New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

David pulled from his bag first, a small metallic rod, about a foot long, with a deep red gem embedded on the tip. The small rod looked like a maestro’s baton, with an ornamental gem on it.

He handed it to Kary, pointing the gem toward himself.

“I know you like casting with your hands in New Eden. But I figured, since the mana is a lot thinner and rarer here, a wand might help you channel your spells better, and boost your current strength.”

Kary took the wand from his hands, already feeling the fiery energy in the gem. The gem seemed too dark to be a ruby, and its cut also seemed different.

Kary could feel a connection already establishing between her mana and the little gem on the wand. As she waved the wand around, small spurts of flame spurted out of it.

“This is effortless. It’s like I was trying to light a fire underwater until now. Thank you, David.”

He waved her off like it was nothing.

“Like I said, strings attached. If you want to keep it, You will owe me a favour later.”

Kary understood the transactional side of this gesture and nodded her head. What was a little favour in exchange for strengthening her right now?

Seeing she didn’t complain about the trade, David went on to the next item. Or items, in this case.

Pulling out two short swords from the bag, he threw them to Alexander.

“I assume you know which end goes where?” he said jokingly, as Alex stumbled to catch the swords without cutting himself.

“Did your parents never tell you not to throw swords?!” Alex growled at him, finally catching the weapons by their hilts.

“I can’t say that they have. Now, your swords are nothing special, since having swords made in such a small amount of time isn’t easy. Best I could get you is lighter and more durable blades.”

Alexander waved the swords around. They indeed felt lighter than one would expect a sword to weigh.

As for the durability, he would know only when he was fighting.

“They’ll do nicely. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Remember, strings attached.”

Alex chuckled.

“I won’t be keeping the swords after. I figure that paying back this favour is already enough. From now on, we can work as equals.”

David frowned at his words.

“You’ll need weapons for the next time we need to fight off something. Keeping the swords is the better option.”

Alex shook his head.

“I feel I’m getting close to using more of my power from New Eden. And that includes my weapon.”

“Only artifacts and legendary weapons can transfer to this side. The rest will simply turn to dust. Keep the swords.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll have my weapon soon enough.”

Not wanting to waste any more time on this, David huffed and shrugged.

“Suit yourself.”

He looked into his bag again, pulling out three pieces of wooden shaft, about a foot and a half long, as well as a metallic U, with very pointy ends. 𝘰𝑣𝘭.𝗇𝓔t

David started screwing the pieces together, with what looked like a titanium screwable center rod going through the wooden shaft. He then screwed on the U part, fixing it in place with a sharp-looking nob.

Alexander finally recognized the bident weapon David was putting together. But something made him curious.

“Why the wood? Wouldn’t a weapon made of metal entirely be better?”

David’s lips pulled into a grin.

“This isn’t just any wood. It’s Yew wood. I chose it for a reason.”

Alexander seemed even more confused.

“The wood of death and resurrection. Quite a symbolic choice, Mr. Magnus,” Guo said, squinting his eyes.

“You are correct on what it symbolizes. But that is not why I chose it.”

David closed his eyes, putting his hand parallel to the ground. Sending his mana into the ground, he felt the echo of some skeletons under the surface, buried deep.

“Come,” he whispered.

At first, the two undead that resided in his shadow came out. But he kept his eyes closed, pouring more mana into the ground.

Alex could see the dark mana going into the ground, but not where it went. That was until it connected to what it was looking for.

The mana wrapped around the bones of some dead animals, bringing them back to the surface slowly, as it pushed out of the way dirt and stone, as well as roots, to pierce the surface.

Kary yelped in surprise when the large skeleton paw of a bear breached the ground, before pulling the rest of its boney body out. Soon following it, three more animal skeletons.

One was of a feline and looked like it could be a lynx; the second was a canine, and by its size, most likely a grey wolf; and last, the third, was an enormous bird, which could only be an eagle.

The eagle immediately went to perch on the top of the bident, nesting itself between its two prongs.

As for the three other skeletons, they walked in front of David and bowed their heads.

“Impressive, Mr. Magnus,” Guo said.

“I remember last time, you had only these two human skeletons with you. Did you get stronger?” he added.

“Not exactly. Although they can be considered part of my strength, they aren’t direct results of my power. I am using the essence of the Yew to reach out to them and temporarily bind them to me with the weapon.”

Jack was observing the three skeletons just standing there, their heads strung low. Even the eagle seemed to look at David with deference.

As for the two human skeletons behind David, they seemed like they could have been warriors when they were alive. The way they were holding themselves seemed military-like.

But he preferred if they entered the woods soon. What would people think if they drove in here, with six skeletons standing in the parking of a hiking park?

“If we are all ready, let’s get going.”

*Shik-Clack*

Jack pulled the loading bolt on his rifle, which would have put Godrick’s weapons to shame. The military-grade, semi-automatic rifle in Jack’s hands was much more recent, and way better constructed than his hunting rifles.

And with how he handled it, David, Alexander, and Kary quickly understood it wasn’t his first time using one.

“Let’s go!” David said, taking the lead.