Fate Weaver's convergence

C77 Winters story 7

"Okay, be patient with me. I haven't had to do this in a while."

Grabbing the mace by its shaft and pommel, Stannis tilted the weapon where the stamping was clearly in view. The lines within the metal had already taken a strange dark hue thanks to the inlay of chemicals.

"Remember the instructions you received on channeling mana before?"

Stannis asked as he shifted the weapon in his palms.

"Vaguely, but I can't channel mana. All I can do is poor it out like-"

I made the motion as if I were dumping a bucket of water.

"I can dump it into my sword I guess, but that's about it."

Stannis nodded in response, taking a moment to parse his words.

"I remember, it's still fairly strange you could direct it within the blade at all given your usual state. It's rather life-saving considering the Dire Wolverine you ran across looked to be an alpha."

Stannis paused for a moment taking a glimpse back at the inert greatsword.

"Anyways, if you can do that you might be able to rune-lock things and unlock them as well."

Stannis drew attention to the pommel as he released it and began cupping it.

"First, as usual, let the mana flow."

Stannis began slowly letting mana free, a light blue flow of mana began crossing the gap from his palm to the inlay.

"Now, usually when you do this you can also lock away things if you say... hmm. If you had a hollow pommel, you can store a coin or two. In some cases, I've seen people roll up letters and place them underneath the leather wrap of their grip. The only way to get it off the wood without damaging it would be to unlock the weapon."

With the flow of mana, the inlay slowly began to emit a light of its own. Sparks began to pop as the glow grew more fierce until it was as if a light bulb was just switched on. Then suddenly, in an anticlimactic manner, the glow faded almost in an instant. With the glows disappearance, only the metal inlay remained. No hue from the chemical wash, no sparks, nor mystical bold color.

Curious, I reached out to poke it before hesitating.

I'd never watched anything be man locked, for the life of me I couldn't recall it once since waking up here. To see it happen was like something out of a video game.

Noticing my hesitation, Stannis nodded and pointed.

"Go ahead, touch it."

For some reason the instinct to 'do not do this' struck just a few inches before I managed to place a finger on the bare metal. Almost instantly, mana began to sap away when I touched it. It wasn't rapid, but a noticeable steady pace as it bled energy away. Taking my hand away, my mana slowly recuperated.

"That's what rune locking does, it saps the energy of anyone not tuned to it. The only reason anyone of us can even touch your sword is thanks to the sheath you have over it."

Stannis gestured to my blade as he spoke.

"So, that's what my sword does to people when they hold it?"

I looked back to the sheathed weapon, tilting my head with the revelation.

"Well, the effect depends on the user as well. Yours tends to give off a stinging sensation on top of the mana draw. It's thankfully enough that it's not an issue. Say if you were a knight though. The level of mana I've seen pushed through the rune has sometimes produced scars on those unwise enough to grab a sword that wasn't their own."