Adrest went all out and rented out a semiprivate booth on the balcony overlooking the large stage below. After taking their seats on thick and soft leather chairs, they were left waiting and curious as they couldn’t make out any details behind the thick red curtains raised all around the stage below.
“Big bro Ady, what kind of play are we watching?” Adrest had insisted on keeping it a secret from all but Alissa who joined him to buy the tickets.
“All I know is that it’s a pretty famous story about an old Empire’s princess and her lover, and that this is the only theater in the city that uses magic in their plays. It’s supposed to be amazing.”
Belle excitedly looked back to the thick curtains, the group patiently watching the many rows of seats fill up below until the lighting far above dimmed and spotlights were aimed at the hidden stage.
As the lights dimmed the room fell silent, there was a deep whoosh as the many hundreds of pounds of fabric were suddenly dropped to beneath the stage. Adrest heard Belle let out an “Ooh” in amazement as the hidden scenery was revealed.
There was a beautiful young blonde in an exquisite and shimmering royal blue dress. She had a sword at her side, the sheathe a fine silver and inlaid with many glittering jewels.
As the play started, they learned the woman was the third royal princess Isla, of the long past Emberlight Kingdom. She was supremely talented in combat, but in the end she was still born a princess to a massive kingdom. She was to be married off to an old man of some far off place, used to broker a period of peace between the empires.
During an outing, Isla ran into a young master of a supremely strong sect. It was love at first sight; a match made in heaven. They met in secret as best they could, but nothing could be kept from such powers when they wanted to know something. The Emperor, furious his peace deal was endangered, and the sect not wanting to damage their relationship with the empire, tried to separate the two lovers. But, thanks to help from their friends and some seniors who didn’t agree with the decision. The couple managed to escape, running far enough away to escape the eyes of their pursuers, hiding and training, pushing each other to reach further heights.
And only under such hardships the most powerful are born. Sure enough, the pair were unstoppable when together once they had time to mature. They founded a sect but were suppressed at every turn by the much older and larger forces they had been chased from even so far away. They had wanted to completely sever the past and set new, forgetting grudges, but they were unable to endure any longer. In a show of force they wiped out over half the upper echelon of the young man’s previous sect. The next day it was announced that the Emperor was abdicating and the third princesses’ maternal sister, the seventh princess would ascend the throne as Empress.
Each scene was prepared and enhanced with magic, elaborate backdrops forming in instants, huge light shows and fantastic looking magic to immerse the audience in fights, everyone holding their breath.
The final scene was of the two, old and in their final moments together, passing away during cultivation hand in hand. Rin and Belle were outright bawling at the end of the nearly five hour experience. Alissa looked fine, but when the lovers passed, her hand found Adrest’s, squeezing it tightly.
Adrest was blinking away the glassiness in his eyes and comforting poor Belle to his other side, Alissa doing the same to Rin. They were in no hurry to leave as Alissa carefully dabbed at Rin’s face, fixing her makeup bleeding down her face, Adrest using his handkerchief to do the same for Belle.
Slowly, the sea of well-dressed men and women slowly trickled out in a neat and orderly fashion. Rin and Belle were in top shape again and they were finally able to squeeze into the aisle to exit. As they were escorted to their carriage a suited young man bowed deeply to them, “We hope you enjoyed our performance.”
Their next stop was a high-end restaurant nearby in the noble district. After Adrest escorted the women inside, an older gentleman with silver grey hair greeted the group and took them to a private corner in the back of the dining area. They were served wine produced in the Beastkin nations with the highest quality produce. Belle’s was watered down, but she enjoyed the flavor nonetheless.
Men and woman carried out plate after plate, appetizer, salad, soup, entrée, desserts, palate cleansers. Everything served was amazing and cooked to perfection, some of the best food the ever had.
It was amazingly expensive, costing Adrest just over one hundred platinum for everyone, but he felt it was worth every bit seeing the content smiles on the girls across from him.
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It was nearly midnight when the group returned to the hotel, exhausted and ready for bed where everyone slept soundly. Every day was packed with fun events and new experiences for everyone, until their weapons were finally finished. Alissa dragging the group along, the most excited of the four.
The hulk of a man was sitting lazily behind the desk once again, but threw on a smile when he saw who had walked in.
“Perfect timing! The boss just finished the last one this morning. Let me get him.”
They found their seats on a couch once again, being served some tea from an apprentice on break. They had only taken a few sips before the intense old man made his appearance. Behind him were three men, each carrying one of their commissions.
“First, let me just thank you again for the order, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to have so much fun at the forge. Let me show you what I came up with.”
He motioned for the first apprentice to step forward with the smaller of the two sets of twin blades. They were tucked in twin steely blue sheathes with fine silver runes across the entire body.
The old man looked at his work one more time as the apprentice pulled one from its cage. “I used powdered earth crystal and windsteel as the base. It will amplify and synergize with the earth magic of whoever is holding them. The windsteel keeps the blade light and as strong as any other A rank metal out there. If you do manage to damage them though, just leave them in the sheathes and they should repair themselves in a few hours or so.”
Belle excitedly took the offered weapons and adjusted the belt to fit her narrow waist. Drawing both swords and couldn’t believe how light they were, almost like the was nothing in her hands. She looked a little doubtful at the blades, how could something so light be any good?
The boss saw the look and didn’t seem offended as he laughed and clapped, a thick steel plate was set standing on a table in front of them. “Go ahead and try cutting this steel.”
Belle was dubious but did as instructed and wound up with her inhumanly flexible joints, making the eyes of the workers bulge. Belle slammed down, the perfect edge meeting the top of the steel, slicing straight through and halfway into the table under.
The men nearby were stunned, letting their projects cool as they lost focus, until the old man barked, "Get back to work you idiots!”
Belle was bright red as she tried to pull the blade out, stuck between the wood, she had to get both hands on the grip, and leveraged her foot against the table to finally get it out.
The old man cleared his throat and tried to move on, “See, it won’t lose to anything ordinary. The next one I’m pretty proud of too. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to focus on such a simple enchantment, most people want something big and flashy.”
The next worker walked forward with a pitch-black sheathe, thin gold engravings of abstract flowers decorated the surface. He pulled out a blade almost identical to Adrest’s old sword, just a little longer to fit him better. The only difference was layers of gold flowing through the steel.
“This one was easy; I used layers of unbreaking gold in the forging process. The body is mostly mana-soaked steel and I added some crystalized metal cores in the process. It can cut through pretty much anything under S rank like it’s not even there.“
Adrest nodded as he hefted the blade along and did a few practice swings, the blade feeling perfect as he sliced the air.
Finally, it was Rin’s turn as the last man showed off the longer and slightly thicker version of Belle's blades, the only difference was the color of the sheathes, these ones being a muted and almost grey blue.
“These are the real stars of today though. I used a little bit of windsteel for wind magic conductivity, but most of it is a combination of the hardest stuff I had laying around, you can go head on against an S rank artifact and not have to worry.”
Rin was in love as soon as the comfortable weight extended beyond her arm. They were many times heavier than the ones she was used to using, and if the blacksmith wasn’t just bragging, they were many times tougher. It was all she needed, Rin already packed a punch but weapons endured just as much abuse in the process. She needed to have her weapons serviced a few times a year just so they wouldn’t shatter on her.
“Those beauties will last you many, many decades. If you’re all satisfied, I’d like to thank you for the request once again.” The old man gave them a light but sincere bow.
They also stopped by the old woman’s shop and collected three spacial bags filled to the brim with plants, pills, tonics, and salves. On each was a small card with neatly written cursive explaining dosage and how to use the medicines.
It was a busy day for the young group, Alissa dragging them to a dozen shops to make sure they had everything the party might need on their trip. Clothes, supplies, medicines, maps. Alissa bought it all in abundance, not taking no for an answer.
They didn't even get a break that night, sitting in Adrest’s room drinking at the spacious table. It just wasn’t the same drinking with Ron at such a busy hotel, as it was at The Hearth and Home. Belle was sipping on very, very, diluted spirit wine mainly for the flavor, but it's also good for developing her body, while everyone else was enjoying the crazy strong base.
“Make sure you keep a close eye on Adrest for me Rin. Adrest likes to act like he’s the reasonable one, but the second he wanders off he finds trouble. And don’t forget to check Belle’s ears every night. She’ll catch a cold if they aren’t dried.”
The two children who were called out protested with bright red faces, not all from the alcohol. “I do not!” “I can do it myself.”
Alissa grabbed the two into a hug so tight they could barely breathe, “It’s going to be the longest six months of my life, I have to make sure you’ll be happy and healthy when I find you.”
Rin seeing Adrest’s face starting to turn an interesting shade of purple, interrupted the overprotective dragon. “Alissa! You said your sister lives on an island before, what’s it like?”