Soul of the Warrior

Reivyn strolled through the open market. He had come with the purpose of inspecting the weapons closely and possibly getting a feel for them, but he found that with his Divine Sense, coupled with his Mana Sensing Skills, he was able to get a good grasp of the properties of everything he wished to quite easily. He didn't need to pick up a weapon and check its weight and balance every step of the way. He still needed to, of course, but with his ability to inspect things supernaturally closely from a distance, it eradicated a whole lot of options that caught his eye.

Like always, he wasn't alone. Kefira trailed along after him, but her inspections were of a completely different sort. There was very little possibility of running into anything in this environment that would aid her magical abilities, so she perused the more mundane things. There were a lot of well crafted pieces of jewelry sourced either from the Dungeon or the shore. Reivyn suspected that there was a lot of wealth washing up on their shore drifting in from the Tier 8 Region nearby. He didn't recognize most of it, but that didn't mean it wasn't pretty.

Surprisingly, it was Serilla that made for a better partner in searching for a new arming sword. Reivyn could toss out all the weapons that appeared fine on the surface but had some internal imperfections at will, and he knew better than anyone else what kind of weight and balance would work best for him, but that didn't lessen the importance of the insight Serilla could give him.

He had bypassed a lot of formal education in his strange journey through life. Most people who found themselves in a leadership position, even through being a noble, had a lot more formal education under their belt than Reivyn did. Serilla was able to make up for that deficiency by identifying a lot of the metals and forging techniques used in the weapons Reivyn deemed worthy of inspecting.

So far, there were three candidates that had caught his eye, but he wasn't going to purchase the very first thing that met his minimum requirements. Most of the weapons discarded out of hand by Reivyn had actually been sourced from the Dungeon. The three currently on his short list were hand-crafted by master smiths using materials from the Dungeon and the local area. Reivyn's hope was to stumble upon a well-crafted weapon forged mainly from metals washed up from the Tier 8 Region, but considering the level of Skill necessary to even work such metals, it was practically an impossible dream.

One day, he promised himself. One day I'll have all of my gear crafted by the peak masters made from the peak resources. Even with all of my strength, I'm still lingering in the Tier 4 Regions which is only the middle level of the continent. Most people aspire to only be able to get their gear from artisans from a Fourth Tier Region, but for me, it's basically my starting point.

Currency across the Realm was pretty universal, Reivyn had learned. There were different denominations and weights between local groups, but even those differences were miniscule and mostly aesthetic. There was something about the situation that tickled the back of his mind, but most people gave credit to the Realm spanning Adventurer's Guild and many churches.

Reivyn had sometimes wondered about inflation and the problems that could arise from getting silver and gold from Dungeons infinitely, but he hadn't noticed anything detrimental to any of the local economies one could expect from such a situation. A lot of the gold flowed out of the lower Regions to the higher kingdoms and empires, as well as silver to a lesser extent. Kefira had informed him that the precious metals were used by higher Tier Mages and Rune Masters. A lot of the resources were destroyed, turned into pure energy, in the process.

Makes sense why we never heard anything about anyone rounding up a whole lot of higher-Tier metals from the giant Rune inscribed in the desert that Aeriella had her people build. It turned into the energy that fueled the Rune, so there was nothing to recover.

Reivyn casually picked up a sword that his Divine Sense told him had no major flaws. He held it up and stood in various poses, gauging the feel of the sword in his hand. He shook his head an put it back, completely ignoring the extolling of the person trying to persuade him to make the purchase.

He could have gone to the smiths directly, or a store front associated with them, but that wasn't necessary. He didn't know if it was cultural or environmental, but a lot of the wares in the open street markets were the wares that could be found in the stores. The people here just enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the outdoors more than the other cities Reivyn had previously been to. The other cities had their fair share of open markets, but they were usually associated with found items or lesser quality gear. That wasn't the case in the coastal city.

"That sword would have been entirely too light for you," Serilla said, nodding her head. "The primary metal used to forge it was Tier 2, maybe low Tier 3 depending on the Mana content."

"The workmanship was really good, so I thought I'd give it a try," Reivyn answered with a shrug. "But you're right. It's not a good fit."

The three continued their journey through the markets until Reivyn noticed something at the edge of his Divine Sense that finally piqued his interest. The three contenders he had in mind previously had just been swords that had met his minimum requirements, but the weapon he was seeing with his Skill was something different this time. It wasn't something forged from Tier 8 materials, but it was definitely a step above anything else he had seen.

He made a beeline down the street to the stall where the weapon was resting. It wasn't a hidden gem by any means. It was on prominent display behind the stall merchant. It held the seat of honor. Reivyn casually scanned all of the other swords and weapons on display and noticed that they were all of similar quality. Every single one of them met his minimum requirements for further inspection.

"What's the deal with these weapons?" Reivyn asked the young man sitting behind a short, portable counter. The teenager had a bored look on his face, and even Reivyn's interest in the weapons didn't change his attitude. The young man did look up and answer his question, though.

"These weapons were all crafter by my father," the young man said. "The best Grandmaster Metal Smith on the island."

"Hmm... the best, you say?" Reivyn stroked his chin in thought as he glanced back and forth among the weapons on display. "Well, on the surface, I can definitely see how he could claim such a thing."

"He doesn't just claim it. He's recognized."

"Recognized? By who?"

"All the other smiths," the teenager shrugged. "Plus the Adventurer's Guild." The young man gave Reivyn a level look. "Not just the local branch, either. He's got a plaque and everything."

Reivyn thought the young man was trying to boost the prices of the weapons that were for sale, but he quickly abandoned that idea. The young man still had the air of boredom about him, and he didn't really seem to care about driving for a higher price. The way he mentioned his father being the best on the island came off more a statement of simple fact than anything else.

"I see. Well, these are all fine pieces of hardware, but I'm looking for something... a little more. What's the story with the sword hanging above you?" Reivyn indicated the sword with a nod.

"That's dad's masterpiece," the youth explained. "He got his hands on a small bit of Tier 6 metal from the sea a long time ago, too little to make anything other than a knife or dagger, but, according to dad, he had a grand vision. He held on to that little piece of metal for decades until he finally found something he could pair it with. Something so grand in a Tier 4 Region deserved to be something more than a knife. Dad decided to wait until he could incorporate it into the king of weapons: the sword."

"Some people would argue that the spear is the king of weapons," Reivyn pointed out.

"Yeah, and some people would be wrong." The youth noticed Reivyn quirk an eyebrow at his declaration. "Listen, when you imagine a noble, heroic warrior standing against the darkness, does he have a spear or does he have a sword?"

Reivyn thought about it for a moment. The kid had a point. When he imagined someone as described by the youngster, he had a sword in his hand. Reivyn subconsciously nodded his head, and the blacksmith's son immediately spotted the concession.

"Exactly. He has a sword. Anyway, ideally, he would have liked to spread the metal very thin and coat a masterwork sword in the higher-Tier metal, but there was a huge problem with this plan: this Tier 6 metal was soft. Softer than gold. A child could leave a mark on it by squeezing too hard. Luckily, my dad is a Grandmaster Metal Smith, so he was still able to figure out how to use it properly.

"The core of this sword is composed of the Tier 6 metal. It was enveloped in increasingly harder metal from inside to outside. I won't go into the specifics of how it was done, but my dad was able to use the hardest possible metal on the outside of the weapon. It took him years to design the forging method as well as the smelting method. I would bet everything I own that you won't find a better sword honestly crafted in a Tier 4 Region in the Realm."

The young man slowly stood up and unveiled a giant block of reinforced Tier 4 steel nearby. He grabbed the sword, unsheathed it, and looked Reivyn in the eye.

"Two people with a Strength Stat of over ten thousand could spar every day with this sword and you wouldn't need to do routine maintenance on it for a year."

The youth raised the sword up high and then brought it down on the reinforced steel as hard as he could. There was no reverberation of metal vibrating. The sword sliced an inch into the reinforced steel and held steady. The youth retracted the sword and held it up for Reivyn to inspect. Reivyn didn't have to look with his eyes. His Divine Sense already told him that there wasn't even a miniscule nick on the blade.

"Impressive," Reivyn said, leaning over to look like he was inspecting the blade closely. "So what's the catch?" He asked, straightening up. "Why hasn't it been sold? Is your father just too proud to let it go? But then why would even be on display in that case? Is it too expensive?"

The young man re-sheathed the weapon and returned it to its position before sitting back down. He shook his head.

"My father said that this master sword has to go with a master warrior. He hasn't explained exactly what that means to me, but he insists on any potential buyers showing him their Weapons Skill. Most people aren't willing to do that, and those that have been haven't met the standard."

"Hmm, ok. So I just have to meet with your dad and show him my Skill and he'll sell me the sword?"

The youth eyed Reivyn up and down. To the teenager's eye, Reivyn didn't appear to be much older than him. Reivyn could tell that he was skeptical, but he just sighed before answering.

"Yeah. You can find him in the shop at the end of the road," the youth pointed to an obvious smith's workshop that could be seen from where they were standing. "He's always willing to look at someone's Skill if they're willing to show it," the youth once more looked Reivyn up and down, "even if they're woefully unqualified."

Reivyn just smiled at the other boy.

"I'll be right back."

Reivyn turned to head toward the smith workshop pointed out. Serilla had listened to the entire story, and even Kefira had heard almost all of it while she flitted about looking at mundane goods. They followed closely on his heels.

"Are you really going to show your Skill to a complete stranger?" Kefira asked. "Isn't it like some sort of super secret that you shouldn't reveal?"

"That was before," Reivyn shook his head. "Now, I'm strong enough that I don't have to worry about it. I can't live my life like there's a hidden, super high-Tier Classer lurking in the shadows ready to kidnap me upon learning about my Skill. I really only had to worry about it before I entered Wispan with you."

"That makes sense," Kefira conceded.

"And it's not like I'm going to be shouting it from the rooftops. It's just the one guy, and even if he says anything, other people might not even believe him."

Reivyn was confident that there wouldn't be any problems, and he quickly convinced the two girls as well. I should probably tell my dad I did this, just in case, though, Reivyn thought.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination. The trio walked through the door and were met with a smiling woman standing behind a counter. Her facial features matched very closely with the youth at the street stall, so Reivyn assumed she was either his older sister or mother. Considering his father was a Grandmaster Metal Smith, the lady he was married to was highly likely to be a higher Level as well, and Reivyn knew firsthand how young his own parents looked. Refix had been mistaken for his older brother on more than one occasion.

"How can I help you, today?" The lady asked kindly.

"I'm here to buy the sword," Reivyn said. His emphasis on "the" sword left no doubt to what he was referring to.

The smile on the lady's face never wavered, but here eyebrows did go up. She gave Reivyn an appraising look before half turning.

"I'll go get my husband," she said before opening a door leading to the back.

Well, that answers that question, Reivyn chuckled to himself.

A huge blast of heat and loud banging sounds immediately filled the room as the door opened. The lady didn't actually step through the door, but she simply leaned forward and called for her husband to come to the front about the sword. Not all of the ringing ceased, but the loudest sounds did, and it wasn't long before a large man stepped through the doors.

He scanned the room very quickly and immediately latched his gaze onto Reivyn and Serilla. He didn't know which one was here about the sword, but Reivyn's stance seemed to say something and he approached the trio while wiping his hands on a cloth. He held out one hand to Reivyn as he stepped in front of him.

"Boldir," the stout man said. Reivyn grasped his hand.

"Reivyn."

"So I hear you're interested in the sword, eh? Well, do you know the rule?"

"I believe so," Reivyn nodded his head.

Boldir didn't say anything else and just patiently waited. He didn't have a skeptical look on his face like his son, but he didn't have an air of expectation, either. It was clear that he didn't have too high hope for Reivyn meeting his standard, but he wasn't going to ridicule him if he turned out to have a terrible Skill Level.

Reivyn had never shared his Status screen with anyone else before. He did have practice truncating information and editing what could be seen, and his parents had explained to him how to do so. He wasn't going to be sharing his entire Status with the man, so it wasn't going to pop up in his vision like a personal Status screen would or like his parents' had when they had shared with Reivyn.

Reivyn held his hand out, palm facing Boldir, and willed a Status Screen to display his Weapons Master Skill to the man. Boldir looked at the screen that popped up, and he just stared at it for several long moments. Finally, his eyes went wide and he hunched over, covering Reivyn's hand with his own.

"Are you crazy?! Just popping that out here where anyone could see?!" Boldir looked left and right to reassure himself that nobody else was around.

Hmm, maybe it's still a bit bigger of a deal than I thought, Reivyn admitted to himself. Though, probably only to those who understand what they're seeing.

Reivyn dismissed the screen and lowered his hand. It was only after doubly verifying that the screen in question was nowhere to be seen that Boldir stood up straight once more. He turned his head and nodded to his wife. Her eyes got wide and after a short hesitation, she exited the shop.

"Lyril will go fetch the sword for you," Boldir explained.

Reivyn was taken aback.

"We haven't even discussed price, yet," Reivyn said.

"Tell you what. From one master of his craft to another, you give me what you think the sword is worth, and she's yours."

Reivyn stared at the man for a moment. He pulled out his storage pouch and stuck his hand in. The contents of such pouches were intuitive, and he quickly withdrew an amount of gold that could have paid for half the weapons in the shop, even at their level of incredible craftsmanship. Reivyn thought about it for a moment and snagged another item from the pouch as he withdrew his hand.

He held his hand out and handed the currency over to the other man. Boldir didn't count the coins, but he nodded his head in satisfaction. Reivyn held up the triniket he had pulled out along with the money so Boldir could see it.

"This is a little something my sisters made," Reivyn said. "It's not much, they were only Tier 2 when they made it, but I think you might appreciate it."

Reivyn placed a little toy soldier in the bigger man's hand. The figure was very detailed and depicted an armored man in a stance holding the hilt of his sword, about to draw it from its sheathe.

Toy Soldier

Wearing this as an accessory increases one's courage.

Much like most things his sisters crafted, its uses were quite esoteric. The magic items Reivyn had seen from within Dungeons or crafted by others usually had Stat gains and straightforward bonuses. Increasing one's courage seemed fairly straight forward, but it wasn't something he had seen on any other piece of gear before.

To emphasize Reivyn's thoughts on the matter, Boldir's eyes widened as he obviously used an Inspect Skill on the trinket. He glanced back and forth between Reivyn and the toy soldier several times before closing his fist around the item and beaming a smile at Reivyn.

"This was a good trade," Boldir said.

Reivyn nodded his head.

"Alright, well, just wait here for a moment for Lyril to return with the sword," Boldir said. "I should be getting back to work, if there's nothing else..." There was a fervor in his eyes that bespoke of inspiration from looking at the toy soldier.

"I did have one final question," Reivyn said. Boldir nodded his head for Reivyn to continue. He was obviously itching to get back to his work, but he stayed behind to hear Reivyn out. "I was just curious as to why you had the sword displayed where you did. Weren't you worried someone would steal it? Why not have it in the shop directly?"

Boldir chuckled at the question.

"Well, to answer your second question first, it was pure vanity," Boldir said with a laugh. "I was showing off. Far more people walk past that little street stall than step into the store. A lot of people know about the sword, so even though its kept in its sheathe, it still sees plenty of sunlight from people asking about it. Those that don't know about the sword can catch a glimpse of it, and people who know swords don't have to see it to understand what it is.

"As to your first question, I wasn't worried about theft at all. That sword, until it's firmly in the possession of the buyer, is guaranteed by the Adventurer's Association." Reivyn just gave the man a blank stare. "Ah. You don't know what that means. Well, if anyone stole that sword, the Adventurer's Guild would issue a Realm-wide bounty on the thief. They would be chased to the ends of the Realm for eternity. Nobody's reckless enough to do that. And to answer your unasked question, it was magically monitored. It's common knowledge among the circles that have people who would have the Skills necessary to steal it."

"I see. Thank you for clearing that up for me."

"No problem. Anything else?" When Reivyn shook his head, Boldir nodded once more and went back to his workshop.

It wasn't long until Lyril came back with the sword in her arms. She beamed a bright smile at the trio as she walked towards them. She gingerly handed the sheathed weapon over to Reivyn who took it with his own smile.

"Thank you very much," Reivyn said. "I've been looking everywhere for a suitable replacement ever since my last Mana sword shattered."

"Oh, well you couldn't have picked a better replacement," Lyril said. "One of the reasons the Tier 6 metal core is so soft is because it's actually a Mana conduit. It's meant for channeling Mana, not stabbing or slashing things. You'll find that this sword is probably better at channeling your Mana than your last sword was."

"Excellent," Reivyn said, his eyebrows going up in surprise. This sword just kept getting better and better. "Well, have a nice day. Maybe we'll come back one day and see what other masterpieces Grandmaster Boldir has come up with."

"You're welcome back any time."

Reivyn nodded to Kefira and Serilla and exited the shop. Reivyn felt a hundred times better as he hugged his new sword to his chest as they walked down the streets. He hadn't realized how much he had missed having his previous sword always at his hip. Now that he was properly armed once more, he could fully focus on other important things.