Chapter 21: Eclairswille.

Rigel opened his eyes and looked at the green tent above him, and he could hear people talking in the distance. He looked to his left and saw there were other people on the bed with the same injuries as him, missing limbs. He saw his left shoulder covered in bandages, and he felt a phantom pain that started to bother him.

He decided to leave the tent and the soldiers who saw him immediately alerted the others. Everyone looked at him and gave their utmost respect and admiration for his sacrifice. Without him, most of them would have died in that battle against those drakes.

"Rigel," Anselm's voice could be heard from behind.

Rigel turned around and saw Anselm with Elise, holding a plate filled with food. He was glad that those two survived and followed Hugo.

"How are you doing?" Anselm looked at Rigel's left shoulder with a worried expression. "You must be hungry. I'll get the food for you," he said.

"I only lost an arm, it's not like I can't get my own food. I can still hunt monsters even with just my right hand," Rigel answered and covered his left body because Elise was uncomfortable by the fact Rigel lost an arm. "It's perfect timing that you're here. There's something that I need your help with," he said, and then he looked around for his bag that had a Drake's scale in it.

"Rigel. I'm glad that you're awake," Hugo came as soon as he heard that Rigel had woken up. "Hm? Are you looking for something?" He raised his eyebrows.

"My bag, and my swords..." Rigel answered.

"Your bag? We didn't see any bags. Your swords are being repaired by Anselm because he believed those swords needed to be polished again," Hugo responded. "What's inside the bag?" He asked.

"Drake's scales. I need to make a new weapon from those scales," Rigel answered and he looked a bit annoyed that he had lost the bag.

"If that's the case, you can get some from that one," Hugo pointed at something behind Rigel.

Rigel turned around and saw the drake's leader's dead body being dragged into the base. He got excited that he had the best material to make a sword out of. The scale of the leader was unbreakable, and it would make a perfect weapon for him.

"I can have them?" Rigel asked and kept staring at the shiny gray scale of the drake.

"You're the one who killed it, and I believe you deserve to have them and get as much as you want," Hugo nodded. "But how are you going to use them as a material for making a sword?" He looked at Rigel and Anselm.

"Through sintering. Turn those scales into powders and then mix it during the forging," Rigel explained. "Anselm knew it would be a great addition and would make any weapon unbreakable," he turned around to look at Anselm.

Anselm was surprised that Rigel knew about sintering, and when he thought about it, what Rigel said might work. He became interested in processing the scales and was curious as to how strong the weapon would be. It sounded like a legend in a medieval world where a sword could kill a dragon.

"I'll do it. I'm going to work on it as soon as I get those scales," Anselm said in excitement. "This time, not only I'll make it unbreakable, I'll make the sword look artistic as well," he added.

"I'll help because I want to learn about bladesmith," Rigel nodded with understanding.

Anselm and Rigel used a strong chemical solution that broke the scale and turned it into powders without degrading the quality. It took a whole week to just turn a single scale into powder, but thankfully it was more than enough to make a sword.

Rigel observed Anselm forging the carbon steel alloy and sintered it with the Drake's scale powders. It looked simple, but Anselm did it with precision, something that could only be done by a master bladesmith. But, it didn't stop Rigel from learning it because he knew he would need that skill once he entered the tower.

It took a whole month to finish the blade, but it was still far from done because Anselm showed his artistic touch to Rigel. He made the blade as his canvas and carved the blade until it had beautiful carvings and lines. Lastly, he made the handle and the hilt of the sword, and it looked like a sword from legends.

It took Anselm 2 months to make the sword, and it was his best work of his whole life. The sword didn't reflect light because the blade was a dark gray, instead, it absorbed the light and made the sword glow. The sword became bright silver when it absorbed light, and it could become a torch at night if it absorbed moonlight.

"What do you think?" Anselm crossed his arms, staring at the sword proudly.

"It's beautiful..." Rigel admired the sword. "Have you thought about its name? I think it would be right to name this beautiful sword," he suggested.

"I have. It's Eclairswille, which means Will of Eclair. The sword is yours and I named it after your name. It's written on the blade," Anselm answered and looked proud with the name he made. "Go ahead, test it. The unbreakable sword that can cut everything," he said with confidence.

Rigel grabbed the sword on the table, he was surprised at how light it was. The sword was comfortable to hold and when he swung it around, it felt sturdy even though it was light.

"What's the best way to test its sharpness if it's not to cut these scales," Anselm showed the scale that he hung on the ceiling. "Do you think you can cut it?" He challenged Rigel.

Rigel's eyes were focused on the scale, and then he swung the sword around to get used to its weight and where to aim. The moment he readied his stance, he swung the sword diagonally at the scale. The scale was cut in half so easily like cutting a piece of paper.

They both were surprised the sword was that sharp and sturdy. But of course, it was thanks to Rigel's amazing strength and skill in swordsmanship that made it possible. If other people tried to cut it even with that sword, they wouldn't be able to achieve that.

"This is amazing, Anselm," Rigel's heart was pounding as he looked at the blade of the sword. "Are you sure you're going to give me this masterpiece of yours?" He looked at Anselm.

"I poured all my heart on that sword. It would be a waste to not give it to someone who knows how to use it. It's better than having the sword hanging on the wall, covered in dust, or to be used by some guy that knows nothing about swordsmanship," Anselm answered. "That sword is meant to be yours. I could make another one if I needed to," he assured.

Rigel looked at the sword and could imagine what kind of feats he could do with it. He then thought that it would be a perfect time to fight the black dragon with that sword. He believed it was time for him to start moving again since he had been doing nothing for the past 2 months.

"Looks like Commander Hugo has come back," Anselm heard the commotion outside.

Rigel sheathed the sword and carried it on his back as he went out to check what the commotion was about. When he looked at the front gate, he saw dozens of soldiers with trauma written on their faces. The trucks were filled with dead bodies and severely injured soldiers.

"What happened?" Anselm asked a soldier who looked depressed and anxious.

"Sea of flames...." The soldier answered. "The black dragon burned a whole country down in a single night... we could only watch the people getting burned alive, and their screams.... their screams were..." he was about to break down, so Anselm comforted him and prevented the soldier from finishing his sentence.

Rigel knew what had happened and it happened exactly the same as in the past. The black dragon invaded the Czech Republic and burned the whole country. He heard rumors that the black dragon set the whole country down in the middle of the night where people were asleep. 

When the armies tracked the black dragon's location, it was already too late and they could only witness the gruesome nature of a mythical creature. The armies who tried to stop the black dragon ended in the same fate as those civilians, burned to a crisp, or heavily injured. The Czech Republic in Rigel's past life disappeared from the world map, and the people around the world called that place the dragon's lair where the black dragon lived, wyverns, drakes, and wyrms also lived there under the black dragon's rule.

"I'll be right back," Rigel said as he looked at Hugo who walked into the building.