A New Sword

The next day, we visited some shops to pass the time until my sword was ready. Later that day, we visited the smithy to pick my sword up. Since uncle already paid, I only had to collect it. "This is your new sword, Anna. Do you like it?", Olaf asked while handing me the sword. The sword's blade was still black in colour, but I also noticed some blue veins streaking across it. "That is due to Flash Blurite. Not only does the sword look better, the metal is much more durable. We added more, because the amount in the original sword was small", he explained. "That's great to hear", I replied before continuing my observations.

The original sword was a longsword, while my old sword was medium length. Olaf shortened it by a bit, and made a new hilt for me. The hilt was white, straight and fitted very well in my hand. The sword changed from double to single edge, again this was something I desired. Though double edged swords had their advantages, I couldn't use it very well for defence. With a single edge, my hand could support the blunt side of the blade, which in turn allowed me to receive stronger blows.

The tip of the blade was a bit more narrow, and curved upwards. This was a feature I asked for too. Not only was this a beneficial feature when attacking, it also made the sword look less plain. The blade itself wasn't that wide either, no more than five centimetres in width. The pommel was black, and almost the same size as the hilt. This improved the design of the new hilt, but also made the pommel more discrete. The grey guard added a nice contrast between the blade and the hilt. The guard's design was also nice, a cross subtly twisting around.

I swung the sword a few times and nodded satisfied. "The sword is great. I like the design, while the balance is exactly as specified. Though it's a bit heavier than expected, my body will get used to it quickly", I replied. There was no need to improve or change anything. With the sword in my hands, I was about to bid Olaf farewell but he stopped me. "Before you go. This is a small present from us. Any nice sword requires a nice scabbard. Otherwise, how would you carry your sword around?", he said while handing me a scabbard. The scabbard looked exquisite and well made. With mostly black body and a few grey metallic elements, the scabbard matched my sword really well. When sheathed, the sword looked perfect inside that scabbard.

"Thank you very much. This scabbard fits the sword really well, and looks good at the same time. Thank you for the sword too. I'll be sure to visit you guys, in case I require something else. You did a great job", I praised his work. "By all means. Come back anytime you want. Take care of yourself now, alright?", he replied and bid us farewell. "Wow, you got such a cool sword, can I have a look?", Tara asked after we left. "Sure, I don't mind", I replied while handing her the sword. She swung it a few times before sheathing it. "I'm not great with swords, but this looks nice. I'm sure this is very sharp too", Tara said. Dawn tried it out as well, she liked the design a lot. "It's not about the design guys, it's about usability and effectiveness… Sure, I wanted it to look nice, but all those features have specific use. For instance, the guard will help me defend my hand better. Compared to straight guards, this one covers a larger area. The same with the curve near the tip, it will help me carry out some attacks more easily", I explained.

"How about we test it? We don't really know how sharp it is", Tara proposed. "Hmm… Good idea, let's go outside of the city. Remember the Dead Tree I cut using my old sword? I wonder how this sword will fare", I said. We made our way out of the city, then found a Dead Tree. "Alright, here goes… Wanna bet something, Tara?", I teased her. "Just cut the tree already", she replied, annoyed. "Hah!", "Swoosh!"... "Bam!", my sword sliced the tree in half without any issues. "Wow… This sword is at least three times better than my old one. This was at my full strength, but with this sword it's not even required. My hands don't even hurt", I said positively surprised. "Hey, hey! Give us a try too!", Tara exclaimed. Both Tara and Dawn had a go with the sword. They also cut down those trees like nothing, it was that sharp.

"... This is so unfair", Tara complained. I just shook my head, "Whatever. More importantly, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?". Dawn proposed to visit the Challenger's Corner once more. After all, that crazy guy was gone. We could enjoy ourselves in peace. "Alright, let's go over there then. At least we can play some games", I agreed. We had some fun for the rest of that day, but it was time for us to leave. Before we left the city, the three of us visited my Uncle. "Leaving already? Well, do visit us again in the future. We will always welcome you here. By the way, this is for you", he said while handing me a bag of some sorts. Inside were the plants for our Tauruses. "Thank you uncle, I almost forgot about that. I'll be sure to visit again, but I don't know when. Besides, we will see each other during my birthday, right? You guys have to come, I will be turning sixteen!", I said.

"Of course we will be there", uncle said while aunt chimed in, "Heh, little Anna will become an adult. I remember when you were this small. You grew up a lot. Anyway, take care of yourself. We will see you soon". Drak also hugged us farewell, then we left. "We will see each other at your place. Have a safe trip guys, alright?", Dawn bid us farewell too. Me and Tara headed toward master Ama's office, where two more warriors would join us. It was better safe than sorry, besides the warriors were supposed to return to Apium anyway.

"You guys are ready to return? In that case, please wait a minute", one of the warriors said. We waited for a while, until two warriors showed up. "Let's go, we already miss Apium quite a bit", one of them said. We had to collect our Tauruses before leaving though. The Warriors had a few of them in the pen, which were reserved for Atols only. The owner only took care of them, while they stayed inside the city. Turry moo-ed loudly when he saw me. "You must've missed me, right? We are going back home, and I have fresh plants for you too", I said while petting his head. "Mooo", Turry burrowed his head into me. "Alright, alright, that's enough. Let's go, I will pet you some more later, deal?", I asked. "Moo", Turry moo-ed seemingly alright with such arrangements.

Tara paid the fees as promised, and her mood became much better. "We are leaving the city, so my part of the deal is done… Finally", she said. "Great to have you back. Anyway, you complain too much. You didn't spend that much money. We slept at Dawn's place for free, and she also paid for food sometimes", I replied. "I guess you are right. At the same time, wait until you start earning money. It's not easy, you know?", she argued. "Next time, don't try to be so smug and bet with me, hehehe", I replied. The journey this time was a bit more peaceful. Besides some Black Sludges trying to get close to us at night, we didn't meet any dangerous creatures in the Wilderness.

A few weeks later, we made it back to my house. Tara decided to simply continue straight to Apium without a rest. "Mom! I'm back!", I exclaimed while entering our house. 'That strange, she would be here to hug me or something already', I thought when there was no reply. I checked her room, but she wasn't there either. I checked again outside, but mother was simply not around. 'She must've left to do something. Anyway, I'm a bit tired', I thought and decided to relax that day.

Since mother left to do something, there was no dinner. I didn't really know how to cook, that was something my mother always did for me. Though I watched how she cooked from time to time, especially when I was little, but never tried it myself. 'It can't be too hard… I hope', I thought and grabbed some vegetables, as well as the dried meat from my backpack. The ingredients were in front of me, but the question was what to do with them? 'She always cuts everything into smaller bites. Let's start with that', I thought and sliced the vegetables as well as the dried meat. 'Alright. With that ready, I should probably start the fire inside the stove… I will also need a pot', I thought.

With the stove ready for cooking, I found a decently sized pot and threw everything inside. "Sssss…", the vegetables and meat seared a while later. "What am I doing? I need some water", I said to myself before adding some. With some water inside the pot, the ingredients stopped sizzling. "Good, now this should cook… for how long? Ah whatever, I will check from time to time", I said to myself and left the kitchen. While my food was cooking, I checked up on Turry. He was sleeping in his shed, and there was plenty of food inside. "...Did I wake you up? Don't worry, I'm just checking up on you. Get some rest, we travelled a lot past these few weeks", I said. "Moo", he moo-ed before going back to sleep.

"It's a bit boring without mom around. Actually, this is the first time I'm completely alone… Well, Turry is here but he doesn't speak", I said to myself. The garden seemed to be in a very good shape, which meant mother couldn't have left long ago. 'I need to water the plants though', I thought. Just as I grabbed a bucket, a strong smell of burning hit my nose. "Oh no!", I exclaimed before rushing towards the kitchen. The food inside my pot was burning, and created a lot of smoke inside the kitchen. I quickly took the pot off the stove then outside the house. My food was burned, completely inedible. "The water is gone… I should've added more. Whatever, I will eat some fruits today… I should clean this pot too, mother wouldn't be happy to see it in such a state", I said to myself. My first attempt at cooking failed miserably. Moreover, the pot was really difficult to clean. I had to scrub it for a good while.

'I depend too much on my mother. I should learn how to cook myself, I'm old enough after all', I thought. There was no point wasting more food. Instead, I ate some fruits and dried meat. Before relaxing from my journey, I completed a few chores around the house. "This should do it, I need some rest now", I said to myself after watering the garden and cleaning up the kitchen.