Katashi Atsushi lowered the bottom edge of his heavy shield onto the stone floor of the cave, then looked around again. The young blacksmith was always more prudent than his age might suggest. Now too, he entered the Arsenal portal last, after assessing what kind of weapons the others had chosen. And after such an evaluation, noticing that mainly light slashing or chopping weapons prevailed, he decided what to take. As a result, Katashi chose a heavy Roman-style shield and a one-handed horseman's pick[1] from the Arsenal.
Despite all his experience, the young master could not determine what kind of wood the shield's base was made from. But, after knocking on it, Katashi understood that the wood of his shield's base was even harder than oak.
As for the horseman's pick, it was forged from a material rarely used on Earth - black bronze. This weapon was chosen consciously. Since no one knew what kind of enemy they would encounter on the way to the exit, at least someone had to choose a weapon capable of piercing heavy armor. No one but him had thought of this, so he had to "fill this gap" with his choice.
Since the age of seven, he had been helping his father, a blacksmith who had long earned his own respected mark. At school, they constantly made fun of him, wondering how one could work in a primitive forge in the twenty-first century, hammering heated metal as if there were no hydraulics, machines, and computers. In response, he hid a smile and kept silent, not telling them that blades hand-forged using old technologies by a recognized master were valued no less than premium cars.
His small family always lived modestly and didn't flaunt the fact that they were probably the richest in the small town at the western end of Honshu, where they lived. This wealth was the fruit of the fact that neither his grandfather, his father, nor he was afraid to pick up a hammer and work really hard. To bloody calluses, to bathing in sweat.
Unlike his peers, he didn't live in the clouds and didn't indulge in dreams of the unattainable, almost always preferring a bird in his hand to one in the bush. There was only one exception - his work. In that, he never accepted half-measures or sloppiness. His life motto could be expressed in the words: "If you're doing something, do it well."
Unlike most of the test subjects, Katashi did not take everything that was happening too sharply. Could he change something and return himself back to Earth? No. But he could survive. That's what he was doing. Simply surviving... until he saw the Arsenal.
Now, however, a new desire was budding within him. Acute, to the tingling at the fingertips. His hand was holding a horseman's pick, which he couldn't have made as he had never worked with black bronze before. A blacksmith who had already earned his own mark and recognition at nineteen - an achievement unheard of in conservative Japan - he didn't know how.
At first, he thought that all the tasks were some kind of game that higher powers were playing with him personally. But the last test, which was extremely cruel and cynical, clearly showed that he was not alone here. He concluded that, most likely, all these tasks are nothing more than a weeding out before something bigger. And now, stroking the handle of the horseman's pick, Katashi Atsushi really wanted to understand what awaited him in the future. But to find that out, he must survive first.
Only after hearing about Talents and the Arsenal did the young blacksmith immediately realize: they were not going to have an easy walk to the exit ahead. They were headed for a battle.
Perhaps not just one.
Not even two.
Perhaps they will have to claw their way through each step upward in a battle against an unknown enemy.
His thoughts were interrupted by a rumble and screams nearby. The far wall of the cave had just collapsed, revealing a dark gap. Naturally, this did not go unnoticed, and people were startled.
"Has it begun?" the young blacksmith thought, raising his shield.
"Don't mind if we stick around, do you?" Hearing this question, Katashi Atsushi turned back.
Right next to him, but keeping a respectful distance, was a couple he was already familiar with. The gaijin, whose sharp facial features resembled a bird of prey, and a Korean woman, whose image he vaguely remembered seeing in a TV advertisement. They were hard to miss! They had made a scene even before the appearance of the Higher Entity! What did they want from him?
"We? Stick around?" Katashi repeated the gaijin's question.
"Your shield." The ravenhead nodded as if that explained everything.
"Shield. It's mine." The blacksmith agreed. "And so?"
"Big shield, reliable, convenient to hide behind," the gaijin said with a smile.
Katashi was left breathless by such audacity.
"So, you want to hide behind me?!!" He exhaled.
"Yep!" The impudent man confirmed without a hint of embarrassment.
Katashi, despite the restraint inherent to his nation, was on the brink of losing his cool. To calm himself, he took a deep breath. Then he looked at the weapon in the gaijin's hands and promptly decided against picking a fight with him. It wasn't about the short yari with a dark bronze tip. It was about how this gaijin held the spear in his hand.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Katashi Atsushi was a blacksmith. He forged weapons and, like a true professional, thought it necessary to learn how these weapons were used. From the age of twelve, he attended Kendo training three times a week, month after month, year after year, regardless of how he felt. He didn't achieve significant results, but he did learn something, and most importantly: he started to understand weapons much better. And the way this gaijin held his yari told him a lot. He did it loosely, wrapping the spear shaft with his left hand in such a way that he could easily gesture with both hands during a conversation, and the weapon wouldn't interfere at all. His Kendo teacher used to do the same with his staff while walking in front of his students, pacing back and forth, and telling yet another parable.
The young blacksmith was not devoid of vanity, but nevertheless, he admitted that his belief of being the best and most prepared fighter among all those thrown into this trial... was a mistake.
And the Korean woman was clearly not simple either.
Firstly, it was evident that the ravenhead gaijin did not appeal to her, even annoyed her. Yet, she made a point to stay near him. Moreover, as their public spat revealed, they had met before. Most likely, they had crossed paths in the first group test. Judging by the girl's behavior, the gaijin had not presented himself in the best light, morally speaking, in that trial. He might have even killed someone. Yet, she still stays near him, which means she considers his vicinity the safest place. As the young blacksmith knew, a woman's intuition in such matters rarely goes wrong, very rarely.
Secondly, she held a wand in her hands, exquisitely decorated with silver. As Katashi noticed, no one else in the cave had anything close to such an elegant and obviously expensive item. This was likely not without reason. And the sharp-faced man looked at his companion in a peculiar way. With wariness and a hint of something resembling respect. A strange mix. A strange pair.
"I'm Kay!" Katashi Atsushi introduced himself.
This was his usual test when meeting someone. If the other person start joking: "And I'm agent Jay" or "Where's your black suit, agent Kay?!," he would add such people to his internal ignore list. No, Katashi was not a snob and enjoyed humor, but he could not stomach those who ignored basic etiquette and allowed themselves to joke at the expense of their interlocutor even upon first meeting. The young master greatly respected personal space, both his own and that of others, and expected the same kind of respect in return.
Upon hearing his introduction, the ravenhead's countenance changed. His face stretched into a wide grin, and he almost opened his mouth, as Katashi guessed, to joke. But, to the blacksmith's surprise, he held back! And with the same smile instead of a joke, he said:
"I'm Raven."
"And I'm Lan Lin." The Korean girl squeaked from behind the ravenhead.
"Hide." Shrugging, Katashi outwardly indifferently allowed.
In fact, he was glad. Very much so. This couple would certainly not be a burden in the upcoming ascent. And it's still unclear who will be pulling whom upwards, him them or they - him.
Suddenly he understood! The words of the ravenhead about hiding behind his shield were the same kind of test as his "I'm Kay." Comprehending this, Katashi looked at the ravenhead in a new way, with genuine respect in his gaze. His reflection was interrupted by a female scream:
"Look! There's something there."
Indeed, some movement appeared from the gap formed in the cave wall.
"We need to gather together and form a line!" Someone shouted.
Katashi exchanged glances with the gaijin. They nodded to each other, and the blacksmith raised his shield into a combat position and took a step forward. Immediately over his left shoulder appeared the long narrow blade of the yari. A blade that swung in time with his steps, only half a meter from his face. This blade looked sharp... The blacksmith restrained the first impulse to turn around and ask the gaijin to take the spear further away from him. Yet the ravenhead evidently knew what he was doing, so it wasn't worth interfering with him.
Katashi was not surprised that, despite his slow steps forward, it somehow turned out that he was the very first in the spontaneous line that the test subjects hastily formed. He was used to being the best, which meant being first. And even the skyscraper guard had paid for daring to cross his path!
Shrugging, the blacksmith smiled.
Their line hadn't reached the gap in the wall when several bodies lunged at them from it. Medium height and build, with blue skin, they were remarkably similar to ordinary people in all other respects. Of weapons in hand, the blue-skins held stone spears, axes, or simple clubs.
Absorbing the first blow on his scutum, Katashi swung his cleaver, but at the last moment, his hand flinched because he looked into the human-like eyes of the enemy and simply couldn't finish the blow. The blue-skin didn't get the chance to take advantage of the blacksmith's mistake. A dull gleam over the left shoulder. An unpleasant sound. And the enemy falls at Katashi's feet, a green sludge gushing abundantly onto the cave floor from a neck slashed right through the jugular.
"Green? So, they're not human?!" thought the young master with relief, repositioning his weapon more comfortably.
But he only managed to use it on the fifth opponent, as three more didn't even make it to him, killed by precise and sharp lunges of the yari. But on his next enemy, he made up for it, venting all his anger and fear. Unfortunately, he made a mistake: the weapon he chose was not at all suitable for quickly killing essentially naked enemies, shielded only by waistbands. Nevertheless, four hits were enough for the blue-skin.
The onslaught of enemies intensified, and at least a dozen people had already engaged in battle. Another pike blow grazed, and because of this, Katashi's wrist twisted. A sharp pain, and he almost dropped his weapon.
"A sprain! Or even a muscle tear!" Immediately a far-from-joyful thought flashed in his head.
He stopped and was about to move back into the second row, as he could hardly just hold the cleaver. Talking about striking with such a hand was out of the question. But he didn't get the chance. The touch of a woman's hand on his shoulder - and a strange warmth spreads throughout his body, reaches the wrist, and heals it.
"Thank you," says the blacksmith without looking back, confidently re-gripping his weapon.
"You're welcome," comes the melodious voice of Lan Lin from behind him.
This is how they fought for almost five minutes until everyone heard the mocking voice of the ravenhead gaijin:
"Doesn't it seem to all of you that the exit is kind of in the other direction?"
[1] TLN: it's actually a "klevets," its' weapon-defining part is a beak-like spike, which can be complemented by an ax blade or a hammerhead on the other side. See https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Drevnosti_RG_v3_ill075_-_Chekans.jpg or https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Ryttaryxa%2C_jordfynd_-_Livrustkammaren_-_334.tif/lossy-page1-1024px-Ryttaryxa%2C_jordfynd_-_Livrustkammaren_-_334.tif.jpg