Polymath Redux

Chapter 38: Where were you on the night of Mr. Lazzaro's murder?

It was now Alice's turn to pull out the sword but she too didn't seem to understand the 'correct' way to do it. She too decided to arbitrarily use brute force to remove it, if it didn't work the thousands of times before, there was no way it would work now.

"Unnghhh~!!!"

Alice's face started to get red from the pressure. It was obvious by now that no matter how much she tried it would be impossible. Ultimately she gave up on the idea and stepped down from the sanctuary, giving way to Tau.

"What is this? Are you sure the rock isn't part of the sword?"

Alice sarcastically commented, prompting a few laughs from the people who also failed to remove the sword. They all understood the frustrations of being incapable of removing the sword. 'It's just you're doing it wrong', Tau thought.

Not by strength.

Not by desire.

Not even by heart.

It was simple; Tau slowly approached the Sanctuary and as he entered the holy space he felt a powerful force emanate around him. The truth was that it wasn't the sword that chose the hero; it was the hero that chose the sword. So then what were the requirements of becoming the said hero?

To put it simply, there were none. It was never about qualification, merely about understanding what to do in the first place. All that one needed to do was 'ask'; to 'converse' with the sword to be pulled out. It should have been obvious to everyone that this wasn't merely an ordinary sword, so why couldn't the others understand? Or rather, why could Tau understand this simple concept?

The sword was not a tool, but a partner.

It was because he could 'see' it; the spirit that inhabited the sword. A spirit sword, or to be more precise he could 'feel' that this word was very much alive. Everyone should theoretically have the same qualifications so then was it simply a matter of perspective? But of course 'asking' always entailed the possibility that there could be a negative response. It could be that some people have already tried asking but their plea never came to fruition.

Tau silently 'asked' in his mind, unsure if it was being properly translated towards the sword but he did so anyway. Not strength, not desire, not heart, Tau slowly pulled out the sword from the sanctuary as thought it was the most natural thing and a heavenly aura surrounded the interior of the Grand Cathedral. A bright light flashed before those present, even driving some to tears at the revelation of such a beautiful aura.

The heavenly light subsided and with it small white feathers started to rain from above. Standing before Tau and the sword was a figure of pure light, feminine in proportion, pure white wings but all of the details were hidden by said light. Confused as to what to do next when this figure appeared Tau glanced over to his side but none of the other people seemed to be reacting towards the figure of light. 'Could it be that they can't see her?' it was the most likely conclusion to draw from their non-responsive expressions.

It was then a high pitched screeching noise could be heard. Dreadful and unpleasant the noise wouldn't stop but once again only Tau seemed to be the only one hearing this awful sound. Was it the effect of the sword? It didn't feel like something the sword would do but as soon as the noise stopped a faint pressure could be felt coming from his grip on the sword.

It was only for a brief second that Tau was freed from the awful sound but as soon as he realized what was going on he was no longer standing at the Sanctuary but was flying. Flying across the room with at high speeds, not just him but everyone else was pushed aside from a powerful shockwave that pulsed from the sword. Following his brief adventures in the sky he crashed through the walls of the Cathedral and temporarily lost consciousness.