Assassin's Chronicle

Anfey only glanced at the chest before moving his gaze to the longbow. He walked over slowly and lifted it off the wall. Everyone else stared at the chest with wide eyes. They had all felt something, but did not want to believe. Anfey did not know much about magic silver. He had only read about it in books, and had quickly forgotten about it.

He brushed away the dust on the longbow. The bow was about four feet long and very heavy. There were no carvings or decorations on it, and the bow appeared very plain. Under the dim light, the bow’s body appeared to be dark grey, and the string appeared to be dark gold. Anfey wasn’t one to appreciate ancient artifacts, but he knew this bow was nothing short of extraordinary.

He slowly began pulling the string back, and even though he used his full strength, he was experiencing difficulties. He tried to draw the string back a bit more, and felt a sharp pain in his fingers. He released the string.

The string bounced back, making a sharp whistling sound that turned into a low buzzing. Anfey stared at it in amazement.

He put the bow back and turned to the great axe. The axe was about as tall as a man, the handle was as thick as a baby’s forearm, and the axe itself was almost as big as a wheel. The axe was shaped strangely. The lower part of the axe was flat and smooth, the upper part turned abruptly vertical. Like the bow, the axe appeared old. It was black, and only the edge of the axe appeared white.

The axe probably weighed considerably more than a hundred and fifty pounds. Anfey reached over and picked it off of the wall. As he held the axe in his hand, he stumbled and almost dropped the axe. Anfey was caught off guard. He knew how strong he was. Holding this axe was completely beyond his ability.

He grasped the axe with his left hand, and before he could study it closely, he felt his legs shaking and sinking. He was standing on a pile of jewelry, which had supported him well before, but with the axe in his hands he was falling through the pile.

He hurriedly returned the axe to where it was before. He had tried his best to control it, but it still bounced off the wall and made a loud noise that startled the others in the cave.

"What are you doing?" Christian asked, looking away from the chest.

"Nothing," Anfey said. "Can you open the chest?"

"It’s an element lock," Christian said, shaking his head. "It’s impossible."

"Say, do you guys think this is magic silver?" Riska asked.

"Magic silver?" It had been too long, and well past Anfey’s memory limits. He thought the name sounded familiar, but could not remember what it was.

"I feel like it is, but I do not know for sure," Blavi said, shaking his head.

"I’ve seen it," Christian said, "but that’s not something you can tell by just looking at it."

"If we attack it, maybe we can tell."

"No, that way we will trigger the element lock," Christian shook his head.

"Christian, do you know how to undo the lock?"

"No, unless we have the right spell."

"You’re sure?"

"I’m certain. Unless we can find an alchemist. There is no way we can manage that by ourselves."

"Alright," Anfey said, nodding. "Suzanna, look at this," he added, lifting the bow off of the wall.

Suzanna walked over and took the bow. It was too big for Anfey to use, and Suzanna was even shorter than him. The way she held the bow looked slightly awkward, but her power was undeniable. She was able to draw it almost full despite being more petite than Anfey. However, she could barely draw it open fully, and let go hurriedly. The bow vibrated and an arrow of air shot forward. It hit a wall and made a large hole on it. Anfey stared at the hole, and was glad the bow was not aimed at him.

"Do you know its name?" Anfey turned to Christian, who was the most knowledgeable of all of them.

"I don’t know," Christian shook his head. "It can shoot out an air arrow, though. I have never heard of anything like this."

"Does anyone know?" Anfey’s question was met with head shakes and low murmurs. "Suzanna, do you know?"

"No," Suzanna said, stroking the bow. Clearly she liked it, but it was not her weapon. Using a longbow like this was very draining, and she was, after all, a swordsman, not an archer.

"Nevermind. Suzanna, take the bow and axe."

"Me? No. I only need the sword."

"That’s yours. You are the rightful owner."

"There, why don’t you put it in your ring? My ring is full, and I can’t carry around an axe all day."

"Alright," Anfey said. He didn’t want to argue with Suzanna about pointless things. "Suzanna, there is only one thing left to do, if we can’t figure out the spell."

"What is it?"

"Tell us who took the map, and we will get it back together."

Suzanna frowned and appeared hesitant.

"We still do not know where you two came from and what your pasts were. We know you will tell us when you are ready to do so. I think now is one of those times. We need to analyze where the map came from, and what kind of people we will be facing."

"Alright," Suzanna sighed.

"You don’t need to tell us right away. We have plenty of time for you to think," Anfey interrupted her. "Christian, come. We need to seal off the passages. I don’t think the orcs will easily give up."

Christian sighed, remembering the orcs. "Alright," he said.

When they returned to the cavern, the orcs were not working, and were instead chatting amongst themselves. Seeing the group emerging from the site of the accident, the orcs all turned their gaze.

Greed was limitless. There were very few people who could avoid the influence of greed, and Anfey was no different. When he had just arrived here, all he wanted to do was to kill Yagor and survive. After meeting Saul and Ernest and learning more about the world, he wanted to be one of the best. He felt that he should do something, instead of living alone, spending the rest of his life in absolute boredom. Sure it would be safe, but...

Like him, the orcs were ecstatic over earning one gold coin a day. After hearing their friends had discovered the treasure and seeing them returning with many gold coins, they felt Anfey was selfish. They were the ones who had discovered the treasure; shouldn’t they get some of it as well? If it weren’t for the difference in power and strength, they would have rioted long ago.

"Sanchez, get them out of here. Tell them to take three days off and give them each three coins," Anfey commanded, looking around the cavern.

"Alright," Sanchez said. He turned to the orcs and called, "All of you, out, out."

The orcs, hearing his orders, glanced at each other but did not move. Clearly they wanted to stay there. Greed could grant people strength sometimes, and it had helped them forget the slaughter that happened there only a few days ago. All they could think of was the treasure.

"Did you not hear me?" Sanchez called angrily. "Out with all of you!" He knew that after the accident, the orcs had become restless and would often disregard orders. They would often look at them with shifty eyes and resist orders passively.

The orcs slowly stood up and began shuffling out of the cavern. Some were muttering something in their own language, as if cursing the humans.

Anfey snorted, his eyes flickering with anger.