"This was a test," Kigen said, once the fairies were gathered under the mother tree's canopy. "They were probing us, to see how ready we are."
"A test that we failed," Nina whispered. She too was heavily affected by this. She was the second born, the one that took over Kigen's responsibilities when he was away. However, the moment Kigen had left, the attack had come. What did that mean?
For starters, they must have eyes on them, this much was clear. They had somehow learned of Kigen's movements and planned an attack just when he was gone. How efficient was that?
The second thing was that the enemy was somehow afraid of Kigen. However, they did not seem to extend the same courtesy to the rest of them. Therefore, they attacked when he was away. Did that mean that he had to remain here forever?
"I don't see it that way," Kigen answered. "They came to attack us, and they did not go back." Kigen tried lifting everyone's spirits, but he could see, the failure this time, the deaths the last time, all this was weighing heavily on the group. A certain fear was descending upon them.
"If you had not been around, we would have suffered more losses," the shocking this was that it was Tande who said these words. Of all people, this muscular fairy who looked like a mountain spoke such words. How much more of the others, less powerful and less muscular fairies.
Kigen understood that this was not a complain, but a voicing out of their fear. The enemy had left a big shadow in the proud hearts of these fairies.
"What if I told you that today, something great fell into my lap. Something that could change the entire situation," Kigen asked. Nixa, and the fairies he'd gone with, were intrigued, but the others, not so much. It wasn't that they distrusted Kigen, but rather, the enemy was seemingly too powerful, and this was just a glimpse of what they really were.
"Luita, how did the birds die?" Kigen asked. After the birds met their end, Kigen and a few other fairies had gone to examine these birds. They did not touch them, since Kigen had experienced their foul energy the last time.
In mere moments, the birds started decaying, and before long, they had completely dissolved into the ground, leaving behind only a putrid smell. However, before they dissolved, they clearly saw the puncture wounds.
"You shot them," Luita answered. He was not sure, but this had been his assumption.
"Yes, but with what?" Kigen asked back.
"Your bow," Luita answered, wondering what the point of this line of questioning was. However, he still complied with the senior.
"My bow? Did you see any arrows?" Kigen asked again, this time looking smug. Luita took some time to think back.
"No, there were no arrows," this time, his answer was more drawn out, as if he was contemplating something. "How did they die?" He asked now, with interest. All the other fairies were also listening in, curious as to what their senior was getting at.
Kigen didn't answer right away, enjoying the looks he got from the fairies. Instead, he reached out to his neck and touched something. Then the next moment, a bow appeared in his hand.
Rather than the kind that they formed from wood element, this one looked more complete, and much better designed. It was not a crude weapon whipped up from someone's thoughts, but a powerfully built bow.
He then handed the bow to Luita. Just like Kigen, or even more than him, Luita loved the bow. He loved shooting the enemy from a far, he enjoyed aiming and finding the target. His eyesight gave him an edge in archery.
From the moment he laid eyes on the bow, he loved it. The smooth corners, the beautiful metallic sheen on the weapon. Everything about it made it stand out. Other fairies crowded around Luita, trying to get a better, closer look at this weapon.
"Where are the arrows?" Luita asked.
"Pull the string," Kigen said. He'd struggled himself at first, but the moment he drew the string, an arrow made of light had appeared. Luita did the same, and an arrow appeared. Taking some time to aim the weapon, Luita finally let the arrow fly.
Twang! The sharp sound of the string reverberated around the forest as the arrow blasted out. Moving so fast it was practically unseeable; the arrow instantly tore through several branches before disappearing into oblivion.
The speed, power and accuracy of the bow was beyond anything the fairies had seen. Just that one attack alone would be enough to bring down a wolf. Now, he understood how the birds had died.
Luita was so excited he shot off a few more arrows just for kicks. After about five or six arrows, the rate of regeneration of the arrows seemed to slow down.
"What happened?" He was dumbfounded.
"The weapon is recharging," Mistress Kering chuckled, seeing Luita's expression. She then proceeded to explain herself, "What you are holding sir is called an enchanted weapon. It absorbs the elemental powers in the world to power up its attacks. It can only store so much, so you have to be careful in its usage."
"How long until it recharges?" Luita demanded, peeved by this little detail.
"It depends on the weapon, I guess we will have to find out," Mistress Kering replied. She was rather interested in how Kigen had gotten such a weapon, little did she know of the stockpile in his hands.
Kigen had not faced that problem, perhaps since he took time to aim the bow, while also positioning himself in a way he would remain unseen by the onlookers.
"Hey, give it here," Nixa demanded as she approached Luita. She too wanted to play with this fancy new toy.
"Yeah, me too," Nina said, "I want to hold it." The others didn't speak out, but you could tell, they too wanted to hold this fancy new weapon.
"You can each have one," Kigen said, as he proceeded to produce four more bows. He did not expose the fact that he had probably about a hundred of those things in the pendant.
Kigen then took out a sword, a spear, a javelin, a halberd, an axe, and a staff. He laid them on the ground for all to see before saying, "pick your weapons."
Nina took the spear. She had always had a connection with it. Tande rushed for the axe before anyone could get to it. Unsurprisingly, Nixa wanted the halberd, the coolest looking of them all. Luita was left with the javelin. Short, lighter, and useful for throwing.
Foli was the most affected of them all. He felt a certain connection with the sword, as though it was an answer to something he was lacking. The magnificent weapon appealed to his soul. Unbeknownst to even himself, a swordsman was being born.
Like children with new toys, they quickly ran off to play with the weapons, trying to acclimatize themselves with them. Luita discovered that once he threw his javelin, he could summon it back. Meanwhile, Tande felt the axe to be an extension of his hand.
"Hey, come back here, I am not done yet," Kigen exclaimed, wearing a shocked expression. How could they just run off like that. With great difficulty, the fairies came back and grouped together once more. The excitement in them was proving too difficult to contain.
Down below, even Mistress Kering was shocked by the wealth Kigen was presenting, simply pulling out one treasure after another.
"Finally, we have these things," Kigen proceeded to pull out five sets of armor. They were all fairy sized, and even with some extension to cover the wings. Clearly, they were made by someone who understood the needs of a fairy.
Kigen had discovered these armor types since they were arranged in different rows.
"What do you think?" Kigen asked. Nixa was the first to move, beelining to the black suit. As everyone watched she quickly put on the helmet, and breastplate, as well as the other pieces of the arm and legs. Medina stepped forward to assist with the wing parts.
Finally, once she was suited up, everyone gaped at how magnificent she looked. The heavy armor made her look especially intimidating. Like some powerful legionnaire, the suit seemed to amplify her strength. She flew about in the air once before going down.
Soon as she was done trying it out, she simply declared, "this suit is more suited for Tande," as she took it off. The buff fairy was also in agreement as he stepped forward.
Her eyes sparkled as she went for another set, a green set, but Luita stepped forward. "I've had my eyes on this for a while now." He spoke.
"Alright, fine," Nixa lamented, before reaching for a red one. Luita's green suit seemed to complement the green on him. It was built for camouflage, and some other things. It looked much lighter than Tande's, but the wing parts were extended, providing additional boost in flight.
Nixa's red was perfectly suited for her. Striking in its brilliance, it complemented her features completely. This left the brown and the blue.
Nina took the blue, Foli the brown. As before, the five went up in the air, flying about and experimenting their new toys, screaming about as they did. They did not seem to notice the looks their juniors were giving them, as they happily frolicked in the air.