An unassuming building occupied a lot in the middle-class district, no different from its neighbors, at times rhythmic bashing resounded from its closed maw.
Compared to the surrounding shops, one would call it a failure, the ladies didn't peek through its blinds nor did the common man spare it any attention.
The place had no sign, even though it stands as part of the shopping streets. Memor walked in, pushing the double door made of pale wood open, he was blasted with smoky metallic puff.
Inside blacksmith tongs lined the right wall, underneath it a stone table rested. At the back, a large furnace illuminated the interior with heat, its chimney blew to the back of the building, away from eyes view. At the center of the room a large stone table stood, rested on top were hammers, tongs and a couple swords.
Yannis crouched near the furnace, who waited for his steel to heat up, caught the faint footsteps of Memor.
" Have some manners and kno- "He turned to face the intruder, stopping his speech when he saw at Memor.
Yannis was a small man, he wore an apron rusted with tar just like his crowded face, the eyes that was once bright green was now clouded in a layer of fog.
Yannis's face twitched, before Memor got a word out he yelled." What?! Is that tree too embarrassed to come on his own! Now he sends me his midget?!"
Ironic. Memor glanced down at Yannis. Speechless.
"I'm a bladesmith! Not a fucking jeweler!"
Bam!
His hand crashed into the table, knocking some tools off. He glared at Memor.
"What does he want now? A ring? Bracelet?" Yannis sighed, supporting himself with both his hand on the table.
"Actually, it's for me." Memor stepped forward." I want a sword."
Yannis smiled hearing Memor's words. He enthusiastically took the specifications of the sword from Memor before hurrying back to his furnace—he still had metal cooking.
The following cycle in Memor's hut, had another eventful beginning, waking up drenched in cold sweat. Nightmares were a common occurrence in Memor's sleep, because of it, Memor moved out of his old residence—the boulder in the woods.
Compared to Uncle Ceres's place, the hut felt less suffocating.
He did his routine, eat Bayel flower, cleanup by the well, then Memor travelled to Calypso's residence. Her home was at the brink of the lower-class and middle-class district.
Memor walked through the dirt streets, the emptiness ever so prevalent. Many villagers have gone to the fields or the inner parts of the city to open their stalls, others labored away on the mountain next to Torsal.
Soon he reached his destination, Calypso's place was of similar design to his, grey walls, straw roof, only much larger and was accompanied with a second story.
He knocked. Silence. He knocked again much harder, a grumpy boy opened the door, Luni.
It's already pretty late and this guy is still asleep? Memor stared at the ruffled Luni almost twitching his nose.
"Where's Calypso?" Memor asked, scanning the interior.
"Sis? Uhhh... she said something about guarding a basement." Luni answered, his voice almost a mumble.
So, she was punished in the end. Once the situation with the hunting parties been settled by the new law, they had no reason to punish Theano, but Calypso was different, she was chosen by The Believers of Mnemosyne, if she was not punished, the believers might revoke her acceptance.
Memor nodded. "Alright. I'm here for my payment?"
"What?" Luni raised an eyebrow, leaning on the door frame.
"The hunting trip." Memor reminded.
"Oh! Right." Luni exclaimed. Memor's words must have woken him up, since he ran up the stairs with great vigor. After a while he came down with a pouch in his hand, inside cherry red coins glimmered.
Grabbing the pouch from Luni, Memor checked its contents, five coins. They were Dios, the currency used in the memory domain, it's a rare metal mostly used in jewelry, though over the years uses of Dio have changed.
He pocketed the pouch, then invited Luni to wander the middle-class district with him.
It was swamped, many familiar faces from the academy roamed its streets, mostly arrogant ones from the middle-class. It was no surprise such students will feel disgust towards other classmates. They have bee sheltered all their lives and now have to brush shoulders with people they thought of as nasty.
They strolled around, checking out food stalls and clothing stores.
"Hey," Luni called." I heard you were on trial last cycle. Is that true?"
"Your sister was." Memor answer tacitly.
Luni nodded to himself. Memor and Luni were half way to Yannis's blacksmith when Memor felt a tap on his shoulder.
Turning around he saw the familiar red hair, Alara. She was in a white gown, its hems stopping at her shins. A bright smile framed her face with her sparkling blue eyes.
Memor looked past her, three other ladies stood with disgust smeared all over their faces.
Middleclass people. Memor sighed internally.
"Hey Mori! I didn't expect to see you out here." Alara said.
"Just running an errand." Memor said. "Out with your friends?"
"Yeah, we thought it'd be nice to have a girls cycle out." Alara answered, she looked at Luni and asked." Who might this be?"
Memor turned to Luni, the face of an aroused teenager glowed in full view. Luni's cheeks were flushed, but he stood stoically.
Impressive. Memor smiled deviously," Ohh this right here is Calypso's younger brother." Memor pushed Luni forward." Luni here has a lot of stories to tell."
"Really?" Alara looked Luni up and down, curiosity streaming through her eyes.
Memor pinched Luni out of his stupor, "Yes y-yes, I have many stories." Luni said with an awkward smile.
The ladies behind seem to gain interest, though their arrogant act was still firm. Alara and Luni got on well, chatting about Calypso's achievements, before long the ladies with Alara joined in the discussion as well. Memor on the other hand, slipped out and made his way to Yannis's blacksmith alone.
Calypso's fame is no joke. Memor scoffed.
Memor reached Yannis's blacksmith, the bashing of hammers echoed loud and wide, notifying every being in its vicinity. Walking in he saw Yannis hammering at steel, not wanting to bother his work Memor waited, leaning on the stone table.
He looked around, spotting sheathed sword placed on the stone table, picking it up he unsheathed it, a Swiss Sabre made of black steel, its guard twisting towards it's pommel like snakes, the handle was fashioned with pale white wood.
It felt good, felt right. Turning back to Yannis who was still hammering Memor yelled.
"Put it on my uncle's tab!"
Yannis turned to Memor for a moment, then waved a hand of resignation before going back to hammering.
Poor guy can't catch a break. Memor chuckled to himself as he walked out.
At his uncle's bunker, Ceres was tinkering with some items beyond Memor's understanding. Hearing the incoming footsteps Uncle Ceres turned around to see a young man holding onto a sword.
"You could have gone for something more practical." Uncle Ceres remarked.
"This sword fits me well," Memor unsheathed his weapon, handing it to his uncle.
Uncle Ceres nodded, not finding the need to retort. Moving the item from his desk he placed the Swiss Sabre down and went to a chest to his right.
"So, what kind of Artifact are you going to craft me?" Memor said, climbing onto a clear table.
"It will have the same Unique Fragment Ability as Calypso." Ceres said opening the chest. He picked out what looks like a piece of broken mirror.
Memor's brows furrowed in curiosity," What is that?"
"A Memory Fragment," Uncle Ceres brought the fragment to his workbench." I thought you learned about Memory Fragments."
"Never seen one." Memor said.
Ceres placed the fragment on top of the Swiss Sabre, his hands hovered above giving off a faint glow.
Memor looked up in thought, before sighing.
"So... how do Artifacts work?" Memor asked awkwardly.
Uncle Ceres turned to stare at Memor.
Seriously. Memor nodded at Uncle Ceres, but he kept staring. After what felt like an eternity, Uncle Ceres focused back on his craft.
See this Memor shook his head. He climbed down the table intending to leave.
"Where are you going?" Ceres asked.
"Home. I'll come pick it up next cycle."
"There is no need for that, I will be done in 20 minutes."
"What? Doesn't it take days to make Artifacts."
"I am the lead artisan of the village for a reason." Ceres answered, not looking back.
"Fare enough." Memor said, as he settled back on the desk.
They sat in silence, at times Memor would peek under Uncle Ceres's arm, watching as sparkly embers escape the Memory Fragment seeping into the blade. 10 Minutes passed, then Uncle Ceres spoke.
"You asked how Artifacts work."
"Yes." Memor raised an eyebrow.
"The essence of a Mnemonists power is the changing the truth. Memory Fragments bound to a host they find worthy granting them power, the same could be said for Artifacts but in a more round about method."
"Of course, Memory Fragments will not find an object worthy, so we have to infuse the object with memories till the Memory Fragment finds it worthy."
Memor grabbed his chin in thought," That still doesn't explain why you are so fast?"
"I have been doing this for years and," Uncle Ceres paused for a moment." My Grade 2 Memory Fragment gives me more control over memories."
It should be his Unique Fragment Ability if I'm right. Memor nodded in understanding.
"If that were true, how am I suppose to use the Artifact? I'm no Learner, are you going to put a switch on the handle?"
Uncle Ceres let out a few chuckles," No Mori." He paused, trying to find a way to explain it." The idea of Artifacts has to do with control, when you are holding the sword, you are in control of it. Any idea you have will be transferred to the sword in intent. It will not be as powerful as using a Phantom Self to transfer your intent to the Artifact but it will do."
"Phantom Self?" Memor asked in confusion.
"How do you think Mnemonists sense the Phantom Realm?"
That makes sense.
Ceres continued, "Since you are not a Learner, your memory could not compare to one, but that is a good thing, the idea of Forgotten Space is to forget, it will work well with your mediocre memory."
He read my mind again. Memor sighed internally. He never discussed Unique Fragment Abilities with his uncle only with Alara, but it was no surprise. Even if reading the memories of another without their consent was punishable by death in Sal Village, it didn't stop Uncle Ceres, as no one could prove he peeked into other people's minds. That was probably the same Unique Fragment Ability he spoke of that allowed him to craft so quickly.
Memor always knew his uncle could look into his memories without him knowing and his uncle never hid the fact that he could. Memor suspected that his uncle was more in tune with memories, but now with this new knowledge, his guess didn't seem so far off.
Uncle Ceres kept working on the Artifact, soon it was done. To Memor the Sabre didn't look any different than before.
Uncle Ceres stood up and offered the sword to Memor, the second Memor touched the sword, he felt it. Every forgotten memory he has ever had, he sensed them, he didn't know what he had forgotten, but the empty spaces in his mind were presented to him.
He looked down at the Swiss Sabre, not sensing anything different physically. Memor focused on the empty spaces in his mind and in reality, he focused on the sword in his hand.
The Sabre's edge rippled, the same as Calypso's enchanted arrows. Even without the Phantom Self to sense the effects of the blade, Memor could feel its edge, it wasn't destruction, it was just nothingness.
"Go test it out outside." Ceres said.
Memor nodded, he turned off the effects of the Artifact and climbed out the bunker.
Swiss Sabre in his hand, Memor stood silently in the pale wood forest, his uncle observed from behind, the forest wind weaved between their hairs just like the hair of the forest.
Memor walked towards a pale wood tree, he focused on the emptiness in his mind, at the same time the blade rippled. He slashed.
WOO!
On the tree a diagonal cut opened its body, Memor could see right through where he slashed. Just moments after, the tree tumbled, crashing into the ground.
"Do not use it too often. I crafted in a way so it does not put a strain on your mind but on the sword." Ceres cautioned.
Looking back Memor nodded. Suddenly a bold thought slithered into his mind.
"Let's spar" Memor said, his eyes determined.