Saintess Summons Skeletons

Having looped all the way around the city center, Sofia returned to Speed’s postal office.

Still not here? It’s almost midnight already. Did he mean tomorrow?

Sofia took out a tiny stone slab, poking seven holes in it to draw Speed’s rune.

“Hey Speed? Hello?” she called, knocking on the slab. Gods can see through their runes, right?

Sure enough Speed appeared next to Sofia out of nowhere, even with her enhanced eyesight and knowing that he had just run there, she barely managed to see that it wasn’t teleportation, a slight blur following his figure.

“Hello,” Speed said with a slight bow, “I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

“Dashing as ever,” Sofia commented, appreciating Speed’s appearance, it was clear he’d put in some effort even more than the previous time, with well fitted clothes and a few discreet jewels. His blond hair was still tied in the same ponytail, and his one weirdly shaped red horn was even decorated with a tiny rune-inscribed ribbon around the base. “I am the one who made you wait for several months, so I can hardly complain.”

“No, no, I am literal Speed, the most basic thing should be to be on time, but I got a bit too engrossed in my preparations,” he explained with an awkward smile, “Will you let me carry you to our destination again this time?”

Sofia looked around, unsurprisingly there were quite a few people watching, some from the streets, some from their windows.

“Aherm. Less crowded spot first?” Speed added, noticing Sofia’s thoughts.

“Are you short on time?” Sofia asked.

“Not at all, I cleared up two days, actually. Just to be sure.”

“Two days?!” Sofia repeated at first, before thinking about it, their last ‘date’ had lasted almost an entire day, with a remnant-god-eating session in between, so it wasn’t all that outrageous. “Well… Two days then. Did you visit the city already?”

“I ran through it a few times, but I would hardly call that visiting.”

“Great! Let me give you a quick tour then,” Sofia enthusiastically said, starting to walk ahead, “Ah, right, I’m building a temple district over there,” she told him, pointing at the already visible arches of the new cathedral of Sorrow, still under construction. “Want in?”

Speed followed, walking next to Sofia. “Fully honest here, I’m not sure I can afford that.”

“Huh? I thought you would be rolling in money with how busy you have been, not that it matters though, I’ll do it for free,” Sofia said with a shrug.

“You’d do that?!”

“Sure. You can even move your post office inside so you don’t have to pay rent. Can’t promise you it will be anything big though.”

“Free is free, I’d be stupid to refuse that,” Speed answered candidly, “And on the money matter, we talked about money before, right?”

“You spent it all?” Sofia asked.

“I spent it all. Didn’t you do the same? I heard you got a fancy mithrium helmet, that can’t have been cheap.”

“Erredis estimates it at around one billion gold,” Sofia answered, having a hard time keeping a straight face at the absurd number.

“Ah yes… Just a billion gold… You’re paying for the food this time, right?” Speed asked, having a similarly hard time controlling his expression.

“Hey hey, a free temple now you also want free food? Sure, but you have to tell me what you spent your money on too, then.”

“Oh you can probably guess, I feel like,” Speed said.

“Hmm… Weapon?”

“Damn, I expected you to at least need a few tries…”

Sofia giggled at Speed’s incredulous face, “Last time you complained about how weak you felt and how you were annoyed at having to always run from danger. Makes sense to want to supplement that. Did it turn out well? What did you buy?”

“I researched the enchantments, bought materials, and had one of Water’s friends make it for me. It’s maybe not quite as expensive as your helmet, but I dare say I’m not ashamed of it!” Speed answered, a long spear with a head that looked like a red dragon fang appearing in his hands.

“Oh wow! Wait, is that made with your own horn?!” Sofia asked, stopping to observe the weapon.

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“The outside layer of the spearhead is, yeah. Had to cut and regrow it a number of times, it was quite painful.”

“Can I hold it?” Sofia asked.

Speed seemed a bit hesitant for a second, but handed it over to Sofia with a nod.

“Oh crap. Heavier than it looks. You’re fighting with this? Not so weak after all… Wait a second… Is that your essence I feel inside?”

“You noticed that?!” Speed asked, blinking a few times, “Yeah, since I always keep it with me, I’m not really losing any power.”

“I’m used to divine items now, of course I can tell if I’m directly holding it,” Sofia said, “a shame I can’t identify it right now.”

“You can’t?”

“Got a system debt to pay…” Sofia explained without giving more detail, starting to walk again, still observing the weapon that was taller than herself.

“Let me share the details then, give me a second…”

“Hmm?”

To her surprise, Speed shared a system window.

“You have access to the system now?”

Speed nodded, “That dragon admin from the trial added that recently, he’s been doing a lot of updates apparently, even started adding the Recessed into it, from what I hear.”

Sofia wanted to answer, but her eyes moved faster, reading the details of Speed’s weapon.

[Second to light +7] :

How do gods solve their problems? Same as everyone else: money, and violence! This is both.

[Ultimate enhanced piercing]

[Ultimate enhanced magic pierce]

[Ultimate enhanced durability]

Physical damage with this weapon scales with Speed instead of Strength.

Hits with this weapon also inflict 100% of Physical damage as extra Holy damage.

This weapon appears and behaves the same in all Planes.

When thrown, this weapon returns to its wielder by itself, no matter the distance.

Restriction: Essence of Speed x3

Embed Catalyst: [Primordial Water Core] : Hits with this weapon also inflict 100% of Physical damage as extra Corrosion damage.

“Not bad at all. I would almost ask you to hit me with it just to see how I fare against that. And, second to light?”

“Only light strikes faster,” Speed explained with a satisfied grin.

Sofia wanted to laugh but her own helmet’s name was just as pompous so she held it back, only snorting loudly, and handed the spear back to Speed.

“Hey, you can laugh all you want, but it’s true. I even hit the moon with it once.”

“Moon was fine with that?” Sofia asked, remembering what she had done to Creation for just calling her names.

Speed’s gaze shifted to the side, he rubbed his neck, “It’s, uh- You know. I’ve made better decisions, but yeah. That was Water’s idea, for the record.”

Sofia looked up at the moon, shining brightly above, it was almost a full moon that night. “Not sure I can quite hit it from here… Maybe with the upgraded bolts…”

“I’d highly advise against doing that.”

“I know, I know, crashed into it once already, I don’t want to burn all my good will with her.”

“Hmm, now that I think about it, aren’t you friends with both her Saintess and Oracle?” Speed asked.

“My best friend and adoptive grand-mother, if you want to be precise.”

Speed nodded along, observing the city around him, “Didn’t you tell me your best friend was that ghost hero last time, though? Had a fall out?”

“They’re both my best friends,” Sofia said with a shrug, “How is it on your side? Any new friends since last time?”

Speed laughed suddenly, “Well, funny you would ask. Since… A bit before your trial, actually, I’d been getting close to a certain… A certain group of heroes.”

“Heroes? What’s so funn-… Oh…” He lives in the Andarian city… No wonder. “Got you, you were watching that fight, right? Not too awkward watching your date and your friend trying to blow each other up?”

“Not really? Anyone could tell he enjoyed it even if he lost. And you… I don’t think I need to comment. You’re a bit scary, you know. It was a nice watch, though, even if I lost some money.”

“You bet against me?! I am deeply wounded,” Sofia bantered, clearly not serious.

Speed placed a hand on his chest after storing his spear back into a spatial ring. “A brother gotta support a brother, even if the odds are low!”

“Foolish, but respectable. To be fair if he had just taken an extra year to train ahead of the trial I think he would have had a real shot, but even still, it wasn’t an easy fight,” Sofia commented.

“Compared to that last one, sure. Now that was really something. The hero worlds have such interesting weapons.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. I didn’t forget about you calling me scary thirty seconds ago, by the way.”

Speed laughed again, “Are you not?”

“To a god I’m not, I don’t think. Unless your name is related to holy texts.”

“Oh boy do I have news for you. It’s not even just the gods, everyone finds you scary, I think. If you want proof, both the Fae and Kleptras have started frequently communicating with the Dragons after your trial, that’s very unusual, and in large part what’s been keeping me busy. And I’m pretty sure a lot of it is about you, not 100%, but not far off. And the gods have been talking as well. Especially since you’ve been begging for essence in front of so many people.”

“Begging?! I’m not begging! I’m graciously offering to relieve the stronger deities of some extra weight, that is all it is, really,” Sofia said with a fake cough.

Speed looked down at Sofia, scratching his head, “Do you… Do you even hear yourself?”