Kai, or rather, Katariah Silver, slept during the day.
It was something she’d done for years, And was equal parts nature and habit.
It should also be noted that those of the demons kin typically only had to sleep four hours to every fifty or so spent awake. And elves, possessing a great vitality, could last almost as long. So, for Kai, sleeping is more of a treat than a necessity. She could go nearly a week without sleeping, and had multiple times before.
Normally, it would be impossible to sleep during the day in a large and noisy trade city, but it was made possible by the fact that Kai had set up shop next to the buildings of the red-light district. It was typically somewhat quiet during the day, unlike many other parts of the city.
Then, the sun started setting, and Kai started moving sluggishly within the thin sheets of the bed.
She began making small mewling noises, and crying out while still sleeping, thrashing in the bed now. The sun set completely, and Kai bolted upright, covered in sweat, her eyes wide and frightened. Then, looking around and remembering where she was, she sighed.
(Kai) “That’s right. I never made it in time…”
She whispered to herself in a clear and bell like voice, reminding herself of reality again.
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(POV Kai)
Having that dream is never a good way to start the day. Or night. Whatever.
I look in the mirror again after waking up, using my〖Analyze〗skill on the reflection of me, and my Status shows up as a pop-up window which only I can see. I look through it, not really expecting any changes, though I was still a little surprised at the 13 in my age column—I had only been twelve two days ago, and with my birthday yesterday, that had changed. Analyze was a useful skill in that regard. I might have completely forgotten about it, had I not noticed the change yesterday.
Those without the skill had to rely on magic circles which revealed all the important information about a person, or a guild card.
I myself have a guild card, for appearances sake, but prefer to not look at it. With〖Analyze〗, I can at least filter out some of the information. The card shows all—Name, titles, occupation, stats.
It is rare to see someone without the〖Analyze〗skill, though. Normally, it can be taught easily, and the skill patches you to into the World System, allowing you to see everything you could possibly ever want to know about yourself. Only those completely without any magic talent are unable to learn it, and have to rely on the aforementioned magic circles and guild card. Everyone else only uses those to show the information on them to others. Otherwise, if you wanted to see someone else's stats, your〖Analyze〗skill level has to be very high.
I go through the normal wake-up routine, quickly circulating my mana through my body, and weaving it in intricate patterns through the air in front of me. This helps improve my〖Mana Manipulation〗skill, improving it much faster than just mindlessly casting spells. Smithing and working with metal also helps, due to the process involved. If〖Mana Manipulation〗improved at the same rate as most of the other skills, then it would have long ago surpassed them.
After an hour of this, I was feeling satisfied and hungry at the same time—an odd combination. I threw on my day to day clothes, and put on a large cloak over that, hoping to hide my body shape and size a little. I put on the mask, and drew the hood of the cloak over my head, completely covering any recognizable features, particularly my horns and eyes. Though you could probably see my eyes ever so slightly if you looked hard enough. I just need to keep people from looking that closely.
First, I want to do something about the hunger, so I start walking to a nearby restaurant. And by nearby, I mean that it’s across the street.
I go here so often that the staff knows my order, and my special requests by heart now. It’s a bit depressing, really. I could go to another place, but now I feel like that would be a betrayal to them.
Sure enough, as soon as I enter the restaurant, a bubbly and energetic looking girl pops up by me, smiling. She’s the daughter of one of the chefs, named Dresia.
(Dresia) “Ah! Hello again, Kai! We have your seat prepared, and your food is nearly done!”
The girl leads me to a small table facing towards the wall on the other side of the restaurant, one that only fit one person.
(Kai) “Are those knives I made for the chefs treating them well?”
Instead of the voice I normally have, a distinctly lower, and more gravelly voice comes out—one of the useful functions of the mask I always wore in public.
(Dresia) “Yeah! They can’t stop praising them! In the month they’ve had the knives, they haven’t had to be sharpened even once!”
(Kai) “Good. I’m happy to hear that.”
(Dresia) “Alright, here’s your seat. The food should be done in a minute!”
Dresia practically bounced away, ready to greet the next customer, and serve the tables already seated. Wow, just watching her be so energetic makes me tired.
True to their word, the food was ready not even ten minutes later.
I nearly always came to the restaurant at the same time, and always ordered the same thing. These last few weeks, the foods been ready within minutes of me entering the restaurant. The chefs are also eager to both please and repay me, since I gifted them a set of kitchen knives made by me during some free time. Apparently, they took a liking to them.
The meal in front of me was the result of these feelings, and I could tell that the chefs put in all their effort to make it every time I came.
It was a relatively simple dish— What most would call a pasta.
The noodles steamed slightly in the cooling night air, and were covered in a meat sauce containing ground beef, juice from a broth continuously cooking in the kitchen, various spices, and the kitchen’s self proclaimed ‘secret ingredient’. I think it was just some cheese, though.
Well, ingredients or not, the food was really good. It seemed a balm to me the first time I had tried it, and it still was. That initial bite, with the pasta covered in the beef sauce, simply explodes in the mouth in a complex rhythm of flavors, each one perfectly suited to one another. The texture of the noodle, and the impressions of heat on the tongue are not something to underestimate. And then, once you swallow, there’s this cheesy aftertaste that lingers, filling you with good feelings and leaving you wanting more.
The meal is quickly gone.
I took off my mask for the meal, of course. It lays on the table, right next to me. The staff knows to not bother me while the mask is off, and they respect my privacy. I’m sure they just think I’m horribly disfigured or something, and feel self conscious about it.
That’s also the reason I sit at this table facing the wall, so none of the other customers could see my face. It’s a little bothersome, but necessary. I don’t want to draw too much attention, or have anyone remember what I look like. I can always change masks, but it’s somewhat more difficult to swap out my face.
After finishing the meal, I don the mask again, and plop down a few coins before rushing out the door, as a little game played between the restaurant staff and I. You see, because of the knives I gifted them as a thank you for all the meals, they said I no longer had to pay. However, I think that such good food should always be paid for, as it shows respect of the chefs, and the restaurant as a whole. And, I don’t like feeling like I owe someone stuff. Thus, before they can refuse my payment, I leave.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Smiling happily under the mask I wore, I made my way across the street, ducking through the light amounts of evening traffic before walking down the unoccupied street lot in front of my little house.
(???) “You’re Kai, right?”
I spun around, pointing my empty hand at the source of the voice which had somehow just appeared behind me without me realizing it. I would be lying if I said that it hadn’t scared me a little. And then, seeing the voice’s source, I was absolutely and completely flabbergasted.
(???) “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you that it’s rude to point at your elders, kid?”
It was a massive man. No, it might have been a mountain, one that had somehow escaped my notice as I was walking. His voice was deep and kind sounding, though a bit exasperated at the moment. His beard stood out the most, after his size. It reached his chest is an explosion of fiery red hairs, and had a few spots where it had been braided. Then I saw his eyes, like two glowing embers able to burst into full and glorious flame at a moment's notice, they displayed a deep intellect and curiosity, and seemed to almost drill into me in the brief moments he’s looking at me.
(Kai) “Sorry. Do you have business with me?”
I tried my best to recover from my surprise, and made my voice sound gruff and irritated. Subtly making it sound like I was annoyed often made those seeking one of my blades leave faster than they would have otherwise.
(???) “I do. In case you were wondering, my name’s Hogvir, and I want to commission two things from you.”
(Kai) “Oh? Pray tell, and I’ll get to work on them.”
(Hogvir) “Alright then. First, I want to commission one greatsword.”
(Kai) “I need more than that.”
(Hogvir) “ *Ehem* Sorry. The blade’ll be a hand wide, and about three arm lengths long. Taper it ‘bout four finger lengths from the point, and put a great big crossguard on it. Of course, the hilt’ll be two hands, and have it be evenly balanced.”
(Kai) “And for the second blade?”
Hogvir smiled broadly, and I got an uneasy feeling. It occurred to me that perhaps I shouldn’t have asked about the second blade after all.
Hagvir confirmed these bad feelings with his next words.
(Hogvir) “Oh, no. There will be no other blade. The other thing I want to commission is your time. I want to talk to you, get to know you.”
(Kai) “Not happening. I deal in blades only.”
(Hogvir) “And if I said I had a bit of Starsteel waiting? Just enough to smith a good sword?”
I gasped slightly, and my disinterested demeanor fell within a heartbeat.
(Kai) “What! You have Starsteel?! How did you get enough for a sword?!”
(Hogvir) “It was a gift from an old friend.”
(Kai) “Then why use it on me? There are plenty of better uses for such a large piece of Starsteel.”
I slowly fell back into the persona I normally used when doing business, disinterested and aloof.
(Hogvir) “Think of it as an investment for the future. While I don’t want to lose it, I would feel better knowing that it’s in a damn good blade, as I’m sure you’ll be able to make with it.”
I pretended to think about the offer for a while. Normally, I would have every intention of refusing, but with Starsteel on the table, I can’t afford to say no.
(Kai) “Fine. I’ll make your blade, and...talk to you. When do you want to meet?”
(Hogvir) “Tomorrow. I assume you know about the restaurant across the street, right?”
I laughed to myself a little at that.
(Kai) “Yeah. I know it.”
(Hogvir) “I’ll meet you there after sunset, and I’ll bring the Starsteel with me. Deal?”
(Kai) “Deal. See you then.”
Hogvir left. For such a big man, he made very little noise when moving. I was somewhat surprised when he turned slightly, and waved a massive hand back at me.
Annoyed and happy in equal measure, I entered the house and removed the cloak and mask. I felt slightly taken advantage of by Hogvir. He had known exactly what to offer to me to get me to cooperate, and hadn’t hesitated to use it. Even more than that, I had to wonder what he wanted to talk about in the first place. Was it so important as to warrant the use of one of the rarest metals in the world, Starsteel?
Sighing, I picked up my hammer, and grabbed some higher quality steel to begin forging Hogvir's sword. I figured that I might as well get it out of the way as soon as I could.
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Three people met in a back room of an extremely well renowned restaurant. One was a massive red haired man, who Kai would recognize as Hogvir. One was the graceful and beautiful elf Ash, and the last was the cold and well dressed man named Jourmont. In fact, the restaurant was one owned by Jourmont, though most in the public didn’t know that.
(Ash) “How did it go?”
(Hogvir) “Well, I’m not sure, to be honest.”
(Jourmont) “What do you mean?”
(Hogvir) “I couldn’t figure anything out about Kai, other than the fact that he’s a damn good bladesmith. All the people who’ve bought from him know that, though. For gods sake, one of his swords can cut through a solid block of iron like it’s not even there.”
(Ash) “Really, you could find nothing?”
(Hogvir) “Really. When I first saw him, I thought Kai was just a kid, on account of his size, but he has reactions no kid should have. When I snuck up on him, he automatically prepared magic, and there was even a bit of killing intent in his actions. I’ll have to figure out more tomorrow night.”
(Jourmont) “I thought you were also going to snoop around his workshop, and check out his living spaces.”
(Hogvir) “I was, but I think that Ash should be the one to do that.”
Ash’s eyes widened a bit, since she knew that there would be only one occasion where she would be better suited for something than Hogvir. Jourmont simply looked a little confused.
(Jourmont) “Why would she be better….Oh!”
Hogvir nodded.
(Hogvir) “Right. The place was encased in wards against entry, and would have both alerted Kai to what I was doing, and likely trapped me in until he returned.”
(Ash) “I’m getting more and more intrigued about this Kai character. He makes the best swords in the city, no one’s seen his face, nor knows where he came from, and now he’s an accomplished mage as well. I wonder just what else he’s hiding.”
(Jourmont) “Well, I did some digging, and as it turns out, he also enters the city labyrinth by himself from time to time, likely searching for raw materials.”
(Hogvir) “Alone?! Damn, how strong is he?!”
(Ash) “Calm down, Hogvir. He could just be staying on the first floor. There is nothing to say that he goes any deeper.”
(Hogvir) “Right. But, regardless, I’m finding myself looking forward to tomorrow more and more.”
The other two nodded in agreement.
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