Chapter 5 - The Sword and Wand

Hey guys, here is chapter 5 of Zero's Dogma. In here, I try to describe how the countries of FoZ are laid out based on a map in the manga. I also tried to add more to the map of Gransys because there isn't much information on the lands beyond it. All of the lands that I said are neighboring Gransys are actually real in DD, but are not really explained so I tried. The Atlas Mountains is something I made up. Sitnalta is what I called the mainland and the Leonart Empire is the government there. So yeah if anything is incorrect, let me know and I will try to fix it. Also the wand maker is an OC. I'll try not to introduce too many OCs and stick to canon characters. The store is called The Magician's Respite in English and I used Google Translate for it because I don't speak French (if it's grammatically incorrect, blame Google). I also gave you guys a glimpse into the Arisen's history. In-game Arisen's back story is relatively empty so I created my own. On to your comments!

Incoqnito - Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. Well, I did mention that eiss is poisonous and that mana backlash hurts like a b****. And thank you tremendously for recommending that website. It will come in handy for future chapters.

Ddragon21, Schattenlos, and TheDarkSpade- It always bothered me as to why others can cast at least Dot-level spells of different elements but she can't. And here we are, she can now cast some Dot-level spells like the others.

As always, read, comment, enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero

On the Road - to Tristania

Louise and Mikhail had been riding for the past hour in silence; Louise was too preoccupied with imagining the worst of fates for he ones who ridiculed her now that she can do magic, and Mikhail was taking in his surroundings and making a mental map to avoid future mishaps. This was his first time outside of the academy grounds and everything was freshly unexplored for him. This was also his first time ever riding a horse. Sure, he has seen some in Cassardis, but he has never rode one until now, he used to be a fisherman to earn money. This was also the last time he would ever ride one if he had his way. How his Master could ride these things for hours on end was a mystery to him. The surroundings were pleasant, vast open stretches of green pastures and a few trees here and there. The bright sun brought out even more of this land's charm. This peaceful scenery reminded the Pawn of better times, when all you had worry about was not falling into the deeper parts of the ocean, not chasing down dragons, traversing through catacombs to face cults, crossing the ocean to explore a desolate isle, descending through the depths of Gran Soren, or facing the Maker itself.

Mikhail was brought of his reverie when his Master asked him a question "Hey Mikhail, where did you learn how to do magic? Because a capable mage like yourself should have been well known or at least have a reputation."

"I started my endeavors in the magicks when I was young with a friend and some dusty ancient tomes. We were the best in our little village. When we were older, he left the village to pursue higher levels of magick while I stayed to repay the village chief for all of his help when we were growing and to help protect the village." Mikhail still remembers his friend, the guy was a genius. He found ways to cast Sorcery spells even though he had well below average levels of mana. He had published several papers that changed the magickal world and was even the leader of the Duke's personal council of Sorcerers and scholars later on.

"So you are a self-taught mage then?" Louise hummed. She had never heard of a self-taught mage of this caliber before. Her familiar had never talked about himself before so it was a surprise to find out that this mage had such an upbringing. Nevertheless, this man had helped her cast magic so his poor upbringing was soon forgotten in favor of learning more about him.

Noticing her familiar avidly looking around, Louise just had to ask "Are you new to Tristain? Where are you from?"

"Yes Master, I am new to the country of Tristain, I have never even heard of Tristain before."

"Never heard of Tristain!? Even though we are not the strongest country, everyone at least knows of it! What kind of backwater village did you grow up in? Don't tell me that you don't know about Gallia, Albion, or Germania either."

"I also do not know of those countries as well. If you could explain them to me, it would be greatly appreciated Master."

Louise sighed. How could such a great mage be so ignorant of the world? Resigning herself to explaining this to her familiar, she raised her index finger, lifted her chin and began to explain.

"The Kingdom of Tristain is relatively small compared to the other countries, however we are still a vital center for trade and commerce among the countries. To the east is the massive Kingdom of Germania. They boast the biggest infantry in all of Halkeginia due to their huge population. To the south is the Kingdom of Gallia. They are relatively peaceful and involved in a lot of trade, especially in ores. South of Gallia lies the Holy Empire of Romalia. That is the center of the Brimiric religion. And then finally, the Kingdom of Albion is on an island off the coast of Halkeginia, to the west of Tristain. Albion is actually not a regular island but a floating island."

"A floating... island? How is that even possible?" Through all of his life, Mikhail had never heard of a floating island, he never even knew that was a thing. If he had known, life might have been more fun.

"Although there are many theories, the most widely accepted one is that the levels of windstones underneath Albion grew to such an extent that one day it just floated to the sky and never came back down. That is why the only way to reach the country is via flying ships."

"Flying ships..." Mikhail whispered. This new land was just full of interesting things. Nodding his head, he was determined to one day convince his Master to journey around the country just so that he can explore all of it.

"You never answered my question. Where are you from?" the pink haired girl asked.

Pondering for a second, Mikhail began to explain the land of Gransys, "I was raised in the small fishing village called Cassardis in Gransys. The village was self-sufficient, but due to an unfortunate incident, it became a territory of Gransys.

The Duchy of Gransys is ruled by Duke Edmun Dragonsbane. Gransys has the ocean to the east and south. Further east of Gransys's oceanic coast is the huge Kingdom of Meloire. To the northwest of Gransys is the Kingdom of Hearthstone. To the west is the Duchy of Liore and north of Gransys is the Grand Duchy of Voldoa. Liore and Gransys lie on the Liogran Peninsula and is separated from the mainland by a massive mountain range called the Atlas Mountains. All of these countries are allied with each other and report to the Leonart Empire on the mainland."

Louise had never heard of these lands before. Then a thought hit her: east of Halkeginia lies the Sahara Desert and past that is the mysterious land of Rub' al Khali. Was her familiar from there? No one knew anything concrete about those lands so it is possible.

"Are those lands in Rub' al Khali?" Louise asked, hopeful that she might have brought a high ranking mage from an unknown land.

"No Master. They are in the continent of Sitnalta."

With that, an awkward silence consumed Louise. Mikhail was oblivious to that and went back to observing his surroundings.

Tristania, Capital of Tristain

The duo finally arrived in Tristania. Mikhail was amazed by the sheer size of the city. Gran Soren pales in comparison. Tristania, like Gran Soren was srrounded by huge walls, but unlike Gran Soren, Tristania was way bigger. Mikhail speculated that it was at least five times bigger. Tristania was also more heavily populated, the streets were jammed pack with people milling about. All of the buildings were at least two stories tall and all of them were made of stone. The cathedral was hard to miss, it was one of the tallest buildings in the entire city. It was also one of the most gorgeous buildings there. Mikhail was never one for art, but the artistic details on the building were admirable and noteworthy; it seemed to be made entirely out of white marble. The gate that Louise and Mikhail entered was decorated and had a lot of servants running about. Every person who entered the same entrance wore extravagant clothing, Mikhail assumed that this was where the rich people entered. Louise led them both to a small stable where a stable boy took their horses.

As Louise led the two of them through the stone-paved streets, Mikhail was busy looking around him once again. The city was bright and vibrant. Eventually, Louise led them to a small store with.

"Here we are! This store is called La relève de The Magician. It is owned by the Sauveterre family, who also have close ties to my family. In fact, all of the specialized wands that my family has was made by the Sauveterres. Ok! Let's go in and get my new wand!" Louise practically skipped inside the building with a wide grin on her face.

The insides of the store betrayed its humble exterior, it was absolutely stunning! Well, to a user of magic at least. There were all sorts of magical trinkets and artifacts, grimoires of all kinds, and a variety of foci from a simple wooden wand to magnificent staff to an ornate looking jewel. Everything that a mage could hope for was stocked in this small store. Mikhail tried not to let the stunning display show on his face, although he was slowly following Louise like a child in a candystore, ogling at all of the products as they pass. However, Mikhail could spot the discreetly placed runes on the walls, probably a feature to prevent theft.

Louise walked right up to the front counter and ringed a small bell. Immediately a tall, orange haired lady wearing a green tunic and black apron emerged from a door behind the counter.

"Hello! How may I he- Louise! How are you?" squealed the lady. "It's been such a long time. How is everyone back at the estate? I know that your father said that we didn't need to but we really appreciate the help in setting up our business so you get a discount."

Louise was still smiling, but this time she smiled at seeing an old friend. "Adrienne, it's nice to see you again too. I'm feeling better than ever! And everyone back at the estate is fine."

Mikhail, finally regaining focus, took up his position behind and slightly to the left of Louise. He studied the lady. Sweaty brows, hair tied back, saw dust on the apron, thick gloves. She seemed to have been working on something before coming out to greet his Master. His Master was genuinely happy to meet this lady and vice versa. Then, a tall burly man emerged from the same door as the lady. The man was sporting what seemed to be a permanent scowl, that is until he saw Louise. His faced quickly morphed into a grin that stretched from ear to ear, showing off his pearly whites, and still managing to look scary.

"Louise!" the man boomed "Hahaha! It is nice to see you again!"

"Ah, Dmitri, it is nice to see you too." Louise's smile grew wider, almost as if to compete with Dmitri's wide grin. The three chatted for a few minutes, forgetting that there was a fourth person in the room. That was fine with Mikhail, just listening to these people talk was quiet enjoyable.

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It was about 30 minutes later when Adrienne finally asked the question with a smirk, "So, who is this hunk behind you?"

Louise turned around and saw that her familiar was just standing there, unmoving and staring straight ahead. She then mentally slapped herself for forgetting about what they were there for.

"Oh, right. This is my familiar Mikhail. This brings me back to the reason why we're her."

"You mean you weren't here just to visit an old lonely couple?" Adrienne said in a hurt tone.

"N-no no, we came to visit you too!" Louise added quickly.

"Haha, she's just kidding lass, no need to worry about us being lonely, if you know what I mean" Dmitri said while waggling his eyebrows. He then received a well deserved punch from Adrienne on the shoulder. The lady was visibly blushing but quickly settled down.

Mikhail had learned from the conversation that Adrienne and Dmitri were wed just a year ago and were, surprisingly, only in their mid-to-late-20s. Adrienne, Mikhail could understand because she still looked young, but Dmitri was a whole different story. He had tanned skin and bulging muscles, and his permanent scowl made him look like he was at least a decade older. The Pawn had also found out that the couple were, indeed, the best wand makers in the entire country. Their wands were also highly sought after in other countries although they weren't sold outside of Tristain. With the help of the Valliere family, the couple could finally open their own shop. Before then, they were servants of the Vallieres.

"I want you to create a specialized wand for me," said Louise.

"A specialized wand, eh... Ok, I'll move you to the top of the list just because it's you. It's the least we could do to repay back your family" said Dmitri. He then took out a catalog containing the pieces of a wand that could be used to make a new wand.

"Actually, I want you to create one accordingly to how my familiar describes it."

"Ooh? Is he a wand maker too?"

"No, he isn't, but there must be special runes engraved on it to make it how I want it. He also has a special type of wood that I want the wand to be made out of."

"Ok then, Mister Mikhail," Adrienne started "How should it be done?"

Mikhail grabbed the Gransys Oak from his treasury and handed it over. "This wood is called the Gransys Oak. It is extremely light as you can tell. The wood is really dense despite that. Shape it into a wand and then engrave these runes," he handed over a piece of paper with the runes written on it "exactly how it is, running down the wand from tip to handle. Oh, and embed this stone on the tip of it." The white haired man handed over a perfectly round purple crystal.

Dmitri examined the wood for a minute before saying "Alright, we'll be done in about three hours. Come pick it up then."

"We'll be back later." said Louise. The couple went through the door to their workshop while Louise and Mikhail left to explore the city.

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"Master, is there a place that buys or sells weapons nearby? I would like to sell some of my weapons and possibly get some new ones." Mikhail asked. Truthfully, Mikhail's "treasury" was more like a dump. Back in Gransys, he collected just about everything he could for no reason other than that he could. This led to him owning even a rusted sword that was worthless.

Louise was still happy so she simply nodded and motioned for him to follow. They walked for several minutes until they entered a dark alley. Then they stopped in of a store with a shield and sword on a sign. They entered.

"Welc- oh hello there. As you can see, we are a legitimate business, no funny business here." The shopkeeper smiled nervously while repeatedly rubbing his hands pants.

'If this is his best at faking a legitimate business than he needs to stop. He is a stain on all dealers' thought Mikhail. 'Mountebank could teach him a thing or two.'

Louise walked right up to the man, putting on a scowl due to how run down the shop was on the inside, "Do you buy weapons?"

"A-ah yes Madam," the man stuttered. Mikhail took this as a cue to start negotiating prices for his weapons. Even though he had millions of gold, the currency in Gransys is unlikely compatible with Tristain's. However before he could, he heard a soft snicker. Mikhail looked around, but he couldn't see any body else. The snicker evolved into a full blown laugh.

"AHAHAHAHA! Looks like you can't 'work your magic' on this little girl!" said a voice. Mikhail followed the voice until he reached a barrel full of rusty swords. He narrowed the laughter down to one rusted steel sword. The sword was still laughing, visibly moving up and down in its sheath. If it had a body, it would probably be bent over laughing. "Oh boy, haven't laughed like that in a loooong time. Thanks for that kiddo!"

Mikhail kept looking at the talking sword. And then he gripped it and gently took it out of the barrel. As soon as he touched the sword, Mikhail felt foreign mana rush through him. All information regarding the usage of a sword appeared in his head in an instant. It was not useful in any way for the Pawn already knew all of this, however the buff that this foreign magic source was welcomed. He felt just a little bit lighter and stronger. Deciding to study this phenomenon later, Mikhail refocused on the sword. He unsheathed the blade and frowned at how rusted it was. He returned the sword back into the sheath and then walked over to the shopkeeper and said, "I'll take this sword."

"Oi, what's the deal old man? You don't just 'take' me," the sword angrily said at the Pawn.

Mikhail then took out a thin rapier from his treasury and set it on the counter, "I'll trade for it. This is a Silver Rapier. Acceptable?"

The shopkeeper, glad to be taken back into familiar territory, picked up the Silver Rapier and inspected it. He was shocked to find out that the rapier was really made out of high quality silver and the engravings on the hilt and basket of the sword were of superb quality. A sword like this could easily go for 1000-1500 ecu. 'What kind of fool would trade this kind of sword for a scrap of rusted metal' thought the shopkeeper, 'Whatever, his loss.'

With a brilliant smile, the shopkeeper agreed, "Very acceptable."

Louise was stunned. Even though she wasn't knowledgeable on swords, she knew that the Silver Rapier was definitely high quality. And Mikhail was just going to hand it over for that rusted sword? 'Does he even know how valuable that silver sword is?' Louise thought.

Mikhail walked over to Louise and noticed her staring. He was puzzled as to why for a moment and then realized that, yes, to the unknowing, it looked like he just handed over mansion and received an outhouse in return. "Master, don't worry. I know how expensive the Silver Rapier is and how it could fetch a high price. Relax, I still have a lot of them, and truthfully, I'm the one who got the better deal out of this exchange."

"So you do know how great I am huh old man," the sword said. If it had a mouth, it probably would have smirked. Having somebody who could finally realize just how great he was made the sword's mood lighten up. "Well, clean out your ears and listen up because you're only going to hear this once: I am the great Derflinger. I gladly accept you as my new partner."

"Likewise Derflinger," replied Mikhail.

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Outside of the store, Kirche and Tabitha were secretly observing the duo. While Kirche was simply ogling the white haired man, Tabitha was still trying to figure out how the mysterious man could pull objects out of nowhere. When Louise and the man started heading towards the door, Kirche dashed away, dragging Tabitha by the neck of her cloak.

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Louise and Mikhail returned to La relève de The Magician. When they entered, Mikhail was pounced on by Dmitri. "Where did you get this type of wood boyo? It is wonderful!"

"From my homeland. Do you want more?" Mikhail pulled out an entire stack of the Gransys Oak and some seeds. "You can have these free of charge. These are seeds of the Gransys Oak. Just treat them like any other tree and it should grow flawlessly."

Dmitri picked Mikhail up in a bear hug and spun him around while laughing. "You'll make me a rich man sonny. Thank you!"

Adrienne had given the wand to Louise and was talking to her, so she was unable to stop her husband. When Mikhail was finally put down, her stumbled over to the two women, Dmitri went to put the wood away.

"Master, please try out the wand and see if it works," the Pawn said, struggling to remain standing from all the spinning. Louise chanted a simple fire spell and it worked flawlessly. She grinned and hugged Mikhail as well.

After some parting words, the duo left the store, Louise already had a 25 percent discount and the free gift from Mikhail had made the wand free.

On the Road - to Academy

Louise had named her new wand after her old nickname: The Zero. While Louise was rubbing her new wand on her cheeks, Mikhail was talking to his new sword. "So, when was the last time you got cleaned and polished Derflinger?"

"Just call me Derf. And its been a long time since partner," said the sword. "Why are still this little girl's familiar? Someone like you should be able to be rid of those runes easily."

After only a few words with the sword, Mikhail felt like he could be himself whenever he was talking to the sword, a sort of kinship between the two. "I have chosen to serve this girl with my life. Until I am no longer of use, I will remain faithfully by her side. And just between the two of us, I was bored," Mikhail grinned.

"Heh, it's not everyday when one gets to meet a bored Seneschal who willingly serves a girl."

"By the way Derf, how did you know my true identity? I'm sure that no one here knows about such things." This had bugged him ever since they started talking.

"Hey, I'm 6000 years old here, you're not the first one to have picked me up. Although you are the most unique one."

"I guess," Mikhail smiled sheepishly. "Just so you know, I'm going to be a Sorcerer for most of the time so I won't be using you much. Sorry."

"Relax, partner. Remember that thing that happened in the shop? That was magic stemming from your runes. That means that you can still use me, even as a Sorcerer."

"Huh. I never knew that, thanks Derf."

"No problemo partner."

Louise's Room

Louise was in bed but she couldn't sleep. Today's events were just too overwhelming for her. She can finally cast magic now! She tossed and turned until she grew sleepy. When the duo had returned, it was already getting late. They stepped into Alviss Hall for a quick dinner and then left for Louise's room.

As Louise began to slip into a deep slumber, a thought appeared in her head.

'Crap! The Evaluation Fair is in a couple days! What am I going to do for it!?'