Vulcan's Friend

"Yawn..", Archehon let out a long stretch, tired from the previous fight from last night.

The white bandage wrapped around his head in the place where he was injured last night. He got up and walked towards the door.

"Click.", he opened the door.

Again, the bright blue eyed girl could be seen, getting the breakfast ready diligently. She was about to call Archehon,

"Archehon! Breakfast is ready-"

She flinched and changed her expression when she looked at him. Her eyes shook like they were having seizures and slapped both of her hands on the lips, and the chin of her face in shock.

'<Emergency Task: Talk your way out of the injury dumbass>

'Fucking System. Since when did you have humour.'

'<Unable to understand what 'humour' means>

Archehon's eyes went red out of anger but reversed back to how they were since Ariel was looking and he was worried that the system would put another emergency task.

"Wh-what happened to your head?!?", she flooded tears down her cheeks and asked.

"It's nothing. I just fell down the stairs and hit my head but I'm okay now."

Ariel sighed out of relief,

"Oh, thank God.."

'Nice. I've escaped!-'

"..but how did you get bandages?"

'Fuck.', he cursed in the inside of himself.

"U-um, so.. I ended up receiving them from a friend.", he stuttered.

"Friend? I thought you told me you had no friends?"

'Shit. This girl should be a detective or something.', he thought while sweat dripped down his face.

"Uh, so, this friend I used to have. R-ran into me while I was injured and walking back home. We met by coincidence and they gave me the bandages after seeing my state."

"Hm.. Okay. Just be careful and I don't know how they had bandages on them but I'll ask them where I can get them for a cheap price.", she talked while being satisfied with the words she received.

"Phew..", Archehon sighed in relief that he didn't get caught.

'<Emergency Task completed>'

Archehon and Ariel both ate peacefully as if the previous conversation never happened. When they finished their meals and cleaned up,

"Sister, take this money. We can have something better to eat."

He dropped a few of the coins he received from Leonardo onto the table. Ariel was startled from the amount of money placed which wasn't actually a large amount but it was for her. Since it was something she would earn after two whole weeks.

"Where did you get so much money, was it from your friend?"

"u-uh, yeah.", he hesitantly reacted.

"I should go thank them later. Did you thank them?", she spoke fast.

"Mhm.."

Archehon started to walk towards the front door,

"I'll go now."

"This early..? Okay, be careful!"

"Yeah..", he waved his hand back as he opened the front door.

* * *

The familiar scent of dust released from the heat flew into Archehon's nose. The same hammering noise he heard numerous times in his previous life rang through his ears. The old man could be seen pouring all his focus into making the weapon while wearing goggles.

The blacksmith took off his goggles and walked towards Archehon,

"Here's your spear."

"Thank you, grandpa!", he smiled wholesomely at the old man.

"G-grandpa? Hmph!", the blacksmith was startled by the boy's words and brought on a red face.

'<Obtained 'Beginner' Spear' +1>'

''Nice! System, can you check out my relationship status with the old man?'

A pink virtual screen popped up above the old man's head. It detailed itself with a number and heart next to it. The number thirty was shown.

The way the 'Relationship' status worked was very simple. The higher the number, the more fond they are of Archehon.

But what is the benefit of this?

Being able to have a higher number will mean he can receive better rewards. For example, if Archehon reached a certain point with Vulcan he would receive a skill. The higher the 'Relationship' status the better the skill.

'Vulcan: thirty hearts'

'Not bad.', he thought.

He switched the 'Relationship' status off and observed the spear while holding it.

'What?'

"Grandpa.."

"Y-yes..", he blushed.

"Why is the spear only at this level?"

The question triggered the old man to change his face and look the other way, gloomy. Flashbacks appeared in front of his eyes,

"V-vulcan! Run away!", his parents screamed at him.

"M-mom.. Dad..?", the younger Vulcan teared up.

"Aaaahhh..!-", violent screams were heard.

The memories disconnected from Vulcan's thoughts after he didn't want to think about it.

Archehon saw Vulcan's distressed face and decided to change the topic. After all, he wouldn't want the 'Relationship' status to go down.

"This spear.. it's different."

"Hmph! You've finally realised it's worth!", the blacksmith crossed his arms and told him proudly.

"It's got a blunt tip.. How did you know my style?", Archehon questioned.

"I can't tell you that~ It's a blacksmith's secret...", Vulcan teased the boy for the first time.

"Okay, grandpa~", Archehon returned the teases.

The old man, once again, fell vulnerable against the boy's words and asked with his embarrassed face,

"A-anything else?"

"Do you know where I can get a basic spear manual?"

The old man fell deep into thought and answered,

"In my friends store. Just tell him the code, 'Pineapple on pizza is better'."

"Pfft, what kind of code is that?", Archehon laughed.

"S-stop laughing!"

"Alright, alright. What is the store called and where is it?"

"It's near the southern part of the slums but just outside of it. It's called 'Jerry's place'."

Archehon again, attempted not to laugh and somehow succeeded. But he thought about how interesting and the naming sense was.

"I'll go, grandpa~", he walked out.

"Hmph! Go..!"

* * *

The dark cramped slums clouded around Archehon as he investigated the area in search of the shop. The mud simply existed instead of a path. That was all until a corner of a building was in Archehon's field of vision.

"Finally, I found it."

As he walked, the building largened to his eyes. Worn-out shoes stepped around a small house then eyes found a large store. It was the one Vulcan told him about.

'Jerry's place', the white glorious building which made someone think they're in a dream by just looking at it, stood tall. The two-stories building had Archehon walk through, while the shiny lights were on due to the night.

The inside wasn't as amazing as the multinational giants but was impressive since it was places right next to the border of the slums.

Archehon continued to observe the place looking for manuals while the maze of shelves urged him to take the items.

'Ah- there it is.', Archehon thought.

The manual isle was in the corner of the store, surprisingly not having many books in the section. This was abnormal considering how in his past life there were many manuals, but he decided to end the thought.

Out of the many books, there were different types of them. Including, 'How to achieve Aether' and 'The steps on improving your Ki', many others were listed similar to the two titles. It was concerning how there were barely any manuals regarding the basics.

Archehon dug through the small amount of books that looked more like comics than manuals. Amongst them, the dusty and books in bad condition were the manuals about training in the basics of weapons. While rummaging, a book called 'Spear arts basics' fell into his hands. He tapped the book and the dust passed into his nose,

"Cough.. cough.."

"I still can't believe barely anyone is training the basics.. or this may be because I'm in an area near the slums.", he scratched his head in confusement.

Just as Archehon lazily walked away from the pile of manuals, something red shined towards his eyes.

"What is that?"

He gently moved towards the beam and the light shined greater. By the time he reached the point where it shined the most, his hands struggled through the number of many jewels in the box and grabbed the most lustrous ruby.

'<Obtained 'Blood ??? ?????? heart' +1>'

'System, is there a way for me to see through the question marks?'

'<Yes, the host will need to master basics of spear arts and it is recommended that keeps this item>'

'Alright.'

Archehon didn't question the system, even though he didn't know why the item was good.

After acquiring everything he needed he walked to the till where an old man stood.

He assumed this old man was Vulcan's friend and talked to him,

"I'd like to buy these two items."

"Hoh.. I've never seen you here before, young man.", Jerry replied with a humble expression.

Jerry scanned both items and called out the price,

"Ten silver coins, please."

Archehon shouted out,

"W-what?? Is it that expensive?"

"Of course, for the manual you're buying it will make up eight silver coins.", he spoke as I'd he knew something about the book.

'Hoo.. here goes nothing', Archehon thought.

"Well.. I think 'Pineapple on pizza is better'."

The words immediately caused a shock through the old man's head. He remained silent then talked in a different manner,

"So Vulcan sent you, huh..?"

"In that case, I can give you a discount of one silver coin which leaves the total at 9 silver coins. Obviously, I won't charge you much for that piece of junk."

"junk?", Archehon replied with muddled thoughts.

"Yes, that jewel will only be good for.. decorating?"

'Everyone else thinks it is trash, but how does the system know it's good?', the boy thought.

Archehon stopped his thoughts and picked out the coins from the pouch he received from Leonardo,

"Anyways, here you go."

"Also, do you know why nobody is buying the basic weapon manuals?", Archehon asked.

"Hm? What do you mean? Why would we need those when we have 'Od'?"

The hearing of the mysterious word transitioned Archehon face to look surprised,

"Od?"