๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ล
I once again found myself in a hallway full of doors on each side. We headed left and continued walking until we arrived at a staircase leading us down.
The ground was becoming more different as I went down and sooner or later we would probably reach bedrock at this point but it was still amazing for these people to dig this deep.
We looked to our left and saw the cafeteria. "Hmm, no one's here yet so let's move on...actually let's nab a bit of breakfast first."
Shin said as he casually threw me a lunai frugt.
Without hesitation, I started biting on it, and immediately I became sick of the taste of it so, after one bite, I merely stared at it.
As time passes, it starts to regenerate, covering it with its skin and preventing its juices from leaking. My eyebrow raises as I witness it but I soon put it in my pack as we arrive at a certain place.
After entering the door to our left, we saw what looked like a mine shaft, with minecarts full of lunai frugts and ores for forging.
We continue along the side before stopping and looking at an old support beam.
"This thing is so close to collapsing, I wonder when they are going to replace it, just one good slash, and this entire hallway is cut off from the town."
We arrive at a room full of forges and anvils with a bearded man sleeping in a rocking chair, looking up there were multiple pipes used to redirect the smoke above.
'That must be the pillar of smoke that I sometimes see.'
Shin walked up to the bearded man with loud footsteps before rudely talking to him. "Oi old man, wake the fuck your old ass up, did ya finish what I requested?" He said while shaking him slightly.
"Huh, ugh fuck off, I'm too old for this shit and yes I did finish wasting a large amount of steel just to make that weapon for ya." The old man said while trying to focus his eyes.
He heads off into an anvil where something was covered by a white sheet. The man takes the sheet off to reveal a one-handed steel hammer.
The entire thing was made of steel, it had a surface on one side, perfect for bashing someone's head in while another had something similar to a blunt hook for more precise bashing. At the side of it was the symbol on the insignia that they gave me.
The steel handle had a magnificent handle covered by a leather strap.
Shin whistles as he feels the cold steel of his hammer with his left hand as he draws his sword with his right.
With a powerful swing with his hammer, he quickly follows up with quick slashes with his sword before making a combo utilizing both weapons.
"Still, what a waste of steel..." The old man commented as he goes to my side, watching him.
"Hey, the monster often times had really tough armor, having something blunt like this makes it easier." He retorted as he puts his hammer into his belt.
"Well, war-hammers and maces were made to destroy plated armor by making them unusable or outright piercing it because of the mace's spikes maybe even your hammer's blunt hook."
I commented with one hand on my chin.
The old man seems to finally acknowledge my presence as my comment surprises them. "Quite a knowledgeable fact, many don't know the real reason for bringing maces and hammers to battle except for the fact that it packs quite a punch. You, are you a weaponsmith of some kind?" He asked me, looking over my body before resting my gaze on my katana.
"Unfortunately no, I have no knowledge in practice, I only possess the information on how to do it precisely." I shook my head which he didn't see as he looked at my katana with infatuation.
"Is something the matter?" I asked but the old man doesn't respond.
"You, where did you find this weapon of yours?" He asked, looking at me with old yet experienced eyes.
"Well, as I said, I only possess the technical information but as for actual experience, I sorely lack it so I had a master swordsmith make it for me using my specification though he is a master swordsmith so all I can provide him is information about very specific things."
I explained, lying so naturally that it would make how I breathe seemed unnatural.
"Of course."
I handed him both the scabbard and the katana itself and the old man grasped it with his old yet strong and experienced hand.
He handled it like it was something very precious and drew it out.
Shin whistles as a glint reflect his bearded face but the man raises an eyebrow.
"Awfully light...but even then, it's still beautiful."
He looks at me as I respond. "Well, as you can see, I only possess one arm and a katana is a two-handed blade so I had a mage enchant it to make it lighter though it is a bit uncomfortable to use since I can't feel its actual weight."
The old man looks at me with respect in his eyes.
"Hmm, you speak like a veteran swordsman, ah! You're the kid that fought Shin right?"
"I really didn't do anything, In comparison, I only have level three in swordsmanship." I shook my head again, honestly, how many times will I shake my head denying something?
"Gah, our god is often a fool, this level that you're talking about only increases by the amount of monsters that you have killed, of course, it is a good determiner but there are still many factors on how to know one's skill." He casually slanders his god which made me raise my eyebrow up and ask. "And yet you're a believer of Megu?"
When I asked that, he seemed to give hearty laugh and spoke. "Well, the god of entertainment is a young god so he's bound to make many mistakes however what made me believe in him is that he always manages to laugh no matter how he screws up. That's why, this underground town, is still able to laugh no matter how dire our situation is."
As he said that, his eyes became somewhat blank before speaking again. "But that's enough of our god, I'm a non-believer like you are bored with believers like us preaching about how great our god is."
I give a short laugh and responded. "Well that is true in most cases but the god of entertainment seems like...an interesting god to me."
I give a very small smile before Akira screams. "Liar, you despise that guy!"
"I did say he's interesting, it could be interpreted as a good thing and bad thing."
At that response, he backs off. Akira knows well that the best lie is the one that's sprinkled with a little bit of truth.
He puts my katana back in its scabbard and hands it back to me. "This old fool is a little bit too old for a prolonged conversation about weaponry." He walks back and sits in his rocking chair before speaking again. "If you require a swordsmith then you will find me here wasting away, this body is only good for that anyway..." He said, self-deprecatingly.
"Well thank you, for the hammer again." Shin thanks him as he casually drags me to walk out with him. After looking over the old man, he doesn't seem to have any problem that I could help with so I didn't resist and left as well.
As we walk deeper into the mineshaft, I have an audibly loud sigh as my face became expressionless again. "The hell was that?" Shin stops touching his hammer in his waist like a kid having a new toy and asked me.
"What?"
"I mean, I still noticed that you take a good second or two to respond but I assumed that you weren't that sociable so I didn't expect your words to even move the old man."
"I think it's because we just share the same interest in weaponry."
He puts his hand on his chin and went into thought for a good minute before speaking again. "Well, your words do seem genuine, most people know about various weaponry for the sole reason of knowing what they can do and how to counter it with their own weapon."
"Well your not exactly wrong, I do have an interest in weaponry for quite a long time now so I tend to study a lot about them."
"You mean, procrastinate?" Akira corrected.
'Same thing.'
I retorted which led to Akira bursting out a "Wha-" before speaking again. He eventually backs off knowing that if I were to respond something clearly not true about a subject was a subtle way of telling him "Let's not talk about this".
We eventually reached another door, far more secure a sturdy than the last one which Shin casually entered with me following behind him.