BEYOND THE BLAZE

The argument continued between the two guys as they headed back to return the sword.

"Okay, if you don't want to take it, then go and give it to Erlin; she'll love that 50 thousand silver coins." Akirion gave a point in order for Elina to get her share.

Elina sighed; her idea was to get the topic over with, and then she agreed to the other part of the thousand by saying, "Yes, sure, she'll love it. I'll take it then!"

"Good." Akirion said, and he paused as they crossed the road, glaring at the shop. He then continued as he asked the question, "By the way, how did you even find this place?"

"It was really hard." Flashback

Elina went to the shop when she saw the name on the label. "Goran weapons, not swords—that's good. Sword is an example, not the actual brand name." Elina said.

Elina corrected herself when she got closer to the shop, and she saw the label written, "Goran Weapons." Below, there was an example of a sword, and that's what Elina saw at first.

She got in the shop since she found it open, and the candles were on, hinting that there was someone inside.

"Hello, is anyone here? Hello, a customer over here!" Elina shouted, but she got no reply; her voice echoed throughout the well-lit house, with a lot of weapons for display, such as swords, daggers, spears, and more weapons, like the brand name suggested.

She called until she gave up; her eyes narrowed in disappointment, and she was about to look at the door. Suddenly, she saw someone peeking at her, eyes coming out from a place like a tunnel.

"Hello," Elina said as she waved at the person hiding.

Suddenly, a grown-up guy came up from the tunnel. "Hello, young lady, how can I help you in a world crisis like this where we are supposed to hide in order to survive?" the guy asked.

"OHH, I'm carrying nothing really; I'm just here to borrow a sword." Elina said as she smiled, holding her silver hair.

"I don't have swords to borrow, people!" the guy replied, showing off his coldness.

"Huh, ahh, it's really important right now; we will pay you after maybe!"

"I don't have a waste of swords or anything like that to give a young scholar like you!"

"HUH!"

"I can't give my expensive armaments to people like you; isn't that easy to understand?" the guy replied, his face showing anger and frustration.

"Really?"

"Yes, the worst part is that I don't really borrow my weapons."

"Aww man, what should I do? Akirion really needs that sword," said Elina as she looked at the door.

"Why does he need it?"

"Ahh, never mind, he will just hang in there with his magic, since we can't get a weapon anywhere!" she said as she continued to walk away.

"What are you even talking about!"

"I guess I was clear enough; never mind. And again, I don't think you care what happens, so I'll just give up here.

I'm going; have a good evening!" Elina said as she walked away.

"Wait, what did you mean by 'he's going to hang in there, blah blah blah blah blah blah'? The only thing I want to know is, what is he doing? Is he like fighting the monster that appeared here?"

"Yeah, he is. Goodbye, I should go give him a hand; maybe he needs it."

"Wait, if he's the guy who was said to be fighting the monster, then I can offer a sword, just to help these bright streets to survive this crisis!" The shopkeeper changed his mind.

"Ohh, really, sir?" Elina held her brakes and looked behind.

"Don't call me that; you'll make me older than I am!" the guy said as he walked towards the sword.

"Huh!"

"You can call me by my name, Goran!"

"Ohh, okay, Mister Goran!"

"That's almost good, but I hate that 'Mister' word."

"Alright… Goran," she said, but she felt as if it was disrespectful.

But Goran didn't care at all. "Ohh yeah, that totally hit the spot."

Goran took out a sword from the scabbard and gave it to Elina.

"Now, go and save this village!"

'Why do people call this place a village?' Elina thought as she ran out of Goran's shop.

The end.

Present

"Sounds like he's a harsh and a good guy at the same time." Akirion said, one of his brows quirked.

"It's better you see and understand him yourself."

"Yes, sure!"

"Goran! I'm back! I'm here to return the sword."

Goran came out from his tunnel, an underground place where he forged his weapons. All of his weaponry was made there, in the underground, with no one who saw him, all alone.

___

Goran preferred to stay alone when he was working. That doesn't mean that he didn't have family. He did—3 children and a beautiful wife. He worked hard for them. He endured all the heat alone, doing all for his lovely family.

___

"Hey, young lady, you are back?" Goran asked.

"Yes, since I borrowed it, I had to bring it back!"

"Ohh, that's good, thank you. Okay, you might be Akirion, isn't that right? And I believe you guys were victorious."

Akirion gulped and nodded. His eyes were looking confused while he glared straight at Goran.

He then checked Elina with the corner of his left eye since she was on his left. He realized that she wasn't stressed or anything; she was smiling.

Akirion glared back at Goran, who kept glaring at him.

"H, how do you know me?" Akirion asked with a bit of confusion.

"Hahaha, that's not supposed to be a question for me; this young lady here came here worried. At first I didn't want to lend her that sword since she's wearing a uniform; maybe she wanted to steal or play, I don't know, anything like that. After that, her face looked worrisome, and she started to talk about you, her voice so low that I barely heard her at first; that's when I knew your name."

"Mhh, seems like you are a researcher, sir." Akirion said, his eyes glued on Goran.

"Ah…ah…ahhh, don't call me mister; I'm Goran. Don't make me older than I already am." Elina chuckled, holding her mouth as she remembered the same thing that happened to her.

Akirion was taken aback, but he couldn't help it; he then gave back the sword as he put it on top of a counter. The counter had a glass below where there were many small gear pieces like helmets, etc.

Goran kept glaring at Akirion, his left hand folded, the other one holding his chin as he thought. 'This kid looks familiar!'