Sword

Keita was running for a full day now. When he saw Atestari city it was already night. Half the city was burning and people were screaming everywhere.

He entered the East part of the city but no one was there. Everyone who run has done so already. Only the civilians, who refused to leave their homes and soldiers remained but the situation didn't seem very good.

'I thought the Militia was better on than this.' he thought in disappointment. Truthfully, after running into Wrath, Keita understood that this was a battle that could determine the fate of this country. He had high hopes for the Militia but it seems there were fewer soldiers than he thought.

It was like a ghost town. He didn't run into anyone as he made his way to the bridge to enter the western part of the city where the fighting was under way. He found a small group of soldiers, stacking wooden crates, barrels and shields to make a barricade at the entrance of the bridge.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" a man's voice called to him.

It was a middle-aged gentleman with brown hair and beard that started to grow white. His gear was quite old with nicks and tears everywhere. He had a big two handed sword which has seen a lot of days of combat. He was well built with muscles clearly showing under his clothes. There wasn't really anything noteworthy about him expect...

'His eyes...' Keita thought. When he met his eyes he felt a chill down his spine. The man didn't process an overwhelming magic power or physical strength like Wrath, but Keita's instincts told him he should be on guard when close to him. His aura was different than the others. There was a blood thirst surrounding him that gave him the chills. 'A veteran probably...'

"I am Keita Raigon" he said, with a confident and clear voice. He didn't come here to fight other humans of course. There was no point in being on guard against an ally. "I am here to help."

There was a silence, followed by laughter soon after. The few people that laughed were immediately glared by the old veteran and shut their mouths. The others didn't bother and continued their work.

The old veteran took a second to look at Keita from top to bottom.

"Go back kid. The battle is already over." he said and made a hand gesture urging him to leave.

"There are still people fighting. It isn't over." Keita didn't give up so easily. He could feel the magic power of creatures dozen of meters far. He knew the situation the moment he arrived.

"No, it is over. The Militia are all dead or run away when the battle went south. The ones fighting are just regular people like us but they are all going to die soon. All we can do now is delay their advance even a little until help from the capital arrives." the veteran said and turned around to carry more boxes to the barricade. "This isn't a place for a kid to fight. Go home."

Keita wanted to laugh. How is this man in front of him a regular person. He didn't bother speaking back. This man clearly hasn't given up yet. 'A kind person' he thought with a smile. There was no point reasoning with him. He didn't come here to take orders anyway.

Keita run towards the barricade. The veteran saw this as he passed him and urged "Stop kid..." he shouted. Keita jumped over the soldiers and the barricade using Haste. He was on top of the bridge and run towards the burning city.

"You have no sword you idiot!" he barely heard the veterans voice through the screams and violence.

'I'll just find one' he thought as he ran.

He scanned his surroundings and chose a path with no sources of magic power around. Even for him, running into an enemy without a weapon would be dangerous.

He remembered the village's blacksmith who worked as an apprentice in Atestari city. He said that there were many blacksmith shops at the shopping district and there was a rivalry among them. After all, the Militia rookies bought their weapons and armor there. He left the city to open his own shop in a small peaceful village in order to get away from all that.

Keita made his way to the district. Most buildings were intact by the fire but there was a problem. It was full of Orcs. They were in the middle of pillaging the shops. He could feel a few sources of magic power inside the shops. Maybe it was an Orc pillaging or a stubborn shop owner. He had no way of knowing.

Keita hid behind a barricade and looked around. The Orcs were breaking doors and entering the shops one by one. Thankfully they were empty. He took a good look at the Orcs, carrying sacks, boxes and weapons. They didn't completely match his memories of the Orcs of the past. They were bigger than he remembered. No, it was probably that he was shorter now.

But that wasn't the only weird thing. 'Were Orcs always so intimidating?' he thought. Was it because he was weaker now or that he didn't have a sword? He couldn't find an answer. But he could tell. One punch from these giant hands and his body would break. It was nerve breaking fighting an opponent so many levels ahead in physical strength. The fact that he couldn't use Shroud to it's full potential when he fought Wrath was probably because of that.

At the moment he didn't possess any defensive Skills or at least he didn't know if one of his Skills could be used defensively. He cleared his mind. The Orcs were slowly approaching shops with sources of magic power inside them. He needed a to find a weapon fast.

He looked for a blacksmith's shop away from the Orcs. There was only one but there was someone inside.

'Orc or human' he thought as a drop of sweat was running down his forehead. He didn't have any choice. As he made his way here, he was on the lookout for a weapon but didn't found one. The Orcs might have taken them from the corpses, after all they needed a lot of steel to make armor and their over exaggerated axes and blades.

He stealthily made his way to the shop. When he was sure he was out of the Orcs visual range, he slowly opened the door. He used Haste and then barged in.

If it was an Orc he had to find something to use as a weapon as fast as he could and silence it.

The moment he entered he first looked to see for the source of the magic power. He was met with something else though. It was something like a silver sphere and it was aiming for his head. It was as if the whole world slowed down for Keita. After realizing what the thing in front of him was, he tried ducking to his left.

The bolt cut his cheek and fresh blood spurt out. He was sweating and out of breath. His legs gave out and he collapsed, closing the door with his back. He met eyes with a man, with a crossbow at hand.

'This was more dangerous than an Orc.' he thought. If the man aimed for his torso rather than his head he would have dies. 'No, I guess he was aiming for an Orc's torso...'

Neither of them talked for a while. The man was sweating and his hands were shaking. He didn't think a kid would enter his shop in his wildest dreams. He opened his mouth but Keita immediately gestured with a finger in his mouth. The bolt hit the door. It probably didn't make enough noise for the Orcs to notice but he needed to be careful. After making sure the Orcs movements didn't change, he finally got up.

He put his hand to his cheek to stop the bleeding and walked towards the blacksmith. He was a bald man, in his fifties. He had a big belly and muscular hands. As Keita approached him, he flinched. He probably thought that Keita was angry but he wasn't. It was his fault for doing something like this during a battle.

"I need a sword." he whispered to the blacksmith. "A light one if possible. No magic weapon, it will interfere with my Skills. I don't have any money on me but I promise I will pay you back after the battle. I know I am putting you on the spot but please hurry, there are others who decided to defend their shops and the Orcs are about to pay them a visit." he talked shop.

The blacksmith was taken back by Keita's words. "I'm sorr..." he tried to say but was interrupted.

"We don't have time, please hurry." Keita insisted.

The blacksmith stared at Keita for a while. He saw something in his eyes but he couldn't put it in words. His nodded and had a serious look in his face.

'But this...' Keita thought while the blacksmith picked a few weapons. 'He really is prepared to die to save this...' he was a bit curious. He looked around but it was just a normal shop - expect some shields placed on the counter apparently for making a defensive trench. He didn't want to be rude and ask but the blacksmith caught him looking around.

"It's all I've got." he said as he placed a short sword on the counter. "These weapons and this shop are all I've got. I ain't giving any of it to any invading Orc." he said as he pulled the crossbow's string. "Take your pick kid. Don't worry about the price, it's the least I can do after almost killing ya." he laughed.

Keita smiled too. He felt that this man in front of him was to be respected. He didn't like the mortal tradition of showing respect to his elders but what this man was doing, showed the conviction to protect something important even if it seems insignificant to others. He looked all the shortswords and rapiers the blacksmith brought for him. None of them caught his eye except...

"This is..." it seemed like a wooden stick with a first look, painted white. After closer inspection, it was a scabbard and the hilt of a sword. Keita pulled the sword and was amazed by the sight. It was a one sided blade. Very thin and longer than a shortsword. It was quite a good match for his current strength.

"Ah, this..." the blacksmith scratched the back of his head. "I shouldn't have taken it out. It isn't ready yet. It is called Shirasaya and it is a type of katana. Since few classes use katanas, I just made it like this with no guard and a proper handle wrapping, because these weapons deteriorate quite fast if they just sit around in storage. A katana is made like this when it is not expected to see use for some time and..." the blacksmith went on and on about his work but unfortunately Keita was in a hurry.

"I'll take it." for some reason, he felt quite comfortable with this sword in hand. Did he use a katana as a human in the past? He didn't know.

"I'm telling you kid..." the blacksmith protested but Keita already turned around.

"I promise I will be back to pay for it after this is over." he said as he made his way to the door.

The blacksmith hesitated but let out a long sigh.

"Don't go getting yourself killed kid." he said as he looked at Keita leaving.

"You too old man" Keita turned his head and gave him a confident smile.