“These weapons suck.”
Ignoring the fact that he wasn’t wrong, how would he know? He came from a world that was without magic and monsters, and they had moved away from the weapons of this world. Stating very factually, “The weapons from that world can be imagined like a magic missile achieved through mechanical engineering.”
Even going so far to say that even the most impressive weapons had generally followed the same principle with an added explosive element with a diverse range of delivery options. Even the weapons that were physical were meaningless as without the aid of mana a magic missile type of attack without mana to protect yourself made them nearly irrelevant without any proper preparation or luck.
Let alone, she didn’t even know how to use a magic missile, so she had no idea if the two concepts of magic missile were the same. Green River was a hotspot to stop at, so six aisles of weapons was amazing. While Green River had an Adventurer’s Guild, it was desolate, with only a bare-bones security team for the adjacent bank. Green River was without question a peaceful place, so much so because the inhabitants were very xenophobic.
Visiting was a demand they couldn’t avoid. It also lined their pockets and was then put back into the community. Those that hurt the community were thrown out. Because of the isolation, they had no choice but to accept the Adventurer's Guild, but they only allowed enough to make it profitable for them and restricted any benefits they could receive. Since visitors were beneficial, they were generous in their treatment.
Yet if you tried to move in, that was an entirely different situation. The legend was engraved into their bones. To outsiders, it was just a legend, but those here had once lived through it and made it a part of their younger generation. When they needed help, nobody but their nobleman did a single thing to help. Since the world had given up on them, why shouldn’t they give up on the rest of the world. Anybody that tried to move in would be forced out through unconventional nonviolent methods.
So why would such a community have proper weaponsmiths?
She wasn’t expecting anything special and just needed something to get by. So this unnecessary comment rubbed her the wrong way. Moving to a far aisle, she whispered, “What would you possibly know about weapons?”
“Nothing. Never held anything more sinister than a kitchen knife.” With a nonchalant tone, he was watching as Jessica’s face darkened heavily. With a bit of hesitation he tried to clarify, “I know it makes no sense, however, it might have something to do with me being a sword spirit. While originally I believed me and the sword were one, the reality of it is different. My body and I are two different things.”
With an attempt to use the best words to describe something even he himself didn’t understand completely, “My consciousness and body, unlike a person, are indefinitely separated. If I were to choose to, I could abandon my body and with a bit of preparation move to a different body. I am pretty sure it doesn’t even need to be a sword, but it feels like the least troublesome would be a sword or similar object. Therefore, my compatibility with these weapons are extremely abysmal, meaning if I were to move to any of these here I would become incomparably weaker. Some of the lowest quality ones make me feel like I would quite possibly disappear in the process.”
“What?” She didn’t know what that meant. She understood all the words, only their meaning as a whole reached a level that she found extremely difficult to comprehend. Glancing behind her, she saw the clerk looking at her with a bit of a weird expression as she came in and instantly went for the cheapest option before looking around with an increasingly dark expression before speaking in some hesitant disbelief. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand, but still there were proper edicts one should follow. He couldn’t help but feel like this is why the older generation hated outsiders.
Basically ignoring her exclamation, “Though my opinion is biased. Inside the blade of my current body is a space that is connected to my consciousness. As if there is a seal inside the blade where my soul exists. While it isn’t my actual soul, and instead it is probably where my consciousness meets this physical world.”
Quickly clarifying himself, “Again, this is all just theory. The only thing I know for fact is that in that conscious space are a series of runes. There were twelve in the beginning, however when I broke through the door the fractures in my body caused that space to fracture into many pieces. Since the space is sealed off it means all the pieces are there, only without putting the pieces back together my abilities are heavily limited.”
With a soft whisper as she picked up another item without paying it much attention, “So you don’t have any intentions to move to a different sword because they won’t have those runes or space?” Pausing slightly, she seemed to think of something, “Wait! Is that why you keep studying that memory slip?”
Very satisfied, the boy had a bit of a smirk on his face, “Yes and yes. Move over to the third table. While the weapons in the center are the best there are two daggers of decent quality and in this store's quality the two are similar to the quality of other aisles.”
Moving down two tables, she found a bunch of daggers and other small items. They were extremely rough and looked terrible, but as she moved away from other items, there were two daggers that were similar in appearance but were a bit more defined than the others. With a bit of disbelief, she was surprised to find that the two were of surprising quality, coming from an apprentice. In fact, the boy was exactly right in his estimation. They from her experience were one or two levels better than even the main apprentices. They weren’t at the level of a disciple, but for an apprentice that relieved the basic education from their master was no small achievement for a basic apprentice.
When it came to her daggers, she was a bit of a snob. The only reason she was upset at the boy was because she thought he was speaking out of his ass. Even if she didn’t want to, she had no choice but to know more about her daggers. While it was only because of the old man, she was connected to an amazing smith. It was just that he was very far away, because of this she couldn’t get replacements from him at the moment. But to use that connection even with the old man’s introduction she had to pass a lot of tests.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
It took her three years as a young teen to pass his test to be able to have him make her items. While at the time she was furious she had no choice but to accept it as she had tried numerous times to bring a better dagger, only he always just used a cheap failure he refused to sell because it was defective to slice through the dagger she bought with her hard-earned allowance. Yet now she was eternally grateful not just for his items but his teaching, almost all the materials she used to study were given to her by that smith.
As she selected the two, she moved over to the counter. If the main hall was for the spectacle, the counter was the real deal. From different accessories to farming equipment and other goods. While it might look impressive to the outside eye to even the man behind the counter, outside the center aisle, the rest weren’t worth the price. It was only there for country bumpkins in their eyes. Though to her the price for the main aisle was also not anywhere as good for their price. Grabbing a few things, she brought them all to the clerk.
It didn’t take long to finish and move out of the empty store. She didn’t get far when the boy stopped and looked in a certain direction with an annoyed expression. Yet even when she looked, she couldn’t find anything, so she ignored it as she continued to move back to the inn. She still didn’t know what to do next. She wanted to see the old man again, however at the same time she didn’t want to get lectured. Furthermore, she was also anxious to bring the boy back home, as the old man's perception was extraordinary, and she had never been able to hide anything from him.
“Hey.” Turning towards the boy, she saw him still looking behind them, “I thought you said this was a small little isolated place. But are there any experts here?”
She couldn’t help but turn to look at him like he was an idiot, but she was glad he wasn’t paying attention. She didn’t say anything because she couldn’t deny the possibility. When they talked in the inn, he had asked about the attitude of nobility, and he had many ideas different from reality. Most nobles had experts in their payroll, but the reality is, real experts don’t easily work for others. In fact, nobility was not wildly arrogant, and even the king’s of kingdoms were not overly aggressive or arrogant. It is simply just not possible, as there are too many hidden monsters.
Even the Evers said to be above even Grade S beings are relatively unknown. It isn’t even confirmed, as the only openly public Ever is Mercury Everblood and the wanted pirate queen Zelna Everwater. As the publicly agreed strongest person on the continent, Mercury Everblood, it isn’t surprising there are rumors of an Ever class above Grade S beings. As for Grade S beings themselves, they are a few really well known beings, but ultimately most aren’t well known outside their circles.
It is common sense that after the fourteenth or thirty-something family was executed by a hidden monster, it caused other nobility to stop acting overly arrogant. In fact the Will of the World protected the common people, therefore if a graded being kills or attacks common people too often they are very quickly hunted down or simply disappear. This was not just a normal action of nobility, but everyone was cautious of strangers, even if the possibility of it was low. Only an idiot would gamble with their life if they could neither confirm nor deny the opposite party was someone they could offend. Especially when there are no benefits to be had. Not that it never happened.
Clicking his tongue, the boy turned around and grumbled, “I keep getting this feeling like I am being watched, however I can’t tell where it's coming from. Once I get to the river, it disappears. Feels like someone from the other side of the lake is spying on us, but it doesn't make sense, as they shouldn’t be able to see me. And why would anyone want to spy on you, you’re… Just not that pretty… Uh, even if you’re a wonderful person deep inside.”
With a twitching cheek, she couldn’t help but spit out while ignoring all the looks she got for it in return, “You know you’re no looker either…”
“Hah, I am a sword, who the fuck is looking at me as attractive or not? Though I do agree the way I looked before the runes were broken was rather impressive, and I do take after my master now in looks.”
An unreadable expression on her face, she turned around and ignored the boy. But his words kept bothering her. She tried not to think about it, if what he said was true she didn’t want to know. It was common knowledge for low level graded beings that the saying the more you become aware of their existence, the more aware they become of your existence. Basically meaning that the higher the grade, the more sensitive they are to consciousness, to the point just a Grade B can feel someone glancing in their direction like the man outside the Adventurer’s Guild back then.
But the mind was fickle, and she couldn’t help but think about the legend. But that was just a legend. Still, it was said a dragon lived in the river. Once the thought entered her mind, she couldn’t stop thinking about it, and her worst expectation came true.
At that very second, she became aware that it was becoming quiet. As she looked around, it wasn’t that the street became empty, but that the noise was disappearing. Very quickly after, the light started to dim. This wasn’t some clouds in the sky but as if there was a piece of cloth slowly being added to block the front of her eyes as if someone was taking the very light from her eyes. Before everything went black, she saw that everyone around her was physically slowing down.
When everything went dark she tried to feel for the connection between the two, only before her consciousness could reach her arm she felt herself being submerged into some type of liquid as it became hard to breath or even move. When the liquid made contact with her body, it wasn’t just limiting her physical abilities, as her consciousness started to still.
On a street that was the closest to the river was a woman with dark blue hair so dark that it was easy to think it was black. Her eyes were a matching dark abyss. She wasn’t wearing anything impressive, instead she appeared to be in simple clothes no better than rags. But the confidence and poise added to her beauty to the point it was impossible to look away. But not a single individual that was on that street even glanced in her direction as if she didn’t exist.
Thought this was just a type of feeling, instead there was actually a person looking in her direction. In reality, there was a man standing in front of her at this moment. The strangeness was that the man had only just appeared, as he smiled gently at the woman. But she had a disgusted look in her eyes, as his smile might look gentle, but it was crooked and gave her the feeling of being smiled at by a wolf with a twisted neck. It was inhuman in her eyes.
“You don’t have the right to interfere with me.” Her voice was enough to freeze a person.
“How many people do you think will get involved if you make a move on her, let alone, you should be careful of the rumors.” Letting out a bit of a laugh, “The person you should be more wary of is not me but someone more unreasonable than me, well as you said I can’t interfere with you people. But someone that stops me might not stop if you make a move and harm her precious little children. Hahahahaa”
With one last glance, she was too wary to scratch the itch that she was getting. Instead, it seemed that itch was involved with that man, and she lost nearly all interest, so she very quickly disappeared. It was unknown when the man had gone, or if he was even there to begin with.