Chapter 23: The Cursed Blade - Yugen.
'Now all that's left for me to do is…'
Julius looked down the gloomy road and grinned.
'To get these relics appraised.
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"Hua… that Julius… coming back to get the relics only to leave right after without saying anything." Ruby yawned as she slowly got out of bed.
Her superior vampiric senses allowed her to feel one's presence in proximity. The sound of his breathing and heartbeat were gone.
"Relics?" A voice responded from beside her.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, it was a voice which she had hadn't recognised. When she turned to the source the very same eyes widened.
Sat on the bed beside her was a beautiful midnight blue haired girl, with a slender pale face and dark blue eyes. It was Ava.
"So you've finally woken up, have you?" Ruby smiled. "Julius is gonna love this."
Ava looked down at her stomach, before looking over at Ruby who was sat on a cushion which had been laid out on the floor.
"Julius…" Ava muttered to herself. "So that voice that I heard before I almost died was actually him?"
Ruby smiled proudly.
"That's right, Julius saved you."
Hearing this, the expressionless Ava lowered her head and showed a beautiful smile. She herself probably didn't realise it.
"Just like always…" She muttered to herself.
The smile quickly faded however as she looked back at Ruby.
"Who are you? How did we get here? Where are they?"
"S-Slow down, I'll answer all your questions." Ruby responded as she smiled nervously.
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"400 New World Credits." Said the husky voice as he puffed out the cigarette smoke.
Before Julius was an old frail man with long grey hair and a short grey beard. Despite being old and frail, his eyes were sharp as he inspected the curved single-edged blade in its sheathe before him.
"Four hundred huh… I was expecting a little more, why is it so low?"
Julius was currently getting the relics he had gotten from the Labyrinth inspected. He'd started off with the Katana since it was the coolest out of all of them.
"Because it's cursed." The man responded. "And because the economy is shit nowadays. Although there's a good demand for relics, you won't be able to find people to afford it."
Julius nodded, having already considered the latter. But as for the former…
"Wait a minute, did you just say it's cursed?"
"Yeah, it's cursed. Have you unsheathed it yet?"
"No, not yet." Julius responded, surprised. "I was afraid of ruining it."
For someone who was raised in the poorest conditions, he was truly afraid to ruin its value even if he didn't have any plans on selling it.
"Ruin it? These relics have been around for ages, kid. Don't treat it like a treasure unless you're planning on selling it. Take it to battle. What good is a clean weapon if you don't use it?"
Julius nodded, having understood his point. He then grabbed his sword which was on the stand before gripping the handle and sheath tightly.
"The curse won't kill me, will it?" Julius asked as he glanced at the appraiser.
The Nightmare curse was already bad enough, Julius didn't know what he would do if he got another similar one.
"Who knows. Only you can find out."
Those words did not release the tension in Julius's heart at all. He was nervous, even to this day the Nightmare curse had stuck with him. He hadn't even gotten any sleep because of it.
He hadn't gotten any sleep since the prior night. If the curse of the sword was on the same scale, then…
"Ha…" Julius sighed as he began to pull the handle and sheath apart. "If it makes me stronger, I'll do anything."
The square guard slowly began to drift apart from the sheathe as more and more of the bright dark blade became exposed.
It was at that point that a dark miasma began to ooze out of the blade. Julius could feel the ominous aura, but that didn't stop him.
The appraiser watched, astonished at the sight as Julius fully drew the sword.
[You have equipped the Cursed Blade: Yugen.]
[The sword has a curse applied to it, which must be inflicted by cutting a target.]
*Swoosh!*
Julius's eyes widened, his heart pounded as he held the long grip tightly. The sheath was removed and a dark single-edged blade was exposed.
*Thump!* *Thump!*
It released a dark ominous aura and miasma just from being exposed to the air.
"I see… That is no regular cursed blade. The curse is applied to the blade itself, meaning you won't have to suffer from it… as long as you don't cut yourself."
"So this won't curse me but whoever I cut?" Julius asked, nervously holding out the blade.
"That's correct, I was mistaken earlier. I thought the curse was applied to those who wielded it but seeing it unsheathed I can tell that it's not the case. Look at the blade, do you see that dark steel? It's cursed and like you said, whatever is cut by that dark blade will have the curse applied to it."
Julius's eyes lit up as he stared at it.
"What sort of curse is it?" Julius asked.
The appraiser frowned.
"How am I supposed to know? You'll have to cut someone to find out… put that away though, I don't want you accidentally cursing me." Said the appraiser.
Julius did as he was told, and tried putting the sword back in its sheath. He did it with incorrect form and almost cut himself in the process.
"Wait, no! Not like that! God, is this your first time holding a Katana?"
Julius smiled nervously.
"Yeah, haha."
Out of the three of them, only Ava knew how to use a sword. Julius regretted the fact that he hadn't practised more earlier but then again, he was never motivated to do anything because of the lack of sleep from the Nightmares.
"Haa…" The old man sighed. "Hold the scabbard with your left hand, with your thumb on the bottom and fingers on the top, and place your right hand on the handle of the sword."
Julius followed his instructions clearly, doing as he said.
"Gently guide the blade into the scabbard, making sure that the sword is properly aligned and that there is no damage to the edge of the blade… Yes, like that."
*Katchunk!*
With his instructions, the sword was properly sheathed.
"Make sure it's securely fastened in the scabbard… you don't want it slipping out and stabbing someone."
"Yeah it's secure." Julius responded after checking.
The man puffed out another cloud of smoke before looking right at Julius.
"How did a frail young man such as yourself end up with such a relic? Well, not like it matters to me. I'll warn you though, if you go walking around with it or flaunting it someone will try to steal it."
The man looked at the blade.
"That sword is worth a lot more than I had appraised earlier… If you don't intend to sell it then become someone worthy to wield it. Go eat some more and practise some sword techniques."
Julius smiled at the old man.
'I thought he'd try to scam me like the others in the past but he's surprisingly honest. Coming here was a good choice.' Julius thought to himself.
"Well if that's all, you can go now." Said the man. "I'm a busy-"
"Actually, there's three more relics I'd like for you to inspect." Said Julius as he pointed at his backpack.
The old man's eyes widened.
"What did you just say?"