I looked at the girl. She looked the same age as me, or maybe younger. Grandma spoke first.
"Ahh, you are late today. This is our neighbor. She came here recently, just like you, from another village."
I smiled as I greeted her. She smiled back and asked, "Which part are you from?"
Part. It probably meant which side, I thought to myself. If I don't say it, it might look suspicious.
"I came from the west." Since this was the north, I said a random part, hoping it wouldn't sound awkward.
The girl looked surprised.
"I came from the west too."
"Oh, I see. That's nice to know."
"I am Kuris."
"My name is Yui."
She was probably surprised hearing my name. It didn't fit the culture, did it?
"That's a rare name, I guess."
"Yeah, my father gave it to me." I made up a lie. I don't even know what my father named me.
"It's getting late. I should get going then." Kuris stood up and left.
I ate the food that was left for me as I told Grandma to go to sleep. I went to bed afterwards.
Today, I woke up early and went to that old man's place. I knocked, hoping a broom wouldn't fly past and hit me. The old man opened the door and let me in.
He handed me a broom this time.
"Clean the whole place with me."
I looked dumbfounded.
"Do I look like a cleaner?"
"Just do it," the old man yelled.
I sighed and started cleaning up.
"I want it done in five minutes."
"What? This place is big. How am I—"
"Did you eat your breakfast?" the old man asked before I could finish my sentence.
"No...?" I replied.
"I won't give you food if you don't."
Did the old man just threaten me? I should have listened to Grandma.
I hurried to clean the room.
As I swept quickly, I nearly dropped the bucket of water while cleaning. I finally finished cleaning.
The old man said, "Alright, very good. Now catch."
The old man threw a plate at me. I barely caught it.
"Huh?"
"If one plate drops, you have to pay me."
"Huhhhhh?! Why should I do this?" I asked.
"Don't you want training and breakfast?"
I sighed as I got ready.
The old man threw plates at me. At first one, then two, then three at once.
I nearly dropped them. I caught them and put them in the sink.
After this torture, I finally ate my breakfast. As I was about to sit comfortably, the old man told me to do the same training I did last time.
After a while, the old man took me to his old storage room. I thought it would have some normal stuff or weapons.
HOLY SHIT.
The room was filled with extraordinary weapons like giant swords, katanas, Yamato-style blades, and more. This man must have used all his money to forge these.
The old man told me to pick one.
I was excited and looked through all of them.
A few were too heavy to hold, especially the swords.
I am not good at aiming, so I didn't pick the bow and arrows.
Until I saw a katana.
It was light and easy to handle. I might cut myself using this, but it was still better than the others.
The old man spoke, "Well, it's a good choice. For that, you need an Amoider."
"Amoider?" I looked at him as if he had said an ancient word.
"An Amoider is something you use for weapons. It's like crystals, except it resonates with you and helps you absorb the power of Raiden."
"I see. Raiden?" I asked.
"Dumbass. Raiden are the main power source for Wardens. Since Wardens can't absorb orbs, they take Raiden for power, and the orbs are given to Lords. Raiden are smaller and weaker versions of orbs and are easy to find."
"Are there any Wardens out there who can absorb orbs?"
"Not a single soul. One high-level Warden tried, but ended up dead."
I sighed as the old man sent me out to the underground market to look for better Amoider for my katana.
But that leaves a question. Did that high-ranking Warden die, or was he murdered because he broke the rule?
I made my way to the underground market.It was huge, and it had a lot of different shops. A few shops had weapons, a few had books, and a few had stuff that looked like witchcraft.
As I followed the address the old man gave me, I remembered what he said. According to him, Wardens have different groups according to their which type of Raiden one can absorb. All weapons have a gap, I guess that's where the Amoider is placed. Amoider activates and enhances abilities only for a few moments using collected Raiden. And Raiden can be collected while doing mission or after giving orbs to lord. Well lords take hald of the good stuff it's not fair.
Following the address, I went up to a small shop. It had all kinds of crystals, probably Raiden.Before I could speak up, the seller told me to hand over my weapon.
He looked at it carefully.
"Well, you got a unique weapon," he spoke as he searched through his drawers and picked up a red crystal. He threw it at me, and I caught it.
I transferred the coins through my watch. As I put the crystal into my coat pocket and placed my katana away, I realized something.
Raiden are very expensive.
I was moving through the crowd to find the exit when someone bumped into me. This guy was running like dogs were chasing him. He got up and quickly ran away before I could say anything.
This place is full of weirdos.
I checked my pocket.
Shit. The crystal was gone.
I ain't buying another one with all those coins.
I sighed as I ran after him.