Chapter 14 - New Sword

Jack spit out his drink, surprised by my sudden challenge to a fight. I did not want to bring people inside the dungeon with me, and I would do whatever I could to avoid it.

"We are not-o going-o to fight-o," Jack said. He tried to laugh it off and deescalate the situation.

"We are drinking-o friends-o and-o drinking-o friends-o do not-o do that-o. Speaking-o of-o drinking-o, you had-o too much-o for-o today, friend-o. Go upstairs-o and rest-o - you earned-o it-o."

"Are you scared, buddy?" I said mockingly.

Before I realized, Jack was behind me, holding his scythe a mere inch away from my neck.

"We are not-o going-o to fight-o. Understand-o?" he said.

I nodded in agreement. This was our fight. And I lost before I even knew it started. What even was his level? How did he get behind me so fast?

"Fine, I guess I won't have to keep an eye on you while in the dungeon, at least," I said.

I then turned to the innkeeper and asked for another tankard of ale to get with me in my room for the night. This was not allowed, unfortunately, so I drank it there, thinking about tomorrow's plans.

After that, the innkeeper walked with me upstairs and showed me the way to the room I would stay. I walked in, he gave me the key, and then he left to go back and serve more ale to the rest of the guild.

It was a relatively small room, but it had everything I needed. A comfy bed, a closet where I could place my stuff, if I wanted too, and an empty barrel, next to the bed, where I could place anything I did not want to have on me while sleeping but would rather have it close to me - a dagger, for example.

I sat on the bed and, before long, I was laying down half asleep. For some reason, this bed made me feel extremely comfortable and I instantly felt the exhaustion flow away from me the moment I touched the mattress.

I passed the time contemplating my first day here. Here in the City of Prosper, but mostly here in the Peacemakers' guild. They mostly seemed like good people, from what I noticed looking around while we were drinking. Even the geezer, although I would love to punch a hole in him. I did wish they would not come with me in the dungeon tomorrow, though.

I had yet to distribute the points from my level-up earlier that day, and this was the perfect time to do it. Despite my half-drunk state, I should probably not leave it for tomorrow.

I put two points in Agility, which I decided to focus on, two more on Strength because Agility alone would be useless if my hits did no damage and two more in Wisdom to increase the lethality of [Gale Slash]

Name: Jinden

Race: [Anthir - Lvl. 9]

Class: None

Affinity: None

Attunement: None

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 15

[Strength]: 20

[Endurance]: 15

[Wisdom]: 16

[Agility]: 21

[Perception]: 16

Skills:

[identify]

[Item Throw]

[Active Rest]

Abilities:

[Gale Slash]: Lvl. 1

It was getting late. I had to sleep. For the first time in a while, I could do so in a safe place. Still, I decided to use [Active Rest] - you can never be too cautious.

----------------------------------------

Another day, another time I did not wake up by the sun's warm rays caressing my face.

No. This time I was waken up by annoyingly heavy footsteps as at least a couple of guild members were running on the same floor as me. And since the floor was made of wood, we could all hear every time a step landed.

I got up, yawning, and walked outside, needing to visit the restroom. I opened the door and was surprised to see Jack in long white and golden pajamas running, passing in front of me, chased by someone who was probably another member of the guild.

From what I understood, they have a game in this guild where the last person to get ready for an expedition becomes a 'scoundrel' and the rest of the guild pretends to ostracize them for a few hours. For that reason, members often chased each other and tied other members down so they cannot get ready on time.

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Honestly, I would gladly take the role of the scoundrel.

Unsurprisingly, I did end up being the last one to get ready, though they said it did not count because I was not actually part of the guild and because this would be my first dungeon crawl. They did give me the "scoundrel attire" though, to keep at least part of the tradition.

Of course it would be all black. Black boots, accompanied by black pants, a black undershirt, black leather armour and a black cloak. And, honestly, I loved it.

Before leaving for the dungeon, Jack came to speak to me.

"Yesterday you gave away your-o only weapon-o, right-o?"

I nodded positively.

"We have to go get-o you a new one then-o. Let's-o go, I know a guy."

Jack definitely knew better than me where to find a weaponsmith. And based on the scythe he was carrying with me, he had found one that was very potent at his job.

When most people say "I know a guy," they usually mean they know someone who is lesser known and/or is doing some slightly illegal stuff.

But no, this was not the case when it came to Jack. What Jack meant when he said "I know a guy," was that he would take me to the most well-known weaponsmith of the whole City of Prosper.

"What-o is-o your-o class-o?" he asked on the way to the weaponsmith's shop. "You'll-o find-o a weapon-o no matter-o your-o class-o, but-o I'm-o curious-o. I have one in-o my mind-o. I'll-o let-o you know if-o it-o was-o correct-o."

"I do not have a class yet," I replied. Jack seemed really surprised by that for some reason.

"You don't-o!? What-o level-o are you? You really seem-o exactly like... actually nevermind-o."

"I am still level 9. I look like what? Is there a class you think would suit me?"

"I am-o not-o telling-o you. I don't-o want-o to influence your-o judgement-o. We gotta get-o you leveled-o up-o today," he said.

"Whatever you say, gentle giant."

We did not say much else during the rest of the walk until we reached the shop, located at one of the most lively districts of the whole city, really close to where the mighty warrior's fountain was.

Jack let me step inside first and followed after me, closing the door behind him.

What we stepped into was a medium-sized room that seemed much smaller than it actually was. This was the case because every single inch of the wall was covered by all kinds of weapons, split in sections.

One part of the wall had swords, daggers, shortswords and other blades. One had axes, pickaxes, maces, and other heavy weapons that you would rather not bump into. Some spears and lances and, on the far side, I could even see hand weapons like Tiger's Claws, gauntlets, and fans.

On the other side of the wall there were weapons usually used for long range combat, like bows, crossbows, and throwing axes, followed by numerous unusually polished sticks with all kinds of stones on them, which I assumed were magic staffs.

There was no one else in the room, except for me and Jack, but I could hear a forge hammer pounding from a room far back. Jack and I decided to look around for a bit, check all these masterfully created weapons while we waited for the shop owner to stop his forging and come out to help us find a weapon for me.

As I was looking around, my eyes fell on one particular sword. It was completely black. From grip, to pommel, to even the blade, with the exception of a thin, white outline. Thin and long, but not too much of either, perfect for yielding in one hand while still being able to do a good chunk of damage.

I walked towards it and lifted my hand to reach it.

"What do you think you are doing?" said a voice behind me.

Just a breath away from me, to my back and right, there was an Elven man, slightly shorter than me, with his arms crossed, wearing a blacksmith apron and holding a forging hammer.

"Touching the exhibits is strictly forbidden, unless you want a bonk from my good friend right here," he said and showed me his hammer.

"Hey, Toriel-o! Long-o time no see!" Jack said excitedly. "Don't-o worry about-o the Anthir-o, he is-o with-o me."

"Oh, Jack, didn't see ya, I was too busy keeping this guy from ruining my masterpiece. I see you brought your scythe with ya. How is she holdin' up? Does she need fixing?"

"No, she's-o doing-o great-o, you did-o a great-o work-o on-o this-o one! We are actually here to get-o a weapon-o for-o him-o," he pointed at me with his head. "His-o name is-o Jinden-o."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"Thanks," replied Toriel.

"So, what kind of weapon are ya lookin' for? What is your class?"

"I don't have a class yet," I replied. "But I want a sword. A light one, that I can hold with one hand, but long enough that it makes sense if I decide to hold it with two if I want to. I'm not sure about the rest of the details — I've only fought with a tree branch so far. But this one looks just right," I said, looking again at the all-black sword.

"If you don't have a class, I'm afraid you can't handle this one yet, kiddo. You need to be high level to tame her — ya won't be able to even equip her."

I had a feeling that this would be the case. The sword looked really good and polished - something only the best of swordsmen would be able to wield properly. For now, I had to find something else.

"Do you have anything to recommend?" I asked the smith.

"I have some things in mind. Let me bring them for ya," he said and walked to a room in the back.

A couple of minutes and a few metal clanks later, Toriel came back with a few weapons—for all sorts of classes and fighting styles, since I was still unclassed—for me to try out that would potentially suit me.

First off, he handed me a shortsword. It was not quite a sword, but not quite a dagger. It was unexpectedly light and was great for stubbing, as its shape and size made the movement feel much more natural, but that was were its benefits ended for me. It was definitely a good weapon, but not something that I wanted to use. That was not the way I fought. I gave it back to the smith and prompted him to give me the next one in line.

The next one he gave me was a dark green bow. It was made just yesterday, from what Toriel told me, and it was one of his best creations yet - when it comes to lower-level weapons, that is. I did not even try it though. That was not who I was. Close combat was my comfort zone. Getting close and personal, hitting without getting hit. I'm sure someone else would find much better use for it and potentially wreak havoc with a bow like that. Someone like a primal hunter.

Next in line was a tomahawk. Almost like an axe, but smaller, which allowed me to use it with one hand for more fluid movements. I liked it. I practiced some movements with it and the overall feeling was positive - I could even throw it at a target if I ever needed to. But something felt slightly off, so I decided to not go with it. For now.

I tried a few other more niche weapons, tiger claws and a cudgel, but none of them seemed to be a good fit.

Then it was finally time to try out the swords. First up was the heaviest one, a Zweihänder. It looked stunning and I could tell that one slash of this thing would cut almost any being in half like it was nothing.

I tried it out, but it ended up being too heavy for me. My movements became too slow and I definitely could not hold it with one hand. This would leave me susceptible to enemy strikes and my low Vitality did not allow for such things.

So we went for something lighter. What Toriel gave me next looked like an average sword in pretty much every way. It was a shorter and thinner version of a longsword. Its size was almost the same as the branch I was using in the woods. The blade was double edged and thin, but not as thin as a rapier. The hilt had cross-guards to prevent enemy weapons from striking my hand, but they were not too big, just the bare minimum needed to protect me while still allowing my movement to be quick and fluid. Even the design was 'average'. Everything on it was white with some few golden details on the hilt and a golden outline on the blade. It looked beautiful, but it was probably the generic design for swords in the City of Prosper.

It may had been a simple sword, but when I held it in my hands, I felt the same thing I felt when I held the branch before I headed into the woods. It just fitted in my hands perfectly. I felt like I was suddenly stronger, faster, more accurate.

An average weapon that you can use masterfully is better than the best weapon if you are unable to wield it as it was intended.

I looked at the weaponsmith. I made my decision.

"It's this one. No doubt about it."

I then turned to Jack.

"Let's go give the spiders a taste of it."