Past and Weapons

"Well, I was living in the Intis Republic with my parents, but the thugs who wanted money from our small workshop decided we were not able to give them enough money per week, so they tried kidnapping all three of us. Only, my parents fought back, killing one of the thugs in the process of trying to escape, only to be killed by a girl with superpowers who suddenly appeared behind them like a ghost."

"Then I was put in a small cage and thrown into a carriage with others like me, and we travelled for a really long time until some believers of the Evernight Goddess stopped us and killed the slavers before trying to save us."

"Suddenly two people in red robes attacked the believers of the Evernight Goddess and killed everyone. Somehow I was able to escape as soon as I was freed from the cage. Being the first to be released, I had been able to successfully escape without anyone noticing and hid in the forest outside Tingen before finally sneaking in and then finding your café. Well, that is about it."

Max said, not knowing why he was telling a large portion of the truth, but unlike the sudden urge the enter Old Man Uxas' room, Max did not feel anything unnatural about his giving out a good portion of the truth without actually saying everything.

This time he had actually thought about the answer some time ago and was answering according to that script, since he was not sure if Old Man Uxas had some connections with the authorities or not. He should be able to find out about the carriage incident and make sense of Max's story.

But making up some lies about his origin would mean that if Old Man Uxas went around digging, Max needed to make a whole lot of preparations to match his fake origin story. Thus, this method was a lot more suitable, at least until he became a Beyonder.

"I see." The old man ran his slightly wrinkled hands through his white hair smoothly while making sense of the whole situation.

"Anyways, what is your choice?" He continued, passing the ball pack into Max's court, waiting for his response on his future. When Max had initially come into his café, he had thought he was nothing but a sad and malnutritional child, but he only later got to know that he was actually rather considerably knowledgeable in mechanics and the likes, while also having a temperament similar to adults.

Overall, he did not feel like a child when one spoke to him, only looked like one, and even that was gradually being fixed with his strict diet and gradually increasing exercises the old man was making him do before getting ready in the mornings and before sleeping in the nights.

"Well, I would like to learn about and even become these superpowered people one day. I already know most of those who had kidnapped me are already dead, but the superpowered person who killed my parents is still alive in the Intis Republic. Once I become strong enough, I will go there and take revenge."

Max said while creating a plausible revenge story to produce 'motive' for himself to take on the risks and become a Beyonder.

Old Man Uxas only sighed hearing this. Although the course of the conversation was not what he had expected, the final result was pretty much what he had thought it would end up as after realising that Max had seen his sword.

He knew, based on Max's explanation that he would choose this path no matter the dangers around it, if only for the sake of revenge, excluding other factors like his ambitions and other thoughts.

Sighing once more, he nodded too Kai and began to explain certain things about the Beyonder world to Max, including the fact that people with superpowers were called Beyonders. Of course, Max already knew this, but he kept it to himself and acted like he was learning everything for the first time.

Soon came the part where Old Man Uxas told Max about his options of joining an official Beyonder organisation like the Nighthawks and Red Gloves of the Evernight Goddess who mainly operate in Leon and East Balam, the Mandated Punishers of the Lord of Storms who mainly operate in Loen, East Balam, Rorsted Archipelago, and the Sonia Sea, the Inquisition of the Eternal Blazing Sun operating in the Intis Republic, and West Balam, and the Machinery Hivemind of the God of Steam and Machinery who work with restrictions in Leon, and mainly in the Intis Republic.

There were also other Orthodox churches; 7 in total but only these 4 have actively operating teams in regions who have been visible to the other churches.

Hearing this information, which was most definitely not common knowledge in the novel, even for the unofficial Beyonders in Tingen or Backlund of the Leon Kingdom, where Max currently was.

"Old Man, Are you also a Beyonder?" Max asked with a questioning look in his crimson eyes, reflecting the silently brooding Uxas with his white hair and beard.

"No. But I have worked with them for a long time. The sword you saw that must have scared you is a Beyonder item. You cannot use it at the moment, its requirements are too strong and the side effects are even worse. Here, take this. You can use it to protect yourself in desperate situations. For now though, you need to focus on recovery until your body can work perfectly on normal food. Then I will teach you how to use the knife."

Max took the 5 inch knife from the old man, pulling it out of the leather scabbard and seeing the shine resembling a newly forged metal weapon that has either never been used before or has been maintained incredibly well. And based on the rather worn condition of the scabbard, it was likely the latter.

"Thanks." Max said, still observing the knife in intrigue. As a 21st century office worker, a rather manipulative scumbag, but a normal worker nonetheless, Samuel's interaction with knives was limited to those at his own home and restaurants, neither of which were actually meant for self-defence or assault, with the only damage they dealt was to fruits, vegetables and not so living and highly processed meats.

The original Max on the other had had even less experience with knives, most of his life revolved around mechanical inventions and their usages like gears, chains, bolts, and even a bit understanding of the steam engine.

Thus, Max was holding a combat knife in his hand for the first time in two lives.

"It's heavy." Max muttered under his breath.

"Of course, it is. It's made of Damascus Steel, folded 50 times before being drawn out into a blade! It is at least twice as strong as normal steel!" Old Max Uxas said with a good amount of force behind his words, showing he was either deeply passionate about the weapons, or weapons in general, or that he did not like what Max had said.

Max just silently nodded. From the bit of general knowledge Samuel had, and from what the original Max knew, he could make out that Damascus Steel involved combining two different kinds of metals and folding them together, to thoroughly mix them while eliminating impurities and resulting in a stronger and purer metal.

'This process is also responsible for the wave patterns all across the blade created due to the folds.'

"Now go and begin your exercises!" Old Man Uxas said in an authoritarian tone, and Max just smiled as he drew his attention away from the blade and soot up. Putting the Damascus knife away, he began with his light jog for warming up before going through the sets of exercises that reminded him of a certain hero who went bald while gaining a fiction-breaking level of power. He had decided not to leave until he could actually use the knife for protection.

…

May 20th, 1348 of the Fifth Epoch

Another week passed and Max was finally back to health. Although his muscles did not look much better than before, at least they were present, and his bones were no longer sticking to his skin like he was an undead.

Yesterday he had gone with Old Man Uxas to get the groceries needed for the Café in the morning, and today, he was to repeat the same task again without the Old Man to mentor him through the task.

And finally, he would be able to take some time off the Old Man's strict schedule to explore a bit, and ask about the ingredients of his Bender Potion. Although he did not like how strict the old man was, he was also considerably thankfully for having come across this shop while searching since it was only due to this strict schedule that he had recovered so quickly. 

Furthermore, he had also learned how to actually wield his Damascus knife, despite not being proficient at it, at the very least, he would not kill himself trying to hold it up to someone else.