The beat up trio stood in a straight line in front of their master. Edward seemed to be the only one in a good mood, considering most of his bruises were already fading. This once again earned him a jealous look from his friends.

“Alright, one last thing. Edward and Layla, the two of you mentioned that you’re in need of a new blade?” Tarquin moved his gaze from one of his students to the other.

“Yes sir,” answered the young man.

“Hmm… Normally I would call it shameful for a warrior to lose their weapon, but I’ll be lenient considering the circumstances… You can go straight to the armory. I’ll send a message so they expect you.”

The two Marked nodded in silence.

“I meant now. You can go now… I’ll be busy the next couple of days. Somebody will notify you about your orders soon. Take some rest for now students.”

The young warriors looked at each other hesitantly. They bowed slightly towards their master, and headed towards the door.

“Huh… That was a bit lighter than I expected…” Marcus whispered.

“Actually! One more thing…” Tarquin’s voice called out.

‘Oh no…’ Ed turned around along with the others.

“Edward, you shouldn’t use the technique when sparring against Marcus or Layla. That’s all.”

“Yes sir.” He wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.

The group left the training room, and Layla turned towards the others.

“Wow, now I feel kind of insulted. Is Edward supposed to start giving us a handicap now?”

“Better keep up then.” The youth smirked in response.

“Oh, someone’s getting cocky. You better watch out… Unless you think you can regenerate your head after I slice it off.”

“Calm down you two… Weren’t you supposed to go to the armory?” Marcus served as an intermediate, knowing it’s better not to let Layla get heated up.

“Hmm… Fine, I really do need a sword.”

When the trio arrived in front of the blast door, they were approached by a couple of guards. They screened them with a couple questions, but when Edward mentioned Tarquin’s name, the soldiers visibly let down their guard.

“Alright you can come on in,” the quartermaster announced.

A moment later, a loud creak came from the gate, and the two wings started sliding back into the slots hidden in the walls.

“You’ll find the different kinds of blades at the end of the first hallway to the right.” The quartermaster bowed slightly and disappeared in a small room on the side of the door.

Edward nodded, walking over the threshold and into the armory. Tall storage units towered over the trio, filled with guns, ammunition and boxes full of god knows what. The room stretched forward tens of meters, but he turned right the first chance he got as instructed.

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Following the narrow hallway, the group reached the side of the room. Several blades were displayed on steel vertical wall mounts. Edward and Layla only paid attention to the middle section, where different kinds of swords reflected their astonished faces.

“Wow, now I’m sad I’m not getting any.” Marcus spoke up from behind the duo.

“Should’ve lost your sword too. Actually you should be glad you didn’t.” Layla didn’t even turn towards him, busy looking over the different blades. She walked along the display and suddenly stopped before a certain greatsword.

Edward left her to her own devices, deciding to start looking for a blade of his own. He approached the section with shortswords. Since the golden arc allowed him to reach faraway opponents, a short blade might actually be a benefit. The enemy might drop his guard, seemingly out of reach of his weapon, and that’s when he can attack using his long distance technique.

‘Hmm… That does seem to work well with what Master Tarquin said.’

That still left him with several choices. He moved his gaze from one gleaming blade to another. Every single piece was different. Considering the special alloy used to craft them, each and every one was forged by hand, and since there weren’t many warriors to begin with, the smiths focused on variety so that everyone could find what they're looking for.

‘How about this one?’ He picked up a shortsword, but immediately put it back. ‘No… The weight doesn’t feel right…’

He picked up the next one, furrowed his brows, and swung it a couple of times.

‘Not quite right either…’ He glanced at Layla with the side of his eye. She was doing the same thing he was, currently putting back another blade in the row.

Marcus shook his head, watching his two friends. “Damn, I see this will take you a while… I think I’m gonna go. Call me when you need me.”

“Mhm… sure,” answered Layla, barely paying attention.

The brown haired youth rolled his eyes. He turned around, and walked away, leaving the duo alone with their activity.

Edward stayed unbothered. Assuming he even registered his friend’s departure. He kept testing out one sword after the other. Eventually he went through the entire row of shortswords, and came to a conclusion. None of these blades fit him perfectly. Now the question was, is it simply a case of being used to his previous weapon? Or are these swords really not right for him?

“Hey Layla…?” He turned towards the woman, who was already holding a rather normal looking greatsword and nodding to herself.

“Hmm? What is it?” She turned towards him, breaking away from her stupor.

“None of these fit me…”

“Or maybe it’s you who doesn’t fit them?” She raised her brow.

“Exactly. So how do I know?”

“Hmm… Let me share a very profound piece of knowledge with you.” She approached Edward with slow steps.

“What is it?”

“Pick the best one, and try it out.” Layla rested the greatsword on her shoulder, and glared at Edward with a disapproving gaze.

“Oh… Yeah that does make sense.” He scratched the back of his head.

“Of course it does. Come on then, let’s go.”

Ed picked up an unassuming silver shortsword. This one felt the closest to the one he previously used. He attached it to his waist and followed Layla outside.

They nodded to the guards, and heard the blast doors close behind them with a loud clang.

“So, where to now?” asked Layla. Her posture had gotten much more confident since she started carrying a sword on her back again.

“Hmm? Honestly I expected to get a day off today… We only arrived here yesterday, remember?” Ed tilted his head, cracking his neck.

‘You? A day off? What the hell is going on with this world…” She shook her head. “Fine, but tomorrow we’re going to tour the commercial district. No refusals accepted. I’ll make sure Marcus knows about it too.”

With that she went on ahead, leaving Edward massaging his forehead.

‘At least she found herself a new target… I pity Marcus a bit… Or maybe I don’t actually…’

He shrugged his shoulders and went on the way back to his quarters.