Enmity of Atlas

“That’s-” Trenton started, before a sudden wave of lethargy overwhelmed him. He sat back down hard, Walibeld and Leo rushing to his side.

“Are you okay?” Leo asked in a panic, his earlier sour mood replaced with concern.

“Fine…I think. I feel really tired all of a sudden. I think I’ll lay down for a little bit longer,” Trenton heaved, laying down on top of his bed roll.

Walibeld took a step back, scrutinizing Trenton’s form head to toe, “Of course. I should have realized,” he said, Leo looking at him in confusion. “I arrived back in Aria about midday on Saturday, which means you woke up sometime in the morning the day right after the ball. According to your claims, you lost your core, your leg, and had a massive hole in your chest, but woke up completely uninjured. Which means, for whatever reason, your body has the capability to heal itself overnight. And, given your current lethargy, I’d bet it’s using most of the conserved energy you save while sleeping to do so. That’s why you feel so tired. Your body consumed more energy than it was supposed to while you were sleeping so that it could heal itself. The only question, then, is why now? In the last ten years, you never once displayed any unusual ability to heal. But all of a sudden, after, ‘being killed,’ you can do so unconsciously.”

“Do you think it could be aspect? Somehow Trenton unlocked his without knowing, or something?” Leo said, looking over at Walibeld.

Walibeld thought for a moment, hand rubbing his chin, “No, it couldn’t be, on two counts, even. There’s one aspect that I’m familiar with which could heal most any injury, but the one caveat is that the aspect bearer dies if their core is destroyed. On top of that, when you unlock your aspect, you’ll wield something known as a legendary weapon. You-here I can just show you, actually,” Walibeld said, placing his right hand to his chest, two fingers extended just over his heart.

Suddenly, without warning, he plunged the two fingers into his body, pulling them out and drawing a thin streak of blood in the air in front of him. Before it could fall, the blood began to coalesce, forming into a brilliant black and gold longsword, which glowed with arcane power. Walibeld grabbed it, holding it out for Trenton and Leo to see.

“This is what’s known as a legendary weapon. It manifests when you unlock your aspect, and allows you to channel and control your aspect in much greater quantities. On top of that, it’s made of a unique material that’s completely indestructible. Each one will be unique to the person, just like their aspect, and as you can tell, the design it takes is inspired by your aspect. It takes the shape of your most comfortable weapon, too, so you don’t need to worry about it being the wrong type. You’ll also notice,” Walibeld pointed to the spot he just pierced, “that there’s no sign of damage. Even my shirt is still in one piece. I’m not going to get into this particular part, it’s long and complicated, but it has to do with the particular way a legendary weapon is drawn. To get back to my point, when you first unlock your aspect, you’ll always instinctively summon your legendary weapon as well. You’ll also know how to use your aspect and resummon the power if you desire. This is why I said every other aspect is like second nature except mine,” Walibeld placed the tip of the sword against his chest, sliding it in like his body was made of water, the sword disappearing completely. “The energy cost to wield and manifest a legendary weapon is great, so I only draw it for when it’s truly necessary, which is typically when I encounter other aspect bearers. My point is, whatever it is that Trenton is using to heal, it isn’t aspect, or anything even adjacent to it. It’s something else entirely, although I’ve no clue what it could be. Did you notice anything weird the day of the ball, or anything after?” Walibeld asked, going over to the fire to turn the spit to make sure the food didn’t burn.

“The pain. That morning, when my back was all torn up, I remember thinking about how little it hurt, and then later, when my heart was removed, I didn’t feel any at all. And then, of course, yesterday, I didn’t feel the pain in my arm. I’ve never noticed it before yesterday. That has to be it,” Trenton replied resolutely.

“Keep an eye on it then, to copy Geren’s words. Try to take note of whenever you heal weird, and when you don’t feel pain properly. It'll be good to bring up to Era,” Walibeld said, pulling the spit off the fire to serve the paltry meal.

As they ate, Leo scooted next to Trenton, his eyes full of wonder, “So, does that mean you can’t die? Are you like…an immortal?” he asked.

Trenton thought about it for a moment. Instinctively, he wanted to deny it, but he wasn’t really sure. Could he die? It wasn’t really a question most people ever had to consider.

“I find it unlikely,” Walibeld said, sitting down next to them, “that you can’t die. There’s too many unknown factors. Even if you can survive mortal circumstances, there’s no guarantee that it will work everytime, or that there’s no way to truly kill you, or that it doesn’t have a cool down, or whatever else. We have no understanding of it. But, what I do understand is that there isn’t a being in existence that cannot be killed. So, I’d try to avoid dying.”

“I planned on it. I don’t really want to die, anyway. It’s not a pleasurable experience,” Trenton agreed.

“So long as you get it,” Walibeld grunted, before turning to the fire.

Half an hour later, they packed up camp, setting off for another uneventful day of traveling. Just as he promised, Walibeld let them travel without any further training for the next three days. Well, he let Leo go without training, but seeing as Trenton was fully healed, Walibeld decided he had no excuse to skip. Trenton almost wished he hadn't healed so quickly. Nights spent relaxing around the fire were much preferable to the sweaty and strenuous combat training he’d already been going through his whole life, but woe was him, so unlucky was he, etc. That first night after Trenton healed, Walibeld pulled him aside to find a spot to spar, Leo trailing behind to watch.

“We’ll be starting nightly sparring sessions. It’ll help me keep track of your progress as well as any points you’re lacking in. And, I’ve got a special idea for you to try,” Walibeld said, leading him through a thin cluster of trees, eventually coming out into a large clearing on the edge of a cliff–a solid sparing spot–wide and open. Leo sat down by the edge of the tree line, staying clear out of the way so as not to be caught up in their fighting. He was still injured, after all.

They stood face to face some distance from each other, the blues of early night washing over them. Walibeld created a couple dozen light motes, spreading them across the battlefield to define a border to their fighting space, while also giving them light to work with.

“What do you mean by a special idea?” Trenton replied confused.

“To put it bluntly, you’re absolutely horrendous with a sword. I had hoped to instill proper form into you over the last ten years, but I think I’ve just been deluding myself,” Walibeld said, resolute and exhausted.

Trenton thought to say something, a response to the insult levied at him, but only succeeding in realizing how true the words were. He’d never felt comfortable wielding a sword. No matter how much training he’d received over the last decade, it just never quite made sense to him. It never sank in. In fact, he felt much better the moment he lost his sword against the crawlers. At the start, he was only killing the crawlers by wildly swinging the sharp end vaguely in their direction. He even remembered catching a couple with the blunt end of the blade accidentally, killing them with the force of his swings rather than his weapon. The moment he lost the sword, though, it was all hands. Anything within reach had its body caved in with his, honestly, quite impressive strength.

“I think it’s time for a style change, time to, quite simply, play to your strengths. Your physical prowess is remarkable. It’s far beyond where it should be given the level of presence you possess, meaning there are some other factors at play. In any case, a dexterous fighting style isn’t for you,” Walibeld continued.

“Why now, though?” Trenton asked, his eyes straining to see Walibeld in the low light of the arena.

Walibeld held up his simple steel longsword, its luster dulled by the dried blood he hadn’t gotten to clear off yet, “Longswords are the standard fare tool for most any fighter. The reason for this is because they’re generally applicable in almost any combat scenario. In other words, they’re reliable, something you desperately want when fighting. Other weapons are much more specialized and much harder to wield. They have their strengths, sure, but the weaknesses make them undesirable for most anyone. However, some find themselves better suited to other types of weapons, Geren for example. He uses a halberd as his main weapon. It couples well with his ability to grow, making him a long ranged threat even when wielding a melee weapon. Typically, the longer range would come at the cost of poor short range capability, but Geren makes up for this with his size and physical prowess. His enhancement magic allows him to more than hold his own in close combat, even without a weapon in hand. To get back to your question, the reason I’ve decided to deviate for your case is because I was actually inspired by something Geren said earlier today. The Conqueror, as I’m sure you’re aware, wields a massive greataxe named Theoclas as his main weapon. Because of his incredible physical strength, it’s much more productive to wield a weapon that naturally has more heft to it, one which can strike far harder. So, I think you could use a similar, albeit altered, strategy. I think you’d be better suited to wielding a warhammer.”

Trenton paused for a moment to think about it. The idea was enticing. A warhammer would be like hitting things with his hands, except with a really big stick instead. It would probably feel great to wield. And, “it would allow me to cast greater spells,” Trenton said, the epiphany suddenly striking him.

“Correct. Many great geomancers throughout history have wielded blunted weapons for this exact reason. Gasal, for example, also used a warhammer. It was a pivotal piece to his fighting style, so I think it time to let my inhibitions die, and just let you try it. The handle of the weapon should come up to about your shoulders, with the head extending to about the top of your head. You can adjust it from there to find what's most comfortable,” Walibeld said, sitting down on the grass to watch Trenton work.

Trenton slammed his foot on the ground, summoning a massive hunk of stone from deep below him about the size of his body. He kicked the bottom of the chunk, splitting it from the rest of the earth, its large top teetering over and crashing into the grass. Trenton sat down as well, slowly working his hands over the stone heap to form out a warhammer. He had done this many times before when learning how to control his magic, standard practice for geomancers, so he was no stranger to sculpting out particular shapes. After about ten minutes, he’d whittled down the stone to a warhammer that looked quite comfortable. It was simple, a large stone head with a thick handle some five and a half feet long, but he felt it would serve its purpose. And, for whatever reason, he felt this strange intuition, as if he already knew what shape it was supposed to be before he even started, so it was a quick make. It didn’t make much sense, but he’d just have to see if it actually worked. Controlling his presence, Trenton hefted the warhammer with both hands. It had a nice weight to it, while also still being fairly easy to swing. In other words, it was extremely comfortable to wield, like an extension of his being.

Across the way, Walibeld stood, “Are you ready?” he asked, settling into a battle stance.

“Yes,” Trenton said, leaning the warhammer over his shoulder.