was Blondie the one who survived that fateful night twenty years ago instead of herself.

And because she felt guilty for thinking like that, she diverted her resentment towards the little girl who was now with her sister. I could feel the killer instinct of the former vengeful ghost growing suddenly in my dagger and I knew it was best to leave immediately.

There was nothing else to do in this village of the Kingdom of Eden. And since we were near the southern border, I could take advantage to cross the forest and enter the north of the neighboring Duchy of Martell.

It was rumored that Martell was being ravaged by monsters from the sea. Some of the creatures appeared on stormy days and tricked the sailors with their singing to guide the ships against the rocks. Other monsters appeared on sunny days and flew to nearby fortresses to steal people and take them away.

I did not know if the rumors were true but in any case it seemed like a good place to try Annie for the first time. I smiled while thinking about it. I had always wanted to have an intelligent and self-conscious magic weapon. The deal with the ghost had been a good one. All that effort paid off. Annie totally worth it.

I bought a random horse in the barn in front of the tavern and left the town through the south gate.

I rode away in the direction of Martell, while eating a piece of bread with a bit of cheese on top. Traveling at noon always made me hungry but it was better to ride on a light stomach. So it was bread and cheese or dry rations, and God knew I was fed up with hazelnuts and nuts.

The road was quite busy, which was not unusual in the hours close to noon. The carts and carriages transported goods along the southern border of Eden to be shipped in the coastal towns of Martell. From there they would travel by sea to the rest of the continent.

There were also several groups of soldiers who came and went in their patrols to monitor the boundaries of the southern borders of the kingdom. There were even some groups of adventurers on the way to do some work for the Adventurer's Guild.

On the other hand, lonely travelers like me were rather few. All along the road I only found three messengers from neighboring towns and half a dozen travelers who could not find a group to join yet.

The former were distinguished by their classic red cap with a green feather. It was like a badge that was regularly used by messengers on this continent to indicate that they were protected by the Messengers' Guild. The seconds were also easy to identify because of the stupid questions they tried to make me.

I did not stop to answer them. Feel the horse to be faster. I wanted to cross the border before nightfall.

Eight more hours and two stops later, I found myself resting in a tavern on the outskirts of Dresden, a town located in the northeast of Martell. The innkeeper was a fat, bald man, with a red face and mustache, who was too much happy to see me. It's seems that the poor man did not have many clients.

I took a sip of my newly purchased beer and soon understood what was the reason why.

The fat bastard watered the drinks. The locals knew it and preferred to drink elsewhere. By the time travelers discovered it they had already paid for it. It did not matter that much to me.

Everyone has their own way of making a living.

Besides, adjusting the amount of alcohol in the beer with a spell was a child's play for me. After all, in the right quantity, alcohol is just another poison. And that was one of the elements that I handled the better.

I used a minimum amount of mana to modify the beer. Two elements: Poison, to increase the amount of alcohol, and Ice, to lower the temperature until it was refreshing. Once I finished it then I took a long drink.

A lot better.

I smiled and raised my jar towards the fat man to greet him. The innkeeper looked at me suspiciously. He was not used to having customers enjoy his drink. Probably the fat scoundrel was wondering if he had forgotten to water the beer.

At that moment I heard the sound of the tavern door opening and the noisy entrance of a group of travelers. I did not turn to see them. I had no reason to. Also, I was busy savoring my refreshing and delicious beer.

"Isaac? "

Damn! Is it possible that a man cannot even enjoy his damn beer in peace?