Blood dripped down from the beast's mouth as he spat out what remained of the old man. Adrian quivering at the sight of what had just happened couldn’t believe what he saw. The screams of terror filled the inn as the crex began to move towards the people who were trying to run away.
Adrian smiled slightly as he stood up, carrying an air of dignity as if he had survived countless battles, eyes reminiscent of a warrior looking far off in the sky at the futility of this materialistic world.
He took up a sword that was lying among the fresh batch he had just brought and held it up like an old sword master about to display the finest of skills.
“Just leave this beast to me!” Adrian exclaimed ad he charged in shouting “For Elisia!”
As Adrian rushed towards the crex, the wolf, startled by the noise, turned backwards immediately. As its tail was about to hit Adrian, Adrian dived down to dodge the tail. Now face to face with the crex, Adrian swung the sword with all his might at the wolf’s chest.
‘Yes! The hit landed!! That should do the trick, now all I need to do is-’
Adrian looked in horror as the wolf was unfazed by the attack. With a snarl, it swung down its claw at Adrian, causing him to crash down. He lay there bleeding on the floor unable to move, the hit had broken two of his ribs and shattered his left shoulder. Adrian could hear the wolf’s howl as it moved towards the other people present at the inn.
Adrian looked back and slammed his fist on the ground, “NO!!”.
Just then a tall amiable looking man, wearing a hood, unfazed by the happenings and simply drinking his ale, stood up from his seat and walked over to Adrian. He turned to the crex and sighed as he spoke to him, “Listen, kid, for an unawakened you’ve got the guts, but you need more than that when dealing with a grade 3 crex.”
“A grade 3 crex can’t be hurt with just a blade alone. You need to pour some mana into it to deal any damage.” the man explained as he took hold of a cross from his belt.
The simple-looking tool in his hand appeared to be nothing more than an ornamental cross, yet was weirdly captivating. Its hilt appeared to be bound by white leather at its handle and the cross itself seemed to be fashioned out of some white metal of some sort, with a matte finish. The only distinct feature about it being the dazzling green gem embedded at its centre.
As he held it up, he raised the cross and drove it across his back, over his head slamming into something with a ‘click’ sound. A blade emerged attached to the cross. The blade was almost a meter long and had strange inscriptions on it. The cross had transformed into a handle, attached to the end of the blade.
The sword itself now resembled a giant cross and radiated light green mana emerging from those inscriptions. Just by being near it, Adrian could feel the pressure on his very being increasing, as a slight breeze sprung up from the sword.
The man stepped towards the crex, unshaken by the howls of the wild beast glaring at him. The crex raised its claw as it started to grow sharper and started to emit black mana. The man, looking unbothered by the fact, swung his blade up in an arc, and as if in a single moment, the crex was cut cleanly in half.
The man’s sword, however, still looked brand new, not a single drop of blood staining it. He let out a tired sigh “What a man needs to do to enjoy his beer, am I right?” he said calmly.
The guards had already arrived at the site, and the man seemed to order them to clean up what rubble there was and the body of the beast. The last thing Adrian saw was the man walking towards him as his conscience drifted away.
The next thing he knew, Adrian woke up in a bed, bandages all over his chest and shoulder. He recognised the place as the local nursing home, having taken many guild members there when they were injured. A nurse came in and smiled sweetly, “You are awake. How are you feeling?”
He tried to sit up, but his head hurt badly and he almost felt like he would faint immediately. “Oh don’t try moving about just yet. You aren’t fully healed, you know?”
“Wh…who brought me here?” he asked as he rubbed his temples.
“A person in a hooded robe. He gave his name as-”
“Aero.” a voice finished the sentence as the very person who had saved Adrian’s life walked in.
“How are ya holding on kid? You were roughed up quite a bit you know?”
“Sir Aero” Adrian started, “I don’t know how to thank you enough for saving my life.”
The man named Aero gave a short good-humoured laugh. “Don’t mention it kid. Just doing my job. But you shouldn’t be so reckless. Someone won’t be there to always save you at death’s door.”
“Hmmm,” the man thought for a second “You look well into your teen's kid” he asked, “I heard you are from a prominent guild around here from the nurses, so I'm curious as to why you didn't attack that crex with any mana even though you know how to handle a sword.”
“I……I was unable to develop a mana core when I reached adolescence, sir, so all I have ever known is how to use a blade"
“That's the reason I was unable to help my father with his guild master duties.”
The two sat there in silence for a moment
“I’m sorry.… I didn’t mean to bring up such a topic.” Aero said in a soft voice.
“It's fine” Adrian exclaimed, “my old man did make me pretty good with the sword over the years, so that’s something I don't mind,” Adrian replied goofily with the best smile he could muster.
“However I am quite curious,” Adrian asked, “How did you slash a wolf crex in half like that? Also, I have never seen a blade like that around here before, even though there is almost every kind of weapon available at the shops of Lionheart.”
“Oh this, this here is called an exquisa, a special blade that is only granted to higher-ranking church officials like me,” Aero explained.
“An exquisa?” Adrian asked confused.
“It’s more of a mana tool than a weapon. It's a special blade that can store and release a kind of mana its user is aligned with, and also lets us exercise greater control over mana that would otherwise not be possible.” Aero explained as he held the cross out.
Taking a better look at the cross, Adrian noticed the intricate yet simple golden details inlaid across its surface giving it a regal look, and even though he didn’t have a core Adrian could feel the palpable amount of mana the cross exuded.
“Wait, so with a blade like that we can release and store mana?!!” Adrian asked surprised “So does that mean with something like that even someone like me can use mana!”
“Well…… to a certain extent,” Aero said, “however you won't be able to control it, so it will be like shooting off crude mana.”
“Plus, we really can’t just go around giving exquisas to every mana-less person now can we? It's only for high-ranking officials, remember?” Aero said.
Hearing that, Adrian slumped, feeling dejected that even though there might be a way he could finally use mana and join the guild like his father, it was still out of his grasp.
Seeing Adrian sulk like that, Aero started laughing. After calming down, he turned to Adrian “Listen kid, as I said I can't just gift you an exquisa, but that doesn’t mean I can't help you.” Aero exclaimed.
“You can?” Adrian asked with his brow raised.
“Stop giving me that look kid, of course, I can.” Aero grinned.
“I am a Paladin after all.”
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