It was a sword, the one thing the boy wished he had in this damnable place.
The shape of the sword was peculiar to the boy, yet he thought nothing of it as his only experience with them was an iron guard sword he'd managed to procure through less than savoury means.
Axel slowly stood up, his legs trembling under the strain as if he was carrying the entire world on his shoulders, but the boy was determined to reach the blade, to continue his dream, and start the journey towards perfection.
His body strained and bones creaked yet there was nothing going to stop him from grabbing the sword.
He managed to touch the sword's hilt, taking hold as if never letting go, and lifting it slightly from the protrusions holding it up on the wall, before collapsing down with it under the massive weight of his own body.
There was a terrifyingly familiar feeling as he was collapsing though, the one of something interacting with his soul.
He quickly tensed up like a coiled spring, instinctively dreading the pain that he would have to go through. On the contrary, it was a pleasant feeling, as though he was starting to bond with the sword, becoming one entity, instead of a man with his sword.
What's this? He questioned.
The only response was the faint rays of sunlight bouncing off the green leaves of the plentiful oaks.
Axel hadn't expected an answer anyway, so he prepared for the night.
Preparing was an overstatement, since all he did was find a suitable tree to sleep under and refill his canteen and the fruits he carried.
Just before nightfall, the boy liked to look at the mural decorating the roof and at the beautiful mirage of lights it was somehow emitting.
…
The next day, Axel was surprised to find out just how heavy the sword was; he hadn't noticed the day before due to exhaustion, but the sword weighed 10 stone*.
The sword's hilt had an engraving dedicated to aegis on it, carved with a delicate intricacy, yet not quite matching up to the deific presence of the mural, but it still surpassed most of the things Axel had seen in his life.
How is anyone even supposed to wield this? He thought as he finally decided to unsheath the sword.
The sound it made was weird, as if the blade was drawn from a metal scabbard instead of a wooden one, but that didn't matter since Axel was whole heartedly focused on the blade itself. It's colour was unlike anything he'd seen before, it was more silver than silver, shinier than gold, and its gleam was unlike any other. The metal seemed mystical, profound even.
His heart started racing, because he instinctively knew that the blade was not the least bit ordinary, and that this special sword would aid him immensely in his journey, even if he couldn't yet wield it effectively.
As to not insult its creator, Axel chose to name the sword. It looked to be masterfully crafted and not giving it a name felt wrong.
In the end, he chose the name Aeos, as it was the steed and an invaluable helper to the hero of an old story he used to hear at the orphanage.
…
The days started to trickle by, each spent getting used to the massive amount of weight where he was and channeling mana through his body to heal and reinforce his body. Every movement caused a loud creek from the bones and insidious tears of muscles
The strain made him occasionally grow delirious as blood found it hard to flow to the brain but when that happened, he would tense his whole body to increase his blood pressure.
Weeks passed, and Axel was so used to meditating to help repair his body, that he started to do it subconsciously.
Now moving was possible but limited to simple movements, at the cost of pain so intense, it would make a person cry, and of course, he did.
But the joy of being able to move and act when he wasn't supposed to make it possible to ignore the pain. It was as if he rejected the will of the gods and the catharsis achieved outweighed any pain.
Every day, his hands bled out from forcing himself to lift the sword and swing.
callouses built up.
blisters popped, leaving new ones to grow.
Yet the boy never stopped, wavered or gave up.
There was no reason for the boy to subject himself to this, yet he did it anyway, to get stronger, faster and hopefully pass the point where mortals have never managed to venture to.
To reach perfection.
Like the mural overlooking him everyday.
Taunting him.
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*10 stone is around 63.4kg or 140lbs