The blacksmith dropped the newly crafted sword on the table and led them out of the forge and into the shop part of his building, the place where he displayed weapons for sale.
"Your sword was really sothing. I had to max out the temperature of the furnace just to lt it. And to shape it? Nearly broke all my fingers..." The blacksmith had a smile on his face as he spoke, his pride in his work clear.
After dealing with Darell, Stark had taken his family heirloom, the swallow tail, along with him.
The weapon was too precious to leave to waste. Even with money, getting sothing of its quality would be too difficult, yet he could not just carry the swords of a dead lord around, so he visited a blacksmith to get it reforged.
There was just one problem, each blacksmith ended up smashing their anvil when trying to work on the weapon.
Only one man decided to take on the challenge after that.
They all greeted the blacksmith’s shopkeeper as they walked past her, and then at the front of the shop, displayed for the sake of showing off his skill to the world, was Stark’s blade, or rather, blades, since there were two.
"Here’s the beauty!" he said, a wide smile on his bearded face. "I don’t still know why you went for this design, but it ca out great!"
Stark stared at the sword and couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
The blacksmith had really outdone himself...
Hanging on the stand were two of the most beautiful weapons Stark ever had the privilege of seeing.
The first was a thick serrated dagger with an ornate hilt and a blue gleam.
Stark picked up the weapon and weighed it in his left hand.
’Perfect.’
The second was a short sword with a sharp slanted tip, a wakizashi, but unlike the first, this weapon was black with a silver edge.
Jade glanced at the weapon, and although she did not give any outward comnt, he could tell that she admired the workmanship.
"It’s perfect..." Stark said, before turning to the blacksmith. "How much will it cost?"
"You said you will pay for the cost of production as well as workmanship, right?"
"Of course, lay it on ."
The blacksmith waved his assistant over, who ca with a notepad and pen.
"Seven broken anvils, double furnace temperature, a week of work, paused orders...."
He continued on and on, listing a number of potential costs before showing him the final price.
"What the hell?"
Stark placed the sword on the table, still surprised by the price. What he was charging was more than enough to pay a person’s monthly tenth three tis over.
anwhile, Chubby appeared once more and landed on the table, hopping from place to place.
Since there was no need to hide that he could summon spirits, Stark often allowed the little guy to do as he pleased.
While he was bargaining with the blacksmith, the little guy walked over to the weapons and then suddenly expanded, becoming larger than them just before it engulfed the two blades.
"?!"
Jade snickered while both Stark and the rchant scread at the sa ti.
"Chubby!!"
"My sword!"
The spirit compressed back to its little size, the swords nowhere to be found.
Slowly, Stark walked up to it and smiled.
"My dear little spirit, my favourite among all others... you didn’t just eat my sword, did you?"
The spirit tilted its head to the side. "Huuuu?"
"Co on, spit it out!"
The spirit flew into the air... and ran.
As Stark chased after the spirit, it laughed, the god damn thing laughed!
"Co back here, do you know how much that thing costs?!"
Chubby then flew over a full set of knight armour and, just like before, expanded and swallowed the whole thing before going back to his original size.
The blacksmith scread, his eyes wide in shock, then he picked up an axe. "Get that thing out of my shop this instant!"
Stark was too concerned with catching Chubby to hear what he said.
Chubby was acting very strangely today... Before today Stark didn’t even know it could swallow things!
’And where are they even going?!’
He was too small to even contain everything he was eating. Yet he did not stop; he ate through a dozen more weapons.
Eventually, Jade stalled in front of the ball of doom and grabbed him with both hands to keep him in place.
Chubby was now, well, chubby...
The receptionist had run away from the fear of being eaten, Stark was breathless, and the blacksmith was furious, his face red from overexertion.
And the little fool was smiling!
"What the hell, Chubby? Are you trying to bankrupt ?" Stark scread, about to grab him when the rchant tackled him, pushing him to the ground.
Now lying atop him, the rchant grabbed his collar, a vein pulsing on his head as he scread, "You’re going to pay for everything that little demon ate!"
Stark glanced at the door, the thought of escaping briefly crossing his mind. He was already going to pay a large sum for the sword alone!
There were still a few coins left over from what he had stolen from the knight, as well as the little cash he earned as an adventurer, but he doubted that it would be enough.
He shot a nasty look at the spirit that was relaxing as though it had not caused his dilemma when Jade raised it up to her face, then observed it, and then her lips parted slightly. "Oh..."
"What do you an, oh?" he asked. The blacksmith’s hand was still wrapped around his collar and slowly making its way to his neck.
"The little guy is evolving—he’s about to ascend."
"Ascend?"
His ability [Spirit Herder] made him capable of ascending spirits. He had not fully figured out how the ascension worked since the information he got during ’synching’ was not sufficient, but he knew a few things already.
For Jade, the more she killed, the stronger she beca, and when she reached a certain point, she would ascend.
He assud it was the sa for his other battle oriented spirits.
But Chubby was a natural spirit, so he knew very little about him.
"We better get ho and put him down to rest—this is going to take a while," she continued.
Ring!
The door to the shop was pushed open, ringing the bell that hung above it in the process.
An elven man with dark blue hair, round-rimd spectacles, and an air of perfection stepped into the room and glanced around.
What his eyes landed on was two sweaty n on the floor, one atop the other, and a girl with a cold expression holding a fat spirit standing in front of them.
"Sorry for interrupting..." He turned around and left.
"Wait!"
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