Kim's Sword

Elmo wasn't sure what was expected of him as he walked towards where the others were. He could hear them talking, so he knew that Kim wanted him to do something at least.

On the ground in front of Kim and Jonas was Kim's bastard sword. For the most part it was the same, but the metal had turned an iridescent ocean blue. Elmo wasn't sure what had happened to the sword, but he could tell that it wasn't the same sword that he remembered Kim wielding. Even though he couldn't help but assume that it was the same, given he didn't see any other swords that Kim had that would tell him that she'd found another.

He looked at Kim and Jonas in the dim lighting of the cave from the early morning sun. He'd heard what they'd said, though he wasn't sure if he should take the initiative to see what he could learn about the sword before being asked. Part of it was a matter or seeing if they'd respect him while another part was to be useful to the others and taking care of things before he was even asked.

In the end, he waited. He felt like this probably wasn't the time to 'be useful' and that he should make sure what Kim wants rather than merely assuming what it was she wanted from him.

Though, it didn't seem Kim was keen on doing that, so he merely walked towards the entrance of the cave, more eager for the sunlight than anything else. He couldn't say how long he'd been underground, but seeing the sunlight was a very welcome sight. He figured he could wait to see what he might be able to get to eat after that.

Though he doubted it'd be anything other than the stew they'd been having for the past while. Not that he really minded. Just that it was almost becoming rather routine.

As he reached the entrance, he felt movement to his side more than he saw. Though, when he looked he only saw Elin moving alongside him. Which surprised him, since he couldn't remember seeing her earlier.

He still didn't say anything, but rather continued on his way outside. He was aware of Elin following, but that wasn't important to him. What he cared about was the fact that the sense of oppression from being continually confined in those caves.

Even in the early morning light, as stars were still fading in the western sky, Elmo couldn't help but feel like he'd been released from captivity in a small cage. The sensation was almost enough to make him collapse with relief.

Maybe he would have if he'd gotten out towards the end of the day, or if he hadn't just woken up from a deep sleep that had been more restful than he would have expected, given the circumstances.

Yet, after that sensation passed, he felt invigorated. Almost like he imagined he'd feel when he returned to his own world; he wasn't going to give up on that possibility.

Even as Elin stopped next to him, he felt just as full of cheer as before. Even if Kim glared at him, he felt like he wouldn't care. Like that would just be one more thing to be grateful for in this world.

"Are you okay?" Elin asked, pulling Elmo out of his thoughts.

"Of course," he answered simply. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Elin shrugged, like she wasn't sure why she'd even asked. "Maybe because you're much more energetic than you were before?"

"I believe the correct term here would be 'hyper,'" Jonas remarked as he came out of the cave behind them. "He's certainly that, though I'd guess it probably has more to do with how we'd been hoping to find our way to the surface from being underground."

"What do you mean?" Elin asked, looking like she honestly didn't know what Jonas meant.

"It's just great to be outside, where I can stretch and not be confined," Elmo said before Jonas could say anything more.

While he accepted that Jonas was essentially trying to help, he felt that it would be better for himself if he explained first.

"Well, if you're done stretching, I need you to tell me what you can learn about this," Kim said as she held out her bastard sword, as she appeared behind Jonas as the sun lit up the rest of the sky, banishing the rest of the stars until the sun set again.

"What's wrong with it?" Elmo asked. "I don't believe it was this color when we were last together."

Kim nodded, like she had been waiting for Elmo to make that observation. "I stabbed Aquis with it and it was in his chest when he died because I couldn't pull it out because it was just too hot. Then when I cut it out after Aquis had died, it was this color. I couldn't say if that it didn't have any real changes made to it, other than it's color, but I thought it would be safer to not use it since then."

Elmo nodded, though he didn't really feel like he needed all of that information. He really didn't need any of it, but he felt like it was good to know, just in case he learned something that felt weird to him in the first place.

So, without any other prompting or urging, Elmo looked at the sword and said quitely, "Identify."

A window popped up in front of Elmo, detailing the attributes of the sword as well as what it was made of. However, what caught his attention most was a description that felt a little more out of the ordinary:

Bathed in the life flames of a dying dragon, this blade has become more difficult to break, smash, damage in any way. While it can still be broken, it is more difficult to do so.

The blade also has received the capabilities of dealing damage of the elemental type of that dragon before it became a fire dragon. The blade will not show any visible signs of this and will leave marks indicating what had happened when struck with this newly forged blade.

While it can't be detected with any magic sensing skill, it still is considered a magic weapon. It will otherwise react as such if entering an area that has any restrictions on magic weapons.

The following skills can be activated through the will of the wielder and used with this item or are constantly active when wielded:

Fire Attribute/Ice Attribute Immunity

Locate – 1/week (Disabled)

Fire Attribute – adds fire damage to any near contact when active (1 hour) – 3/day

Ice Attribute – adds ice damage to any direct contact when active (1 hour) – 3/day

Keen Blade – ignores hardened or toughened skin. When cut with this blade, attempts to heal without magic require twice the skill level as with other wounds

Fire Attribute – Flame Pillar – summons a fire pillar that will deal as much damage as the fire attribute skill will add to this blade for 1 hour to those withing range – 1/3 days

Ice Attribute – Ice Pillar – creates a pillar of ice that acts as the spell Stalagmite or Stalactite – 1/week

Elmo looked at the blade again when he was done reading that. He wasn't sure how this happened, just that it had. He couldn't say how strong the sword had become, with these skills, partly because he hadn't seen it in action and partly because he wasn't sure his tutorial would know. If he actually asked.

Though, he did find it curious that the 'Locate' skill was disabled. He wasn't sure what that was about, only that he didn't have anything for a frame of reference to determine what it was about.

Looking at Kim, Elmo wasn't sure how to react to how much more formidable she had become. At least when wielding it. He also couldn't help but wonder if his Frozen Missile spell would still harm her, if only from the physical aspect of the spell.

"So?" Kim demanded. "What'd you find out?"

"Uh, well, it's not cursed," Elmo said, not sure where to begin telling her about the rest.

"So, why'd it change color?" Elin asked, making Elmo jump. He hadn't seen her approaching Though it didn't help his feelings to see that she'd come in from fore his.

"Not sure why that happened, but it is a magical item now, but apparently it's not easily detected as one," Elmo answered, not sure how to go about explaining all that he'd learned about Kim's sword and it's new abilities.

"How much of it is long winded?" Kim asked bluntly.

"Pretty much all of it?" Elmo answered, not caring his tone made his statement a question.

"Well, let's work at getting some breakfast started and Elmo can explain it while we eat," Jonas commented. "If nothing else, we'll be able to get a move on that much sooner."

Kim sighed like she was being made to do something she really didn't want to do. "Fine. You can start breakfast while Elmo starts explaining what's different about my sword now."