In an enormous yet elegant castle, King Harald, the ruler of the Westcreek Kingdom, held a great banquet to celebrate his birthday. He invited all the kingdom’s nobles to his grand castle. Every noble family had already greeted and given their gifts to the king. They were all waiting for the last person before going to the main event.
“I wonder what present that famous blacksmith, Kane, will bring to our king?” Among the crowd, a well-dressed young nobleman asked himself just loud enough to be heard by a person who stood beside him.
“Knowing he’s a blacksmith, of course, he’s going to give His Majesty a pair of shoes!” the person — who was a priest — answered, smirking.
The nobleman rolled his eyes. “Whatever. What I meant is what will the rank of the sword be. I remember he promised King Harald that he would make a sword for him when His Majesty saved him.”
“His best product has been rank 4 equipment so far, but there’s no way he spent more than half a year for a mere rank 4 sword.”
“That’s what I think too. I wonder…” All of a sudden, a loud shout interrupted them and everyone in the hall.
The voice came from a knight. “Attention everyone! The last person has arrived, let us continue our king’s birthday gift reception!”
The crowd turned their attention to the man beside the knight. A sheathed sword rested on both of his arms. He had long straight brown hair, blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin. His unkempt beard made him look older than his actual age. His plain shirt barely covered his muscular body.
“Finally, Kane has arrived.”
“I hope the sword he brought can compensate for the time he wasted.”
“I wonder the rank of the sword he’s carrying.”
The crowd’s murmurs reverberated in the hall while Kane walked to the throne. He then knelt and placed the sword on the carpet floor.
“Happy birthday, Your Majesty. I sincerely apologize for my late arrival.”
In front of Kane stood an old man. A jeweled golden crown rested on his long wavy white hair. Wrinkles and freckles were all over his old face. His vigorous eyes peered at Kane. King Harald finally spoke.
“You don’t have to apologize. I knew you were perfecting that sword. How are your injuries?”
”It’s gotten much better than a year ago, though unfortunately, I can only use about half of my original power. Ah yes, I’d like to express my gratitude once again for personally saving me and providing me with your hospitality.”
“I only did what a normal human would do, nothing much,” King Harald chuckled. “If you want to repay your debt, a rank 5 sword is more than enough. Below that rank is fine too.”
“Do not be so modest, your Majesty. You don’t deserve a mere rank 5 weapon. Please unsheathe the sword.” Kane smiled.
King Harald stood up. He walked towards Kane then took the sword and unsheathed it. The piercing sound of steel was emitted when he pulled it. The sword shone with a bright white aura that blinded almost everyone. His eyes glued to the sword, he flaunted it without knowing.
The king was also known as “The Mighty Humble One”, yet he couldn’t resist the rush of dominance and arrogance invading his body. In his entire life, never was he in awe so much, for it was the peak of weaponry. The legendary rank 10 weapon!
“This is… a rank 10 weapon!!” The King said out loud.
The crowd gaped. They expressed their astonishment.
“Is that real!?”
“A rank 10 weapon… I thought it was only a mere fable!”
“Impossible!”
The crowd started pushing towards the throne. Even the knights approached the king to get a closer look before they snapped out of their reverie and continued carrying their duties. The magic knights made a transparent barrier to stop people from getting too close to King Harald.
Generally, equipment is ranked based on its qualities. Unranked is the lowest and rank 10 is the top. The higher ranked the equipment, the rarer it was as well as more difficult to make.
“I actually didn’t make this sword. I found it in some ruins. It was broken, so I gathered the necessary materials and repaired it,” explained Kane.
Many people uttered a sigh and their expression darkened. They realized Kane cannot make one himself. Some of them suspected that Kane was lying but then again, it would be too unbelievable if he did make it. The reason was that it was extremely difficult to do — no one in this world could create such legendary weapons, even the best blacksmith in the world that was still alive. The ones who could have already died in ancient times, based on some records.
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One of the people in the crowd shouted, “Then, you could make weapons of any rank except rank 10, right!?”
The hall became silent, waiting for Kane’s answer.
“Only up to the rank 7. And unless you provide the right materials, I won’t be able to make them for you,” Kane replied.
Every noble and knight shouted in excitement. They couldn’t wait to be first in the queue, buying the rank 7 weapon from Kane. But some people realized only a handful of rich nobles could afford it. They could only shake their heads with envy and disappointment.
“Kane… I don’t know what to say… This is too much even for me. Moreover, what if someone tries to steal it?”
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. I’ve hired a mage to set up a seal so only you and people of your direct bloodline can wield the sword. Besides, you can easily slay any thief with that weapon.”
“Thank you…” Before the king could finish his words, the sword started shaking and the white light began to dim. A dark aura enveloped the sword, coloring the metal black as night.
“What’s happening!?” King Harald exclaimed, fearing the dreadful black aura from the sword. He feared the dreadful black aura from the sword.
“King! Throw the sword away!” Kane panicked. He had never witnessed a scene like this before. His instincts told him to prepare for the worst, so he grabbed his weapon: a battle-ax with a long, straight steel handle. It had a plain appearance, yet it somehow seemed different from common axes.
Without hesitation, King Harald threw the sword into the air. It rotated and then floated above the people’s heads. Everyone in the hall observed it, filled with questions and curiosity.
A moment later, the black aura started to take a human shape. It turned into a pale-skinned woman. She had long straight pure ivory hair that fell like a waterfall. Her sharp yellow eyes and black sclera resembled an owl in the dark. When combined with her red-as-blood lips and petite nose, it gave her an otherworldly beauty. Although her frightening jet-black aura covered her torso and thighs, it couldn’t hide her curvaceous body.
Yet nobody felt aroused nor tempted. They all knew that she was a dangerous creature! Her deep, violet, curved horns akin to a goat gave it away. The previous awe and joy turned into fear.
King Harald knelt and asked her, “May I ask who madam is? For what purpose did the mighty one visit this lowly king?” He tried his best to keep calm. Beads of sweat poured from every pore of his skin, wetting his silk cloths. He wanted so badly to question Kane of this occurrence.
They barraged her with questions yet there was no answer. Instead, she contorted her face while saying something in a foreign language. Her voice was rather soft — but everyone could hear her.
When she lifted her finger, thousands of faceless shadow puppets that resembled humans emerged from the floor. Each of them began hunting everyone in the hall. The door was already stuffed with thousands of people screaming and crying. They all wished to get out of this nightmare.
However, it was futile. The shadow puppets were faster than galloping horses. It took only five seconds for them to massacre almost everyone in the hall, including the knights. They died with no visible wounds, and their withered bodies were like uncovered mummies. The shadow puppets had absorbed their souls.
The shadow puppets then left the hall, continuing their task. The hall brimmed with copses. Everybody — including King Harald — was dead, except for a lone man. The shadow puppets did not stand a chance against Kane. His ax felled them; all that remained were black ashes on the floor.
The woman finally looked at him. She landed on the ground and approached Kane with a stone-cold gaze.
“Tell me, demon, why are you possessing his sword? For what reason did you kill these people?” asked Kane. He couldn’t determine the reason why she had committed such unreasonable actions. At the same time, Kane was thinking of an escape plan. Fighting this demonic woman would cause imminent death.
Without any warning, the woman lunged forward while projecting a sword made from her ominous aura. She ignored Kane’s question.
The sword and the ax clashed with each other. Every time they clashed, sparks flew about resembling flashes of lightning. The ground trembled.
“If only I still had my strongest ax…” Kane regretted inside. The more they clashed, the more cracks appeared on his rank 5 ax in his hand.
“Ascendance of the Chaotic Phoenix!” Kane fiercely swung his ax upward. Huge crimson rays shone from the ground. In the blink of an eye, a crimson light shaped like a towering ax head rose, hitting the woman and the roof of the castle. The debris fell right atop and buried her.
“Time to run—” All of a sudden, A black claw-like aura penetrated Kane’s chest, stopping him. The claw grabbed his still-beating heart as Kane collapsed.
The woman emerged, a ball-shaped transparent black barrier guarding her. Not even a slight scratch was on her body. She gazed at the hole that Kane had created while two pairs of jet black wings protruded on her back. Her hand held Kane’s heart.
“(Wait.)”
The woman gave off a slight hint of a surprised look. She froze up. Only someone who had endured unimaginable pain could talk without a literal heart, although the woman seemed more interested because she recognized Kane’s word.
“(You understood?)” He was speaking in a demon tongue, which was her language. He had learned it a little from an acquaintance but he was no master of the language.
“(Name?)” He asked again.
An eerie silence filled the hall before she said, “(The name’s Xervatia.)” She flapped her wings and flew to the horizon.
---
“Ah, is this the end?... cough… cough.” Kane spat out overflowing blood.
He lay on the carpet floor as his blood poured from his chest. Staring at the blue sky through the hole, he recalled his past. Kane had been a mighty ax saint and a master blacksmith until he had successfully gotten his revenge. If he hadn’t been injured from fighting his nemesis, chased by thousands of saints, fleeing to nowhere, and coincidentally found by the wandering king, he would not have been staying in this small kingdom and thus becoming a local blacksmith.
In his time in the kingdom, he often thought about when he was going to die. The cure only existed in the previous region he ran off from, and going back clearly wasn't an option. In conclusion, he chose to live in peace for as long as he could. His enemies let Kane off because they knew he was going to die anyway.
Kane originally wanted to search for a peaceful place to pass away after he gave the sword to King Harald. Never did he think he would die earlier. Despite that, death was surprisingly relaxing; he couldn’t complain about it.
“My consciousness… is fading away…”
Darkness invaded his vision and his mind. Kane closed his eyes for the last time.
“I wonder, am I going to heaven? No, I have sinned too much, so... hell maybe? Or neither? Becoming a ghost is probably fun, though.” Kane chuckled. He didn’t care which one it would be.
A moment later, Kane heard a strange sound.