Forged by the goddess of dawn herself, it was the twin of the famous blade known across the land. This one, however, had been forgotten by time. Until now.
Far away, atop a glowing mountain always lit by sunlight, stood the White Sun Cathedral, the closest place to the gods. There, embedded in stone, was a legendary sword said to shine like the sun itself.
Stories claimed it was blessed by the heavens, covered in dazzling jewels, lined with glowing runes, and forged with divine gold that shimmered in the light. It had defeated demon kings, ended plagues, and even slain golden dragons.
Everyone knew what it looked like, it showed up in fairy tales, history books, and songs passed down for centuries. And then there was the one Elara was staring at now.
'Was this really the holy sword? This dull, unimpressive thing?'
It looked nothing like the legends. No glow, no grandeur. Just... ordinary.
But Elara had read the novel. She knew this was definitely the holy sword. She also knew she couldn't pull it out.
When she tried, there was no reaction at all, no magic pushback or divine energy. It was just really stuck. Like, jammed-solid stuck.
When did it become a rule that heroes had to be chosen by fate?
That they had to be pure-hearted, blessed by heaven, wielding a shining holy sword, and glowing with righteousness? And why did the sword always have to be jammed into some pedestal or rock, waiting for the "true" hero to pull it out?
It was a classic story, timeless, passed down for generations. But if the sword was that important, wouldn't it make more sense to just hand it straight to the hero instead of making them play along with a weird ritual?
No one really had an answer. People just called it destiny or divine will. Something that had to happen for the story to feel complete. But Elara will just call it the Author intervention to make drama for the mc.
To be fair, this world did have real heroes.
Then Bryella showed up. She may have looked delicate, but she had enough strength to toss a grown man across a room. And even though she was a mage, her physical strength was ridiculous.
Puffing her cheeks, she gave the sword a serious yank. She nearly brought down the entire ruined temple.
But the sword didn't budge. It stayed where it was, like it was part of the earth itself.
"Huff... okay, okay. I give up. This thing definitely has some divine lock on it," Bryella said, glaring at a pair of stone dog statues nearby like they were to blame.
Since the sword clearly wasn't coming out, Elara gave up and started looking around the ruined temple. If they weren't walking away with a weapon, maybe she could at least find something useful. The Deep Abyss Cult wasn't going to defeat itself, after all.
Unfortunately, the rest of the temple wasn't much better. She passed through a long hall filled with old wooden desks and benches, incense still clinging faintly to the air.
Prayer scrolls lay scattered across the dusty floor. The once-beautiful temple, now crumbling and forgotten, only added to the sense of loss.
There was nothing left.
Even the holy book on the altar disintegrated the moment she touched it. A total bust.
"Find anything?" Bryella asked, walking back with something in her hand.
It was a small, worn charm etched with a faint image of a winged figure. The edges were chipped, and the surface felt cold.
"Huh… this kinda looks like a holy relic."
"A holy relic?!" Elara gasped. Hearing that from an ice spirit somehow made it sound even more dramatic.
She hurried to take it from Bryella. It was rough in her hands, cold and aged. The carving of the goddess was crude, barely visible. It looked more like a handmade keepsake than anything holy.
Protection charms like these were usually used to show your faith, sometimes to confirm identity during rituals or while traveling. But this one didn't shine, didn't warm her fingers, didn't give off any divine vibe.
"Is this really a holy relic?"
Holy relics were supposed to hold real power, pieces of divine presence. Back at the White Sun Cathedral, they had relics that could literally keep the darkness at bay.
This? This just looked old.
She turned it over and over, trying to find something magical about it. Nothing. Maybe she wasn't strong enough to sense anything, or maybe Bryella could feel things differently with her elemental senses?
"I don't lie," Bryella said simply. Her voice was calm, serious, and full of confidence.
That was enough to make Elara hesitate. Maybe there really was something to it.
After all, Bryella was incredibly powerful. If she couldn't break it, then the material must be something special.
"Honestly, it's just a feeling," Bryella said softly. Elara didn't really have anything else to go on, so she decided to trust her, for now, and slipped the relic into her bag.
It was the only thing they'd found after searching the entire place. Nothing else remained in the ruins. Elara had hoped to discover some light-infused artifact that could help them fight the Deep Abyss Cult, but this was all they got.
They ended up heading halfway up the snowy mountain, back toward where Bryella had once built her sanctuary, just to take another look.
"I thought you said your sanctum was sealed shut. So how the hell did a dragon eat you?" Elara asked, yelling over the wind as they flew.
The two of them rode on the back of a familiar, soaring through the freezing air. Elara held onto Bryella tightly, following the faint magical traces still lingering in the air.
The whole situation didn't make sense. According to the story, Bryella's sanctum had been broken open and she'd been devoured by a black dragon. Just thinking about that gave Elara chills.
She'd been in the North a long time and had never heard of such a dragon, no reports, no rumors, nothing. Everyone only knew about the white dragon.
And after seeing Bryella's power in action, it was hard to believe anything could physically destroy her, let alone absorb her completely. It would take a monster strong enough not just to break her body, but to devour her essence too. That wasn't something even most elder dragons could do.
But Bryella just stared blankly. She didn't remember. After escaping, she had been poisoned and passed out. Everything after that was a blur.
So, the two of them kept going, climbing higher into the mountain.