/
While the three Guildmasters and the general talked, Reito was in the Sparring Grounds using his Extermination Blade and Reflection Sword in combo. He was sparring with Gonzo.
“Haaa!”
“Ngh!”
Reito swung both blades at the same time. Gonzo took the impact with his club. A roar rang through the Sparring Ground when the two weapons hit.
“Whirlwind!!”
“Immobilize!!”
Using his battle tactics, he swept his saber and long sword sideways, going in for a beheading. Gonzo blocked his club.
Seeing Reito retreat, Gonzo saw his opportunity and went in for the big blow, “Golden Stark Strike!!”
“Parry!!”
Gonzo swung his club but Reito managed to dodge it, using a battle tactic to direct the blow of the club elsewhere with his extermination blade.
The club struck the ground and Gonzo was petrified. Reito distanced himself.
“Ngh! I can’t believe you dodged that!”
“I was going to die if I took that blow. Did you forget that we’re practicing?” Reito pointed out to Gonzo who looked very happy.
Whether it was training or not, it was Gonzo’s bad habit to give his all with an opponent.
Reito was also forced to fight at full strength, drawing his Reflection Sword and holding it in the opposite hand as the Extermination one. He used “Stark Blade.”
“Spin Strike Blade!!”
“Ngh!?”
Reito spun his full body before swinging his saber at full speed.
Gonzo wasn’t able to stop the swing and was blown back. Even though he had less arm strength and body weight than Gonzo, Reito was able to blow him back using the auxiliary magic “Full-Body Reinforcement” in tandem with “Strike Blade,” which he learned from Bal.
Reito continued the attack, “Helmet Smasher!!”
“Immobilize…!?”
Reito used his specialty to swing at Gonzo. Gonzo immediately used a defensive battle tactic. He wasn’t able to guard himself all the way and his club was blown apart by the saber.
Reito saw Gonzo collapsed and dropped his sword. He pulled out his Reflection Sword like a Kendo player.
“Unsheathe.”
“Wah!?”
“Unsheathe” was a skill he had gained at Airis’s suggestion.
Reito swung the blade until it nearly touched Gonzo’s skin and then stopped. If this were a real battle, Gonzo’s head would have been cut off.
Gonzo put his hands up in surrender and said in frustration, “I lost this time. You surprised me with that last move.”
“Right? I worked hard to remember this battle skill…”
“Is that a swordsman’s skill? I’ve never seen it before…”
“I bet you haven’t. It’s rare in this land. It took me quite a lot of time to learn it myself.”
He picked up his Extermination Blade and put it away in his back. He put his Reflection Sword in his waist while he answered.
He checked both his hands and noticed his arms were trembling. After receiving Gonzo’s blows so many times, his body had quite the strain put on it. If the fight continued as is, Gonzo would win by attrition.
“Hmm… I wonder if it’s possible to make ‘Body Reinforcement’ any stronger. I’d like to get at least 20 times stronger,” he muttered to himself before Airis chimed in.
『What are you, an alien? Get used to using “Unsheathe.” If you learn any skills above this level, it will come in handy.』
Reito decided to keep using “Unsheathe.”
“All right, should we call it a day?”
“What? I’m ready to go.”
“It’s just that Bal asked me to pick up the holy sword. She has a meeting, so I gotta go get it.”
Reito had gotten the holy sword Caledfwlch the other day. He was having the sword reforged at the blacksmith.
“Hmm… By the way, where did the other guys go? I haven’t seen them in a hot minute.”
“Kotomin and Suramin are having fun in the pool of the home I built. Erina is running her regular reports to the elves. Dain is at his own lodging, preparing medicine to restore his magical power.”
“Wow, you really keep an eye on everyone. I promised I would help him get the materials he needed for his recovery medicine, so I gotta get going.”
“Got it. If anything comes up, give me a call.”
Reito nodded in understanding and went to visit the blacksmith recommended by Bal. He jogged his way to Ullr, who was waiting outside.
When he stepped outside, he found Ullr waiting for him with Hitomin on his head.
“Let’s go!”
“Woof!!”
“Purupuru”
Ullr dashed off when Reito gave the sign.
After running for a while, Hitomin, who had heightened perceptual capabilities, reached out and patted Reito.
“Purupuru.”
“I’m aware that a group is following us.”
Reito looked behind him to see some men rush off into the crowd.
He learned who the men worked for was by communicating with Airis. Apparently, he had caught wind of the holy sword and was planning to steal it.
After having taken in a few bounties, Reito was being noticed by the ruffians of the city. Amongst those, there was a group that attacked his private residence. He had the Elf Princess Tina and an envoy watching his place, and they had managed to drive them away.
“This is getting annoying. Let’s try and lure them down that narrow alleyway.”
“Woof!”
Following his master’s order, Ullr went down the side road. Reito grasped his Reflection Sword and was ready to fight.
This would be the last day he would use the sword he borrowed from the blacksmith. He figured he would use it one last time.
“Wah!! What are you doing here!?”
“What are you talking about, you guys were following us?”
“So you noticed!! I can’t believe you saw us… Now we can avenge the boss, though.”
“The boss? Ah, you’re somebody’s underlings.
Amongst the three of them, one of them appeared to have a pyro-magic stone – they took it out of their pocket and threw it at Reito.
“Eat this! Flame-la!!”
“Oww!!”
“Wah!?”
They were likely trying to release a magic blast to ignite the stone and cause an explosion. Reito kicked up a small stone and threw it at the man’s face who was trying to use the magic.
“You jerk!? What are you doing!?” Another man holding a dagger yelled.
Reito caught the stone thrown by the man and threw it back at him.
“Take this.”
“I don’t need it!?”
“Fireball!!”
The magic stone flew above the man’s head before Reito used his fireball to hit the stone.
After it hit the stone, a small-scale explosion occurred. The bandits who received the blast from above fell to the ground.
Reito was also hit by the blast, but he repelled it with his reflection sword before using another battle skill.
“Sheeeeeathe!!”
“Why did you pronounce it like that?” Airis joked.
The blast created by magic was cut in half by the sword.
Reito put his sword away and rode off on Ullr.
The men who hadn’t lost consciousness called out after him.
“W-wait… help us!?”
“You reap what you sow. Don’t come asking for help from the person you tried to kill.”
“Damn it!”
Reito left them behind as he headed toward the blacksmith on Ullr.
~
At long last, Reito ended up at a run-down building on the edge of the town.
He knocked on the door and called out. A dwarf man appeared from inside. He was getting on in age and had white hair and a white beard.
The owner of the blacksmith looked at Reito and was suspicious.
“Who the hell are you? What business do you have at my shop?”
“Uh, my the Black Tigers Guildmaster asked me to come and pick up the holy sword and…”
“Go home!”
Reito had the door closed on him before he could finish explaining.
Reito stopped the door with his hand and used storage magic to pull out a large barrel of mead from it.
“Here’s a little gift.”
“There we go!! You should have shown me that in the first place.”
The owner’s mood suddenly improved. Dwarves tend to be stubborn but as a general rule love alcohol. If you give them some alcohol, their moods will almost always improve. Bal had taught him that.
The owner took the barrel to the back of the shop. He brought out a longsword shining in gold.
“Here you go! Take it with ya!! This is the legendary Caldewflch!!”
“This… Is that sword?”
When he withdrew the sword from the Monster Tamer’s mansion, it was dirty and rusty. But now, it had a certain sacred feel to it, worthy of the name Caldewflch.
From what Airis told him the other day, the Necromancer Kirau already had the Rotten Dragon completely under his control. She was turning other necromancers into vampires and forcing them to be her henchmen. She was also preparing a large army of the undead to invade the city.
To win in the fight ahead and destroy the rotten dragon in the process, he would need the power of the holy sword.
“This is Caldewflch…”
“You won’t be able to use the real power of this sword until you’re level 70. I tried to give it a swing, but it wasn’t a good swing because of my level.
“Is there anyone in this city who is above level 70?”
At present, Reito is level 50. He had no friends who were over 50 either.
The owner shook his head.
“I don’t know. If there were someone who was above level 70, they would be making quite a stir. They would be a legendary hero. The Hailstorm’s Maria might be above level 70. She’s a magician though…”
“The enemy must be at the level of a legendary hero too.”
“What was that? What do you mean?” the owner frowned at Reito’s words.
According to Airis, the Necromancer Kirau’s level was over 80. The only one who knew that in this city besides Airis was Reito.
Reito didn’t answer the owner’s question and looked at the Lightning Stone in the Caldewflch. It was not the source of power for the holy sword but rather, just a stone embedded in the handle.
“Can you take out this magic stone?”
“No can do. It’s completely unified with the handle. When I tried to take it out by force, I got zapped, so watch out!”
“You already tried to take it out.”
“Of course!! It’s a legendary holy sword. I have tried all my life to learn how to make one, but I still don’t know anything about it!! Shit!!”
“Don’t take your anger out on me.”
“Shut up!! That’s my sword anyway!! Give it back!!”
The owner was yelling in anger and took the Reflection Sword from Reito. Reito had no issue with that.
“Now, go home!! I know I’m the one who accepted Bal’s request, but I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“Thank you so much for fixing the holy sword.”
“Yeah… Well, I gave it my best. If you find someone who can use it, let them know it was the Dwarf Tordon who fixed it.”
“Will do, Mr. Dor.”
“Don’t shorten my name! What is Dor! Also, wouldn’t it be TOR!?”
Reito put away Caldewflch with his storage magic and left the shop. While moving, Airis communicated with him.
『I bet I could get the lightning stone out myself. But, even if I take it out, I’m not at the right level so I won’t be able to use the power of the stone.』
『Right, you would be able to get it out. But, you wouldn’t be able to harness its true power with the stone alone. They’re a set. It’s meaningless without the sword.』
『Darn… The lightning stone needs to be embedded in a proper weapon for it to work, right?』
『Of course. An ordinary weapon would wear down under the strain of the stone’s power. There’s no one who could forge a weapon strong enough to match the stone in the city. Further, the materials for it are rare and you wouldn’t be able to gather them all.』
『I see. There’s no point in carrying a sword I can’t use. Might as well use it as a paperweight.』
『Wow, what an honorable use. But, you should be able to use that holy sword at any rate. For now, let’s go back home. If someone else sees it, they might try to get after you.』
『Got it.』
Reito followed her instructions and went back home as opposed to the guild.