:::[Adam's POV]:::
After separating from Liu and the others, I talked with Cristal privately.
"How was it?"
"As you instructed, I investigated the whole ship during the travel but there was nothing suspicious, at least for now. But if there was something I found odd, then it was the fact that three individuals that looked extremely overqualified for their current positions as crew members are traveling with Liu and the others. I believe that they are there to keep an eye on Liu and don't have anything to do with the people watching us."
"I see, Liu must have it rough too… I bet she already noticed them too, but she can't do anything about it."
"Yes, master, I believe so too. Still, I tampered with the system a little bit as you said, just in case."
This was something that I needed to do. Apart from putting a tracker on Verte (a light bracelet on her hand) in order to keep an eye on Liu's movement, I had also instructed Cristal to find out more about what was happening inside Liu's spaceship.
"Yeah, that should be enough for now…" I didn't think that I was too pessimistic, I was just being careful, considering everything that happened. "And after spending time with them, I have the feeling that they are not bad people. I hope I am right."
To be honest, I wanted to avoid fighting Liu at all costs.
"Master, you've worked hard these past few days. You have to take a little break after your duel with Liu, because, when you go to the empire you won't be able to take it easy anymore. If you have a mental breakdown now, then all of this would be for naught."
I know that I worked hard these past few days, because I had also increased the security around my parents without them noticing. I even prepared armors for them made with nanotechnology, a field that I more or less managed to master with Cristal's help. 'Well, I was just looking at her most of the time, so I still have a long way to go…'
Still, these were not worth mentioning. Because I thought that I should have done that since the beginning.
"Yeah, I feel like I am changing into a different person… Well, too much is never good. I will accept your advice, but for now, let's find this legendary master before the others understand what we are looking for."
*****
"Excuse me, I have a question."
"What can I do for you?"
"Do you know where I can find a blacksmith here? Or do you know an outstanding swordsman that I can consult with?"
I approached the female Zelphyre who worked inside the pub and asked her some questions.
If there's a famous swordsman here then he would be acquainted with a blacksmith, and if he was famous enough, the people living in this city should have heard of him.
'If that's not the case, then it will be hard to find a hermit in this huge city… It will take too much time. I hope I won't have to find someone who lives inside a cave or something…'
"A blacksmith? Hmmm… I am not sure if he is a proper blacksmith but there's this old man who is obsessed with weapons."
"That will do. Can you please tell me where I can find him?"
After that, she gave me the location of the mysterious blacksmith and I immediately went to search for the place.
Unfortunately, I was bad with directions and so Cristal was the one who lead the way.
This city had underground areas and it was not easy to find someone with that little information, mostly a swordsman that was not very famous.
According to the innkeeper, there were few strong people here, but she never heard of a swordsman in particular.
I started to get a bad feeling, considering that whether or not I found this master's whereabouts, I still had to go take the Holy Academy's entrance exam.
There was also that duel with Liu too.
'Should I just look for someone else? Or maybe I can train by myself…'
It took us more time than I thought to find the iconic buildings that the innkeeper indicated on a hand-drawn map. She was already a big help so I didn't complain, but we had to ask around as we progressed.
After searching through the city, we finally found the atelier that the innkeeper described, but it was already late in the afternoon.
I entered the atelier, and it was a little bit shabby, even though it was not that small.
It seemed like people living in this city relied on their gifts rather than on weapons, and so there were not many weapon shops or blacksmiths. Everyone built their weapon when needed one.
'Well, considering the forest surrounding this city, I don't think that there are many people who want to wage a war against this country… Explaining the lack of people who needs weapons.'
I looked around the atelier but I couldn't see anyone.
"Hello, is there anyone here?"
No one answered all could see was a collection of swords and interesting-looking guns.
I took a sword in my hand and swung a few times.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
It was quite heavy, unlike the plasma sword.
"It looks cool when you see them in movies but these swords are a little bit impractical, aren't they?"
"It must be nice to have a plasma sword, right master?"
"What's with that tone? I more or less build the plasma sword myself, so there's nothing wrong in comparing it to the others."
"If you say so."
I put the sword back to where it was and asked again. "Hello! Is there anyone here?!"
"Huh? Who is…Yik…there?"
A creature that had the head of a frog and wore a leather jacket appeared from behind a door. He was drunk and it showed in the way he walked.
'How bad is the business here?'
It seemed like no one even wanted to steal these weapons even though the shop was more or less left alone by this guy.
"Hello there, I want to ask a few questions."
"What? Yik.."
"I said, I want to ask you a few questions!"
"Croissant?"
"Tch, this is a waste of time…"
I became a little bit annoyed. As we searched for this atelier, we asked about a famous swordsman to the people we met, but no one knew this swordsman and it felt like he didn't even exist.
"Let's stop here for today, it will be counterproductive to continue searching at night."
"I agree. But I suggest that you don't give up yet, master. This swordsman holds one the key to the success of your ascension to your next level of existence."
"I know that. Let's head back for now."
I already knew that I was still weak and I needed to get stronger as fast as possible.
This feeling was a little bit frustrating. It was as if I was given a Lamborghini but before I could drive it, I needed to find the pieces of the key somewhere inside of a lake, and in addition to that, I needed to learn to swim first.
Still, this was not the time to complain about such a thing.
'No matter what happens, I won't die so easily… At least until I am married to someone like Liu.'
*****
:::[Third person POV]:::
When Adam was still on his way back to the pub, there was a ruckus starting inside the place.
"Who is that woman? She wants to fight with these guys?"
"But these guys are monsters. Look, they have four muscular arms!"
People began to chatter as they looked at a drunk woman who was about to fight three of the most dangerous race that lived in this city: the 'Quardons'.
This race distinguished themselves with their almost crimson skin and their four arms. They also had huge bodies and were blessed with flexible yet massive muscles.
"She should just accept their offers…"
"Yeah, why come to a place like this alone if you aren't looking for company."
Like everywhere in the multiverse, people always had different points of view of a single scene.
"Woman! You insulted my brother! Submit yourself or I will tear you apart!"
"Tear me apart? That's funny coming from three big chickens who are frustrated because they couldn't manage to handle a single woman."
"Woman! I will kill you!"
The atmosphere turned into a serious one, and some wanted to run away, those who wanted to stop the fight, and those who watched with interest.
Liu and her companions were not the types of people who involved themselves with such a trivial matter so they weren't present there. Consequently, they didn't know about this woman's situation.
The woman sat alone and drank alone at a corner of the pub when these three quardons tried to hit on her and failed miserably.
The woman was a half zelphyre, so had short black hair, but her ears were still pointy and her eyes were emerald greens. To put it simply, she was beautiful in a different way than normal zelphyre women.
"Humph, can you even do that?" The woman said, tempting the quadrons.
The oldest quadron brother snapped and used two right fists and tried to punch the woman right in the face.
"Die!"
When everyone thought that this was the end of this woman's life and that her face will completely be ruined, something unexpected happened.
Slash!
"You are full of yourself, aren't you?"
Before he knew it, the quadron's hands disappeared and landed somewhere on the floor.
"Guaaaa!" He couldn't do anything but scream in pain.
"Brother!"
"Woman, I will destroy you!"
The two remaining quadron brothers rushed at the woman like mad beasts.
The woman was calm and she held a long black stick in her hand. However, when she pulled the edge of the stick a black blade appeared from within, and in a blink of an eye…
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
… The two brothers lost their arms at their turn.
The woman displayed an incredible sword skill, and more importantly, she was not as weak as her physique suggested.
"This woman, she didn't use the power of a gift… It was pure sword skill and another type of power that enhanced her physical strength…" Cristal commented.
Cristal and Adam just arrived but Cristal's comment made Adam realize something.
"This is it!"