Group Of Nameless

"No?" she responded, as if she was walking on eggshells, was he trying to teach her something? By speaking? That would be a first in the few years she had been there.

Even with him only rambling about nonsense she had no clue about and only duelling her most of the time without offering pointers, she felt that she had grown leaps and bounds, it wasn't anyone that could get you to get better by just wiping the floor with you once in while.

Part of this was due to her own ability to grasp the flow of battle and of her adversaries but it was mostly because Sir Solitar was just that good with the sword.

"Thought as much" he only responded, leaving a long blank for thirty whole seconds, his expression unreadable hidden behind his helm.

"That dream chaser, Roderman he calls himself now, he didn't mention the first hero to you?"

"I only heard that my golden energy was similar to his, that is all" she shook her head, not seeing it but feeling the lone man's unflinching gaze directed right at her face, it felt like he was looking through her, as if she wasn't even there.

"Humm, then you really don't have a clue, your weapon, does it have a name?" he questioned, pointing at the perfectly normal looking dagger the girl was holding, appearing as though she was ready to stab him in the throat at any second.

Despite the behaviors of the two, this was a perfectly cordial way of acting for the both of them.

Superstes hadn't had the pleasure of having the system be willing to explain things and give information to her ever since that first time in that dungeon, so she needed to think for a moment to remember the exact name it had given her for this transforming weapon.

"Slaughter Lord's Mastery" she blurted out when it came back to her, a very threatening name, she would certainly not want to be on the pointy end of such a thing.

"A fitting name I suppose, the system didn't miss on that one..."

"Let me tell you a little story so that you understand what I am going to tell you more clearly" Sir Solitar slightly tilted his neck, cracking it before beginning.

His voice as calm and composed as ever, not betraying a single hint of emotion.

"A long time ago, me, Roderman and a few others began a great journey, there wasn't any plan at the start, just a group ragtags travelling the wild lands, back then, few kingdom's had fully settled in, the continent had only been discovered recently, well..."

"A hundred years isn't really recent but few had journeyed there, fewer had survived and even less had decided to claim land and put an imaginary crown upon their heads"

"Imaginary?" repeated Superstes, noticing the emphasis he put on that word for some reason.

"It's nothing, just that none of those became rulers of true nations, the real kingdoms, empires and such only rose well after their passing, using the foundations they laid out for themselves"

"Not a single one of their ideals and visions came to be, hence, they never wore any true crowns, but I diverge..." he tilted his head to the other side this time.

"On this continent... Lordlorn, me and the others discovered something, tucked away far from sight, underneath the earth, amidst the wondrous minerals and stones infused with mana, we found another crystal, one not infused with mana or anything else we knew of- It was something otherwordly" this once, Solitar sounded bitter and remained silent for a moment, Superstes didn't feel like saying anything and simply waited for the swordsman to speak of his own.

"..."

"There was an oracle amongst our group of misfits" he suddenly said, his tone flat once again.

"...?" she didn't say anything vocally but her expression perfectly conveyed her confusion at the sudden change in tone and subject.

"It ties back together- He was good, very good, too good in fact"

"He sensed something about those crystals and settled in the center of the crystal cave, surrounded by them, we had tried to harvest it at first but the thing was just too tricky to collect, nearly unbreakable and looking as if it was defending itself at times..." he stared at his nagamaki, knowing that even now, he would find little success if he tried to break the material.

"It has a will, no, wills of its own"

"Our oracle, a nameless fool he was, he peered into the secrets of the crystals, he discovered much in little time, writing his findings like a furious madman, it was barely eligible to read, a far cry from normal for the most educated of us"

"What happened to him?" asked the heroine, feeling llike Sir Solitar was about to go silent once more.

The swordsman rose his head to ceiling, there was scene painted there, it had always been there but Superstes had never deigned to pay attention to this piece of art before.

It represented nothing of value for either of the two, but the divine scene it represented was still soothing nonetheless as an unknown goddess of fertility laid her blessing upon vibrant fields of wheat.

He sighed and surprisingly, let out stifled laugh.

"Well... He ended up like most other oracle and seers, he went completely mad, losing his old self completely, he fell to oblivion, his self killed when he tried to pry deeper than he should have..."

The man laughed dryly again.

"I don't know if that's really the case or if he just encountered the wrong being that day but he changed forever, we all worked together and constructed a jail for him, in hopes that one day he might come to himself or that he could be saved, Roderman took over the kingdom where his cage had been created..."

"Not that it matters anymore... What you need to know is contained within the notes he took before going mad"