It All Started With Lightning

A New Sword

William dragged his slightly tired body to the treasury building in the center of the academy. He had only fought the wolf today. Actually, it didn't even count as a fight, only the wolf had been defeated.

He had had enough rest while riding the wolf. That's why he was in a hurry to sell what he had. The feeling of not having a sword made him nervous.

When he arrived in front of the treasury building, he saw that it was crowded.

Normally, newcomers to the Academy would never visit this building. That was because they would exchange the corpses of the creatures they obtained for contribution points for missions.

Right now, everyone in this building was either at iron level or higher.

They would only exchange the corpses of the creatures they killed for contribution points or soul stones. Most students would find it a burden to hunt another non-mission creature.

Hunting can be "hard" for some people.

The attendant was a young man with short black hair and a long, straight face. He looked like he had just turned thirty.

"Why are you here?" he asked. His voice was a little harsh.

Because William did not want to show his strength, he did not circulate his qi when he met with humans.

He didn't care about the attendant's rude attitude and pointed at the bags.

"Bronze and iron level creature parts." He said.

"Bronze? Sir, it is not good to lie." Said the attendant with a frown.

William began to get angry. He didn't want to deal with such a cliché.

He frowned, "Fuck! Am I lying to you? Is there another attendant!?" He shouted and looked around. He walked past the attendant next to him and moved to the back.

He didn't want to deal with this guy. He hated judgmental people the most.

Hearing his yell, a female attendant rushed over to William. She had long braided hair.

"Sorry. What is the problem?" She had a worried look on her face.

"This man thinks I am lying!" he said, pointing to the male attendant.

"Sir, don't worry. If what you say is true, he will be punished." She frowned and looked at the male attendant. It was as if this woman was now his superior.

Meanwhile, everyone in the room had their eyes on William and the two attendants, but they were watching out of the corner of their eyes as if no one wanted to get involved.

William looked around. When he saw that no one was looking at him intently, he said, "I said I brought bronze and iron-level creature parts. He accused me of lying." He said.

"Sir, we are so sorry, please come this way and show me what is in your bag."

The young girl led him into a corner. After that, no one in the store followed him. (with eyes)

The male attendant followed them with an angry face.

William immediately took the heavy bags off his back and began to unload them one by one.

For some excitement, he took out the iron-level materials first. He had not taken anything that belonged to the worms that had not reached the iron level. He didn't want any unnecessary weight.

The young girl's face turned strange when she saw the iron-level teeth and heart. She glared at the male attendant beside her in anger.

After that, William carefully took out the bronze-level creature's teeth and heart.

The young girl's face darkened.

The young woman looked at the male attendant and said, "Go away, there is no salary this month. This is the second warning you've received. The third will get you fired from this building."

The male attendant made no apology. He muttered something with an angry face and left. He went to deal with the other students.

"Sir, as far as I can feel, what you say is true. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll check them out." She said.

"Of course." William stepped aside. He didn't think they would do the trick inside the academy.

The young girl came to the materials. Her eyes began to glow with a yellow light.

William knew that she was doing an eye technique by directing qi into her eyes, but he had never seen anything like this in technique building. He could guess that this eye technique was most likely something special that allowed her to sense the creature's origin.

After a while, the glow in the young girl's eyes faded and she turned to William.

"Freshly killed earthworms. One heart and 22 teeth at the peak of iron level. One heart and 28 teeth at the beginning of the bronze level. Am I right?"

"Yes, you are right. Your eyes are very sharp." He said smiling.

"Are you going to exchange them for contribution points or soul stones?"

William replied immediately. "Soul Stones."

"Okay, follow me."

Together they came to a counter. A teacher was sitting there.

The young girl approached the teacher and whispered in his ear.

The teacher nodded with a slight smile. Then he looked at William and said, "Why do you want Soul Stones? If you exchange them for contribution points, I can raise the prices for you a bit." He said.

William had already made up his mind. "Sir, I need a soul stone. Most of the things that work for me are bought with the soul stones." Said.

"Okey, whatever you want." Then he took out a piece of paper and a pen and started to write.

"Iron level teeth, two soul stones each. Bronze-level teeth, five soul stones each. Iron level heart, well preserved, twenty soul stones. Bronze-level heart, well preserved, fifty soul stones. A total of two hundred and fifty-four soul stones. Let's see if it suits you, let's make a deal." He handed William the paper.

William felt like the teacher was preparing a restaurant bill. When he took the paper and examined it, he saw no mistakes. He didn't know the prices anyway. He only had an approximate estimate, and this price was in line with his estimates.

"Alright." He handed the paper to the Teacher.

The Teacher immediately took the Soul Stones out of his dimensional bag on the table in front of him. They piled up like a mountain on the table.

Even the young girl next to him had greedy eyes. William noticed this. 'Who knows how many Soul Stones she takes in a month,' he sighed. He knew that such jobs were risk-free but underpaid. It certainly couldn't be compared to hunting.

Happily, he put the soul stones into his dimensional bag.

Before he left, he gave the young girl four pieces of Soul Stone as a tip.

The girl was very happy. Working with five Soul Stones a month was already exhausting, and the four Soul Stones she received now were very close to her monthly salary. She said "Thank you" several times.

William left the Treasury Building as a rich man, while he had entered it as a poor man.

It had been a very profitable hunt. Besides, he hadn't even handed over the missions yet! When he calculated the money he would get from it, he became four corners with pleasure. 'I'm rich right now!' He wanted to shout, but he knew it was best to keep a low profile.

He walked slowly to the cafeteria and had a good meal. This time he ordered extra creature meat. It was the meat of the Flaming Bull and it tasted excellent.

After he had eaten his fill, he walked quickly to the weapons building. This time, he should have taken a stronger sword. Since he was not short of money, he would buy the best he could find.

When he arrived at the weapons building, he found it empty. He didn't know why, but this place was deserted. Only two attendants were sitting in a chair chatting over tea, and a teacher was quietly meditating behind a desk.

The two attendants stood up at the same time when they saw William. Both of their eyes were shining. It's as if they said, 'Finally a customer!' They immediately ran to William's side.

They greeted him with the utmost respect.

"What kind of weapon were you looking at?"

William was surprised at how excited they were. He was even more surprised that this weapon building was completely empty. He couldn't guess why. 'Is it very expensive? Or is it too weak?" he thought about the weapons in the building.

"I want something strong," William said with a smile. Then he added. "And it must be extremely sturdy!" he said.

He pulled out the molten sword he had used before. "It couldn't bear me," he said with a sad face.

Listening to him carefully, the duo was shocked to see the melted weapon. How had he done this?

As the trio stared at the molten sword, William looked up to see the teacher at the desk across from them. He silently approached them and looked at the sword.

He quickly grabbed the molten sword out of William's hand. William didn't even react. He was shocked by his speed, but he couldn't make a sound. After all, he was a silver-level teacher.

The teacher had a long black beard and long hair tied up at the back. His body radiated a powerful aura.

He examined the sword carefully. Then he handed it back to William.

"Are you using the Execution Sword?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

William knew that teachers should be treated with respect, after all, becoming a silver level was not an easy job.

"Yes, sir! This sword was at the advanced apprentice level, had a kilo of black iron in it, and could not withstand multiple uses."

"Huh, what is a kilo of black iron? I examined your sword. It's a fine sword with weight and sharpness strengthenings, but it can't stand up to the execution sword technique." He said with a sigh.

Then the teacher's eyes began to shine. It was like a fox approaching its prey. "You want a sword that can withstand the execution sword technique?" he said.

William was uncomfortable with his look, but he did not show it on his face.

"Yes, sir. The tougher the better." He said.

"Okay, follow me." He said and started walking towards the second floor of the building.

William thought that even the swords on the first floor would be enough, but the teacher had told him to follow him. So he had no choice but to follow him.

From what he could see from the outside, the building was already two floors high. Therefore, the most powerful weapons should be on the second floor.

When William reached the second floor, his eyes feasted. There weren't many weapons here, but they all glowed with the splendor of power. He was sure that every sword he saw could cut through the sword he had used before like butter.

The teacher went to one of the shelves on the right. He picked up a classical longsword. He handed it to William.

William felt truly balanced as he picked up the sword. This sword looked like it had been carefully crafted, but it was not a sword that suited William. He preferred better-looking swords.

The teacher said, "Use the execution sword."

William did as he was told. The sword began to glow with an orange light. It wasn't really light. It was the color of iron that had reached its melting point from heat.

The teacher came closer and examined the sword. Then, "Okay, pull back the technique."

William wondered what he was doing. "What happened?"

"This sword cannot withstand your execution sword. You need something stronger. But it's the best level 2 sword we have. Besides, this sword contains ten kilos of black iron."

"Ten kilos?"

William was deep in thought. If he couldn't find a strong sword, he would have to change swords all the time. He didn't want to carry several swords in his dimensional bag or on his back. That's why he asked.

"Well, do you make swords on request?"

When the teacher heard this question from him, he was startled. But he wondered what he would say next.

"Yes, we do." He said.

William was delighted. He had a lot of black iron in his hand. It was a waste to keep it useless in the dimensional bag.

"Then how much would you make a sword with ten kilos of black iron?"

"Ten kilos of black iron? This sword is just like that. It is a second-level sword. And its price is one hundred soul stones without any strengthening." He said.

William felt that it would be expensive, but he didn't expect it to be that high.

"Well, how many strengthenings can be engraved?" he asked.

"Three level one strengthenings or one level two strengthenings." He said.

Seeing the teacher patiently answering his questions, William realized that he was also interested in the subject.

Finally, he asked the biggest question on his mind.

"How about a sword made of fifty kilos of black iron with two-level two strengthenings in it? How much would it cost to make?"

This question puzzled the teacher. Fifty kilos of black iron. It was a number that would force his hand.

"A thousand soul stones!" he said.

"And the only strengthenings?"

"Six hundred soul stones! Brat, if you're wasting my time, I'll beat you to the exit of the building." He said.

Since William was asking these questions, he must have thought he knew something.

"Then my last question! How many level one strengthening can be engraved into a sword made of fifty kilos of black iron? And the price?"

"Five pieces. The price won't go down. Five hundred soul stones again."

"Why?"

"Because Black Iron is already five hundred soul stones. A second level strengthenings one hundred soul stones. The first level strengthening is twenty soul stones. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. Then I want a sword made of fifty kilos of black iron. I want three weights and two sharpness in it."

The teacher was surprised by his words. How could this kid be so rich? It should be noted that even silver-level warriors could only afford a second-level sword.

"Okay, but we will take the payment in advance. Besides, why don't you use the second-level strengthening? After all, they determine the level of a sword." He said.

William replied ignorantly.

"Isn't the first level three weight strengthening better than the second level?"

The teacher placed his hand on his forehead. "Son, are you an idiot? There is a gap between every level. A sword can take up to five strengthenings depending on its quality, and I'm sure the sword you want to make can take two level two strengthening." He felt like he was talking to an idiot.

"Okay, I get it, sir." William did not want to show his ignorance anymore. Later, he felt that he should read books about it. There were many professions in this world that he did not know.

He did know blacksmithing, but it certainly couldn't be compared to the blacksmithing he learned in his father's barony. There were no strengthenings or special materials in the blacksmithing he had learned. It was classical sword-making with cold iron.

"By the way, I'll give you the black iron." He said.

"Really? Do you have that much black iron?"

"Yes!" William knew he had to get the black iron himself, out of trust in the academy teachers and because he could not afford such a sword.

He went to the table a few meters away and took out two handfuls of black iron. These two handfuls of black iron weighed fifty kilos!

The teacher approached and examined the black iron. "Standard black iron. Brat? Who did you rob?" he said, squinting at William.

William was alarmed. He did not expect to be questioned. So he immediately acted honestly and said.

"Sir, I usually hunt earthworms, I complete the missions of the mage Baldur. I found these 'by chance' in the worm mountains." He said.

The teacher turned his head and took the black iron from the table. "Anyway, we don't care where you found it. We take care of our money." He said. Then he turned back to William.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he held out his hands.

William realized that he wanted the Soulstones right away and quickly took them out of his dimensional bag. He took out two hundred soul stones and placed them on the table.

The Teacher was glad that his words had not been in vain. William had decided on second-level strengthenings.

"Okay, a sword with two second-level strengthenings. Come back in two days. You will have your sword."

William wasn't worried about wasting money or supplies, but he wanted to like the shape of the sword a little. That's why he asked boldly.

"Sir, about the shape of the sword..."

The teacher immediately cut him off. "Is there something you want?"

"Yes."

"Can you draw?"

"Yes. Do you have a pen and paper?"

"Get them." The teacher took out a large scroll and a pen from his dimensional bag.

William immediately spread the scroll out on the table and began to draw. He wasn't very good at drawing people or creatures, but when it came to drawing something he loved, he was excellent.

A few minutes later, he put the pen down on the table.

"I want this!" he said.

The teacher had been watching him draw all the time. He could honestly say that he was surprised because he had never seen a sword like this before. Since it was curved towards the tip, it would have made an excellent cutting sword. He realized that he needed to work on the balance a bit more. Besides, even the hilt was extremely shapely.

After thinking for a while, "Alright." He said.

"But three days. Because we need to work on the balance." He said.

William was pleased and accepted. It didn't matter if he waited three days to get this sword. He could even wait a month!

Feeling that his dreams were coming true one by one, William happily left the Weapon building.

As he walked out the door, he noticed that the sun was smiling at him.

He raised his head and smiled at the sun.

"What a beautiful day it is!"

...

AN: I know that when it comes to weapons, the first thing that comes to mind is hot weapons, but I want you to understand that this story does not take place in a world with technology. That's why when you think of weapons, please think of cold weapons.

Also, don't get too hung up on 'strenghtenings'. Everything is bound to change.