Chapter 31: The Village (4)

Astreas blade. It was known as a sacred treasure in the Sun clan. It was one of the weapons the second clan head Astrea used in the war against the other rival clans.

He wielded the weapon, better known as the black blade alongside the darkened spear. Using his weapons, as well as an overwhelming blessing, the sun's covering, he defeated the rival clans.

That event was over 200 years ago but both his blade and spear were preserved over the ages. The best blacksmiths in the village would continue to sharpen and reforge them, modifying them to be weapons incapable of breaking, as well as cutting through any substance.

The only two individuals allowed to wield such items were the current chief of the clan, as well as any who inherited the same blessing Astrea had, the Sun's Covering.

So, now, when Ashur sat before the chief, it was only expected that the man's answer would be yes.

"No."

Dumbfounded by the answer, all Ashur could do was silently stare at him. There were so many questions popping through his head, so many in fact that he couldn't give a verbal response. All he could do was stare, as he tried his best to quell his mind addled by confusion.

A few seconds of silence later, he finally spoke. "May I ask why? The rules of the clan should permit me to."

"It's simple, I don't believe there would be worth in handling a blade like that."

Ashur started to ask another question however his face which remained covered in confusion spoke louder than anything else could have.

"Astrea. The first clan head was many things, a warrior, a leader, and a blessing user, but the aspect not talked about enough was his being a blacksmith. During the beginning of the war between the clans, he sought out something, anything to help give them an edge. Out of all the clans ours was the weakest so it was only natural to go searching for something to give us an advantage. He discovered a cave, one with a mysterious black ore. He could sense that there was something different about it, there was ancient energy leaking out. He took as much as he could hold before returning to the village, where he toiled for two weeks straight, and at the end of that period, he'd created the blade and spear."

"I didn't know about all of this but what does it have to do with me not being allowed to wield the blade?"

Charon, without addressing Ashur's question directly, continued speaking.

"So, after becoming chief, I inherited the texts and secrets of the clan. One of the first things I did was go to the site of the two weapons and that's when I learned that the blade is capable of communication. Not how you and I communicate or even how spirits and their contractors can. It's more of an innate feeling, or understanding rather. I was told by the weapon that it would only manifest an inch for each family member I have. Since that would be you, your brother, and my son only, it extended a mere three inches."

"That's odd. So would the same condition be applied to me if I tried to wield it?"

"I'm unsure. When I read the scrolls of past chiefs, many explained a similar issue. Being given a strange condition, one that they would either barely fall short of or not achieve at all. That's why I'd rather not have you take the black blade. I recommend you take the darkened spear instead, that weapon holds no conditions whatsoever."

"I see what you're saying now. Though I learned how to use a spear through training growing up, I've never used them in combat. I'd much rather use the blade, even if it only manifests slightly."

"Are you sure about that? If you're given an impossible condition in order to wield it, wouldn't that discourage you? Since you're planning to use it to fight your brother."

"…It might discourage me. But I'd rather take that chance than leave it undiscovered. I'm sure now based on what I know, Boreas killing Ultri and Severost is unprecedented. At my current strength, I'm not able to say I could have beaten Ultri, let alone both at the same time. That's why I would need the black blade. To give me an edge or advantage, just as it gave the second chief Astrea, an edge in the war."

Charon was now silent. He scratched his chin, his amber eyes locked with Ashur's own. The points being made were fair and sound. He would have been a fool to deny his nephew any further. The look in his eyes reminded him of his brother's. Astra, the 9th Chief of the clan. The resemblance between the two was uncanny.

"Alright, if your resolve has been steeled to that degree giving you the blade should be of no worry. The process should take place tomorrow, however, as it's getting late."

"That sounds good to me."

A knock outside of the door caught the two individuals' attention, stopping them from ending their discussion and exiting the office.

"Come in."

At Charon's command, the door opened. Behind it was a pink-haired individual. His head was lowered, and both of his hands were behind him.

"Excuse me for the intrusion chief. I came here to give my daily report." He said without looking up.

"Sounds good Marion. Proceed."

After being given the okay, the man lifted his head. His eyes which held clarity in them became muddied in a second. His gaze shifted from Charon to the man sitting across from him, Ashur. His one good eye was extremely wide, as his lips were stuck in between speaking and staying silent. He didn't know what to say to the man. Luckily for him, he wouldn't have to pick the right words, as Marion spoke first.

"Ashur… I will talk to you in private shortly. Now, Chief everything has been as it should. There are no brigands on our northern, or western borders. Besides Ashur visiting, he brought another, John Selvic, an adventurer. He doesn't seem to be a threat but even still I'm having some of our guards monitor him from a distance just in case."

"Very good Marion. I appreciate your dutifulness even though every day is just the same."

"Don't mention it, Chief." Marion shook his head adamantly in dismissal at Charon's praise.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but what is he doing here?" Ashur asked, his gaze fixed on Charon while his finger was pointed at Marion.

"Well, he's in charge of the defense corp here in the village."

The defense corps. The purpose of it was in the name. Those who joined it were tasked with the protection of the village and all who were in it. Monitoring those close to the area as well as those entering it was their job. Marion was the acting director of it, something that was new information to Ashur. The last time he was in the village, Marion was still a teenager, training to join the defense corp but nowhere near making it in.

"Congrats Marion." He said with a somewhat awkward smile. Marion simply nodded silently, not saying a word back to him.

The silence filling the room was extremely loud and Charon, sensing there were things that needed to be said, stood up.

"You two may talk in my office room. I have to get back to dinner after all." Without leaving much room for discussion, he started making his way toward the door. Marion stepped out of his way, lowering his head respectfully while Ashur reached his hand out, the expression on his face said, "Don't go!" But even he knew it was most likely for the best. It would have been awkward and like Marion had said when first walking in, it was a private conversation.

After the door shut, Marion raised his head. In the office room they were in, there were several things such as a shelf with many books, specifically historical texts lining it as well as a couch, chairs, a desk, and a glass table. Ashur was sitting in the chair in front of the desk but Marion, instead of sitting behind the desk, where Charon was seated, went over to the couch. He plopped down on it.

"Sit across from me." His voice, while maintaining its rigidness from earlier, became cold as well.

Ashur obliged, moving over to a different seat, this one was directly across from the couch Marion was sitting on, the glass table being the only thing separating the two.

The man was shooting daggers at Ashur, who returned the malice with softened eyes. The two weren't exactly close before he left, given their decent age gap, but since he was close with his sister the two would interact often.

There was so much he wanted to say, like how Marion had grown up into a fine young man, and seemingly accomplished a great deal given his title as the acting director of the defense corp. Those words couldn't leave his lips however, the malice oozing from the man cut out any possibility of such a conversation from taking place.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I just wanted to hear what was going through your head. How she was killed and why you showed your scarred face here."

"There's no excuse. I knew deep in my gut something was wrong. When I heard about people supposedly being attacked in the city, it felt off. But still, I let my foolish sense of justice cloud my judgment. If I had been at there at the building I could ha-"

"Shut up. Don't talk about what could have been. It's not real, just a fallacy. I don't know about you but I live in reality. A reality where I've lived every day to become stronger so I could put everyone's mind at ease. So my little sisters can never worry about bandits or anything in between harming them. Don't talk about what you wish, or your foolish ideals, talk about the here and now!"

His voice was stern, but surprisingly there wasn't any anger in it. Ashur expected the man to yell or even hiss at him, but his voice was low and calm. His eyes were burning with anger, however, it didn't flow to his voice. Ashur was silent, as he tried to process everything the man said.

Was it possible that he was consoling him? It was like he was telling him the line of thought he was going through was a waste of time. That he should be focused on the present, on what he could do currently.

Marion continued speaking.

"Don't think that I'm forgiving you. Due to your mistakes and misjudgments my older sister is no longer here… That's something I can't excuse, so in turn you better do the honorable thing and avenge her. I'm tied to this village, both physically with my family still being here and metaphorically with my title as the acting director but that doesn't mean I can accept her death."

With his vocal acknowledgment of Mary being gone, for the first time, his gaze softened. A deep sorrow lay behind them.

He wished things could have been different. If the rule about those physically leaving the village being ex-communicated wasn't there, he would have left to take down those responsible for his sister's death with his own two hands. However, things weren't that simple so the only option was to rely on Ashur to do what he himself could not.

"I understand what you mean. I… won't say sorry. I know that such words won't mean a thing to you so instead I'll show you. No matter how long it takes, I will hunt them. Until their leader is before me, on his knees in defeat I will push on. They took the only woman I have ever loved and for that, they'll have hell to pay."

A slight smirk grew on Marion's face. From the resolve burning in Ashur's eyes, he believed him.

He still held contempt for him of course, as the man who influenced his sister to leave their village, to leave him, and eventually meet her end, but he could respect him at least. The same couldn't be said for his partner John, however.

There was a significant difference. The fact an outsider, one not belonging to the clan or even being close with his sister, now held Annerose sickened him to no end. He would never forgive Annerose, or the outsider, for their actions.

Marion stood up off the couch, averting his gaze from Ashur to the door. "Well, that's all I wanted to discuss."

"Didn't you also want to know why I was here?"

"I can guess. It's most likely related to Boreas. I assume he did something horrific again."

"Yes, I came for the Blade of Astrea to use against him. He killed Ultri and Severost."

Marion, before he could take a step toward the door, froze. He whipped around, his eyes burning with rage.

"He did WHAT?"

The man's voice shook the room as he shouted. He quickly covered his mouth however, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yes… He killed them." Ashur had a hand over one of his ears, as he wasn't quick enough to cover both.

He was surprised by the power in the man's voice. Being able to shake a room with your voice alone was typically an ability only high B ranking adventurers and above held. That told Ashur all he needed to know.

Marion spoke the truth, that he aimed to grow stronger every day and he was doing a pretty good job of it. The display meant he was truly strong already, and his continuing to seek greater heights was somewhat inspiring to Ashur.

"Now I get it. I could see why you would seek out the legendary weapon. If he could defeat both of them, even with the blade it could prove challenging. You don't think he would come here do you?" A look of worry was on Marion's face as he questioned Ashur.

"I'm not too sure. I stopped being able to understand him seven years ago when he massacred the so-called "rebels" in our other village."

"I guess I have to train even more then…" Marion mumbled under his breath, his fist clenched tightly.

He wouldn't dare lessen the intensity of his training, just as he wouldn't dare keep doing the same old routines.

It was fair to say he was the strongest person in the village so if he wasn't able to defeat Boreas should he ever attack, no one could. He quickly left the room, not saying another word to Ashur. His eyes were looking at something distant as he made his way through the mansion. Around him, a brown and murky aura started to flow out.

"So, what's the plan Marion?"

"Simple, Gi. We train even harder than before."