After passing six street posts.
I finally arrive at the seventh street. The number of establishments here is more than the food market in front of the capital.
A lot of weapons are for sale, but the quality is what I needed the most.
"I should have asked Florhen which store sells the best quality."
"If weapons of great quality are what you need, then go to Blacksmith Meliru," a person suddenly spoke to me.
I look back and see no one.
"Hey, below here."
I looked down and saw a child. Height-wise, he's just about the height of a bush
"I'm not small, alright, you're just tall," he exclaimed.
Haha, that's funny. I remember hearing those same words from couples buying at the convenience store.
"Also, I'm a dwarf, so that explains it."
"Dwarf?"
"Yeah, got a problem with that?"
"Oh, no no." I coughed as I looked at him. "I'm Leciro Green, a traveler. Nice to meet you."
He extended his hand, so I reached for it for a handshake.
"My dwarfin-kins named me Xenon. I've been living around here as an apprentice blacksmith in Meliru."
"Is that so? Then can you guide me there?"
"Absolutely!"
Xenon happily walked as I followed him behind. He guided me to a small, rundown, broken store with a slightly open window.
Oh
"Is this a scam?"
Interesting.
I spoke accidentally, exchanging my inner thoughts and my words of speech.
"WHAT, no, of course not. Meliru is well known best blacksmith around here!"
"Whoops, my bad. I wasn't planning to blurt that out."
Although the well-known best blacksmith title isn't giving well right now.
"Master! I brought you a customer! I told you I can do it," Xenon shouted as he entered the house
Oh well, here goes nothing.
I entered and was welcomed by another Dwarf, older than Xenon.
"Oh, xenon, I didn't know you could actually get us some customers, huh?" the old dwarf said as he approached me.
"Apologies for the late introduction, I'm Geroz the Old, blacksmith of the Dwarf-kin."
"Greetings, I'm Leciro Green, a traveler."
"Nice meeting you, young sir, what can I do for you?"
"I'm looking to buy a sword, I'll be needing it for the Guild physical examination next day after tomorrow. Is that alright?"
"Oh! Is that so? Then please feel free to look over our ready-made sword."
I approached the shelf full of hanging Swords. Long swords, pointed swords, machetes, knives, and even daggers.
"Do you have experience in wielding weapons?" Geroz asked.
"Unfortunately, no, I'm from Mesiah Village."
"Oh! What a peaceful birthplace you came from. No wonder you're not used to weapons."
"Right..."
Ever since I learned that Mesiah Village was known for being a 'normal village' I tend to use it as my escape answer to avoid further confrontation about my identity.
"For someone as petite as you, young lord. I guess a normal blade should suffice. Long but not too long sword like this." He pointed, "Please try wielding it."
"Okay"
As I grip the sword handle with both hands. Purple light appeared. Lighting the whole Room.
The whole place shakes as multiple massive cracks of thunder-like lines manifest in the air, together with small black dust forming.
"WHAT?!" we unanimously screamed.
Xenon ran towards Geroz as Geroz used a kind of Barrier for the two of them.
"Young sir dodge!" Geroz shouts as he suddenly creates the same barrier he's using to protect them, in my face.
The swords I was holding shattered into pieces, sending all parts flying around.
Finally, the sudden quake, cracks, dust, and Light subsided. I suddenly felt exhausted, so I used the nearest shelf to maintain my balance.
"Are you alright, sir?" Xenon worriedly asks.
"I am, I'm just a little bit exhausted for some reason."
"It's because you just released massive mana," Geroz explained.
I looked at him
"Mana?"
"Yes. You said you're from Mesiah Village, yes? Because people there don't have magic so they tend to use normal tools not imbued with a magic stone. Also, because normal tools are less pricey than magic-stool imbued tools."
"That means?"
"That means you must be living your life without knowing you have magic all this time. Magic only reacts to weapons or tools imbued with magic stones, which also means you can't just randomly use Weapons with magic stones that don't have the same level of affinity with your magic."
Oh, I didn't know that.
"Apology, I wasn't aware."
"It's no problem, you're from Mesiah, so I lowered my guard and thought you had a magic deficiency and could wield any sword."
He apologizes as he gave me a spare stool to sit down
"With that said. I guess we'll be needing to create your own weapon now. Testing all swords here without proper precaution will cause multiple explosions."
"I'm sorry. I'll play for the damaged sword."
"Oh no, please, it's alright. Destruction of weapons is a normal day for a blacksmith like me. As long as the magic stone is working, then I can put it on another weapon," Geroz explained
"Uh... The stone turned to dust," Xenon added.
Geroz could only faint
"I'm really sorry, I'll pay for it."
"No, no, it's alright. That just means your Magic affinity is higher than Tier 2 stones."
"Tier?"
"Yes, stones have Tiers. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the usual for adventurers. But if you have High Magic affinity, then your stone tier should reach 5, 6, 7, and 8."
"How about Tier 9 and 10?"
"Well, material-wise. The resources for tiers 5-10 are already hard to find. So tier 9 to 10 is likely to be Rare materials." Geroz
"As far as I know, the only Tier 9 in the empire is the weapon of the crown prince," Xenon added
"That's right, it's pretty much just royalty who have those kinds of tiers."
"I see.. Then what should I do for now?"
"For now, look at these stones," Geroz pulled out a box full of stones.
"These are all magic stones. We can test what kind of Stone can wisthand your magic and then make it your weapon," he explained
Is it really alright? What if it explodes again....
"I know what you're thinking," Geroz spoke.
"Please do not worry. The quality is what we like here in Meliru, we prioritize that more than quantity for the safety of my customers," he added.
"Alright then"
The moment I tried to reach my hand into the box. Geroz created a barrier protecting both of them.
Here goes nothing.
Touching the stones. The same scenario erupted. Quake appears, cracked light and dust floating. Unlike earlier, this was more massive cause there were multiple stones in the box place.
Maybe we shouldn't have done this!
The moment the purple light dimmed. Geroz cast another barrier to me. And then the whole box exploded, sending the window and the door flying.
Oh no, I wrecked the whole wall!
With that commotion. People came flocking inside. In which they all found us lying on the floor, coughing from all the smoke and dust.
"Oh dear, are you alright?" Concerned people asked.
"Yes, yes, where fine. It's just Magic stone testing," Geroz said as he swatted the smoke away.
With his words, the people calmly left the scene, telling us to be careful again.
"What's the situation of the stones?" Geroz asked Xenon.
Xenon glanced at it and said
"Dust. Nothing is left," He nervously said.
"What a miracle."
"Is that really something you call a miracle?" I coughed as I asked him.
"No, no, of course not. It's just that the stone inside the box was Tier 5 - 6, which left us with Tier 7-8 to test." Xenon replied.
"I'm not touching another stone." I denied him.
"Oh, please don't worry. This just meant you're a Tire 7 user." Geroz happily exclaimed.
"What do you mean?"
"The box itself has a magic stone. It's a Tier 7 type of stone that Xenon created when he started being my apprentice."
"WAIT WHAT, I KNEW IT! SO THAT'S WHY THIS BOX WAS FAMILIAR," Xenon screamed
"Oh. So that means I'm tier 7?"
"Yes, yes."
"But what if I didn't touch the box?" I said
Xenon suddenly throws the box at me, and I catch it reflexively
"See. No shining explosion happened." Xenon proudly said
That was dangerous. My reflex on catching boxing from all the restocking I did in my previous job really sticks off.
"With that said. We shall create a weapon with Tier 7 stone."
At least I learned about a lot of things today.
"Thanks, also, can we make it a secret?"
"Secret?"
"Yeah. You see, I kinda don't want people knowing I have magic. I listed it as confidential on my Guild information."
"That's no problem, Young sir. Whether you have a Magic stone in your sword. If you tell people you're from Mesiah Village, they'll just assume you're a warrior or some sort."
Right, that will work.
"I shall create the best weapon for you."
"Thanks, uh, but what should we do about the type of swords I'll be using?"
"Please leave it to me. I have a vague image of what kind of weapon is suitable for you."
"Alright, then please surprise me."
"You got it, young sir. Please come back here again tomorrow."
"Oh yes, yes. Thank you"
I said as I walked outside the store.
Come to think of it, I haven't asked for the price yet... Anyway, I hope it's something I can pay for.
I also want to thank them for helping me learn about what kind of Tier I am. If I visited the jewelry store and accidentally touched a stone there, it could have not ended well.
This also meant Misha Louvelen's magic is top-tier. Maybe the rumors of her necromancy weren't a lie.
"Maybe I should test my magic for now."
With that in my mind. I returned to the guild, asking if there were any non-combatant quests in the forest that I could do to earn some money and use it as an excuse for testing my magic skills.
The receptionist gave me a poster with a Flower image drawn on it.
"This is?"
"Hernflo, it's a type of flower plant that grows below the cliffs around the Herion forest."
One copper per green typed flower. Two copper for the orange type flower and one silver for the red type flower
"Red's pretty pricey, huh?"
"Yes, it's kind of rare and well-suited for medicine and potions, its consistency is better than the other types."
"Oh, okay, I'll take this then."
"Great, have a safe trip!"
I walked outside towards one of the forests here in Herion Capital. It's not that far, but the walking trail is a bit hard.
"Cliffs right...."
Then I should go start looking for cliffs.
After an hour of looking.
I finally found Twenty-two Green and Five orange type.
"Red is really rare, huh?"
As I packed up the flowers I found in the trail in a bag I got from the guild. I finally found the best place to test my magic.
Alright then. Time for some training.
I don't really get how magic operates in this world as someone who came from a world with no complex magic things other than math, taxes, and student Loans.
"How do I even manifest magic? Do I need to make hand movements and chants like how they do it in movies?"
I said as I lifted up my hand facing a tree.
"Abrakadabra?"
...
"Magic beam!"
....
"FIREBALL!"
.....
"KAMEHAME HA!"
....
Okay, this is getting pretty embarrassing now.
"It's not working, huh?"
As I thought of things, A dog-like animal suddenly appeared at me. Its eyes were glowing red, and you could easily tell it wanted to kill me.
I hurriedly carried my bag without looking away from the dog. The moment it senses that I am fleeing, it charges at me.
To avoid it, I jumped to the side, rolling and hitting my back against a tree trunk. Which made me have a hard time standing as the pain throbs in my back.
",, ugh damn it".
I forgot this is a forest, and Florhen said monsters have been frequently seen around the capital. I shouldn't have lowered my guard.
The dog charged again.
This Time, I grabbed a wood beside me and used it to block the mouth of the dog. With just enough force, I kicked it on the chest.
Used the Wood and stabbed it in the eye.
The dog-like monster wails in pain as I pant heavily, trying to maintain balance. In just a moment, the monster was able to stand back up, facing me.
My heart beats so fast.
Fear was slowly creeping up on me.
My breathing is all over the place, as I was terrified by the beast looking at me
Damn it,
I ran
Ran as fast as I could.
But the monster still caught up to me. Jumping in front and blocking my way.
Breathing heavily, I could only scream in fear.
"Stop, no! Don't come near me!"
Amid all that, the monster charged at me.
I instinctively blocked my face.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The moment I screamed, a black circle appeared below the monster; it looked like some kind of Liquid. White hands appeared, and they grabbed the Monster, ripping its body gruesomely as the hands pulled the ripped body parts inside the liquid darkness, disappearing from my vision.
"What... just happened?"
I pants slowly as I felt reassured that I'm safe. The adrenaline I felt is slowly disappearing from my body.
I lifted both of my hands and looked at them.
"Is this Misha Louvelens' magic?"
With blurry vision, I closed my eyes.
"Necromancy"
The rumors said Misha Louvelen did.
" ... Witch"
I spoke as I passed out.