The Pillar of Enera

[Chapter 40 part 2] Light - Shine Balladeer

...

Four weapons lay atop purple velvet. They felt different. "What'd you do?"

"Sorry for not explaining the other day. I got carried away." Agata smiled. "It's not often that I get the chance to work high sorcery."

High sorcery... That's supreme magic. "I didn't know they were that extraordinary..." Sure, his cursed blades were cool, but the stuff of legends?

"While they and their wielders were nothing special, the Field of Graves is different. That curse is capable of felling immortals, and these weapons basked in it for millennia. When you removed them, power came with them, raw and unfocused. It took time to discover how to focus it."

Took time... "Did you experienced the dreams too?"

"I did. It was necessary. No, human can directly control high sorcery. It's beyond us. What skilled enchanters can do is guide it. To accomplish this, I had to understand the shape of the vessel, in this case the lives of the previous owners."

Agata handed him a ninjato, "Here's 'Mockery'."

"You named it?" Light took the blade, disappointed.

"Enchanter's privilege." She responded smugly. "Here's the scabbard."

The new sheath had a spotted pattern of amber and black. Light slipped the tip in, letting the blade slide to the bottom. The handle had been restored, providing a satisfying grip.

"That's genuine rayskin with a manticore mane covering." Agata offered.

Light drew a few inches and admired the orange glint reflecting playfully from the polished steel. I suppose Mockery is fitting. Its prior owner had possessed an affinity for clay, molding her summoned earth with talent rivaling the finest artists. On the day she died, she'd sculpted a wounded sirk and lured twenty of its comrades over a precipice before dispelling the false floor. The furious survivors hunted her down. Despite their numbers, she eluded them for a while, hiding behind fake walls and throwing them off with clones. What did her in was their keen sense of smell.

"So Mockery contains high sorcery?" He asked.

"Objects become mythical through enduring fame or prolonged exposure to other high sorcery. If there's a suitable 'core of awe', an Illusory Grace will coalesce, same as Sublime Vagaries. The difference is enchanters can call these forth, which is what I did."

"As a byproduct, it's also become a catalyst." She continued. "I substituted sand for clay. I hope you appreciate."

Light summoned a mountain of sand and forced it to flow upwards in a helix. The control is wonderful. Mockery was smoother than any catalyst he'd tested. He vanished the sand. "What's its ability?"

"'Sands of Deception'," When Agata explained, Light realized it suited him perfectly. Not surprising considering its former wielder.

"This was a real treat." She concluded. "It's so rare to come across unshaped high sorcery..."

"Why is that?"

Agata sighed, "Because of the prerequisites: a sufficiently mythical object with a suitable history. Before the dark age, hundreds were enchanted each year. Family heirlooms passed down over generations. Sadly, virtually everything with potential was sacrificed to the Pillar of Enera."

"Nowadays, anything which meets the criteria is in the hands of immortals. Which one would bring their cherished prize to a Saint?" She shook her head.

Light held up the amber ninjato. The windfalls were greater than I'd dreamed. There was only one last concern.

"Is it still cursed?" Light waited apprehensively.