"Where is the fucking Blade of Centuries?" Benign asked, looking around the cave.
Frustration welled up inside of him. If all he had been through turned out to be nothing… if those elves nearly died to get a wet floor. Was there even a way to change his nonchalant system? How could he work with him if he never gave him all the information needed for the mission?
[First, it is Blade of Ages. Second, do you think it'd be lying around when you arrive? It's been here for 'ages', so you have to search keenly.]
Benign exhaled, and reached for his bag with Vargel. He walked around the soft wet floor for a while, to calm down, before turning to the elves with a strained smile. "Help with a torch, please. It seemed this place won't light up by itself." he said.
Vargel nodded quickly and set his backpacks down. Ston grabbed a torch. They lit it together, illuminating five feet around them.
The elves'jaw dropped on seeing the massive hall, carpeted and covered with expensive, though wet drapes. "It's a hidden castle! Benign, you unlocked a hidden castle!" Vargel shook the soldier excitedly then stopped when there was no reaction in the soldier.
Benign's eyes searched around the castle for anything useful. It might be a castle, but it was an empty one. Apart from the shiny golden throne that had nothing to do with him, the castle was just sparkling, covered with drapes, but no other furniture.
[The Blade of Ages is buried under the Throne, Benign.]
His head snapped back to the throne. So it had something to do with him, after all. "Okay, Vargel, look around for anything written on the walls that could help us. Ston, please, let's dig."
"Dig?" Ston asked, but was already walking out of the castle to get the hoes in the outer cave. "Do you think they'd be something like riches buried here?"
Vargel hummed. "They've probably been taken by thieves with how desolate the castle looks. But... this place wasn't here before. It came because of you."
Benign strolled to the throne, and tapped the seat. "I sense something buried here. Something for me... I guess. Maybe that's why the gate appeared. It might help us get a clue of whatever the glitches are about."
He hoped they'd buy it since that's the only way for him to claim ownership of the Blade Of Ages. Vargel represented his people, so anything found here, he might want to take it back to Noria for research. But he saw them nod most understandably.
"Let's dig it out then. You'd need it when you face something more ferocious and physical." Vargel agreed. "Your safety is our priority."
Ston hurried out to get the hoes.
Their agreement surprised Benign. and wasn't it him that should worry about their safety? "Thanks." He bent down by the throne. "We'd have to find a way to get the throne out of the way though. It'd be a shame to destroy it."
"I can handle that." Ston returned with two hoes in one hand, and a large blade in the other.
Benign stepped away as he got close.
"I'd detach the throne from the ground. Since it is bound to the earth, it'd likely heal if I cut it." Ston said, observing the foundation closely. "Or Vargel, you cut it and I lift the throne at the same time. So it'd not reattach."
Vargel came closer and Benign stepped further back to watch the two. Did these men try to cut through stone furniture with a blade? And would stone heal itself to bind itss foundation?
Vargel placed the blade by the foot of the throne, sliced through and the blade roughly went through the foundation attached to the ground. Ston raised the throne the next second and moved it down the raised podium. He grunted as he placed it down.
Benign clapped at the teamwork and how sharp the blade must be. He let go of his previous questions and focused on the results. He placed a hand on their shoulders. "Vargel, you could cut stone? And Ston! You could carry that mass! Respect!"
Ston brushed his nose. "It's nothing, really." Vargel laughed at the compliment and Ston's reaction.
The digging started. Vargel left to make meaning of the strange patterns he had noticed on the walls. Within three minutes, Ston's hoe reverberated on hitting something hard. The vibration travelled from the hoe to his body and made him fall. Benign dropped his hoe immediately.
"It is tough alright! Perhaps made with better metal than our steel rods." Vargel said, from the other end of the castle after seeing what happened.
Ston left the ground. "You should take it out yourself since it's yours." He stared at his shaky hands and started moving towards Vargel.
"Sorry." Benign felt the need to say. He removed the sand from the object and noticed the black hilt of a blade.
At a touch of the hilt, the blade glowed softly, and his veins surged of unknown power.
[Mission Complete! You unlocked Legacy Weapon – Blade of Ages. It belongs to Benign Cross.]
"This… is definitely a powerful weapon." Benign whispered, gripping the hilt tighter. But just as he was about to pull it up, the ground beneath him began to tremble. He looked around, even at the elves, their ground was stable. "This is just my cross, isn't it?"