"Wait!"
A loud call from Ethan stopped these legs from walking. My body immediately turned around and looked at the man flatly. I felt the conversation between him and me was over. No matter how hard he tried to persuade me, I would never join the guild.
"What is it?" I ask.
"If you don't mind, will you be my friend?" asked Ethan, snapping his hands and looking to press the friend's menu on his status information screen.
I don't know what button he presses on the transparent blue screen. Suddenly a notification appears and shows a menu such as approval. On the screen appeared William Ethan's name and the words below. At first glance, I read like a friendship request.
"What is this function for?" I asked, curious.
"It's a friendship menu."
Eve walked up to me. I saw she seemed interested in what was going on with me. The woman started explaining the functions of the friendship page for us, one of which was for location and messaging.
"My location? But it's pretty dangerous," I explained, Eve nodding her head.
"There's a feature that allows you to turn off the location transmitter to your friends, so they won't know your exact position," Eve replied; I started to understand how things work from the friend's menu on this information status screen.
"But I hope you don't turn it off for me. I need your location if something serious happens to you," Ethan said.
I appreciate his efforts to protect me, but I think he has gone too far. Wanting to know the location and the possibility of sending snoopers to me are included things that violate my privacy. I'm sure Eve will agree with me.
"He's right," Eve answered, opposite what I'd expected.
"Do you agree with him?" I asked, Eve nodding clearly.
"He's the leader of a large group like a guild. So by being friends with him, you will get another protection even though you are not a member of them, "said Eve.
"What she said is true. You don't have to worry because we're a group that intends to care for each other," Ethan said, justifying Eve's reasoning.
I'm in a big dilemma. Between the two choices that appeared before me, I had to choose which one was better for me; either he could protect me or my privacy.
However, I don't want to stay in the shadow of the Union's protection forever. So, before I get strong, I will entrust the location of my existence to them. Then, once I get what I want. I'd be totally off of them.
With the decision I've been thinking about. I pressed the agree button, and suddenly a blue notification bar popped up that said something about Ethan and me.
[You are friends with William Ethan]
Not only me, but the notification bar also appeared in front of Ethan. I'm sure the message that was delivered was similar to mine.
"Thanks. I really appreciate that," Ethan said.
The man began snapping his fingers, turning off his status information. I did the same. Eve then asked me to immediately leave this place because it was getting late. She was worried about forest monsters that often appeared at night.
"Nicholas will take you out of this forest. Take care, Arthur," said Ethan, smiling as he held his right hand to me.
I shook the man's outstretched hand with a straight expression. He hasn't impressed me yet; somehow, Eve is the only one who always impresses me until she can make me smile widely. Then, we left the place accompanied by Nicholas.
***
Next day.
I looked at a calendar hanging on the wall; Eve always crossed every date that was passed. I can read it clearly, today is the 12th of Pranah in the year 809.
"They name the moons in this world differently."
I opened page after page of the calendar. There were five months with different names, starting with Yelf, Pranah, Ann, Saci, and finally Caturk. I'm really impressed and curious. How wild is the imagination of The Adamas Project administrator?
The wooden door opened, and Eve came in with both eyes looking straight into mine. She said that when she met his regular blacksmith, the man said that my weapon was finished.
"Have you prepared the money?" Eve asks; I nod as I walk toward my bedroom.
I haven't used the coin pocket the guild office gave me. Eve always refuses my wishes when I want to contribute money for daily meals. As a result, I kept it and haven't opened it since I was given it.
"Are you sure you don't need it?" I asked, coming out of the room carrying a few gold coins totalling 10.
"Isn't that obvious, Arthur? For the kitchen, let me take care of it. You don't have to give me the money you have," Eve answered.
"But I really want to help you."
"Thank you for your good intentions, but I still have some savings now, and my body is strong enough to carry out guild duties."
I was silent. I didn't want to argue any further because I realized that Eve's mood would turn worse if I did.
We quickly left Eve's house to walk to the blacksmith's shop where I had left the weapons to build. It wasn't too far so we could get there quickly. A big man cleans the weapons displayed outside the shop with a duster.
He immediately looked away when he saw two black shadows starting to cover the sword he was cleaning. The man smiled and greeted us with friendliness.
"It was you. Are you ready to see what your weapon looks like?" the blacksmith man asked; I nodded enthusiastically.
"Nice spirit. Come, please come in."
Eve and I immediately entered his blacksmith shop. The man was seen entering another room, only covered by a black pleated curtain. While waiting, I see Eve looking at the swords neatly lined up on the wall shelves.
Although she is good at using spears, she prefers to use a sword daily. She never let go of her sword, which is now in his waist.
Just as I was watching Eve, a loud voice startled me. The source of the voice came from behind my back. I immediately turned around and saw who had surprised me.
He is a blacksmith's man. He brought me two weapons, a sword and a stick. The two weapons I ordered were wrapped in a white cloth with ropes.
"I used the same material on these weapons, Impulseresin."
"Impulseresin? Why don't you use Chronotin?" Eve asked; she was more curious than I was.
"Chronotin is hard to get; even merchant guilds don't have one. That's why I used Seresin with the addition of other material extracts such as Nightresin and Edgelace," explained the man while looking at the two weapons he had made.
"That makes sense because if you just rely on the Impulseresin material, the weapon's resistance will be less," Eve replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.
Eve immediately looked at me with both her eyes. Then, she explained the order of stone materials often used for forging, from weakest to strongest. She said that Chronotin was the strongest material, while the weakest material was Chaindust.
The weapon material I use is the second strongest, Impulseresin. Additional materials are in the order of five and six, Nightresin and Edgelace.
"Why don't you use additional materials in the third and fourth-order?" I asked.
"If I add Archsilver, then your weapon will never finish. But, it's different if I use Stormgold; your weapon will feel as heavy as lifting two large stones," explained the blacksmith man.
"Besides, Nightresin is very much needed by your weapons, especially this stick. The material ability of Nightresin stone is more elastic than other stones, so it can be used to add materials to this weapon," continued the blacksmith man, pointing at the stick I ordered with his left hand.
I understood why he did that simply to optimize my use of weapons. My hands immediately untied the cloth rope and pulled out the first weapon I tried, the sword.
Just when I grabbed it, a notification bar appeared in front of me. It says that the weapon I'm holding has a name, Convergence.
"Convergence?"
"Did you name it without my permission?" I asked.
"Of course not. Just when the sword is finished, the name will appear by itself," the blacksmith man replied.
I looked carefully; this was the first time I felt I was holding a real sword. The VR gaming experience has never been so real. The blade is long, sky blue in harmony with the sword's handle.
The mass of the sword isn't that heavy; I find it easy to swing. It's the first time I've received a sword as I wished, but this is more than enough for me. At least this sword will be helpful for me to camouflage against the Alliance members.
"Would you like to give it a try, Eve?" I asked, handing the sword to the woman.
She accepted it gladly. Her face looks enthusiastic when swinging my sword several times in another direction. I could see blue light like sparks appearing in every blade swing.
"Then for this," I said, untying the cloth strap on the second weapon and taking out the stick I ordered.
The shape is quite familiar, like an elderly cane with a hand grip made of the same material. It felt so strong and stable, but I still didn't know how to turn it into a spear.
"How to turn this stick into a spear?" I asked, the blacksmith man pointing out a round button on the stick's handle.
"You just press it, and this wand will immediately change shape into a spear, as well as if you want to return to wand form."
I nodded. Immediately I pointed this wand at an empty area, and my finger began to press the circular button on the handle. I watched with admiration the transformation of a stick into a spear. The wand's handle is bent and looks like it's starting to shoot out a sharp blade, not as long as the blade of the sword.
"Amazing!"
The notification bar reappeared, showing the name of the spear that I was using. Its name is Allegiance, another meaning of loyalty.
"You make an awesome weapon, Sir," I praised the blacksmith man.
"I told you he would be able to make the best weapon for anyone, even for you," Eve said, returning the sky-blue sword to me.
"That's a nice compliment, but compliments won't satisfy me. You have to pay for it."