The old man led me further inside his shop. He went past me and flipped the sign to temporarily close his store. Afterward, the man returned inside and urged me to follow his lead.
I did as the bloke had told me and entered further inside the ragged store. And when I stepped into the next room, everything became different. The rusty metals and weapons were no more. The place wasn’t clustered, and my eyes saw no dust hanging from the creeks and the ceiling. My nose caught the fragrance of thousands of roses and spring, compared to the rotting stench of dead rats from the previous room.
Everything was different. Even the walls had been covered with fresh paint, and the weapons on stock were recently made. The anvil and the hammers were properly placed and organised on the desk. This man also had a fire pit ready to molten down the metals and forge the
“This Loan Agreement and Promissory Note was made last year of December 21, 2023, by Akai Sato and among the Crimson Guild. Borrower and Lender shall collectively be known herein as “the Parties”. In determining the rights and duties of the Parties under this Loan Agreement, this entire document must be read as a whole.”“Promissory Note. For value received, Borrower promises to repay to the order of Lender, the sum of €11,000,000 Euros together with interests thereon at a rate of 7 percent (%) per annum.”“The Borrower and Lender, hereby further set forth their rights and obligations to one another under this Loan Agreement and Promissory Note and agree to be legal bound as follows.”Followed by what I had read from the document, the list of rights and laws were
I swiped my hand and activated my hologram related to my system. My inventory popped up and revealed the numerous skins and materials my system had collected. And with one click of my finger, I summoned the item and placed it on an empty table. It was a goblin’s skin, one Vulcan had mentioned and needed earlier. I didn’t place everything on the side, since they wouldn’t fit. But I just wanted to show Vulcan what I was capable of and I was willing to help him. “This is…” Vulcan mumbled, as he picked one sword he had made from the table to his hand. He stared at it for a couple of seconds before throwing it away on the side. Vulcan’s eyes blazed in anger, as his cheeks turned red in hatred and despair. Instead of tears, sweat from his hard work dripped from the temple of his eyes. The eyebags resting on his sockets were evidence that he hadn’t had any dec
For the past few minutes, the workload was minimal. I barely did anything besides transporting the tools Vulcan needed and placing the sword and other items the old man made inside their containers. It was a breeze. ‘If this continues, we will craft those swords in no time! And within a week, I can finally level up and upgrade my sniper!’ I thought, while continuing to heed Vulcan’s instructions.The clock stopped moving, so I couldn’t count the time. And the outside world from this house didn’t show the sun if it had set or the moon was already up. The lighting outside the smithy was just enough to flash the room and made everything visible. So the only thing that helped us catch the time was the timewatch built in my system and the metronome-like watch that the old man had on his desk.Hours had finally passed in a blink of
Vulcan Petrov’s perspective_____________________________I met this kid a while ago. His name was Aoi. This boy was Japanese, as he introduced himself to me. My instincts told me that he was bad news, mainly after seeing the news labelling him as a murderer of people outside and inside the portals. However, everything had changed when the boy trusted me and showed his identity. If he was truly a killer - a menace in society - I would’ve died before I had the chance to plead for my life.The debt I accumulated drowned me towards the abyss. I didn’t know what to do after I made an enemy out of the Crimson Guild. But if someone would ask me if I regretted what I did, the answer was a simple “No”.This battle wasn’t just for me. It
Aoi’s Perspective____________________“I’m kinda also using you as a means to my end. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you. You have a family too, don’t you? You’re still a person. And from where I’ve come from, my sister would always tell me to help other people in need. When I do, those people that have helped would help me in return. So don’t worry about a single thing, Vulcan. I’ve got you covered,” I continued.When I said those words, Vulcan and I stopped for a second while averting our gaze. I might have already crossed the line, but it was far too late for me to take back what I had said. I recalled every word I spoke in our conversation. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself and told Vulcan he was a means to my end, not someone I tr
When Vulcan finished his work, the time outside this portal told us that it was already midnight. As soon as the old man struck the last metal with his hammer, he sat on the chair, legs apart, and wiped off his rivers of sweat from his face. And then he uttered.“I can’t believe it… Akai gave me half a year to do it. I couldn’t finish it at that time and knew it was impossible. But now, look at these,” Vulcan monologised, as he gazed at those one thousand pieces of equipment and tools he made on the table. “One thousand of them were all done within five days. If you told my past self that, he wouldn’t believe this. But here I am in front of my debt. With the help of you, kid. Of course.”As soon as Vulcan finished his sentences, he turned around and faced me. Even though I presently existed inside the smith, I wa
The day finally came. I didn’t sleep as much as I wanted to. But Vulcan told me we would meet Akai later this afternoon, so I mentally prepared myself and unequipped every related item and outfit from my sniper class system. I didn’t have my weapon with me, so that was a big problem. But as long as I could escape using the smoke bombs, maybe we could return for another round to fight Akai and his team. And that wouldn’t be a beautiful sight.Luckily, Vulcan had already told Akai that he would deliver the items to him - alone. We didn’t want other guild members to be involved with our business. Akai shouldn’t want that either. When Akai heard that we would personally transport the requested items to his guild, Vulcan immediately turned his phone off before Akai could say anything. It must have been rude for Akai’s side, but it was what it was. Vulcan made the weapons and
“Ah, yes. I almost forgot about that,” Akai said, and motioned his hand that he would follow Vulcan’s lead. "The trucks you ordered under my name. Yeah, yeah. I get it. Don't worry. I've already taken care of all of them. As long as you give me what I want, that is."Vulcan took the opportunity and led all of us towards the trucks. And when the driver and the staff from the moving van helped us open the truck's door, dozens of swords, shields, and platemail greeted our eyes."I forged each and every one of them, just like you've ordered. You can check it out if you want to.""I will."As Vulcan gave the go signal, Kei and Akai went inside the truck and checked the organised boxes. When Akai ripped the container open, he immediately witnessed countless b