Nami's point of view

It's morning now. I say morning but the sun still hasn't risen yet. It should have been up by now but it might be because I live farther east now so that might be the reasoning. My body just naturally wakes up at the crack of dawn, I've already dealt with this when I originally moved from our islands to to fortress. I'll have to readjust again. My new master is already up, he's sitting at the table sipping a drink of some kind. I bring all of my ninja tools and weapons to the table. About thirty minutes into my maintenance he finally speaks.

“So do you use all of those weapons you are working on right now?”

At some point he had removed the bandages from his face. I continue to work on my kusarigama that Kite had made for me.

“Depending on the situation I could change which weapon I'm using at an instant. Being prepared for anything is what a ninja does.”

Putting the kusarigama down I pull out the bladed tonfas Kite had made for me to start working on.

“I've been trained in the usage of all of them. Some of these are more of backup weapons in case my katana or my dual ninjato are knocked out of my hands. Even if I were to lose all of my weapons we also train our bodies to be weapons just in case.”

He picks up my katana and looks at it. I have no idea what he's thinking. Looking more closely at it than he did yesterday. His eyes must have healed more because he has the weapon up to his face.

“This weapon is… It's truly impressively made with layered enchants and things I don't even understand. Perhaps even something I wouldn't be able to make. This weapon is perfectly balanced, not only that but it has many different metals and folds which would make it far harder to balance. Finally, the sword is the perfect size for how strong you currently are… Perhaps slightly heavier than what you could perfectly wield but in time it will be your perfect weapon. A custom made weapon like this takes into account you perfectly. I've never seen something so perfect for a person before.”

He puts down my katana and pulls up my ninjato now. He takes them in his hands before putting them down and picking them up with the opposite hands.

“I'm guessing you're left handed.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“The weight of the right handed sword is slightly lighter. It is almost an imperceptible difference but yet another sign of how expertly crafted this weapon is for you. Seriously! How can he make so many weapons custom made for a single person without losing this uniqueness!?”

I finish resharpening the bladed tonfa edges and put them down. Then I pull out the void scroll Kite made for me to hold my kunai knives, shurikens, pepper bombs, smoke bombs, poison bombs and throwing needles. Kite also made me some bigger throwing items which I'm happy for. The biggest problem with my projectiles before is even if they hit, unless they were coated in poison beforehand they wouldn't do much damage. He made me about a dozen boomerang blades and windmill shurikens.

I pull out my needles first and check the tips to make sure that none of them are bent or chipped. I'll have to practice for a few hours, when I fought Glenn outside I didn't see any trees or wood I could use as a target. I'll have to go back to the fortress to grab some more provisions after today… The lack of facilities or a bathing area is worrisome. I'll have to travel through the portal at least once a week to bathe at the hot springs. Some other things this house seems to lack is any way to get food.

Zephyrus asks to see the bladed tonfas I had just finished and gives them a once over. He runs his thumb across the blade before I caution.

“Don't touch the edges of that, it is enchanted with 3 different kinds of debuff magic. If it cuts you, it could really do some damage.”

He runs his finger over it anyways then gives out a little whistle before saying.

“3 enchants on a single piece of gear. That would take months if not over a year of effort to make… I take it that all of your gear is this enchanted?”

“Yea but it doesn't take that long… I think it takes Kite a few hours to enchant a piece of gear like that.”

“What!? How is that even possible?”

I pull out one of the boomerang blades and point at the surface of it before I realize that if his eyesight hasn't improved by that much I could be saying something offensive.

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“On the face of the weapons are runes imbued with 3 different kinds of magic. I'm not sure what kind of magic those runes are though. Something about upgraded red mage and spellthief skill that was improved again somehow… Jeez, now that I say it out loud that does sound ridiculous.”

Slowly over the course of this conversation I realized how insane all of this equipment is. I'm outfitted in more rare equipment than most cities have amongst all of its inhabitants. I continue to check each throwing needle and separate the ones that have a dull or bent. Once I've separated them I put them away again before pulling out my kunai knives to do the same.

Honestly, these smaller throwing weapons really seem like they don't matter that much anymore. If I'm forced to attack at a ranged distance, it would make sense to use the bigger weapons to try and inflict more damage to the enemy. The bladed boomerangs looked far more like a normal sword than anything. If thrown it would swing around if it didn't strike anything. I've practiced using 2 at once but I think with enough practice I could have 3 if not 4 flying at once.

The windmill shurikens Kite made in particular seem to be the strongest throwing items I could use. The blades can be folded to all be facing the same direction for easier storage and even if it's thrown like this the blades will snap into place, locking in a windmill form to be more aerodynamic. Once it strikes the target the blades refold themselves so that after the first bladed sinks in the other blades will swing around and try to dig in as well. Each blade is enchanted to have the maximum effectiveness possible. Zephyrus puts the tonfas down and asks.

“May I see that piece of paper you are using?”

I had him over my void scroll. The weight of it is about 50pounds (23 kilograms), that is with a weight reduction enchant on it as well. If it didn't it would be far heavier with everything that is inside it. The weight that is shaved off allows me to carry void satchel with a similar weight that some extra weapons and tools are in. I have a short bow, firearm, 2 healing revolvers, fighting claws, multipurpose tool, climbing claws and jutte.

The multipurpose tool is one of Kite's newest inventions to try and reduce the amount of tools I would need to carry. It has a shovel head but can be used for more than digging, with one side being a sharp knife like edge while the other was serrated. It could be used as an ax or a saw. It also functioned as scissors, hammer, nail puller, boat oar, measuring stick, hand shield and even a grappling hook. The sheer weight of the tools removed is enough for me to carry several extra weapons on me at all times, which is nice.

I also have many regular tools and some that might not ever get used but could help. Chalk, 100 feet of rope, bedroll, tinder box, flasks of oil and water, parchment, ink, pouches containing sand and flour, rations, lock picks, sharpening stone and a crowbar.

While he has the void scroll I can't check my equipment. While he's looking at that one I'll start checking everything in this void satchel. He eyes it closely before reaching into it, finally poking his head inside. His head emerges out of the scroll and he speaks again.

“How was it possible to add the large storage enchant on such a small item?”

“I'm not really sure how. I haven't asked him before but I think it might have something to do with our island. Once he spoke to us murine folk his items improved… Come to think of it, it seems like he improved drastically any time he gained more followers or met new people.”

I haven't really thought about it until now. Even once we defeated the pirates it seemed like he had that festival to try and gain knowledge he didn't have before... Checking everything in this scroll doesn't take very long. Nothing seems to be in disrepair so I finish up and ask for my scroll back to finish checking my equipment. I just about finish when the Glenn comes walking into the room wearing my battle armor. The armor was made by Kite for large scale fights where subtlety was impossible. 

“Look at this armor master!”

Glenn laughs as he walks around in my armor. He's a foot shorter than me so it doesn't fit him in the slightest. His head pokes out the hole at the top and his throat is puffed out as he looks proud to be wearing my armor. Both of his arms don't even reach out fully of the gauntlets. He looks utterly ridiculous, I have to hold back a chuckle before I say.

“Please don't touch my belongings frog.”

He doesn't even acknowledge me, instead looking at the table excitedly yelling.

“Oh look at all these weapons!”

He clumsily moves over to the table, grabbing at the ninjato sitting on the table. Once he swings them around a few times it's clear that he has no practice with 2 weapons. It would be comical if he was flailing around so dangerously. I warn him.

“Be careful with those blades. If you nick them I will punish-.”

He accidentally swings the sword into a support beam cutting halfway into it. He lets go sword and it clings to the beam. For a moment I think it's fine but the one he attacked with had a fire enchant on it… Smoke starts coming from the beam and Glenn watches it without doing anything. I have to jump out of my seat and pull the sword from the wood to stop it from burning. I grab a ladle from a nearby jug of water and toss it into the cut support beam just to be safe.

“You idiot! What did I just say!”

“I barely even swung the sword though… It cut through that far with just momentum. I don't know what that smoking was though.”

“The sword is enchanted, if it strikes anything it activates the enchants. The other one freezes so be very careful not to cut yourself when you put that one down on the table over there.”

He places it on the table very carefully, he must have not realized how dangerous my weapons were.

“Jeez what is with those dangerous weapons… You're more like a dangerous wolverine than a mouse.”

“Do not call me a mouse you lizard.”

The lids on his eyes squint almost closed as he looks angry at me. He screams.

“I'LL CALL YOU WHAT I WANT YOU STUPID RODENT! I OUTRANK YOU AS A FOLLOWER OF MASTER!”

I don't break eye contact while saying.

“If you want to take this outside again I can beat the sense back into you. A young pup like you should know to respect there elders.”

He chuckles a little. His throat puffing out every time he does. His attitude bothers me more than it should. First he wears my equipment without asking. Then he picks up my sword without even asking and swings it around recklessly and causes damage to the building. Finally he refuses to treat me with the respect I deserve. I stand up agitated and palm his throat while I sweep his legs out from underneath him. I continue holding his throat while I say.

“This is your last warning toad. If you use my equipment again without my permission that even your master asked politely to see. If you disrespect me again I'll break both of your arms then have one of our healers come heal them so I can break them again. You can't speak right now because I'm holding your throat so just nod your head if you understand.”

His eyes are wide out of fear as he nods vigorously. I ease off him and the moment my hand is free from around his neck he swings wide at my head. I swat his hand back and pin him down to the ground again by his throat. I gnash my teeth together now out of anger at him. I take a deep breath to calm myself. The type of person that he is will never learn from just threats of violence. I pull him up and he throws another wild punch that I easily catch. I lock his arm behind his back and lead him outside. I'm going to beat the shit out of him before I break both of his arms just like I promised. Zephyrus stops me for a moment.

“Before you go, can I continue to look at this equipment until you come back inside?”