8 Tracks

"I trust that there is a blacksmith in this market." Russel said.

"Yes. He used to have a shop in the town center of Eastcliff." Oliver replied.

"What about a jeweler?" Russel asked.

"Yes. The jeweler is the smith's wife." Oliver informed him.

"Good. That makes it so we only have one stop. We need to get a sword for each of us. You should be able to get away with one on the cheaper side, but I don't plan on changing blades again in the near future." Russel smirked.

"Yes that should do… But I don't have much experience with a blade." Oliver confessed.

"I assumed you did due to your outfit." Russel said motioning to the leather armor the man was wearing.

"The armor is just to look intimidating, and protect me in an unlikely fight." Oliver chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Yet you insist on following me into battle…" Russel sighed.

"We're here." Oliver told him.

Russel looked up to see a small market with people throughout, at the far end there was a tent with smoke coming out, and had two signs on the side of it. An anvil and a necklace, the two signature symbols used by blacksmiths and jewelers.

"There it is." Oliver said pointing at the tent.

"As I expected. I lost a large bag of marks that I had before the destruction, so all we have are these jewels… We should be able to get about five hundred marks if we're lucky." Russel sighed.

Russel walked into the blacksmith shop and approached the counter, but no one was there.

"Hello?" Russel called out.

"Is no one in the shop right now?" Oliver wondered.

"Well there was smoke… So I don't think so…" Russel pondered.

He looked around some more and saw a small flap in the tent that seemed to lead into the forge area.

"Let's look through there." Russel decided before walking through the gap.

He looked around the backroom and saw two naked people wrapped around in each breathing heavily. Russel sighed and walked over to them.

"Are we interrupting something?" Russel asked.

The couple quickly looked over and blushed furiously. Russel looked at his feet before speaking again.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be open?" Russel mumbled looking at his feet.

"Yes… We are open… If you could just go back to the front room and wait… We will be there in a second." A woman spoke.

Russel turned around and returned to the main room where Oliver was waiting.

"So… What happened?" Oliver asked.

"It seems as if they were fornicating." Russel sighed.

"Seriously!?!" Oliver said, stepping back.

"Just… forget I said anything…" Russel mumbled slumping against the counter.

A moment later the pair came out of the back room and stood behind the counter. The man was dark skinned and had black hair and a long bushy beard, and the woman was a fair skinned blonde. Both looked disheveled and didn't look the two customers in the eyes.

"Welcome to our shop… How can we help you?" The man asked.

Both Oliver and Russel remained silent for a moment before Russel sighed and turned to face the tradesmen.

"We need swords, and also need to sell or trade some jewels." Russel told them placing the collection of jewels on the counter.

The woman looked at the collection of jewels with fascination and inspected them each individually with awe.

"These are very rare gems… If we buy them outright we can give you five hundred marks… But if you trade them, we can give you a seven hundred mark credit." The woman offered.

"Ok. We'll take the credit then. Now then, we need two swords. One can be very standard, but one will need to be a bit different." Russel explained.

"Hmm… I do have a few different swords… But you'll need to be more specific." The blacksmith pondered.

"It needs to be light so I can move it really fast, but it needs to be very strong so that I can parry or deflect arrows. And the blade needs to be thick, not skinny like a rapier. So it needs to be like an ultra light longsword, but with a blade slightly shorter." Russel explained.

The blacksmith spared him down and smiled. He grabbed Russels hand and brought his face closer to his.

"That sounds like a fantastic challenge! As long as you can pay for the materials I can have it done by tomorrow." The blacksmith assured him.

Russel could feel the moisture of the man's breath on his face and recoiled in disgust.

"I need a sword for now. Just sell me the closest one you have." Russel sighed.

"No!! I need to make this sword. My family have been blacksmiths for the last four generations and not one has made a sword like that. I will bring honour to my family by creating it. I will give you a sword in the meantime, and even throw in the sword for your friend. Just please let me do this." The man pleaded.

"Fine. How much is this going to cost me?" Russel asked.

"Well the metal that you'll need is pretty expensive and very hard to find… So it'll be one fourteen hundred marks." The smith told him.

"Can I pay you upon pick up? I need to get some more money together." Russel told him.

The man hesitated for a moment and looked over to his wife who just shrugged.

"Don't worry. I'll have all the money tomorrow and will be here at midday to pay you." Russel assured him.

The smith looked up and smiled. Before motioning for the two to follow him. The smith led them into the backroom over to a giant rack of sword parts.

"Since we are making a custom sword, I thought that you may as well get to pick the hilt and crossguard, and some even like their blade color done. I developed my own finish that I add while forging that keeps the color from scratching away. And while we're at it we may as well choose a scabbard!" The smith smiled beamed.

"You're really passionate about your trade…" Oliver sighed.

"Of course! After all I am from a long line of blacksmiths after all!" The blacksmith stated proudly.

The smith and Oliver kept exchanging words. Russel sighed as he looked over to the various hilts and crossguards. He liked the looks of many of the options before landing on two pieces in particular. He decided on a simple black hilt with a solid black leather grip and a sharp pommel. The crossguard he chose was black and curved up towards a blade in the shape of wings. He grabbed the items off the rack and held them out to the smith.

"You choose these? Kinda weird combo... " The blacksmith looked at him quizzically.

"Well I think it'll look good. And if I'm gonna use this sword for a while it should look good." He told the smith.

"Well if you like it, it's fine. Now then the scabbard." The smith said walking over to another rack full of different items.

"How the hell did you manage to get all of this stuff out of Eastcliff?" Russel asked the man.

"Me and the wife were riding back into town from a trading trip to Okumura when we saw the flames and met up with the others… It's why we have a more professional shop than the other merchants left. We were lucky." The man sighed as he explained.

Russel nodded at the explanation and moved his attention to the scabbards. This was much easier for him as he immediately chose a black scabbard with a silver locket and chape as well as three silver diamond studs evenly spaced between.

"That's definitely a nice one." The smith observed.

"As for blade color… Do you think you could match the blue of the midnight sky?" Russel asked.

"That's awfully specific… You have a special reason for that?" The smith asked.

"No. Not at all." Russel lied remembering all the nights he spent with Kathleen watching the stars.

"Ok then you should be all set. As for your friend… This should work. And you can also use one of these as the loaner." The blacksmith said walking across the room to grab typical shortswords.

"Oliver, you said that you don't have much experience… But you have used one before, correct?" Russel asked.

"Yes. I have." Oliver assured him.

"Ok then. You should at least be able to do some damage in the fight." Russel smiled. "See you tomorrow morning to pick up the sword."

"You said midday earlier… But whatever. You owe us seven hundred marks after the credit you have. My name is Andre by the way." The smith said, stretching out his hand.

"Russel." Russel said, grabbing the man's hand to shake it.

"Just make sure to now tell anyone about what you walked in on." Andre laughed.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it." Russel smirked as he grabbed the swords and threw one to Oliver who clumsily caught it.

Russel walked out of the smith tent with Oliver close behind him. Russel hooked his scabbard into a space on his belt. While Oliver just held his.

"No hitch on your leathers?" Russel asked.

"No… There is a strap though…" Oliver observed.

Russel sighed and rolled his eyes before grabbing the sword and slinging it over Olivers back.

"How am I supposed to draw it like this!?" Oliver asked, trying to draw the blade.

"It's easier to draw from the hip, but it looks cooler if you draw from the back. You won't see many knights doing it." Russel told him.

"That doesn't really help me." Oliver complained.

"True… Try lifting the scabbard with your non sword hand and slide the blade out." Russel coached him.

Oliver tried it and managed to draw the blade and resheathe it quite easily.

"It's not the best way to use a sword, but it's the easiest way to carry it. Because of that I prefer it." Russel smiled.

"Noted. Thanks for the help." Oliver sighed.

"Well, if you hadn't been able to draw it I'd end up having to guard you. Anyway, let's recap what we know about Henry Gordon." Russel suggested.

"Right… Well we don't know much. We probably could've gotten more if you hadn't killed his brother as quick as you did. All we know is that he is on the outskirts of camp with twenty men." Oliver sighed.

"Well then we just have to find them by walking around the camp." Russel smirked.

"That'll take forever!" Oliver complained.

"Maybe… But it's worth a try. If we see anyone shady we'll take a closer look." Russel told him as he started walking towards the edge of camp.

When the two reached their goal it was already dark. Russel took a left, heading towards the river where they had met the deaf girl earlier.

"Hey Oliver… I was wondering. When we met the deaf girl you referred to her as filth. Are you a classist or something?" Russel asked.

"No… I don't think so… Maybe a little… I was raised among the Eastcliff nobles so it may have rubbed off on me a little." Oliver sighed.

Russel laughed as he continued to approach the river, much to Oliver's offense.

"What's so funny?" Oliver growled.

"It's just that you were raised among nobles but you say I saved you in the slums. It doesn't really add up." Russel smirked.

'So he's a noble… And if he's planning to have me do something with the other people that I saw when I woke up… I have no desire to work for nobles.' Russel thought.

"After my home was broken into and my parents were killed, I fled that night and ended up getting assaulted by some thugs in the slum. That's when you saved me." Oliver told him.

'I don't think he's lying… But I still feel something off… I don't know why…' Russel thought, turning to look at him.

"Russel, look over there." Oliver said gesturing towards a light in the distance.

Russel looked towards the direction that Oliver pointed in and saw a fire with a few burly men gathered around it, and more behind them interacting and eating.

"You think it's who we are looking for?" Oliver asked.

"Maybe… But we can't go in full offense in case it's not… Also if you know as much about a sword as you say then you might not survive a full out fight." Russel mused.

"So you plan to sneak through… In that heavy metal armor?" Oliver questioned.

"Yes… It's not that heavy so I should be fine… The chainmail might make a bit of noise, so I'll have to be quick." Russel mused. "Wish me luck."

With that Russel crouched and started quickly towards the small fire. He hid in a nearby bush and peeked out to see if anyone would be easy to grab. After a moment he spotted a person heading into the forest on their own. Russel tailed him until the man stopped at a tree and heaved a huge sigh of relief. Russel grimaced and waited for the man to be done. After the man started to turn away from the tree Russel leaped forward and covered the man's mouth and held a sword to his throat. The man stopped quickly and started talking into Russels hand.

"When I remove my hand from your mouth you are going to answer my questions and not do anything stupid. It'll all be over nice and quickly and no one will get hurt. Now then, do you know a man named Henry Gordon?" Russel asked, removing his hand from the man's mouth.

"Yes. He is my superior in the syndicate. He is with us at the camp." The man said quickly.

"What syndicate?" Russel demanded.

"The Ouroboros Crime Syndicate. We specialize in robberies and assassinations." The man informed him.

"Give me details. How many men are with you? How many are in the syndicate? Where do you operate?" Russel growled pressing the sword against the man's neck to draw small beads of blood.

"We have twenty men here, over a thousand in the syndicate. We operate all over Sylizen." The man admitted.

"Have you happened to see a silver ring with a diamond in the possession of Henry Gordon?" Russel asked.

"That ring matches the description of half the take from the other day. I couldn't tell you just by that description alone." The man said.

"Fine." Russel said, withdrawing his sword and pushing the man away.

'I don't need to make an enemy of a crime syndicate… But I can't let Kathleen's ring go…' Russel thought to himself.

"Can I go now?" The man whimpered.

"Yes. Run away and do not return here or to your syndicate." Russel glared.

The man ran off deeper into the woods and Russel started back towards the camp. When he got closer he started to hear screaming and the clashing of blades. He sprinted to the noise to see Oliver in a fight with three men with a few bodies strewn around him.

"Minimal experience my ass…" Russel murmured, drawing his own sword and joining the fight.

Russel ran towards Oliver and slashed through the back of the middle attacker, he then pivoted in order to face the attacker on the right.

"I got this guy, you take the other one!" Russel yelled out.

The attacker swung the mace he was carrying quickly and Russel blocked it with his left bracer. He felt the impact and saw the bracer dent horrible, but it did not draw blood.

'I was lucky… That could've been much worse.' Russel thought.

Using his sword Russel quickly dispatched the man and turned just in time to see Oiver thrust his sword through his attackers chest.

"You're not too bad." Russel smirked.

"And you're amazing." Oliver chuckled.

"You should see me with a lighter sword like Andre is making me." Russel bragged.

They heard a shout and saw ten men running towards them brandishing weapons.

"Let's see how you can handle a stress test!" Russel laughed, starting to run towards the group of men.

Russel jumped into the group and put his sword against him before going into a pirouette, making deep cuts across the chest of three men. He then jumped us and slashed his sword down into a man's head. He struggled to pull the sword out of the skull quickly because of the sword's weight. Another man started to swing his sword towards Russel, who watched it hopelessly.

'Fuck…' Russel thought.

Russel braced for the pain but instead heard the clash of swords. He looked towards the sound and saw Oliver locked in a stalemate with the man.

"You watch my back, I watch yours." Oliver grunted.

Russel smirked and dislodged his sword from the skull which burst and sprayed blood. Russel did a half turn and severed the other man's spine, freeing Oliver from the stalemate.

"Sounds good." Russel smirked.

The pair turned to the remaining attacks and stood back to back repelling them. Russel and Oliver moved their swords in tandem disposing of all of the others in an orderly fashion. By the time they had won Oliver was breathing heavily and they both were covered in blood.

"This doesn't seem to bother you that much." Russel observed looking at all the bodies.

"After the night of my parents death… The attack on Eastcliff and all that followed… I've become used to corpses." Oliver confided.

Russel gave him an understanding nod and the two returned their attention to all the bodies in front of them.

"Look what you vagrants did to my men! Do you know who I am!?" A voice yelled.

Russel looked up from the carnage and met the man's gaze. He was a tall man with broad shoulders filled out my muscles. He wore leather armor and had two swords on his back.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're this Henry Gordon guy who stole my ring. You actually use both those swords, are they for show?" Russel mocked.

"Of course I use both. After all, I'm one of the five strongest people in the Oroborus Syndicate." The man bragged.

"Well then bring it on!" Russel smiled, raising his sword.

"Russel, can't we just negotiate with him!?" Olive reasoned.

"If he is as strong as he says he is, then I highly doubt that he'll give up the ring. Plus, I've never fought a dual wielding swordsman before." Russel laughed.

"Indeed. It is a rare art taught by only one school in all the countries in Ocasia. I studied there for many years… I trust that you shall suffice as an opponent due to what you did to my men." Henry yelled, drawing his two swords.

Russel got into position and adjusted his grip on his sword. Henry put both his swords against each other in a blocking position. With both people ready, Russel launched forward and clashed against Henry's blades. The two tried to push each other back for a moment, but both refused to lose any ground. Henry jumped out of the stalemate and into an attack in a single movement. He unleashed many blows in quick succession which Russel had trouble blocking.

'This guy is fast… Probably as good as one of those holy warriors. If I used my abilities then this would be easier, but I don't want to show anyone here all my tricks yet. I'll have to beat this guy with only my sword.' Russel thought, looking at his opponent who smiled smugly.

Russel quickly did a half turn out of Henry's attack area and tried to deliver a blow to his back. As he started to swing he saw Henry quickly move a sword behind his back in order to block, and saw another swinging at his sword blade.

'He's too quick!' Russel panicked, loosening his grip in the process.

The three swords connected, rendering Russels attack fruitless and disarming him by sending his sword flying ten feet away into the dirt.

"Got you now." Henry smiled.

Russel stepped back in shock and looked over to where his sword was lying.

'Shit! How do I fight this dual wielding maniac now!?' Russel thought.

Henry quickly kicked Russel in the gut, sending him to the ground. Russel felt as he hit the ground and looked up at the man looming above him.

"Say goodbye." Henry cackled.

'I have no choice. I have to use it.' Russel thought before starting to charge up demonic energy in his hand.

"Russel!" Oliver yelled.

Russel and Henry both looked over to see Oliver, blade in hand start to charge Henry. On his way the boy picked up Russel's sword as well and swung feriousicialy at Henry, only putting power behind one blade.

"Fool this is why dual wielding is a lost art. You place all of your faith in a single blade." Henry laughed.

Oliver's strike connected with both of Henry's blades. Oliver smiled and threw the other sword to Russel, who quickly caught it. Russel lunged forwards and drove his sword through Henry's left side, right between his ribs and hit straight into his heart. Henry stopped moving and fell to the ground. Russel looked over to Oliver who had dropped his sword and was panting.

"You did good, kid." Russel complimented.

"You need to focus on not getting nearly killed." Oliver panted heavily.

Russel walked over to the boy and patted him twice on the back.

"I'll try." He stated. "Let's check if this asshole has my ring."

Russel bent down and started rummaging through the man's pockets.

'Maybe I was overthinking it. This guy seems like a good kid.' Russel smiled.