The room was quiet. Peaceful.
Aiden snored like someone who'd spent the day fighting for his life and then emotionally died when his weapon asked to be called a good girl in front of his crush.
Elara, meanwhile?
Wide. Freaking. Awake.
She lay on the floor where he'd dropped her—because apparently weapon etiquette wasn't taught at the Academy—and glared up at the ceiling.
"Okay. That thing yesterday? That wasn't some feral rat with daddy issues. That was something else."
"And I'm not letting myself get surprised again. Knowledge is power. And I am about to binge some deadly sword porn."
Just then—
[SYSTEM EXTENSION UNLOCKED: W.A.R.D.E.N.]Weapon-Accessed Registry for Danger Evaluation & Networking
A faint holographic interface lit up over her blade. Folders. Categories. Menus. More neon lights than a cursed Vegas casino.
Elara blinked.
"Wait... there's a literal Blade Internet? And nobody told me?!"
Logging in as: Elara-07AStatus: Defunct. Unclaimed. Rejected. Last Login: 21 years, 5 months, 2 days ago.
"...RUDE."
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
📁 CATEGORY: CURSE CLASSIFICATION INDEX
☠️ Threat Rating Scale
Elara scrolled, squinting.
"Oh. Hell. Yes. This is my language."
F (1–2): Weak Ass Bitch"Will die to wind. And maybe shame."
D (3–4): Weak Bitch"Might bruise your shin if it trips into you."
C (4–5): Bitch"Mild threat. Screams a lot. Fails even more."
B (6): Hmm."Can kill you. If you're incompetent. Like... Aiden."
A (7): Oh Shit"Danger. Real danger. Not metaphorical danger like ordering sushi in a landlocked kingdom."
S (8): Death"Hope you said goodbye to your mom."
SS (9): Instant Death"Will delete you from existence and your friends will gaslight each other that you ever lived."
SSS (10): Instant Death With Total Annihilation™"If you see one of these, you didn't. You're atoms now."
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
Elara whistled low.
"Okay, that's metal as hell. So where's my little cryptid from yesterday?"
She pulled up the field report. A black screen pulsed.
Name: [REDACTED]Level: SS (9)Status: Corrupted System – Former WeaponOrigin: Reforged Blade- This entity has deviated from its original function.
Elara froze.
"...Reforged blade?"
She swallowed. Her UI flickered for a moment.
"No. No no no. That's not right. Those programs were terminated. Shut down. Scrapped. There's no way any of us are still—"
She tried to tap into the old logs.
Access Denied.
File: Project 07A – ClassifiedStatus: TerminatedRequest: Reinstatement OverrideAuthorization Required: ADMIN_01
The air around her hummed like a pressure headache.
She backed out. Fast.
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
📂 CATEGORY: BLADE CHATTER THREADS (UNFILTERED)
She peeked at the gossip forums.
💬 "Anyone else feel that system pulse last night??"
💬 "Bro, someone just unlocked their blade from DECOM status. Thought that was impossible?"
💬 "A student named Aiden just hit Level 10 in one mission… 👀"
💬 "Is it true? A blade said 'Good girl' in public? 😳"
💬 "Not just a blade. THE blade. Elara-07A is active again."
💬 "Wait… isn't Elara-07A marked as scrapped? Who TF reactivated her?"
She blinked.
"…Well shit. I'm trending."
The interface faded. The glow around her dulled.
Elara sat silently in the dark, runes along her blade flickering softly like candlelight.
From the bed, Aiden shifted in his sleep.
"Don't call her good girl again," he mumbled.
Elara stared.
Then smirked. Just slightly.
"You're so lucky you're cute."
She paused.
Watched the window. Watched the sky.
Then whispered—more to herself than to him:
"If they're reforging blades… someone's building an army."
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
📊 System Message:
+10 to Intel Gathering+3 to Paranoia+1 Hidden Memory Fragment Recovered
Your weapon remembers what it means to be afraid.
W.A.R.D.E.N. Access Logged. You are not alone.
📨 Incoming Whisper MessageFrom: UNKNOWNSubject: 07A
"Welcome back, Elara. We've missed you."