"Huh, this surely is weird."
The spawn of Xuanlong scoured the inner space of the forge. Multiple weapons of many kinds were sighted and appraised, yet none of them linger for much longer on the grasp of the tall shadow that was looming every path of the large forgery.
"My sword… where is it?"
Like a longing lost child who had just been left in a haunted mansion, she anxiously tried to find her exit from the predicament in the form of the promised yet unfinished sword.
"Maybe that old man lied and hadn't really worked on my sword." She had her shred of doubt as her frown became more and more noticeable. "Think, Shujiang, think!"
Shujiang scratched her hair with frustration.
"This won't happen if that Delamuion kid didn't have enough 'lifespan' to last him for generations!" Shujiang's face was covered by creeping darkness. Her facial was engulfed, before a singular giant golden concentric eye took over her whole face. "Then again, no matter how I look at it, it's such an annoying curse to disable my hands from taking any lives that are far away from their supposed end."
She seemed to be frustrated due to herself more than the fact that her plan was unfoiled.
"Urgh! The Onyx's blood will truly dry at this rate!"
All of her preparation and trickery would go down the drain if he didn't find the unfinished sword soon. Then again, she didn't even know if that sword existed.
"Wait." She stopped on her track. Her whole face could be discerned again clearly again as the singular eye disappeared. "He mentioned too much about the flower garden. Is there supposed to be anything there that I must see before entering the forge?"
She hurriedly exited the forge and went to the aforementioned flower garden. The sight of the beautiful collection of rare if not legendary botanical material for unorthodox smithing should put a smile to any expert blacksmith who knows of their worth.
But Shujiang wasn't a blacksmith. A typhoon that comes and goes without intent nor announcement won't really care for the trivial matter beneath its raging wind.
The flowers didn't get the wind of what was going on, they smiled and waved regardless of anyone who came to see them.
"So this is the flower garden." Shujiang stood tall with an arrogant grin and crossed hands. "I must admit, I didn't quite notice their presence. Maybe if I lived a better life, I can understand the beauty of every single piece of you."
Just right in front of the medium-sized garden was an imitation of a small tree stump. On top of it, was the filled watering can made out of light steel with various coloring patterns that imitates rainbow cockatrice.
Shujiang picked up the watering can. A loud tick could be heard as if something was triggered.
"Ohoho!"
She then attempted to water the garden just as she supposed to when she came to this place.
Shujiang made sure to carefully water every single one of the flowers with their fair share of needed value. In the middle of the watering, faint bluish light was emitted in many mineral veins of the flowers. Her eyes wandered, and with a certain position and angle, it became even more noticeable in a certain direction.
"And the light guides me to the north."
There, a fluorescent light was painted on the side of the bench beside the garden. The letter was out of bound as the other part was painted on the well that was six meters away from it. When read, it spelled 'The sword is on the centerpiece'.
Shujiang glanced at the center part of this mountain's giant man-made crater, and a tall stone box emerged from the ground with the sound of stone grinding one another.
"That old man sure is bored… Though, I'm kinda impressed, I guess." Shujiang smiled in contentment. "I guess that fits the 'Nihil' side of things. If there is no meaning to life and the universe, then might aswell do a completely convoluted step to display a single sword!"
One side of the tall box fell to the floor, revealing the unfinished sword that was ordered by the fake persona of Angravada for the fake friend.
The sword was a 3 meters one-sided straight blade with almost a half meter naked tang. Voids of color could be seen on some part of the blade, a sign of an unfinished blessing that was halted by the doubt that put its creator to rest it underground.
As Shujiang got her hands on the rough tang of the sword, her face showed a great wave of happiness akin to a child that was given a christmas present after waiting for a long time. The drool from her mouth even stained the sword.
Lacking patience, she rushed to the forgery and hurriedly worked on finishing the sword. Shujiang might not be the best blacksmith, but she recollected some memories of doing some blacksmithing in some part of her life.
"I might not be the best cook, but I have done some cooking in some parts of my life." Angravada's face melted with comfort after she took a sip of the piping warm Styh Soup. "We might not have the best ingredient, but it is better than eating unseasoned fish."
"You know what's better?" With his pointy pair of front limbs, Kivas held plenty of Styh Soup in an improvised bowl made from wood, carved by Angravada while he worked on the cooking of the soup. It was rough and not perfectly smoothened, but for a being with 20 percent teeth, Kivas had no problem enjoying the meal with his limbs dexterity. "This creamy vegetable soup with seasoned fish! Having these vegetables alone is not enough to nourish your body well, having fish as part of your daily meal is good because it's rich in omega-3 fatty acid. It also has a good amount of minerals, and low-fat high quality protein." Kivas proceeded to slurp the soup again.
"If I said bluntly, you seem to not strike me as someone who cares for their meals, brother."
"I guess the humans in Sir Kivas' world care for such things?" Angravada got a big question mark on her head. Albeit, with a much more playful demeanor than herself back then. It seemed like the soup was the culprit for her uplifted mood. "For the people in this world, we just think of how to fill our belly and what makes food delicious and easy to eat."
"Is this Styh Soup popular in general, or only for the Rotatashk people?" Kivas asked with genuine curiosity.
"Well, it's not widely accepted as much as my enthusiasm that you saw." Angravada spooned another piece with a disheartened look. "People didn't like the soft and creamy texture, and most think that mashing vegetables down into bits is disgusting. As for my people, only a handful of people with the majority of them being the elderly even wanted a bowl of Styh Soup beside in emergency."
"That definitely reminds me of the characteristics of a rodent."
"You mean by the fact that a rodent's diet consists of mostly hard things because they are omnivore?" Semper grinned.
"We're not exactly rodents, though…"
After the hearty meal, Angravada began to pack up her belongings. Kivas helped with the clean up. After everything was done, the rodent lass walked onto the front of Kivas before kneeling with her forehead slammed onto the ground.
"Sir Kivas! Please help me go back to the town!"
"You know, you don't have to slam your head into the ground."
"Fufufu." Angravada held up her face, revealing a smug smile. "Doing so will actually increase the chance of successful negotiation because of the sympathy factor."
"Explaining why you do that doesn't really do it either."
A strain of blood began to run from her forehead.
"Eh?"
"I told you…"
Eventually, Kivas accepted Angravada's plea for help. But before they could even get somewhere, they needed to take care of Angravada's wound first with the first-aid med kit within the rodent lass' bag.
It was an amazing sight to see for Kivas. All she needed to do was to pour half of a red liquid from a small flask and drink the other half. In just thirty seconds, the wound began to close up into a scar and the next healing process began immediately after.
"Let me guess, the people in this world call it Healing Potion." Kivas excitedly pointed his front right limb.
"No, they are called First-Aid Flask, or F.A.F for short." No matter how many times it happened, Angravada was still both amused and weirded out by the energetic culture shock of the beast that she believed to inhabit the soul of an old man. "They can't heal a large wound or attach a detached limb, but they can prevent a small and medium wound from going worse by accelerating the body's repair system and giving enough resources to enhance the process."
"That sounds surprisingly scientific."
"They also cost quite a lot…"
"That sounds surprisingly realistic."
Despite the difference in culture and nature, both Angravada and Kivas communicate quite well with one and another.
On the other hand, this interaction was also an amazing experience for Semper who was deprived of social aspects in his life. Just as both Kivas and Angravada bickered about the market for the F.A.F, he telepathically told the story with his perspective to all of the Samsong's personalities in the main body.
They all had their share of fun as well.