“What the hell is his problem?” Grumbled the young man, Romeo, “He can’t even use mana anymore, some knight he is…”

  Nora nodded in metaphorical thought. Unlike his reckless dad, Romeo seemed to have a habit of talking to himself, which made it a lot easier for her to follow along. In summary, Romeo’s dad ended up cursed somehow and could no longer use mana, spirit force or do any serious exercise. As a result, despite once being a strong knight who served as the personal guard of the mysterious ‘Lord Arenberg”, was now a mere instructor for the Grail Knights.

  Oh. The Grail Knights are the order who serve the noble house Arenberg and joining them also happens to be young Romeo’s life goal. Luckily for him, Romeo is fairly talented with magic and swordplay, not enough to be considered a prodigy… But if he works hard becoming a knight isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

  [Name: ??? (Lost to time), Nora (Former)

  Condition: Battered (Dire Need of Repair)

  Rarity: Common Sword (8 ATK)

  Skill(s): Contact-Based Telepathy (Cooldown Active – 2 minutes remaining)

  Quest 1: Bind yourself to an owner

  -->Status: Pending

  -->Reward: Random Skill

  Quest 2: Recover from 'Battered' condition

  -->Status: Incomplete

  -->Reward: Name]

  [A 'battered' bastard sword, useful for its ability to be wielded with both hand or just one. There appears to be more to this weapon than meets the eye]

  ‘Almost there,’ She thought, ‘But what exactly does it mean to bind myself to an owner?’

  Romeo leaned forward, elbows on his knees. The dim lantern beside the bed cast long shadows across the small room. For a while he just stared at the floor, clearly thinking.

  “…Some knight he is.”

  Romeo suddenly stood.

  Nora swung slightly in his hand as he paced across the room.

  “I can’t just sit around,” he said quietly to himself. “If monsters are getting that close to town again…”

  He stopped beside the small weapon rack leaning against the wall.

  There were three swords on it.

  A dull wooden practice blade.

  A chipped arming sword.

  And a sword wrapped in bandages.

  Romeo stared at the rack for a long moment before slowly looking down at Nora.

  “Guess this makes four,” he muttered.

  He raised her slightly, inspecting the blade.

  Up close, the damage was impossible to ignore. Rust crawled along the fuller. The edge was uneven. A spiderweb crack ran dangerously close to the guard.

  “…You’re in worse shape than my training sword,” he said.

  Nora felt personally attacked.

  ‘Excuse me,’ she protested internally. ‘I just helped kill a wendigo! Show some respect!’

  Romeo rotated the blade in the lantern light.

  “…Still.”

  Nora froze. The system window flickered.

  Romeo scratched the back of his head.

  “…Dad said you were usable.”

  He paused again, staring at the blade.

  “…And he’s rarely wrong about weapons.”

  The young man inhaled slowly.

  “Fine.”

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  Nora felt herself growing giddy with excitement. She could feel the change coming, it was different to how she had been feeling before, now the sentient sword felt like she was one step away from growing… Like a word on the tip of a tongue.

  “Until I replace my sword,” he said quietly, “I’ll use this one.”

  The moment the words left his mouth the purple window erupted into existence.

  [System Notice]

  [Owner Recognition Conditions Met]

  [Quest 1: Bind yourself to an owner]

  [Status: Complete]

  [Reward: Pending Acceptance]

  ‘Accept!’ Thought Nora, growing more and more excited, ‘I Accept the reward!’

  In an instant a second holographic window appeared before Nora. This one looked like the screen of a pachinko machine with only one slot. Each column had its own skill listed on it, and as the wheel started turning with great speed, Nora was able to recognise a few skills from her time as a ‘Hero of Orichalcum’ otaku.

  ‘Critical Discharge? That would be nice to have… Oh not Stream Splitter! Anything but that horrible skill!’

  Eventually the wheel rolled to a stop on a skill she didn’t recognise.

  [System Notice]

  [Skill Obtained: Mana Conductor!]

  [Mana Conductor: A must-have skill for any sentient martial weapon. Allows magic to surge through the weapon like how it would with any actual living creature.]

  Nora blinked (or tried to). Slightly shocked. That was actually… quite good? She hadn’t expected her first roll to be so successful. This effectively meant she could cast spells and learn magic like any other player, right? But before she could react, another system notice disorientated her all over again.

  [System Notice]

  [Skill: ‘Contact-Based Telepathy’ and Skill: ‘Mana Conductor’ are showing synergy.]

  [Commencing Polymerization Process]

  [.]

  [..]

  […..]

  [Polymerization successful!]

  [Skill(s): ‘Mana Conductor’ and ‘Contact-Based Telepathy’ have been discarded]

  [Skill Obtained: Spirit Vessel!]

  [Spirit Vessel: Something about this object is odd… Despite its apparent inanimate nature, those holding it claim to hear voices. Perhaps this phenomenon is due to its strange affinity with magic.]

  ‘Spirit Vessel?’ Thought Nora, even more confused. ‘Polymerization Process? I’ve never seen that come up in-game before…’

  Romeo suddenly swept around the room, eyes alert and darting around with sudden fear.

  “Who said that!” He called out, “Come out! Come out or I’ll find you myself…”

  He brandished the sword as he said that. The small room, however, remained perfectly still. The lantern flickered. The wooden walls creaked softly in the night wind. Nothing else moved.

  Nora quickly realized what had happened.

  ‘Oh.’

  That last thought had not stayed inside her head.

  “…Hello?” Romeo called cautiously.

  Nora froze internally.

  ‘Right,’ she thought carefully. ‘Do not panic. This is good. This is progress.’

  Romeo’s grip tightened on the hilt.

  “I know I heard someone,” he muttered. “This isn’t funny.”

  Nora considered her options.

  Option one: stay silent and pretend nothing happened.

  Option two: immediately reveal herself and risk Romeo throwing her out the window.

  Unfortunately, option one had already failed.

  “…If this is some mage trick,” Romeo continued, now visibly nervous, “I swear I’ll-”

  ‘It’s not a mage trick,’ Nora said. ‘And you’ll struggle to threaten me with myself.’

  Romeo froze.

  The sword was still raised in front of him, but every muscle in his body had locked in place. Slowly, very slowly, his eyes drifted down toward the hilt in his hand.

  “…What?”

  The room remained silent.

  Then Nora tried again.

  ‘Down here.’

  Romeo’s head jerked up.

  “Who said that?”

  ‘You are currently holding me,’ Nora replied.

  Another long pause followed.

  Romeo blinked once. Twice.

  Then he very carefully turned the sword sideways and stared at it as if expecting a tiny person to be hiding behind the cross guard.

  “…I’ve lost too much sleep,” he muttered. “That’s what this is.”

  ‘You are not hallucinating,’ Nora said. ‘Though if it helps your pride, most people are surprised the first time they discover their weapon can talk.’

  Romeo stared at the blade.

  “…Weapons don’t talk.”

  ‘Tah Dah!’ Nora laughed nervously, ‘I’m a trendsetter, breaking stereotypes is my jam.’

  He rotated the sword again, examining the rust and cracked metal with narrowed eyes.

  “…Are you a ghost?”

  ‘No.’

  “…A demon?”

  ‘Also no.’

  “…A cursed artifact?”

  Nora hesitated.

  ‘Cursed seems like too heavy of a word.’

  Romeo’s grip tightened.

  “…I knew it.”

  ‘Hey!’ Nora protested. ‘I didn’t say yes!’

  Romeo slowly lowered the blade but did not release it. His posture had shifted into something cautious now, like a man holding a snake that might or might not bite him.

  “…So, the sword talks.”

  ‘Correct.’

  “…Only I can hear it.”

  ‘Also correct,’ Nora said.

  Romeo rubbed his temples with his free hand.

  “…This is happening.”

  ‘Yes.’

  “…I’m talking to a sword.”

  ‘Technically you’re listening to one.’

  He let out a slow breath.

  “…Right.”

  Silence hung between them for several seconds.

  Then Romeo asked the obvious question.

  “…Why?”

  Nora considered the answer.

  There were several possible explanations: reincarnation, system mechanics, divine intervention, or the fact that some cosmic being apparently had a questionable sense of humour.

  She settled on something simpler.

  ‘Because I’m alive.’

  Romeo stared at the blade.

  “…You’re a sword.”

  ‘Currently.’

  “…Currently?”

  ‘It’s a long story.’

  Romeo lowered himself onto the edge of the bed again, still holding her.

  “…Alright,” he said slowly. “Let’s assume this isn’t madness.”

  ‘Good starting point.’

  “…If you’re alive,” Romeo continued, “then why were you lying in the forest like scrap metal?”

  ‘Because I died.’

  Romeo blinked.

  “…So, you are a ghost. A vengeful spirit?”

  He leaned back slightly, clearly trying to process several problems at once.

  “…You’re telling me,” he said, “that you were once… a person.”

  ‘Yes.’

  “…And now you’re a sword.”

  ‘The world we live in. Amiright?’

  Romeo looked down at the rusted blade again.

  “…That’s incredibly unfortunate.”

  ‘You have no idea.’

  Another pause passed.

  Then Romeo squinted slightly.

  “…If you’re alive,” he said, “why didn’t you speak earlier?”

  Nora mentally grimaced.

  ‘Cooldown.’

  “…What?”

  ‘Uhm… Don’t worry about it, the important thing is that because of certain modifications, we can now talk as much as we need to!’

  Romeo stared at the battered blade for a long moment before letting out a tired sigh and resting his forehead in his palm.