A Dream Foretold.

Prologue Arc (1). The Melody of the Heart.

 

“Huh…?! Wait, Alice-chi… are you joking with me?” the short woman asked in a loud voice filled with surprise as Alice tilted her head to the side with confusion in her eyes; to be exact, all three of us were confused at one another.

 

“Of course, I am not joking…” Alice responded before the short woman widened her eyes as she questioned, “Are you even sure that girl can handle a weapon? I am more worried about whether her arms would break from simply holding a sword upwards…”

 

“Do you question my ability to see talent?” Alice answered before the atmosphere around the shop turned dark, pressure fell over us… my shoulders felt burdened, it was as if a boulder had fallen upon me… the sounds of metal clashing pierced my ears almost like knives, my body trembled violently… it felt terrific.

 

“I don’t question your ability to see talent… I question your ability to see a person’s health!” the short woman replied before Alice heaved a deep, tired sigh before the pressure vanished almost like magic.

 

“If you truly don’t believe me then there is no need to have any talks then, we can simply head to another blacksmith here… it’s not like a weapon must be made by the Legendary Smiths, right?” Alice said whilst taking my left hand before dragging me towards the door.

 

“Wait… how about we test her capabilities first before we have a weapon made for her?!” the short woman shouted as Alice stopped on her tracks before looking at me with a smirk as she approached my ear before a ticklish sensation erupted from my ear almost like a feather, “That’s how you negotiate with someone unwilling…”

 

I had no words, nothing but silence… if that was how she negotiated with people then… wouldn’t that mean I was also fooled by her earlier…?! Speechless, that was the only emotion inside my heart as I looked at her cunning smile… it felt irritating!

 

After she finished smiling at me, the two of us soon returned back to the counter where the short woman heaved a deep sigh, her face was exactly that of mine when I realized I was fooled by her.

 

“So, do you have any weapon in mind?” the short woman looked at me and asked, taking me by surprise as I swiftly looked at the room which was filled with all kinds of weapons, most of which I don’t really know…

 

“I’ll take that silence as a no, then…” she replied with a wry smile before my heart felt embarrassed, my face was burning from embarrassment as I averted my eyes before a chuckle entered my ears, almost like a bird singing.

 

My heart felt strange, unconsciously, I turned towards the direction of the chuckle before the sight of Alice standing there, attempting to hide her mouth with her slender fingers… her figure was beautiful, the way her hair fluttered despite the lack of wind, the way her jade pink eyes twinkled as the beams of the sun shone its brightness on them.

 

I understood it before, and I still understand till this second that she was not an ordinary person… she was someone more beautiful, someone, who shouldn’t be a knight and also someone who should be a Princess, the heroine of a story… no, the protagonist of a story.

 

My eyes wouldn’t leave her as she turned towards my direction and smiled, I felt it… everything around her blurred once more, almost like the main focus of a painting… the smile she tried suppressing was as clear as day to me.

 

“You know… I was once like that, in the past,” she said before her hand landed on my hair, rubbing the threads of my hair as she squinted her eyes, “I once never cared about weapons, and thought that all weapons were the same.”

 

“When I first had my weapon made, the first thing the blacksmith asked was what kind of weapon… I didn’t know at all and looked around in a hurry before replying with the one that looked the best.”

 

“It turned out to be the worst decision in my entire life, the weapon was completely incompatible with me. I wasn’t suited for a scythe, nor was I suited for a spear… my fated weapon was this rapier of mine, and I only realized it after listening to the weapons, feeling their souls,” she added while grasping a few wisps of my hair, smelling it before she added once more.

 

“What I want you to do is not let someone else pick your weapon, not let your worries force you to lose the opportunity to find your fated weapon… we have all the time in the world, don’t rush,”

 

It was as if the world had become frozen, as if time had slowed, stopped except for her… everything was black and white in my eyes except for her, I couldn’t understand what this sensation was… I couldn’t comprehend at all, but for all I know, it wasn’t a bad sensation at all.

 

“Alice-chi really grew a lot, huh… I was too rash thinking that I should simply suggest a sword to the lady, it seems like my edge has rusted these past few years,” the short woman’s voice echoed before a loud crash reverberated around the store, waking me up as I turned to her direction before seeing the short woman on her seat, looking up at the ceiling with a smile.

 

“What are you waiting for, go look around at the weapon choice over there!” the short woman shouted while shooing me away as I bowed down abruptly before running off to the several weapons by the wall.

 

The words Alice had spoken was stuck inside my mind, ‘take your time, feel the weapon’s soul, understand the weapon’s desire to be with you’ was what she was basically saying. It was easy to say but hard to do.

 

I don’t get how one can feel an object’s desire to be with someone, how an object can have a soul… it felt complicated, all the weapons on the wall looked the same to me… pieces of metal, there was no difference to my eyes.

 

Rapiers with a thin yet sharp blade, swords with dual edges; dark knives, white daggers; striking scythes, and tall spears that sparkles. All of them looked the same to me, I don’t understand at all what Alice meant.

 

“Having a hard time, how about you try each one out?” Alice suggested before I looked at her, nodding before looking at the selection for a few moments, deciding which ones to try first. I wanted to try the scythe since it looked beautiful, but it looked heavy, so I went against it.

 

The spear was also rejected as despite being lighter than the scythe, it was too long for me and that leaves me with only four different options, a rapier like Alice’s, a black sword, a black knife, and a white dagger.

 

All of them fitted my category of what was light, portable, and not too long to use, in particular, the knife and dagger suited the three categories the best but compared to the sword and rapier, their range of attack seemed to be lower which is a disadvantage in many situations.

 

“I want to try the four of them,” I said while pointing at the rapier, sword, knife, and dagger after not being able to decide after a few moments, in response, Alice looked at me and smiled before taking the knife and dagger whilst I took the rapier and sword by my hand.

 

The rapier’s handle felt like leather, it also felt smooth and the threads used on acted as if a grip, whilst the sword was the opposite, the sword was as if glass with a few parts on it that allowed me to grip it without slipping. I couldn’t tell the difference between the base of the handle and the grip of the handle for the sword which made me confused.

 

Overall, both the rapier and sword felt strangely light, almost like feather. I felt like I could swing them as hard as I could, thinking about how light the rapier and the sword made me worried about whether the knife and the dagger were even lighter.

 

“Let’s head to the training ground at the back then,” the short woman said as she led both Alice and I to a door to the left of the room, opening it before a tiny grass garden with several mannequins dressed in leather clothing with a base of wheat appeared before me.

 

“Feel free to attack those mannequins as hard as you can, feel the weapons’ desire to be used, desire to accompany you. Those mannequins are by no means weak, they are strong enough to sustain the power of a Fifth Grade Slash,” the short woman looked at me and smiled proudly.

 

“Is that so, then please excuse me…” I responded while placing the rapier on the floor whilst Alice placed the other weapons beside it before looking at me and winking, taking me by surprise as I smiled back at her before turning my attention to the mannequins.

 

Holding the sword in my right hand, I gripped it tightly before walking to the center of the garden as the mannequins moved almost like magic, encircling me.

 

“Feel the sword’s desire to be used, feel the sword’s spirit, the soul of a weapon…” I mumbled before closing my eyes as I took a deep breath, the sound of the wind passing by, the footsteps of the people around the store, and the cheerful cries of the children that echoed throughout the city.

 

My heart felt light, my head was as clear as day as I opened my eyes before my view of the world changed, I could see the lines of the wind… the path of the wind, each thread of wheat the mannequin had was clear to my eyes.

 

With my sword facing backward, almost as if it was sheathed, I took a step forward… running towards one of the mannequins before my hand moved by itself, everything felt light… the land around me was water.

 

And as if a sword that was unsheathed, I performed a slash towards the mannequin. It was a vertical slash that was in contrast with the path of the wind, the slash sliced through the wind like butter. The slash was not ordinary, it was black in color.

 

SWOOSH! BAM!

 

The slash struck the mannequin at speeds beyond a human could see, almost like a large explosion, compressed wind erupted from the position of the mannequin, blasting me backward as I looked at the mannequin which was now burning in black fire.

 

The mannequin was no longer the same, it was encompassed with black flames… it was completely dark now, almost like magic. I was shocked by the sudden events, my feet stopped moving… as hurried footsteps echoed throughout the garden.

 

“What was that?!” Alice asked in surprise as she kneeled beside me while looking at the mannequin as it slowly burned to nothingness, the mannequin vanished almost like it was taken by the void, sucked by the space around it.

 

I looked behind me and saw the short woman, pale in face. Her eyes were completely round, her mouth was open enough for multiple flies to enter, not only that but her body was shivering almost like she had seen a nightmare.

 

“The Power of the Moon…” the short woman mumbled with a shivering voice before Alice’s voice screamed at her, “What do you mean, the power of the moon?! Isn’t that power said to be only a myth?!”

 

“It’s not a myth, it’s only an element that the people I bless can achieve…” a voice echoed from around of us, taking all of us by surprise as we turned to the direction of the sound before a fair lady with murky black hair and a dress filled with stars stood there with a smile.

 

“I am back, my lady… sorry for leaving you behind…” the lady said as she kneeled before me with her head down to the floor.