Weapon Choice

Valda did not have the best blacksmiths in the world, but it would suffice for him.

Continuing onwards, he probably needed to change his weapons and armor frequently before he could settle down with a permanent one to serve him for a long time.

Elgin entered the store and was hit with a wave of hot air. He observed the interior. Weapons ranging from longswords to daggers, armors for head to toe, miscellaneous accessories.. Everything was present.

"What do you want?" A gruff voice asked, accompanied by loud noises from the smith's hammer hitting his current work in progress.

Elgin's head turned towards the man who spoke.

'This must be Olga.'

The man wore nothing but a skimpy apron and short pants. Sweat drenched him from top to bottom as he passionately hammered down on the work, wiping off the pooled sweat from time to time. His body was very muscular, almost like a trained soldier.

With a bald head and a scary gaze, the man looked very intimidating.

"Are you just going to keep staring at me, or what?!" The man scolded.

"Sorry, I was a bit distracted. I want a new sword. My old sword is.. worn out, so I need to replace it before it's too late."

"A sword.. Ha. So damn vague. What kind? Thickness? The materials? Do you want to have it custom made? Did you even think before stepping inside my store?"

'Why is he so grumpy..' Elgin complained internally.

He didn't know much about swords, so he ended up picking a random longsword from the previous general store he visited. But now, since there was a dedicated blacksmith shop, there was a wider range of selection to choose from.

All the types made him even more confused and lost.

"No, I didn't.. have a weapon in mind. I just need a weapon that could serve me until I get my next one. It doesn't have to be that special, just something I can use."

"Do you think my weapons are that fragile? If they're gonna break shortly, then I might as well not have made them in the first place!"

"N-No, that's not what I meant. It's just that I plan on getting enchanted swords in the future."

Elgin did not lie. A normal weapon wouldn't suffice in the Tower. Before getting there, he wanted to at least possess an enchanted magic sword of some kind. A place like Valda wouldn't have them, of course.

'Everything I say is offensive to this guy, is it?'

"Where the hell is your sword? Get it, go to the backyard, and let me see your previous sword and swing a couple strikes. It'll help me judge your fighting style a bit." Olga sighed, dropping his hammer and placing his hands on the hips.

His stern gaze was filled with disapproval for Elgin, who looked like a helpless newbie to him. He didn't even bring his sword here.

However, he was in for a surprise.

"Ah, sure." Elgin replied.

He pulled out his sword from the inventory box, which made the blacksmith's eyes widen.

"You- that, is that spatial magic? Are you a high-ranked magician? Why the hell are you here in my shop then?" Olga couldn't believe what he was seeing. He pointed back and forth from Elgin's head to the shabby sword that was in his hand.

"Technically, yes. This is Spatial Magic." Elgin nervously scratched the sides of his face. "But I promise you that I'm not a high-ranked magician.. At least not yet."

In the past, once the world got accustomed to the folks claiming to be Players, they never questioned anything strange coming out of these people anymore.

He forgot that he was most probably the first to arrive in Valda. He was the first Player to be seen by these people.

Naturally, the people would be shocked due to his power, contrary to those in Ulya who witnessed the Players' descent right away.

Olga rubbed his eyes a couple times before beginning to accept the reality.

"..I won't question those kinds of things. Hurry and swing it, boy." Olga quickly lost interest, shrugging it off as his customer's personal matters.

Elgin nodded and did as he said.

He was led to the open backyard, where he performed a few slashes. Although his swordsmanship was still rather unpolished, it contained enough power to create waves in the air. His style was less about theory and more about improvisation drawn from himself and the opponents, so he didn't even know what moves to make and just imagined a shadow enemy in front of him, letting his body move naturally.

Olga rubbed his scuffed beard as he watched Elgin work his magic, before raising a hand as a signal to stop. He went back inside the smithy and picked out one weapon.

"Try this one. Swing it."

Olga threw a sword at him without prior warning, making Elgin jump in fright.

He still grabbed the hilt in time, but the shock stayed within him for a couple seconds before he analyzed the new weapon handed to him.

It was a rather thin saber with seemingly no special qualities around it.

"Are you sure this won't break just as easily as my previous one?" Elgin was skeptical.

He was afraid that in face of tough, defense-based monsters, the sword would pale in comparison and not be able to do its job.

"I thought you're a magic user. Then go and fortify the sword, or are you telling me that you can't even do such a simple thing?" Olga scoffed.

'..Is it as simple as he says?' Elgin asked Cecily.

[Ha? Well, to me it's simple. To you.. I don't know, I think you can actually pull it off in no time.]

Elgin took in her words and began swinging the sword to test it out.

Upon swinging the blade, he already felt a considerable difference in his flexibility in attacking. He was able to become swifter, his movements became much neater.

He looked at Olga, wondering how the man instantly picked out a good sword for him.

"You're not a swordsman, are you? Your swings aren't stiff or practiced like those folks. If you are still experimenting with making up your own style, then you ought to try different weapon choices to find which one suits you best."

"..I'll take this, then." Elgin was surprised that the smith actually gave him this much insight.

'His eyes are pretty good.'

If he learns how to fortify the sword with Cecily, then he should be set.

"Five gold coins. Pay up, kid." Olga did not spout useless bullshit and went straight to the payment.

Elgin took out the correct amount and placed it on the counter right away.

In response, Olga's sharp glare landed on Elgin once more time. Scanning the youngster and furrowing his brows.