"Now that I have a full belly, what should I do?" I pondered out loud.
It's still early so where should I head to? Is there even anything interesting in this town? Well, I did see a blacksmith shop which is also the weapon's shop, a tailor shop, a pharmacy of some sort and some other shops. I had never saw a weapon being made in front of my life so, I guess the blacksmith shop is the destination. I'm also a boy after all. Of course I would like to see all sorts of weapons.
I walked through the not-so busy streets of Corolla town trying to find my way to the shop. I would ask the locals for directions so that I won't get lost. I can't say that I have a good sense of direction but I'm sure I can navigate just fine.
After a couple of minutes, I finally managed to arrive at my destination. The building was normal looking. There was a sign on the shop's door saying 'Blacksmith Shop, The one and only' so I'm definitely at the right place. I didn't waste a second and went into the shop.
The interior was what you would expect from a blacksmith shop. There were a lot of weapons arranged neatly at both sides. There were also weapons put in barrels here and there. There was a variety of weapons such as maces, swords, rapiers, axes. There were also katanas, although there were only a few of them. I didn't think katanas would exist in this world and era. Is it the influence of the previous generations of Heroes? That must mean that there are Heroes who came form Japan. Interesting.
While I was window shopping, a big bald man called out to me. His face was all too familiar to not recognize who he was.
"Zabu?" I asked, quite surprise at his appearance here. If I think about it, he's a guard so it's not all that unnatural but he didn't wear any clothing that resembled a guard. He was wearing a plain white shirt and a pair of grey pants that was easy to move in.
"Oh, if it isn't the guy with Kuma! What are you doing here, kid?" Zabu replied while having the same carefree look he had when I first met him.
"Kuma left me all alone at the inn when I woke up. He left a note saying that he was going to get a carriage for us to go to the capital. I thought I would do a little sightseeing in this town so here I am." I answered his question back.
"...." Zabu kept silent.
"Zabu, what's wrong?" Even if I just met him a day ago, I didn't think he was the kind of person who would go silent all of a sudden. I have a somewhat bad feeling about this.
"...I'm not sure if I'm the one who should be telling this to you but while I was on guard duty for the other entrance, I saw Kuma leave the town in a carriage. I don't know what's up with him but he had this very serious expression on his face. I thought you left with him this morning that's why I asked what you were doing here." Zabu explained, much to my horror.
"What did you say?! He left me, all alone!?" I was beyond shocked or surprised. I was mortified and devastated. No wonder that note and the silver coin felt somewhat ominous. What if I was a normal person without Creation Magic? Damn that perverted, mean, evil bear.
I didn't expect him to leave me or should I say betray me. I suppose I was too trusting of him. I'm too naive.
"I'm sorry for you, kid." Zabu said that with a pity look on his face.
Now that I'm all alone, what should I do? I shouldn't be pessimistic. Let's not linger on that matter anymore. What's done is done. Even if I don't have anyone to rely on, I have my magic so I'm okay. Who needs him anyway? Here I am, wanting to trick someone then got tricked myself.
I don't think I can trust people as much as I do before this betrayal. I'm resolved. I'm will rely on my abilities alone. I'm sure I will manage.
"...Zabu, please don't pity me. Kuma left me but that's all there is to it. I can manage by myself. Let's put aside that topic for now. Now, to continue our previous conversation. What are you doing here? Are you shopping for weapons or getting yours repaired?" I asked him, trying to sound apathetic as much as possible.
I'm a stoic person... stoic...me.... Okay, that should do the trick. I convinced myself so.
"..Well, if you say so. To answer your question, no I'm not here to shop or anything." His answer made me raise one of my eyebrows. "You see, I'm the owner of this shop. Adore me, kid as I'm the great blacksmith who made these wonderful weapons." He grinned when he bragged about himself.
"Really?! I thought you were only as a guard. That's great! I want to see the best sword that you have on the shop. I learned how to use the sword just recently but since I have gotten quite used to swordsmanship, I thought I could need a better sword." I said to Zabu.
"Sure, kid. You are lucky that the sword hasn't been sold yet. It's my newest creation. Come this way." He ushered me to follow him. We went a bit further into the shop and eventually, we stopped.
"Wait here for a bit. I'm gonna go get it." With that, Zabu shuffled around the stuff he had and came out bringing a sword in a pretty scabbard.
"May I inspect it closer?" I asked him politely.
"Of course! Here you go. Be careful now." Zabu handed the sword to me.
I looked at the pretty scabbard. I don't know what it's made of but it seems that the scabbard alone may cost quite the money. Turning away my attention from the scabbard, I slowly pulled out the sword, revealing a semi-transparent black colored sword. Its appearance looked a bit like glass. By that point, I was skeptical of the sword.
"Don't let its appearance trick you, kid. That ain't glass. That sword was made from a very high quality ore that's hard to come by. You try swinging the thing a few times then you will know its worth."
Made from a very high quality ore, huh? Only one way to find out then.
"Okay... Then, here I go!" I started swinging the sword in various directions and ways that I know of. When I was swinging the sword, I realized how light the sword was. It wasn't heavy, making my swings faster and more fluid than when I use the sword that I created.
I stopped swinging and tried to feel the sword's flat face with my hand. I tried to estimate the thickness of the sword and also its durability. It was not too thin nor was it too thick; it was moderate. I'm not sure about the durability of it since I didn't have anything to test it on but it was definitely not glass like Zabu said. It felt quite nice using it.
"Ain't it good? It's a masterpiece of mine. If I were to sell it in the big cities or the capital, it would have been sold long ago."
Aaah~ There he goes again, bragging about himself....
"If it's that good then why isn't it been sold yet here? Is there some kind of issue with it?" I asked him.
"There are no issues with the sword. It's just too expensive for the adventurers here to buy so that's why I wasn't able to sell it. I don't want to go far just to sell it. I don't mind it not selling either." Zabu just scratched his bald head when he answered my question.
"I see. How much is it?" The sword seems good enough. I'm determined to buy it. If it goes over my budget, I can just create more silver coins or even gold coins secretly when I put my hand into my pants' pocket.
"It costs 10 gold and 14 silver. I don't think you have the money to buy it kid. Besides, you said you were just starting to learn how to use the sword so shouldn't you get a cheaper sword than this?" He said, trying to convince to buy other swords since he expects me to not have a lot of money.
I just gave him back the sword and naturally put my right hand into my pocket as if searching for money. During the act of trying to get my money to pay him, I made 11 gold coins because I was too lazy to properly create the exact amount of it.
Of course, as I create each gold coin, I will take it out of my pocket one by one as to avoid suspicion if I were to take too long of a time without taking a single coin out, searching my pocket. After doing that several times, all eleven of the gold coins were out. I handed them over to Zabu while acting nonchalant about it.
"Here you go. That should be enough, right, Zabu-san?" I sounded quite rude not calling him with honorifics earlier so I decided to add back the honorifics this time. Even if he insists on not using it. It makes me feel weird.
"..Uh, yeah. Didn't expect you to have the money though. And didn't I tell you to just call me Zabu?" He took the coins from my hand and began searching around the area of the counter to get me my change.
"No, it feels weird talking to you like that. You are older than me, after all." I replied back to him who was still busy at the counter.
After a few moments, he came back with the change of 86 silver coins. He then proceed to hand the change to me.
"Well, if you say so. I guess it ain't bad being called with respect. Here you go. My masterpiece that you purchased. Its name is Xavier. Take good care of it you hear?" He told me so as if the sword was his baby.
I put it back into its pretty scabbard that was also a of a black color. Only replied with, "I will, Zabu-san," and I walked out of the shop hearing him say, "Come again!".
Now that I got a new sword, I hang it to the side of my waist where I used to hang my old metal sword. The sword I bought was light so it didn't hinder my movement as much as my last one. I have quite a lot of money left (95 silver coins and 42 copper coins combined) so I don't have to worry about it.
I don't feel like returning to the inn just yet so I figured I would visit other shops as well until dinner comes. I spent my time going to the tailor shop, the pharmacy of some sort and some stalls at the side of the street tasting a bit of food here and there.
I bought some clothes in the tailor shop which was three pairs of black pants, also three pairs of buttoned shirt that's similar to what I'm wearing except that it was black. The shirts were quite expensive. Furthermore, I also bought two pairs of black leather gloves at the shop. I stocked up on medical herbs when I went to the pharmacy shop earlier just in case for my journey to the capital. While also wasting my time strolling around, I bought two new pairs of black shoes. I just love the color black.
With Kuma gone, I needed to do all this by myself. It wasn't too hard since it was kind of similar to buying things when you are getting ready to go on a vacation. I didn't need to bother myself with all the carrying of the things I bought since the shops that I went to offered a delivery service to the inn. Of course, I needed to pay extra. I'm quite the big spender if I say so myself. My money is almost nonexistent by now.
By the time I finished strolling around the town, it was already late evening. I wanted to visit the Adventurer's Guild but I guess I will put it on hold for tomorrow. I need to extend the duration I will be staying at the inn too. Remembering which directions to take to go back to the inn, I was lost in thought as what I should do for tomorrow.
Arriving at the inn, I was fortunately not late for dinner. As a normal customer, I just took my seat on one of the tables. The dinner tonight was the same as last night; a meat dish, a bowl of soup and a few slices of bread. Seeing the meal, it reminded me of what I had for lunch earlier today. Damn, it was good.
Finishing my meal, I went to the counter to prolong the duration for how long I'm staying for a day. I was also told by the owner that my stuff that I bought had arrived earlier and was delivered to my room. With my business done, I went upstairs to my room.
Looking around in the room, I finally realized that Kuma's belongings were missing in the morning. I was an idiot for not noticing. Oh well. The room felt spacious now that I got it all for myself. Without caring much of being alone, I started practicing by swinging again tonight except that I use my new sword. Since I don't know what to do with the old one, I just erased it. Creation Magic is convenient to use as I can control the things I create. If I want it to be gone, then poof, gone.
I got a nice feeling when swinging the sword. It felt light but at the same time, powerful. After a hundred or so swings that I somehow managed to pull off, I took a break from training my sword skills. It was relatively late in the night but I didn't bother to sleep. I wanted to create more skills to make myself stronger.
I'm thinking of creating a healing magic and a body reinforcement magic. The healing magic was a hassle to make since I needed to have something injured to heal. I ended up making a shallow cut on my right arm using a small dagger that I soon disposed of. As always, I imagined the cut slowly healing itself. The tissues mending together, making the skin and then erasing the scar. Thankfully it worked, I didn't want to have a scar.
As for the body reinforcement magic, I imagined that my muscles were strengthening, my body parts were as if hardened and my senses such as my hearing became sharper. It was an amazing feeling. I don't know how long it exactly lasts but I assumed it was for about ten minutes. I bet that I can improve my magics' effect by draining what people call mana pool relentlessly. My training method is a little bit more complex than that though.
I have been training my magic by using my magic, Flames of Corruption and maintaining it's form. It would drain my mana and the spheres of flames would disappear then I would need to start over again. The same goes for when I lose my concentration. I was being careful as to not accidentally burn the room or inn down.
I am currently training my magic since I have done my sword training and had taken a break earlier. Instead of making the spheres of flames appear in my hands, I made them appear behind me in a circle of somewhat. Thank goodness, my magic don't affect myself since if it did, my hair would have been burned already. I also noticed that I was able to make a fifth sphere of flames. This showed that I can improve my magic and not the skill would not stay stagnant.
I was happy with the development. I also immediately try to use an idea that has been stuck in my head for about a few days already. That was the use of multiple magic. Since I have two different magic which is support and attack, I was able to put my idea into motion.
First, I summoned the spheres of black flames then I tried to reinforce my body. To confirm that the second magic worked, I grab my sword and swung a couple of times. To easily swing the sword a few times in only about three seconds was proof that my idea worked. I then canceled my magic. After feeling exhausted having my entire invisible mana pool drained, I decided to relax for a bit.
I'm really tired from all the strolling and shopping that I had done today. I looked to the other bed to see that it's fully occupied by my stuff that I bought. How am I suppose to carry all of that for my upcoming journey? Large baggage is a big no-no in battle. I could only come up with one solution, magic.
I tried to relax myself and did a little bit of meditating by inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. It made my relax more and I can feel that I have recovered most of my mana in just one hour. Letting my imagination run wild, in my mind, I pictured a space distortion in the air, opening to another dimension of some sort, being able to keep as many things as I need to keep.
It was successful and I tried putting the inn's pillow in it and then shortly after, I took it back. I didn't want to waste time so I just basically threw all of my stuff in there except for my sword. Then, by my command, the distortion in the air disappeared.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Since it seemed like I still have some mana left, I thought of making another magic. Telekinesis. The imagination process was simple. Just try to focus on one object and then imagine it floats in the air and go towards you. My Creation Magic rocks. I wanted to see all of my new skills so I opened my status window using my platinum plate that I had since I came into this world.
Status WindowName: Ren TatsukiAge: 17 years oldRace: UnknownLevel: 8StatisticsStrength300Defense250Agility450Intelligence1200Magic920Luck40Skill(s)-Creation Magic
-Language Comprehension
-Ancient Magic: Holy Binding (Holy Magic)
-Ancient Magic: Flames of Corruption (Dark Magic)
-Cleaning Magic
-Deodorization
-Ancient Magic: Angel's Gift (Holy Magic)
-Sixth Sense Body Amplification
-Ancient Magic: Space Holder (Space Magic)
-Lost Magic: Telekinesis (Mind Magic)Title(s)None
When I saw my status, I was astonished by how much I have grown this past week. My skill list has also grown too. All was nice and dandy until I noticed something unpleasant about it. My luck which was previously sixty have decreased by twenty.
What. The. Heck.
What caused this to happen? Was it because I experienced a bad event or something? When did that hap- oh... Today's event. Man, I'm starting to hate that bear even more now. Nothing I can do about it.
Since I'm quite happy with my steady progression of overall strength, I went to bed earlier than usual.
~~~~~~
I woke up early than usual since I didn't sleep too late last night. I changed my clothes to the clothes that I bought yesterday. Black buttoned and collared shirt, a pair of black pants, and also a pair of black leather gloves and shoes. I retrieved them from the Space Holder where I put them in yesterday. My attire was all black. I just can't get enough of black. It's cool after all.
I checked how I looked using the mirror in the room. After confirming that I didn't look like a sloppy person, I went downstairs. Thankfully this time, I didn't miss my breakfast like yesterday. Today's breakfast consisted of a loaf of bread and vegetable soup. I was advised to dip the bread into the soup by one of the maids so that it would taste better. I did as I was told and it was true. Although the meal wasn't as delicious as the one from the expensive restaurant, it was satisfying.
After finishing my breakfast, I went out of the inn. I made my way to the Adventurers Guild using the directions from my memory as planned. I wanted to go there to greet Derillia-san and maybe get some new information. I will also look at the mission board to see if there's anything that I can do on the trip to the capital. I doubt it though.
Arriving at the building, I didn't hesitate to enter it. There were more people staring at me than the first time I came here. Is it because of my attire?
I didn't pay any mind to them and just headed to where Derillia-san is; the receptionist desk. She looked quite busy as she didn't look up to see who it was even though she knew that there's somebody standing in front of her (me) and just asked what is my business here.
"Yes?" She asked, still jotting down something on a piece of paper.
"Good morning Derillia-san." I greeted her as that's what I'm here for today.
"This voice.... Ren-chan! Good morning. What are you doing here? I thought you already left with Kuma-chan yeterday." She finally looked up and greeted me back.
"Well, there were some issues so I didn't go with him. Are you busy, Derillia-san? If so, I will come back later in the day to inquire you about something." I asked, trying to not bother her as much as possible.
"In fact, I am. The guild needs to find a someone to represent the guild to attend the Heroes' Ceremony. You see, a representative needs to either be a mage that's associated with the guild or an adventurer from the guild that's red rank or higher but there's nobody who meets those qualifications. I wanted Kuma-chan to go as he's the only one qualified adventurer but he already left, saying he had some other businesses to attend to. Haahh, what am I to do." Derillia-san gave out a long and tired sigh.
What? Kuma is red ranked adventurer or higher? He lied to me didn't he?! However there was something that bothered me more than that. I got to ask Derillia-san about it.
"Can't the guild just send anybody there as a representative? I thought that the ceremony is open to the public." I asked, confused about the matter.
"What are you talking about, Ren-chan? I don't know who you heard that from but it's false information. Only a select few of nobles, renown mages and representatives of each guild branch can go into the royal palace, you know." She explained, earning a shocked expression from me.
"What? It's not open to public? Wasn't the Heroes suppose to showcase their magic or something so that they can earn the people's faith. So that the people can believe that they would be able to win against the Demon Lords?" I asked a multitude of questions this time.
"Like I said, that someone who told you about it must be lying. The royal family who summoned the Heroes wouldn't blatantly let them showcase their powers to the public. It would bring unnecessary problems. The public was only told that the Heroes have arrived to save the kingdom." She said while having an expression that says, " You actually believed that it was like that?".
Abandoning the stab-like feeling that attacked my heart because I found out that I was lied to by the bear, I continued the conversation. If the ceremony is not open to public, I can't go after all.
"Then, Derillia-san. You only need a mage that's associated with the guild right? And a mage is someone who can use magic and spells, right?" I asked once more.
"Yes, but it seems there's no one like that here, Ren-chan." She gave me a worried look.
"What if... What if I tell you that I'm able to use magic?" I said in a voice that other people wouldn't be able to hear except for the two of us.
"What?! Really?!" People looked at our direction when Derillia-san shouted. "Ahem. So you are not joking right? You can use magic not the daily life ones but real magic. Spells." She tried to confirm what she had heard from me.
"Yes." I simply answered.
"Ren-chan, come with me to the guild's backyard. I want you to prove it to me." She ushered me to come with her using a door that's located at the back of the reception desk.
"If I prove it to you, I can go as a representative from this guild and be able to enter the royal palace right?"
"Of course. Now, hurry up." She said in a hurried voice.
Arriving at the so-called backyard of the guild, I spotted a rich-looking man that looked like he's in his late forties. Derillia-san approached the man who I would like to call old while telling me to wait at my current position. They conversed for a bit and I can see the old man being surprised for a moment. Derillia-san and the old man then finished their conversation and asked me to come over to their side. I obeyed and walked towards them.
The old man then greeted me.
"Greetings, it's nice to meet you, Ren Tatsuki-kun. I'm Christopher Gurr. I have heard from Derillia that you are a mage and thus have brought you here to prove yourself. Is that correct?" The old man named Christopher asked.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir. To answer your question, yes, that is true, Christopher-san. I am able to use magic so I volunteered to become a representative even though I'm merely an adventurer of the white rank." I bowed my head low before returning back to my previous position and answering his question.
"I see. Without further ado, please, demonstrate your magic by using it to hit that dummy over there." The old man then pointed towards one of the dummies in the backyard.
"Yes, sir." I answered before going to the dummy before stopping several meters away from it.
As they have asked, I manifested all five spheres of the Flame of Corruption and then proceeded to launch it towards the dummy, putting it ablaze. Seconds later, the black flames soon spread towards the other dummies and burning it down to the ground. I then make the flame disappear with a thought as if it wasn't there in the first place. But the ashes of the dummies were prove of my magic.
"What the..."
"T-that's amazing, Ren-chan!"
The old man was the first to open his mouth, followed by the praise from Derillia-san. Well, I was quite surprise as well since the flames turned the dummies into ashes in mere seconds.
"Ah, no. It's nothing, hehe." I replied, walking towards the old man and Derillia-san while feeling a bit embarrassed by the praise thrown by the woman.
"...Ahem. Well, young man, since you have proved yourself as a mage, come to my office." The old man interrupted the victory dance in my head and invited me to his office.
I looked at Derillia-san and she just nodded in approval. Seeing her nod, I followed the old man to his office.
~~~~~~
"This letter is your pass to enter the royal palace on the fourth of Viska which is a few months from now. Don't lose it now. Tomorrow, a carriage will come to pick you up at the inn in the morning after you have your breakfast. Don't be late, do you understand?" Christopher old man handed me a letter and reminded me to not be late for tomorrow morning and also for the upcoming ceremony.
"Yes, sir." I then walked out of the office.
When I went to the old man's office earlier, he briefed me about the ceremony. The ceremony is like a social gathering. My job is to get along with the other representatives from the other branches. I need to also greet the Heroes and the royal family as a sign of respect and bla bla bla. It's basically introductions here and there and establishing connections for the guild.
What's fun about it is that I get to know the Heroes, see the interior of the palace and ... food! There's going to be a buffet like feast. Lucky~ I also learned that there may be more than one representative from the other guild branches but since Corolla couldn't find anybody else than me, I will be travelling there alone. I'm lonely aren't I?
I also asked if I can wear a mask to attend the ceremony and the answer was yes. But, Christopher old man discouraged me from doing that as it may be disrespectful towards the Heroes and the royal family however, I refused to listen to what he has to say about it.
There were also some other minor details but didn't pay too much attention to them. With all the formalities and information session given by the old man done, I headed back to the inn for lunch. I spent the rest of the day in my room, training using Xavier and magic. I only came out of the room during dinner. After dinner, instead of resuming my training, I decided to make a mask.
The mask was white in color with only two slanted holes for the eyes; no other holes for the mouth or nose but I was able to breath just fine. I also made it so that there's a particular black streak near the right eye hole. It's like a mark of some sorts that I saw once in anime. The purpose of it is to look cool. After that, I went to sleep early to prepare for tomorrow.
The next morning, I woke up early and do my usual routine which was, cleaning and deodorizing myself and changing to a new set of the same clothes, all black. I also cleaned and deodorized my yesterday's attire before putting it back into the Space Holder.
I didn't eat the breakfast from the inn but instead created my own light meal which was a box of hot spicy chicken wings that I first had in the Akasha Forest back then. I deodorized myself again to make sure I don't smell of chicken and spices.
After deodorizing myself, I put on my awesome mask that I made last night. I didn't want to wear the black robe that I wore during my journey to Corolla town since it's a dead giveaway that I'm a mage. That would be a disadvantage for me in battle. I hang Xavier to the side of my waist and went downstairs.
With my attire, almost everybody in the inn stared at me. While all of the stares hurt, I endured it and made it out of the inn. Outside the building, as promised, was a carriage that was sent by the old man to pick me up. The driver didn't pay much attention to my appearance and just told me to hop on. The carriage then departed from Corolla town, being pulled by two strong horses.
I looked back at the town where I first learned of the cruelness of people and where I had the amazing golden bread. Despite Kuma's lies and abandonment, I'm gonna miss this town where it's the beginning of my fun adventure.
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A/N: Okay...so, that was one long ass chapter. Did it make you mad when I suddenly had Kuma do that? Well, it wasn't for no reason. It will be revealed later on, so stay tuned~ A special mention to Truth for his ever so helpful comments.
As always, feedback or even reviews (<-- currently nonexistent) are highly appreciated and thanks for reading~[th_084_.gif]