2 Celestial Azure Star

Louis was still out of breath, his heart pumping nonstop due to the game of tag he forcefully had to play earlier. He laid down on the ground trying to calm himself while looking at the sword beside him in both awe and distress.

"My arm... Haah, seems like it was just a graze. It still hurts, though.." Louis sat up and checked the wound.

He clicked his tongue. What bad luck.

'Being chased by a sword? I wonder who would believe me if I told this kind of story. Not that anybody would care to listen anyway, though.'

He glared at the sword that was now stabbed deep into the ground. The light it emanated didn't cease until a hot minute passed.

In the dark forest, he contemplated this incident and stood up.

"For now, I should get away and clean my wound before it gets infected or something..."

As he began walking away, he heard grumbling sounds. It came from behind him, which meant that there was a high possibility of the culprit once again being the sword.

When he turned around to confirm, he was greeted with the sight of the sword beginning to emanate light once more.

"...What?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

'Is this for real? Is this blade reacting to me?'

Louis tried walking away from it a bit farther than before to test his theory.

The blade then shook harder, seeming like it was about to break out of the ground's clutches and chase after the leaving young man.

Only after Louis went back to his previous position, sitting beside the blade, did it finally stop moving.

'It wants to follow me.. How ominous.'

'Definitely something I shouldn't mess with, but how do I get away in the first place?'

Louis was rational and protective of the life he had created after his long struggle. He didn't want to risk getting into some strange predicament and losing his life as a result.

He sighed. "Hey, don't you think that my life is already hard enough? If you have a conscience, how about leaving me alone?"

Of course, the blade did not give a reply.

"..But this blade is quite.. gorgeous."

"Wait- No, what the hell am I saying? Have I really gone that nuts, to praise a random blade that might've seriously injured me seconds ago?" Louis shook his head.

Louis sat in silence for a few more moments before admitting to himself.

'What the.. I can't take my eyes off this blade.'

There was something about it that drew his attention. No- not only that. It was as if a strange force pulled him to the sword.

It didn't seem like anything special on the outside. It was just a regular sword.

"For starters.. Let's try pulling it out. Since you want to follow me that badly, you better not hurt me!"

Louis stood up and gripped the sword's handles, drawing all his strength to pull it out of the crevice.

After a few tries, he finally succeeded. The sword was light, and holding it in his hands felt good. It was a perfect fit.

He swung it around, trying to scrutinize it to see what was wrong with it.

"Stop that!" A voice suddenly rang out.

Louis' movements came to a halt.

'Am I hallucinating?'

Louis looked left and right, but there was nothing there. Besides, the sound came.. from the direction of the sword.

He instantly dropped it, not wanting to be involved with supernatural occurrences.

"How rude!! Do you not know the proper way to treat a lady?! No wonder you get no women!" The voice protested.

"..A talking sword?" Louis quietly asked.

'A lady, at that? Do blades have genders nowadays?'

Things were getting more and more absurd with each passing second, to Louis' dismay.

"I am so much more than a talking sword! Allow me to introduce myself. I come from a prestigious line Golden Egos.. The Celestial Azure Star, that's who I am!" With a proud tone, the blade announced her identity.

"Celestial Azure Star.. For a.. normal blade like you, that's one hell of a name." Louis frowned.

"Hmph! Mere mortals like you won't understand the true glory of this one's appearance. You might feel at ease looking at my current exterior look, but once you bear witness to my true beauty, you will stop at nothing to have another look! Hahahahah!"

"*Gasp*! Could it be, this was your real motive? You played dumb to lure me.. to show this one's true self?! What a horrifying discovery.. As I expected, the one I chose is not a simple man!"

The sword was already beginning to create her own narrative.

"..Sounds dangerous. No thank you." Louis rejected the offer straight away.

"I-I'll even be your friend!"

"Even be?? Just how pathetic do you think I am, to the point where I have to befriend a sword?!" Louis refuted.

Although, it was the truth that he had never made a single friend in his entire life.

"Then, what do you want?! Not a friend, not a glimpse at my appearance.. What honor could be greater than that?!"

"To put it in simple terms, you smell like big trouble."

"I want peace, so I'm not going to take you with me. It's that simple. Just shut up and leave!" Louis raised his voice.

"Huh?! Listen, I came all the way here for you because I was told that you would be able to save me- No, save all of us! If you're going to turn me away like this.."

The blade began to float and tremble in the air. By her tone, she was quite desperate to have him cooperate with her.

'For what reason?'

Even though Louis was slightly curious, he still stood by his objection.

"I'm not obligated to do what you just said. I don't know what circumstances you're under, but I refuse to participate. This old man's mountain life is precious, I don't want to ruin it. Ever."

That's right, after earning this peaceful life he painstakingly earned, there was no way he would throw it away for a random blade whose first greeting was to hurt him.

"B-but you're already contracted to me.." The blade weakly said.

"..What did you just say?" Louis' ears perked up.

A contract? What is she talking about? This was the first time they had met!

"Earlier! When I grazed you, your blood entered my body and made a pact."

The sword even sounded like she was the one in deep grief. One would assume that Louis was the villain.