Chapter 9: Awakening

The morning air around the lodge was sharp and cold. Ori stood facing Rost, the wooden practice sword feeling light and contemptible in his hand. Rost, despite his bad leg which could barely hold his weight, stood ready with a quiet patience that drove Ori to a white-hot fury.

The duel began. Ori fought with the raw, desperate strength he had built over three years, every move fueled by the image of his mother’s death. He attacked relentlessly, delivering powerful, predictable blows against his uncle. Rost did not move much. He simply endured, his defense a patient, solid wall. Ori threw himself into a final, powerful flurry, but Rost, with a master's skill, simply deflected the blow and let Ori’s own momentum carry him past. Ori stumbled, leaving his back exposed, and the flat of Rost’s stick landed a stinging, decisive strike against his shoulder blade.

Ori lost.

He threw the wooden stick to the ground in a spray of dirt, the shame of failure a burning acid in his throat. He ran, plunging blindly into the familiar density of the woods.

He didn't need to look back to know Jade was following him. Her silent, stubborn dedication was a constant in his life, one of the few things that hadn't shattered.

He stopped at the river, letting the cold, fast-moving water mirror the chaos in his mind. He knelt, slamming his fist onto the mossy ground.

Jade sat down beside him on the riverbank, her dark green hair falling over her shoulder, but she said nothing about the duel. She simply waited, her presence a quiet anchor.

“I’m just not good enough,” Ori finally grated out.

Jade’s voice was soft, but carried a profound conviction. "You saved me, Ori. You gave me a name and a future. Your goodness can save so many people, and not just from monsters, but from lost hope." She reminded him of the little girl lost in the woods, whose life was changed by his simple, uncompromising kindness.

Ori looked up, his frustration easing slightly as her words settled his soul. He forced a smile.

“So, what more can that thing do?” Jade asked, trying to change the subject.

He drew the inert rod, which immediately snapped into the living sword. “It’s sharp," he said as he pointed it away from her.

He showed off the new tricks he had mastered: at will, he could slightly change the shape and size of the sword, shortening it for a quick jab, or lengthening the tip for a sudden reach. Doing so pulsed a soft green light through the blade, flowing from the jewel in the hilt.

He found a dead log by the riverside and sliced it perfectly in two with an effortless cut. “It never dulls either,” he noted. “It feels like it is getting to know me better. But I can’t help but wonder if there’s more it can do.”

Jade smiled, and their conversation drifted into mild calm—a safe space carved out of the world’s chaos.

A sudden, terrifying snort shattered their moment.

A new monster, larger and fiercer than any they had faced, burst from the tree line. It was a corrupted boar, towering over them, its body the size of a large horse. Its thick, gnarled tusks were laced with veins of black Onyx.

The beast immediately targeted Jade, ramming into her and sending her sprawling into a section of deep, cold river water.

Ori drew his sword and engaged the beast. He swung at the boar’s head, but the corrupted, Onyx-laced tusks were impossibly strong. His living sword barely scratched them. The first thing Ori’s sword had not been able to pierce.

Ori adjusted his stance and swung again, this time cutting flesh just left of the boar’s head. However, the shallow cut healed quickly as the black onyx pulsed through its flesh. Ori swung again, but the boar anticipated the attack and lunged with its tusk. Ori brought the jade sword up to block, but the force was too much. He was knocked backward onto his rear.

Jade, emerging from the deep water, charged the beast unarmed. She grabbed a section of the dead log Ori had cut earlier and slammed it into the monster’s side. The raw, unexpected force of her strike caused the corrupted boar to stumble, nearly tripping on the uneven river bank.

Ori scrambled up, the two of them now facing the beast together. Ori stood in front with his sword drawn, but his gaze snapped to Jade, who stood in a battle-ready stance, relying on him as an equal. He saw the unwavering faith in her eyes. He was no longer just being protected; he was a partner.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, clearing his mind of all clutter and focus. He held the weapon with both hands. His will and the spirit of the artifact achieved harmony. The sword instantly grew, widening and lengthening dramatically into a massive greatsword. Ori leaned into the attack, rotating his entire body as he leapt forward. The sword, now a giant blade of brilliant green, slammed down from above with the force of Ori’s entire body and cut directly into the head of the boar, splitting it between the eyes and the impervious tusks.

Without missing a beat, Ori shrank the massive weapon back down to a single-handed sword and, with a final, trained motion, sliced the onyx jewel out of the beast's chest.

Jade stood shocked and impressed. Likewise, Ori, who had behaved purely on instinct, felt a powerful connection to the weapon that he'd never known.

“Well,” Jade breathed. “I think that was probably ‘the more’ you were feeling it could do.”

Ori grinned, clutching the sword that had become one with his will. He looked down at the massive, slain boar. He had much more room to grow.

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