Chapter 27, The guild Test

(Reskeme)

Reskeme and Micheal walked to the edge of the city. Reskeme wanted to test the weapon before they presented it to the Guild master. Micheal luckily had agreed. Reskeme left his two charges with Michael's parents. They strolled with the spear and Reskeme's decorative sword to the outskirts of the city. They received several inquiring looks, but not even the gate guards challenged them.

Upon leaving the city, they walked into the forest.

" How much further? Why don't we just stop and test the spear here?" asked Reskeme as he placed once foot in front of the other.

" There is a pond a couple minutes away. I used to catch frogs from it when I was younger." replied Micheal smiling and glancing at the surrounding forest.

Reskeme sighed and followed the muscular smith. They rounded a bend in the animal path they were walking along and came to a small, muggy pond. Reskeme would have called it a puddle if he was honest, but the croak of frogs and the bussing of insects was rather nice. He could probably throw a rock from one side to the other and might be able to wade through the entire thing.

" All right, lets roll that stump over there next to the pond." said Micheal gesturing to a rotting stump sticking out of the mud.

Reskeme set down the spear carefully and rolled the old stump to the water. He knew well that starting a forest fire was a bad idea.

" Well, do you want to test it first or should I?" Asked Reskeme, reaching for the spear.

" I will let you test it out. I like my skin the way it is thanks." replied Micheal. Reskeme grasped the wooden shaft of the spear and gripped it in both hands. He stood back and threw the spear at the log. From five steps away, the point of the weapon easily buried into the stump, the shaft bobbing with the stump.

Reskeme frowned as the stump only faintly trickled smoke. He grasped the wooden shaft of the spear, gripping between the two metal rings on the dark wood. Reskeme tugged the spear away and stumbled, the blade releasing from the stump far too easily. The scent of wood burning filled his nose and Reskeme stare down at the stump in wonder.

The stump wasn't on fire, but it was smoking slightly. Reskeme braced himself and thrust at the stump with all of his strength. The metal spear head slammed into the stump, smoke rising as the metal dug into the wood like a stick into mud. Reskeme drew back the spear smoke rising from the leaf-shaped blade.

" How far did the spear sink into the wood?" asked Micheal.

" I'm not sure, one moment." replied Reskeme curiously.

Reskeme used his foot and rolled the stump into the pond. He then leaned out, dragging the small stump back onto the edge of the muddy pond.

"Put that spear down, I don't want that point anywhere near me." said Micheal. Reskeme placed the spear on the ground and used his forefinger to poke the hole the thick spear point had made. To Reskeme's surprise, the spear had sunk the length of his forefinger into the stump with his thrust.

" I wonder if the spear will work with someone else?" asked Reskeme curiously.

" I dont know! I really don't want to turn into a living torch." replied Micheal stepping back.

" Its just fine, nothing bad happened when I tried it." replied Reskeme, gesturing to the Oakwood spear. Micheal reached down one trembling hand and touched the shaft of the spear with one finger. Micheal flinched back, but when nothing happened. He breathed deeply and wrapped his hand around the shaft.

Reskeme watched with bated breath as Micheal to thrust the spear into the stump. Like Reskeme had, the spear tip smoked, sinking deeply into the stump. Reskeme noticed something odd. He could feel the trickle of mana being channeled from Micheal as the spear smoked. The sensation faded as Micheal drew out the spear.

" Fascinating." said Micheal staring in wonder at the spear in his hands.

" Was that you channeling your mana?" asked Reskeme.

" No, I just stabbed the spear into the stump." replied Micheal massaging his jaw.

" Was it the runes on the spear that did that?" asked Reskeme. Micheal shrugged his shoulders, looking from Reskeme to the spear, a smile splitting his face.

" If it pulls mana from the user, that means we can only sell them to mages. Luckily as part of a guild there will be a market for this kind of weapon." said Micheal thoughtfully.

" Why couldn't we just sell them to the regular soldiers?" replied Reskeme, the vision of a room filled with coins filling his head.

" They wouldn't be able to use it. The spear would try to channel mana. That would be bad. The regular soldier would not have the body to withstand the toxic mana. Did you grow up in a gutter? Everyone knows mages can channel mana because they are born with the ability from birth. Our bodies unconsciously draw mana from the minute we are born. That is why mages can channel the poisonous mana." said Micheal cocking his head at Reskeme.

" Well, I did not know that. And yes I grew up on the streets." replied Reskeme, shrugging his shoulders.

"Ooh, that explains your manners." said Micheal.

" What do you mean by that? My manners are not so bad." replied Reskeme.

" Dont look at me like that. You drank your bowl of soup last night like the stray dogs eat scraps. You were slurping, and you burped at the end." said Micheal grinning.

" And what's wrong with that?" asked Reskeme, crossing his arms.

" Nevermind. lets test the weapon on that piece of decorative scrap metal you call a sword." said Micheal eying the scrap metal in question.

Reskeme reached down and tried to draw the sabre for the first time since he had gotten it. The blade didn't come from the scabbard. Reskeme tugged again, the gold and silver-plated sword stuck firmly in its decorative scabbard. Setting down his spear and reaching down, Micheal gripped the hilt and tugged hard on the sabre.

The sword ground free, sounding like metal on stone. Reskeme grimaced as he stared it horror at the freed blade. Rust spotted the entire blade from the hilt to the point. Micheal chuckled, looking from the hilt to the blade.

" What a piece of junk, its rusted. Did you clean the blood from the blade before you sheathed it?" asked Micheal.

" I wiped it on a cloth." replied Reskeme defensively. Reskemes, visions of silver coins, drained down the gutter as his eyes roved the rusted sword.

" Judging by the weight of the sabre, this is not solid gold and silver. Its just plated, you might make a few silver from selling the hilt. But the rust looks like its been settling into the blade for a while now." said Micheal swinging the sabre in front of himself.

" Alright, I will swing the spear at you and you block it with the sabre." said Reskeme gripping the runed spear. Micheal eyed him like a moron, he then stabbed the sabre into the stump sticking straight from the log..

" Lets not to that! There is no way I'm going to let you swing that spear at me." replied Micheal walking past Reskeme.

Reskeme eyed the flat of the sabre. His unmoving target stood upright next to the pond. He lunged forward and thrust the spear into the flat of the useless, rusty sword. To Reskeme's complete surprise, the spear didn't glance off but dug into the flat of the blade, sinking several inches into the metal.

The metal smoked and caved around the edges of the spear as Reskeme pulled the point out of the sabre.

"That is crazy. If this spear can put a hole in that sword, it will pierce a breastplate." said Reskeme eyeing the spear with greed. He wanted more of these. If he had one, they would need serious armour to stop a thrust.

" That is why Rune smiths are so valuable. We can create weapons and armour that are strengthened by mana." said Micheal proudly.

" What will happen if I channel mana into the runes in the spear?" asked Reskeme.

" Dont do that. The reason we created runes on the shaft and on the blade is so the spear takes what the runes need from you. The spear will take mana, convert it to what the spear needs and then use it when you strike." said Micheal.

" Its just like battle runes. Just channel mana into the runes and they will make the runes more powerful." said Reskeme stubbornly.

" That sounds like a good idea, why don't you just break all of our hard work by doing something like that." said Micheal sarcastically.

" Wait, mana powers the runes. Why cannot I add mana myself?" asked Reskeme.

Micheal frowned and ran his hand through his short blond hair pondering.

"Its hard to explain. Runes forged into the infused metal alloy resonate with the steel. The runes will draw in mana from the mage holding the shaft to power them through the properties of the metal. You might not know it, but the materials mixed with the steel were as expensive as the titanium. The metal allows for the transferring of mana. The runes transform the mana and use it." said Micheal smiling happily..

" So you are saying this spear can draw in any mage's mana and convert it so it works just like when we use it?" asked Reskeme, confused.

" That I dont know. I hope so, or this will be a failure." said Micheal scratching the back of his head.

Reskeme stares at the sabre. The ruined sabre had a hole that Reskeme could put his pinkie finger through. The rust covering the blade brought him back to the fight with the Darva in the forest. On that night, if he failed to kill the damned monsters in time, then just maybe Dave wouldn't have died.

Reskeme re lived when Rory and Alexe's father had killed the Darva with the weapon. He thought nothing of it, cleaning the weapon on a tunic and thrusting it into the scabbard. Reskeme paused. Had he been selfish lately? He had been forcing the children to stay busy with walking and then taken them to the guild.

He sighed. They had been acting normal, so he wasn't sure what to do to help them? He pushed it out of his mind for now, his thoughts moving back to the mission.