The Summoner's Vendetta (First Draft) (Book Two)

A Need for Safety

The moment that Sin and his companions returned to their safehouse, Sin secluded himself within his room. While this caused his friends concern considering that on many occasions when something stirred a memory of Nohki's betrayal, Sin would give into his pain and cause destruction; they have chosen to leave him be and instead get their newest recruits settled within the safehouse.

This was something that Sin was thankful for considering that he needed time on his own to think through everything that had happened this day. Even though his friends concern about Nohki's betrayal was correct, Sin felt that he had made enough progress towards his journey of healing that not every memory of it would send him spiraling into the depths of the darkness that resided within him.

Though he didn't feel himself falling into the pit within him, Sin could feel himself concerned that there were bound to be more betrayals in his future and considering that this wasn't something that he was wishing for since the last two have been orchestrated when he was either unarmed or unprepared for it; he knew that he needed to something to prevent this.

Due to this need to prevent himself from being unprepared for the next betrayal as well as a need to keep himself safe, Sin had seated himself at his desk and was pouring his attention over the many tomes that he had brought along with him on this journey. Flipping through the pages as he searched for a spell that would allow him to defend himself, he came upon the conclusion that he wasn't going to find what he was searching for within any of the books that he had already obtained.

"Damnit!" Sin bellowed as he slammed his clenched hands upon his desk which happened to knock over a stack of books that had been placed upon it. "There has to be something that I can use to protect myself!"

With the echoing of his words fading from the room, his eyes fell upon one of the books that had fallen from the stack. While this wasn't a tome that was designed exclusively for those who practiced Black Magic, Sin felt as if it was his one true option that he had left. Written upon the side of the book, were the words "The Insider's Guide to Enchanting" and upon sighting the words; a plan began to form within his mind on what he could do to protect himself.

While it was true that Sin had used this book once before when he was enchanting the cuffs considering that it was only the one time, he wasn't satisfied with his knowledge of the craft and was wishing to have a slight review before he truly began with his plan. Snatching ahold of the tome, Sin was immediately delving into the knowledge that was contained within its pages.

*

An hour had passed by the time that Sin had felt that he had placed the beginning bricks that would become the foundation of his knowledge within the Enchanting craft. No longer having a blatant need for the words that were contained within the book, Sin closed it before laying off to the side.

After placing the tome to the side, Sin used a sliver of time to clear away a small portion of the mess that was upon the desk so he could have a workspace without fear of damaging any of the tomes. Once this was done, Sin was now ready to begin with the plan that he had started burning within him.

Considering his proficiency with the blades that he forms from the Inari's element, Sin thought that this would be the best place for him to start. Concentrating on his bond with his Familiar, Sin easily shifted a portion of Inari's elemental energy into his own body. Feeling the icy frost slither throughout his body, Sin began to allow ice to form within his hand. Unlike his many other uses of the transference spell, he ignored his wish to form the ice into a blade and instead formed it into a circular object that would fit perfectly around his wrist much like the cuff that he had earned by completing his entrance into the Academy.

With the knowledge that this cuff would eventually crumble upon itself if he didn't continuously feed it the elemental energy that he had borrowed from Inari and since he wasn't wishing to risk his Familiar's health by borrowing too much; this was an issue that Sin knew that he had to focus on fixing.

This wish to keep Inari safe as well as keeping the cuff from crumbling into nothing, Sin allowed a portion of his mana to become visible within his hand. Due to his mana being an extension of himself, Sin was able to control it at will which he soon proved when he forced the darkness that he was holding to spin around the cuff that he was holding within his hand. His mana spun around the cuff three times before being sent barreling into the cuff that it was circling.

When the vast amount of mana smashed into the cuff, Sin lost sight of the item though considering that he could still feel it icy touch upon his palm; he knew that it wasn't damaged upon the collision. It wasn't long before the cuff was returned to his view once Sin's intention for his mana had been complete.

The moment that his mana receded back inside his body; Sin could see that what was once a pure white item was now mixed with black due to his mana mixing with the elemental energy that he used to form the cuff.

While Sin knew that this was an odd way to forge something that he hoped to be able to use in his upcoming battles, he hoped that by mixing his mana with the item that he would cut off the need for it to feed from Inari's element and instead feed off his mana to repair itself when needed. However, this wasn't the only hope that Sin had; he was also hoping that the cuff would keep its properties and be able to change its shape when Sin wished it too.

Now that Sin had completed the task of forging the cuff, it was time for him to move on to the next phase. Clasping his hands together with the cuff in the middle of the two, Sin began to whisper the words to the enchantment that would allow him to spell the item. The enchantment that Sin had chosen for the cuff was one that preserved the integrity of the item which he hoped would keep the ice from collapsing upon itself.

Eventually the words that Sin had been muttering came to an end and within his hand was the cuff that he had forged and now enchanted and while there was no outward change to the item now that the enchantment was placed upon it; Sin could feel the hum of magic flowing through the item.

Allowing the cuff to slip over his hand where it eventually rested upon his wrist, Sin prayed that all his work hadn't been for nothing as he called upon the cuff to bend to his will. Nothing happened at first which caused a slight disappointment to grow within him though before he had the chance to call this forging a failure, a growth blossomed upon the cuff.

Smiling at the success of his work, Sin examined the razor-sharp blade that had grown out of the side of the cuff that still sat upon his wrist. While the blade contained its icy sheen upon it, it wasn't colored the same as the weapons that he normally uses in battle considering that he had mixed his mana along with the elemental energy. The blade that adorned the cuff was a deep black that reminded Sin of obsidian though this black sparkled as if it had just been fetched from a frozen wasteland.

Pulling back on his control over the blade, Sin watched as it began to recede back inside the cuff and as it vanished; Sin knew that he would never be defenseless again.