Hey guys, MT here!
So, I'm not really gonna have a specific day of the week I'm going to post anymore. I'll still get a chapter out weekly but it will be one a random day of the week.
Anyways, ENJOY!
Chapter 63
"So what is it that you want to know, exactly?" asked Gramma, curiously, as Saito and co sipped some of their tea.
"Well, we would like some information on your country in general. There isn't a lot known about the government and capital," said Saito. Gramma 'Hm'ed as she thought and then took out a piece of paper and pen. She drew what looked like a rough draft of a map of the Dwarven kingdom. She then drew a small X on the map a bit off center.
"This is where the capital is. The capital is called Niflheim and is one of the most naturally fortified cities in all of Lukamagiska. The city is surrounded by sheer cliffs and there are only 3 entrances into the city which are guarded all day and night. If you are trying to gain access, I suggest going around midday as the guards are much more lax around this time since they don't think someone would try to infiltrate the city in broad daylight. As for the government, at the top is our king, King Hreidmar Skjold followed by his three sons, the strategist Prince Reginn, the warrior Prince Fafnir, and the lax Prince Otr. Each of their titles basically describes how they are so it would be best to remember then. After the princes, the nobles have charge and after that are just commoners such as ourselves," explained Gramma. Saito processed this new information and then leaned back.
"How advanced is your technology? From what Hreidmar sent to attack us, it seems to be pretty advanced," said Saito, seriously.
"Well, our war technology has been advancing rapidly for the last ten years but other than that we are just beginning to use electricity by burning coal, though it hasn't really made it out here yet. It's mostly used for mining machines. For war technology, there isn't much I know about. Many nobles are in the dark of the complexity of the technology so we commoners lack any knowledge about it," explained Gramma, frowning a bit at the end as she couldn't help more.
"It's no problem. It'd be too easy if you could tell us all about what they have in store. This is all good information, though. We should be better prepared now that we know all this," said Saito, smiling brightly. Gramma smiled a small smile and Helle came up next to her before whispering something in her ear.
"What? The Drasil tree is acting strange?" asked Gramma, shocked.
"What's the Drasil tree?" asked Louise, curiously. Gramma turned to her and beckoned everyone to follow her before they all exited the town hall.
"The Drasil tree is an ancient tree that has been in this town since its founding nearly five thousand years ago and is thought to have been here for several thousand years before that. It is a sacred tree that legend says even Brimir paid homage to. It's generally well-behaved but there have been times in its history where it has acted strange," explained Gramma as the group walked.
"Strange? It's a tree," said Asuna, bluntly, to which Saito nodded in agreement.
"See for yourself," said Gramma, pointing in front of her. The group members looked in the direction she pointed and they could see a tremendous tree, at least 30 feet tall, with a very wide canopy consisting of various shades of dark green. Saito assumed that by acting strange Gramma meant the fact that something akin to fairy dust was pouring off of the leaves of the and dropping down like rain. They could see a small crowd around the tree and their attention shifted when the group got close to the tree.
"Hm…I haven't seen this happen in decades," said Gramma, her face contorted in worry by it. Saito watched the sparkles for a moment and then walked towards the tree and into the sparkle rain. He put his hand out to catch some and the sparkles died out in his hand.
"Partner, this seems really familiar," said Derf, catching Saito's attention.
"Do you remember something, Derf?" asked Saito, curiously. Derf remained silent for a moment as he thought and then popped out of the scabbard again.
"Go up to the tree and place a hand on it. I feel like it will react to you. I can faintly remember coming here with Sasha but that's as far as I go," said Derf. Saito nodded and walked up to the tree, causing Louise to call out to him in worry, before he placed his hand on the trunk of the tree. The sparkles suddenly increased and Saito's runes, both on his forehead and hand, glowed, faintly. He could barely see the crowd behind him but the trunk of the tree was very clear. A kind of crunching sounded and he looked at the trunk above his hand and could see the wood morphing to form letters. The letters formed were clear to read and Saito's eyes widened as he read them.
"I-I can read this? It's in Japanese? How…?" said Saito in shock.
"It's possible that the tree created writing best suited to the one touching it," said Derf. "What does it say, Partner?"
"You who serves a mage of Void and who has lost their life to protect the world several times are needed once again. I, the Drasil tree, will bestow on you an item that was entrusted to me from Brimir many millennia ago," read Saito. "How is it going to give me something? Better yet, where could it be keeping it?"
Just after Saito had said that, he heard the crunching sound again and he could see the words fade away before something bulged in the trees bark. The bulge was shaped like a rectangle and continued to protrude out until the bark broke and warped around the object. It fell out of the tree a moment later and Saito caught it with his free hand. He inspected it and found it to be a small golden ring with symbols on it that looked like magical creatures and stars.
Saito's inspection was interrupted when he, once again, heard the crunching sound and he looked up to find more words appearing.
"Its powers will activate when the time comes, so wear it always," read Saito, aloud. He scrunched up his brow in confusion but nodded. He could see the sparkles quickly disappearing and the words disappeared as well. He removed his hand from the tree and slipped the ring on his right hand ring finger.
"Saito!" shouted Louise, causing Saito to turn she ran into him and put her hands on him before looking him over. "Are you alright?! We couldn't get through the sparkle rain and I was worried something happened to you."
"I'm alright. The tree gave me this ring and said it was something Brimir had left here. I'm pretty sure this tree is a nature spirit like that water spirit we had met with a long time ago," said Saito, calmly. Louise seemed to relax and Saito smiled before patting her on the head. He turned towards the group he had been in before and focused specifically on Gramma. "Gramma, we really need to get going. Even the Drasil tree seems to be having issues with what's going on."
Gramma nodded with a serious expression and everyone moved out to prepare for later on.
Later that night back in Halkeginia…
"Huh? Where am I?" said Henrietta's voice which echoed in the black space. She looked around her and then a bright light shined a bit away. She floated towards it and the light blew up, suddenly, created a scenery around her. It was dark and raining, hard. Henrietta found herself on the ground in her night robes and looked around with a confused expression. She looked down and found herself on some dark, stone bricks and got up before walking around.
"RAAAHHHH!" said a voice from nearby. Henrietta walked towards the noise and she found Louise fighting a large, metallic golem. She was shooting spell after spell at it but it was blowing them off. Saito then came in with Derf in his lightning blade form and sliced at the golem, cutting into the metal before being smacked away by a giant hand. "Saito!"
"Stay away, Louise!" shouted Saito before leaping to his feet and slashing at the golem again. Henrietta attempted to call out to them but they didn't react to her words. She watched as Saito and the golem continued to fight while Louise watched without doing anything. Henrietta wondered why Louise wasn't helping and realized that Saito and the golem were fighting dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. Henrietta immediately ran out towards them but she was too late as she watched some of the bricks at the edge break and Saito and the golem fell off.
"NOO! SAITO-DONO!" shouted Henrietta, tears in her eyes, as she looked over the edge of the cliff. "SAITOOOOOOOO!"
"SAITOOOOO!" shouted Henrietta as she suddenly sat up in bed. She looked around in a panic while sweating profusely. The young queen realized she was in her bed in her room, she sighed and then ran her fingers through her hair. "What…What was that?"
She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked towards the window to find the usual sight of the two moons obscured by dark storm clouds.
"I have a bad feeling," said Henrietta to herself, worriedly.
So? What did you guys think?
Strange ring given to Saito? Premonitions from Henrietta? What's going on? Who knows?!
Review and let me know what you guys think the ring will do as well as what you think will be happening to Saito. Until next time...byeee :D