BEYOND THE BLAZE

The tension decreased in Elysia, with Akirion standing as a hero but hidden.

They continued their process of returning the sword back to the owner.

Goran kept glaring at Akirion, getting closer, bit by bit.

'Mhh, this guy looks exactly like someone I know. Now, let me see if he knows him.' Goran planted a landmine, ready to explode.

"Mhhh, I remember my knight friend, Eriolth; he was also a good sword user!"

"Wait, how do you know that name?!" Akirion asked, his eyes widened as he heard his father's name.

"Ahh, just like I said, he was my close friend. I just wonder where he is now, since he retired and settled down and had a family of his." Goran continued his face hinting at reminiscing since he had his eyes hanging in the middle of nowhere.

"If he's the same guy I know, then he can't be reached; he's super far. Only the breathless can reach where he is!" Akirion looked down, showing disappointment on his face.

Suddenly, Goran got closer to Akirion and asked, "What do you mean by breathless?"

"I'm still breathing; that means I can't, and I won't see him."

"Huh, don't tell me." Goran panicked for a second, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"I'm already telling you!"

Goran got Akirion's point, and he jumped to another thing; rather than talking about death, he said, "Ohh, so how do you… wait, so you were his favorite son, huh?"

Akirion's left eyebrow quirked as he asked, his eyes narrowed as he asked, "Why are you saying 'favorite' as if he had another son who's not me?"

"Oh, that surely means that you were born and left alone!" Goran decreased his energy and looked down, looking sorry for Akirion.

"Yes!"

"That's bad!"

Akirion ran away from the 'yes' replies and asked a question, "So you are the one who forged him a sword, isn't that right? Goran looked a bit stressed; he was touched by Akirion's death words. Goran continued, his neck bent down as if he was doing something important, "Yes, he was one of my best customers." He replied with a low voice.

"Hey you guys, would you mind? I'm feeling sleepy since you guys have been up for history stories and reunion." Elina's voice boomed from nowhere; she was quiet for some time, but she couldn't remain silent; her body said no.

"Haha, don't worry, we are done here, Elina, so you can widely open your two eyes and chase all that sleepiness." Akirion said, with a lot of energy and happiness in his words.

'How is this boy so happy after losing such a good person? I wanted to ask about his death; it seems it's a story for another day.' Goran thought, his eyes glaring at Akirion.

Kai started to check the shop, checking all types of swords that Goran had.

After some checks, he came up with a question.

"Hey, m… Goran, how did you create that sword? It reduced the monster's regeneration speed," the curious Akirion asked with a hint of curiosity in his innocent eyes.

"Wait, what? No, no way, I wasn't supposed to give you that sword." Goran panicked; he found no other way of replying to Akirion's question. He then thought of a way to reply since he was quiet, thinking but with a hint of confusion.

He continued and said, "It contains one of my most secrets. Boringly, I'll have to tear you into pieces in order for you not to leak my information." Goran changed his face expression; he looked around with a scary look, his eyes blazing with rage, sending shivers down Elina's and Akirion's spines.

"HUH." Akirion and Elina were both surprised by the sudden change of the atmosphere, which got more intense, so that the two struggled to breathe as they looked at Goran, who left the counter heading straight to them.

Every single step landed a scary impact on the two; those thuds were increasing Akirion and Elina's knee shivers.

Within a minute, the intensity in the room dissolved; Akirion and Elina were relieved when they heard some apologizing words.

Suddenly, Goran laughed, changing his fierce face. "Hahaha, I'm sorry, you guys; you look like you've seen a ghost, haha. I was just kidding; it's a secret, but that doesn't mean that I'm a murderer or some sort of… Would you mind seeing my full space of where I create all these things?" Goran offered a tour for Akirion and Elina to see where he created all those weapons and gear.

He had metal knight gear that was suitable for war. They looked nice, making him a nice smith.

Akirion glared at Elina, and she did the same to Akirion in astonishment and fear since they were already scared.

"Ahh, I'll wait here!" Elina said, with a hint of fear in her eyes and words.

"What, no, no way, we should go together, don't you think?" Akirion panicked for a second and then made a point with fear in his words.

"Come on, I was kidding; don't be scared." Goran said, trying to get them to understand that he was joking.

"Okay, I'm, I'm not scared, but I'll take some weapons with me so that if you do anything silly, I'll finish you right on the spot." Elina said, her gaze stuck on Goran's face.

"Yeah, sure, you can carry anything that can be carried, hahaha, you really are something else, El… Elina!" His voice hinted that he was really joking, but what they felt was far beyond joking.

They got to the underground, and they saw what they saw, and they even learned a skill.

After some minutes, since it was late, the two said goodbye to Goran and found their way out of his shop.

"Haaa, I'm really beat; my body is done for!" Akirion started a conversation as they got out. Even though he wasn't much of a talker, he cared about other people's feelings; he wanted to keep them entertained.

"What do you mean, Akie?" Elina asked, with a bit of astonishment in her eyes.

"I'm not home this late?"

"Yeah, I guess you aren't!"

"Mhh….." Akirion held his chin and glared at the road, and then he glared at Elina and said, "But I'd love to have another bath before I go, you know, in order to get in bed and sleep when I get home."

"That's a good idea, Akie, but… it's already late!" Elina replied, with a doubt in Akirion's idea.

"Yeah, but an hour won't hurt, and to take a shower at home means that I'll sleep in the tub. In the spring it'll be better that we will be together; I mean, we will be chatting!"

"Yeah, that's another thing that will keep us away from the danger of sleepiness."

"Exactly, so what do you say? I'm on this one; you can keep your 1000, and I'll use mine."

"But…!"

"No arguing, let's treat it as a date. I'm the guy; I took you out, so I'll pay!" Akirion said, acting as a guy he read in stories, 'I hope she'll understand; I read this in one of Master's books, and it had a lot of things, mostly about love. Maybe I can keep her motivated with—no, no, that's not necessary. I'm not a lover boy; I'm just Akirion.' Akirion thought, while he immediately shook his, getting rid of all weird thoughts.

"I guess I'll have to go with Akirion as my man getting me to a hot spring in order for me to enjoy myself. Isn't that right?" Elina replied, getting closer to Akirion. She grabbed his arm and then looked forward with a smile on her face.

Akirion gasped for a second as he saw Elina grabbing his arm; he then thought of keeping his reactions normal, but his red face wasn't normal at all. He said, "Yes, sure, all on me, let's go!"

They suddenly changed directions and went back to a hot spring. Their faces were filled with mischief and warm chuckles since Akirion tried his best to keep Elina entertained all the way to the hot spring.

"Hey Akie, you said that you'll be going soon, right!" Elina fired a question at Akirion.

"Yes, tomorrow!"

"Ohh, so it's tomorrow, huh, and we can have to forget about a handsome guy that was called Akirion."

"I don't think you should really forget him, but that doesn't mean that you'll skip class since you'll be thinking of me." Akirion laughed, his eyes filled with sadness, yet trying to keep his face happy.

"Haha, don't worry, not me!"

"That's a relief," he said, all the laughs gone, melted by sadness.

"So, when will you visit the guild?" Elina asked.

"Ahh, tomorrow after saying goodbye!"

"Ohh okay, how about we go together for one simple day only?"

"That's skipping classes."

"Yeah. You are right, but I'd love to see…!"

"Don't worry, you can try on weekends!"

"That's good; we will see then."

They went to the spring, and lucky for them, they found it still open.

They found two rooms too and enjoyed the hot spring.

They started chatting to avoid sleeping.