The Rustic Dagger

Rein's hired worker from the guild had left with a troubled heart as he had not seen his work through to the end.

However, this was exactly what she had wanted as she did not wish to reveal her true plans before the stranger she had commissioned to create that passage for her.

Once that man had taken his leave, she made sure that there was no one around who might interrupt her or spy on her.

Only then did Rein move along with the plans she had made for which she had gotten this incomplete passage created.

Reina recalled the memories she had gained and watched as her predecessor pulled out a dagger which she had hidden within her black robes.

The dagger looked rustic and worn-out due to years of usage, even the blade appeared to be dull while its handle was made of a bronzed metal that wasn't too appealing to the eye.

However, its only redeeming feature was the glimmering ruby embedded on the pommel or the end of the dagger, giving it the illusion of being an invaluable treasure.

Holding that dagger tight in her fists, she stood at the end of that secret pathway which was just another wall with no path ahead of it.

Pointing the edge of the blade towards the wall, she lunged forward and stabbed it right at the center of the stoned wall.

The dagger pierced the wall with such ease that one would assume that she had stabbed a wall of cotton instead of hard stone.

The moment the blade of the dagger penetrated the wall, her surroundings trembled and dust fell to the ground due to the sudden movement in that previously uninhabited place.

Without worrying about the tremors resonating around her, Rein dug the dagger out of the wall before moving it to the edge of the wall.

She then began to trace the shape of the pathway onto the wall before her with the same dagger.

Deep ridges were formed due to the pressure she had used while tracing the outline of the pathway, however, she was not done yet.

Once the grooves of the pathway appeared on the wall before her, she pulled the dagger away and shut her eyes just as her fingers clenched around the hilt of the dagger.

In the next second, she whispered something which even Reina could not understand as she had heard this strange language for the very first time.

Once she was done, her eyes opened up again and she leered at the wall before her.

With her jaw clenched tight as though she was bracing herself for what was about to come, Reina watched as her predecessor ran the blade of the dagger along her palm.

In no time, blood seeped out of the freshly-created wound on her palm.

However, not a single drop landed on the floor, instead, the crimson liquid rushed towards the blade.

Earlier, only the ruby at the end of the dagger was glimmering but as soon as Rein's blood touched the blade, the old dagger completely transformed.

The bronze handle sparkled as though it had been thoroughly polished and the blade no longer seemed dull.

Reina had been fretting about the chances of her predecessor getting tetanus from the wound she inflicted on herself using that dirty dagger.

However, that worry had now faded and awe took over as all she could do was gawk at the sharp blade which had turned the color of her crimson blood.

The blade and the ruby were giving off the same hue, enlightening the dim corridor which was impressive to Reina.

Though Rein wasn't too interested in admiring this transformation as she carried on with what she had come here to do.

Looking straight ahead, she raised the dagger which had transformed after coming in contact with her blood and stabbed it into the center of the wall before her once again.

The ground trembled and shook vigorously this time and even when Rein let go of the dagger, it remained stuck in the same place on the wall.

As Reina watched with excitement at this other memory that had been triggered, tremors surrounded Rein, and the wall before her shook uncontrollably.

Stone after stone, they began to drop before her as cracks began to be formed in the wall.

However, what was surprising to Reina was that none of the stones which fell were laid on the ground.

The ground was still dusty yet without any rubble from the crumbling wall as the dropping chunks of stone were vanishing before they even touched the ground.

This continued for the next few seconds until the entire wall had disappeared.

Looking straight ahead, Rein's lips formed a victorious smile as she had succeeded in what she had attempted to achieve here.

She had asked the construction of the passage to be left incomplete as she had her own plans for how the exit would be created.

This was exactly what she had been up to once that worker had left after receiving his payment in gold.

The dagger she had used to trace the wall where the pathway came to an end was something she had gained from someone special.

'Who?' Reina tried to pry deeper but felt that familiar headache arising which made her unable to continue.

This stumbling block which appeared whenever she got overly curious about certain aspects of Rein's life made her frown in unwillingness but there was nothing much she could do about it right now.

Therefore, she could only focus on the information she was privy to as the rest seemed to be unavailable to her right at this moment.

'Maybe I need to learn more about Rein's life before this part reveals itself.' She surmised, connecting Rein's memories to the likes of a videogame where she needed more XP (Experience Points) before moving to the next level.

Chuckling at this odd analogy her mind had come up with, she quickly returned to the matter at hand.

Since she could not figure out who that dagger was from, she focused on the function of the weapon instead.

Thankfully, this information was made known to her with ease, implying that it was not forbidden knowledge.

Thus she now knew that the dagger Rein had gained from someone special had an equally special ability.

That ragged-looking weapon was no ordinary dagger but had been enchanted to possess a much sought-after skill that many yearned for but could not get their hands on.

'A portal creating dagger!?' Reina gasped when this information entered her mind.

The outline in the wall that Rein had drawn earlier was to mark the area of the magic portal that she wished to create.

Once she was done with the initial step she had then uttered the spell used to activate the enchantment for the portal to be made.

The next step was to assign the members who could use this portal and that was done by soaking the dagger in the blood of those who could use it at any time.

Since this was for Rein's personal use, only her blood was used on the dagger which brought her to her final step.

The dagger soaked in her blood was pierced into the wall, indicating that the spell had now been sealed.

Making sure that everything was in order, Rein had pulled the dagger out which had been floating midair right where the wall had been until now.

With the help of the dagger, she had created a portal that led her to a different place, one which no one else knew of.

'Even I do not know where it leads!' Reina clamored as she returned to the previous memory, in order to continue from where she had left it.