So, the group began to spread out around the armoury hall. Unlike Elora’s earlier cursory glance around the hall, they now searched more specifically for three weapons, one for each of the third-ranked Arcanists currently in Erik’s camp: Emma, Emily, and Zahra.
It was during this search that Erik truly began to appreciate the number of weapons stored in this place, and it excited him. He enjoyed his arcane forging, true, but he was definitely unwilling to create weapons for all of his future third-ranked and higher subjects.
Repairing the faded sigils and runes on these weapons was a lot quicker, however. ’Not only that,’ he muttered softly to himself, his finger sliding across the edge of a halberd, ’but I’m sure there’s a lot to learn here, as well... I need to study a little for this, but I’m looking forward to working with these ancient weapons.’
Suddenly lowering the weapon, he looked up and smirked. "Well... after I solve the problem of the Elorium core and give her Elora her spot back, that is."
A sigh escaped his lips. "So much to do, so little ti..."
A grumpy snort resounded from beside his ear. "Hmpf, so sorry to inconvenience you, my love. Feel free to just forget about , then."
Grinning, Erik chuckled a little as he glanced at the fairy on his shoulder. "Don’t be like that, my little ember. You know I want nothing more than for you to be back in my soul."
Elora grinned back at him, clearly having gotten what she wanted.
"Oh!"
Suddenly, they heard a shout coming from Zahra. Curious, Erik and everyone else made their way over there, and found Zahra holding an intricate bow, shimring with a weak, light-red light on its surface. She stood beside a rack holding several bows of various colours and affinities. Her eyes were glued to the bow, filled with wonder.
"Found sothing?" Erik asked curiously, stepping closer to inspect the bow himself.
Zahra nodded absentmindedly without taking her eyes off the weapon. "I— I think so?" she muttered softly. "I felt an energy similar to my own near this rack, so I tried what you said, and this bow, I— I’ve never felt my energy move so smoothly."
Just before starting the search, Erik and Elora taught everyone how to let their energy flow through a weapon to ascertain its affinity. Even Zohran and Nasir were not familiar with it, as they’d only been using their weapons in the most rudintary ways.
Zohran infused his blades with a shadow poison, and Nasir gathered magma on his spear point, but they were still brute-forcing these skills through their weapons—sothing the sturdy runic power could do, unlike the flimsier aetherium—rather than working with the weapon in the way it was designed.
Because of this, Nasir’s and especially Zohran’s respect for Erik went up quite a bit, as even a casual skill like this had already advanced their fighting potential by several steps.
Regardless, Erik extended his hand and cocked an eyebrow. "Mind if I take a look?" he asked. His tone was casual, but a slightly wry Zahra still felt it was more of an order than a question.
Wordlessly, she handed the weapon over to Erik, but looked a little anxious over it, as if afraid Erik would take the bow away from her.
Yet, all he did was inspect the weapon from all sides. He lightly pulled the string, traced a finger over the faded runes and sigils, scratched a little on the wood, and lastly flooded the weapon with his omnisense, aetherium, runic energy, and even a little Elorium. All the while, Zahra and the others watched him closely.
By the end, he’d used his knowledge and skill as a runesmith to discover everything he could about the weapon. "It’s a very good weapon," he praised, and handed it back to her. Then he chuckled. "Though I doubt there’s any weapons of poor quality in here."
Relieved, Zahra snatched the bow back, perhaps a little too quickly. Already missing the feeling, she started rotating her energy through the weapon once more. "Will this really increase my power?" she asked with soft determination, her mind going back to her encounter with Gabriel.
"Oh, absolutely," Erik shrugged casually. "It’s almost exclusively made from illusion-attuned materials. If you cast your spells through the bow, they will be more powerful and cost less energy. Not only that, however, but it also provides the obvious benefits of having a ranged weapon to supplent your attacking spells. A bow probably suits your abilities extrely well."
Zahra nodded as if in a trance. She could already imagine it as she used her abilities to blind opponents or beco invisible and then reposition to not only throw her illusory daggers, but also fire her new bow.
Gently, she pulled back the string... then blinked as if rembering sothing, before a wry smirk appeared on her lips. "Right... I’m going to have to find so arrows, though. As well as carry them with ."
Fortunately, Erik chuckled and shook his head. "Why don’t you try infusing the string with your energy as you pull it back?"
Zahra’s eyebrows shot up. She imdiately caught on to what he was hinting at and quickly did as he suggested. A wide grin appeared on her beautiful lips when it went exactly as expected, a light-red, shimring arrow ford between her fingers.
"Hehehe," she imdiately chuckled like a kid in a candy store. "This is aweso..." she muttered excitedly. "I can’t believe I could have had this for seven years!"
She looked at Erik with glimring eyes. "Thank you!"
Erik chuckled and shrugged, not really having done that much. "Why don’t you try using your spells through the bow while pulling back the string?" he suggested. "In particular, try the one where you conjure a throwing knife."
Curious about his suggestion, Zahra quickly set to the task. It took her a mont to figure out how exactly to cast her magic circles through the bow, but the results paid off. By the end, she brandished her bow, prepared to fire, and right next to the conjured arrow floated a small magic circle, ready to release a throwing knife, as well.
But Erik had already left her to practice by herself because he’d been called over by Emma. Perhaps she’d found sothing as well...
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