Chapter 4294: Fully Awake (Part 2)

Ragnarök wanted to stay and contemplate the changes in its life a little longer, but the Sage Staff Warped them both to the nursery to show their new abilities to the kids.

"The Staff uses many more words than before and is learning new ones faster than Elysia." Solus said after confirming she and Lith were alone. "It’s only a matter of weeks before it speaks as well as Ragnarök.

"Which begs the question, should we be worried about the development of our weapons’ semi-consciousness and the increase in the emotional range they are experiencing?"

"I don’t think so." Lith replied. "I’ve come to terms with the fact that my weapon has a personality of its own a long while ago. It can be unsettling from time to time, but he never showed any sign of resentment or desire for independence.

"Ragnarök knows he was crafted for a purpose and wants to perform it to the best of his abilities. The ’problem’ is that to do that, he tries to understand the world around him, and for someone like him, the experience can be daunting."

"What do you mean, someone like him?" Solus asked.

"Our weapons are not truly alive, Solus." He said. "They see everything in black and white according to their mission parameters. For example, for Ragnarök, any threat to the children is bad, those who help us to protect them are good, and everyone and everything else is irrelevant.

"He’s akin to a big dog trained for defense. Ragnarök has no concept of murder, motive, or proportional response to a threat. As long as he fulfills his mission and gets praised for it, he is happy. Or rather, that’s how he behaved in the beginning.

"Like the Staff is behaving now." Lith pointed at the surveillance mirror showing the artifact jumping around the Nursery on the heel of its haft like a kid playing hopscotch. "Over time, he’s learned that not everything is black and white, which confuses him.

"To make matters worse, every time we upgraded his body or enchantments, Ragnarök’s processing and learning speed increased. Yet, while before he wasn’t smart enough to notice the changes or accepted them without much thought, now he does notice and tries to make sense of them.

"You’ve seen it back when we discussed the reforging of our weapons. He displayed self-preservation instinct. He was willing to be destroyed in order to fulfill the mission, but he wondered if it was necessary."

"Just like the Staff." Solus swallowed hard. "Do you think it... she’s acting this way already because of the Yggdrasill wood and power core? Ragnarök’s original body was just Adamant, and he started with only a few pseudo cores."

"That’s surely one of the factors." Lith nodded. "Better materials and enchantments seem to increase the intelligence of a semi-conscious artifact, but that’s not just it. As I said, Ragnarök was created with a purpose. Protecting Phloria.

"It narrowed his perspective and limited the number of things he took an interest in. He never called me dad. He knew he was something I possessed, and our relationship was clear. I’m not so sure the Staff has a mission, though."

’What is this, Mom?’ The Sage Staff opened a mind link with Solus as the babies rummaged through her closet. ’Why so many clothes if no wear them?’

They had gotten bored of being stuck in the Nursery and were now exploring Solus’ room with the help of the two artifacts.

"By my Mom, I think you are right." She replied. "I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular when we Forgemastered the Staff. I just wanted to create the best piece I could."

"Mom?" The Staff Warped back to Solus, carrying many dresses and a few bathing suits on its head. "Why no wear?"

"A person only needs one set of clothes at a time, dear." Solus collected everything, folded the clothes, and put them back in their place. "As for these things, you only wear them on the beach."

She blushed a little while putting away the one-piece swimsuits and a few bikinis Lith had never seen before.

"What is beach?" The Staff asked.

"A place full of sand." Solus sighed. "Enough with the questions for today, please. Get the others out of my room and find something else to do."

She patted the head of the artifact, which Warped away and helped the kids check the contents of Solus’ drawers.

"Gods, what have I done? The Staff behaves like a child and thinks I’m her mother." Solus whined. "What will happen when she ’grows up’? Will she resent me for creating her? For lying to her?"

"Look at the bright side." Lith shrugged. "You’ll never have to give her ’the talk’, and the worst the Staff can do if she hits a rebellious phase is put black eyeliner on the Balor eyes and decorate her haft with thorns."

"Are you serious?" Solus went pale at the idea of carrying around such a tool and having to argue with it every time she needed to activate an enchantment.

"Don’t order me around! You are not my real mother! I’ll activate the barrier when I say so. I’m an adult now!" The Staff said in Solus’ daydream, getting her killed.

"Not at all." Lith replied with a laugh. "You should see your face."

"This is not funny, smartass!" Solus snorted.

"You worry too much." He chuckled. "First, the Staff is not a living being. She won’t experience as many feelings and instincts as you fear. Second, you two are bonded. You don’t need long emotional speeches to understand each other.

"One touch is enough. The Staff will live most of her life through you. Everything that makes you happy will make her happy. I know because that’s how my relationship with Ragnarök works."

’And your relationship with me.’ Solus inwardly sighed.

"I hope you are right." She actually said. "Enough worrying about the future for today. Stress is giving me a major headache, and there’s only one cure for it."

A snap of her fingers brought Solus and Lith to the Nursery, where Kamila was reading a story to the children after dragging them out from under Solus’ bed. Kamila used light magic to conjure holograms of the main characters of the story and the other elements for special effects.

"Are you done with work for today?" She asked, closing the book around her finger to mark the page.

Valeron and Elysia complained about the interruption, while Raldarak giggled and cooed. He liked hearing his mother make all those silly sounds, but liked receiving his parents’ attentions much more.

"Yes." Solus replied, scooping the three babies from the Doomslayer crib. "How are my cuties? Did you miss me?"

"Yah!" Elysia and Valeron used words and nods to convey their happiness, while Raldarak made more baby noises that Solus had to decipher with Dragon Scales.

"Congratulations, Kami. According to Ral, you are a great storyteller." Solus said. "So much so that he’s a bit sad he can’t follow your story as well as his siblings."

"Let me get this straight." Kamila had heard nothing of the compliments. "Do your Dragon Scales work just as well as Lith’s?"

She pointed at the silver-veined golden scales that now covered Solus’ arms.

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