My Demon Pet System

Unexpectedly, while the three spirits kept on speaking, Yoichi knelt before them. Ysai, the older brother, was so amazed by that gesture that he remained silent for a few seconds.

"I believe that the greatest thing that you lost that day was freedom," the young tamer spoke. The three brothers looked at him curiously: never before had a warrior dwelt in that place more than necessary. They perceived the genuine empathy of Yoichi, a young man who had their story at heart.

"Without freedom, life loses all values. Family, friends, enemies. Nothing makes any more sense if you are not free to make your own choices. I... I will pray for you, tombstones spirits " he continued, resting both his hands on the ground and approaching his forehead to the floor.

After that act of extreme reverence, he stood up, relieved that the test of that room had been completed.

Almost simultaneously, a sound of boulders coming from the entrance rumbled into the cave: the debris that had accumulated next to the collapsed boulder returned to the top of the ceiling. As if by magic, each fragment of rock again occupied its place, framing itself to perfection and freeing the exit.

"I can imagine that everything that has happened to you may make you lose confidence in the very concept of life, but... I'm confident you'll find peace", Yoichi commented again. He pushed a fist into the palm of his other hand, bending his torso forward and formally greeting the three miners' spirits.

Shioko and Enatsu, still frozen by what had happened, waited a few moments before mirroring their guild mate's gestures. The three travelers greeted the gravestone brothers and were preparing to leave when, at one point, Ysai spoke.

"A golden-haired boy risked dying. Yet he understood the morals of our message, wishing us peace even though we were the architects of the conundrum that was about to kill him. All this is unprecedented, my brothers!" he affirmed.

Listening to those words, Yoichi and his friends stopped. They turned backward, sensing an aura of positivity coming from the three tombstones at the bottom of the narrow cave.

"My older brother is right. It's never happened that any of those who passed the test stopped and talked to us, showing us such respect. All the tamers who survived, they just quickly escaped from this room, afraid that its entrance might close again," Asai added. The younger brother stepped forward, moving away from the ethereal tombstone that appeared behind him.

'That its entrance might close again' – those words shook Enatsu, who, without interrupting the speech looked backward. He made sure the entrance to the cave was still open, rushing his blond-haired companion.

"What do you say, Osai?" – Ysai turned to one side, supporting his head and raising it to his legless brother. The firstborn's eyes remained focused on the central spirit and he, taking a deep breath, made something unexpected happen.

Osai lifted the ethereal chest he held in his hands, carrying it as high as possible over his head. In a few moments, the veins of the wood and the rusty iron of its lock materialized. The ethereal item became real, taking on the normal, small casket features.

"I can't believe it..." Shioko whispered. Her voice was so low to be heard only by Yoichi, next to her. The young tamer's incredulous eyes remained pointed at the little chest.

"If you really want to help us find peace, there's one thing you can do for us, golden-haired warrior," Asai stated, turning the floor over to the other two spirits.

Osai's cut legs came off their seat and the legless spirit floated weightlessly towards Yoichi. Stopping in mid-air about a meter and a half far from him, his arms straightened forward, handing the small trunk to the young Nightblades tamer.

"Our spirits will never leave this cave, but the Tetsuiasa will," Ysai spoke, with a slight smile printed on his face, down between his hands. "It is worth more to us than anything else. If you bring it with you, you will allow me and my brothers to live the life that has been taken away from us", he stated.

Unexpectedly, a tear came out of Ysai's eyes, who was moved by his own words. The three spirits of the tombstones, despite their arcane and sometimes disturbing presence, spoke and reasoned as human beings, capable of feeling the truest feelings.

*trick*track* - A sound of gears came from the chest in Osai's hands. Suddenly, the magic that kept that little item closed faded and it opened under the eyes of Yoichi and his companions.

When they took a gander at its interior, a large cubic piece of golden metal glittered under Nobu's white light. It reflected their astonished faces, still dirty with the mud of the cave and the blood of the Komoerus.

"I... I..." Yoichi stammered, not being prepared for that situation.

"Give that piece of Tetsuiasa every shape you want, young warrior. In the hands of a good blacksmith, it can become the fiercest of weapons or a solid piece of armor. If you entrust it to an experienced jeweler, it will become a jewel capable of winning every woman. It's up to you," Ysai suggested. One of his hands resting under his cheeks wiped away the tears running down his face.

Yoichi grabbed the chest, lifting it from the hands of its owner. It was about twenty centimeters long and thick. Despite being a metal alloy, it was not heavy at all.

"Iron can be brittle and undergo the action of air oxygen and water, rusting. Gold is a precious material but very malleable, not resistant to high temperatures. The Tetsuiasa harmoniously combines these two alloys, taking the best of them," Osai explained, leaving his priceless treasure in Yoichi's hands.

"It is durable and always brilliant. It can not rust or bend, unless under the action of very high temperatures. As we already told you, this is the only mine in Lumya to produce such a material", Asai added.