[Orpheus]
"Huh?" Orpheus answers while walking to the blacksmith's shop
[You do not have to speak aloud. Just use your mind. Anyways, why are you still wearing your glasses?]
'Why would I take them off when they help me see?'
[You fool. Those that absorb abilities from ability orbs have all maladies in their bodies fixed]
'Really, damn I should have listened in class'
After taking off the glasses, he stops at a wooden door
*knock*knock*
"I'm out of materials. Come back later" a feminine voice called out from inside the building.
"What? The blacksmith is a female?" Orpheus said baffled
*click*
The wooden door opened, revealing a young pink-haired lady, with soot all over her face and dress and her long pink hair tied in a ponytail.
"Hey boy, how old are you?" She asked
"Um, nineteen"
"Cool, just because you are nineteen does not give you the right to talk anyhow in the public!"
"But I did not say... "
"No, you said something. What is wrong with a blacksmith being a female?"
Orpheus stood embarrassed in front of her while trying hard to ignore the gazes from the onlookers.
"Oops, he asked the forbidden question"
"Yeah, he is going to end up like the person from earlier"
"You mean the person that she lobbed all her tools at"
"Yes, I kind of feel bad for this one though"
"Well, if you do not want to end up like 'that person from earlier', get the hell out of my yard" the blacksmith yelled at the onlookers before turning to Orpheus "and you too, 19-year-old boy." She banged the door in his face.
'Well, that did not go well at all'
[Tell her that you have an elemental gem]
'How will mentioning that change anything?'
[Blacksmiths go nut at the mention of elemental gems]
'Ok, if you say so'
"Hey miss, I have an elemental gem here!"
*Click*
The opened afterwards before a hand pulled Orpheus into the building.
"Where is the gem" the blacksmith asked Orpheus with a face filled with eagerness "by the way, I'm Sara"
'Costas, you were right. Blacksmiths go nuts at the mention of gems. She even introduced herself right away'
Orpheus surprised at the change of attitude, brought out the seven gems and gave it to her. She swiftly nicked them out of his hands, her smile becoming brighter.
"Whoa, it is not even one gem but seven different elemental gems. What do you want to use them to forge? Are you a two-handed swordsman, one-handed, dual wielder, berserker? Which one of them are you?" She asked excitedly
"Whoa, slow down a bit. I'm a dual wielder."
"Sure, please describe the weapon you would like to forge"
"I would like a blade with a toothed edge for the blunt side and a curved edge for the sharp side. In addition, chains should be attached to its hilt," Orpheus explains causing Sara's eye to twitch.
"Really, how long have you had this dream?"
[Exactly what I was about to ask you just now]
'Damn y'all'
"Whatever, let me just get a quick sketch of what you need" she hurriedly gave a rough draft of the weapon and presented it to Orpheus "something like this?"
"Yes, something akin to that" Orpheus approved
"Sure, let me start immediately since there's nothing I'm doing now. I'm going to use my strongest metal as a bonus" Sara began rummage around the shop for materials.
One Hour Later;
"Hey Orpheus, wake up"
"Huh?" Orpheus jerks up on the chair where he was napping and sees a blade covered with a fire veil "what is it?"
"It is time for binding the weapon. Step into this array"
Orpheus walks into the array prepared by Sara and stood at its centre. After seeing Orpheus stepping into the array, she cut his palms with a knife and set it over the array to let his blood drop on it before healing the cut. After placing his blood in the array, he felt a connection within him and the blade. Sara took off the veil covering the blade immediately after the binding process was completed.
"I call it, The Chained Blades" Sara introduced
"Um Sara, why is there only one blade?" Orpheus asked puzzled
"Oh, just imagine the weapon splitting at its hilt."
He did as she said and the blade instantly split into two with two chains at its hilt.
[Truly, this girl is a skillful forger]
'You are right about that but where are the gems'
[They are within the blade. She must have melted them during the forging process. Anyways, it is time to teach you the skill]
'We are still in Sara's smithy'
[It does not matter. Anyways, you know how to do the shadow teleport right?]
'Yeah, what does that have to do with this?'
[The skill you are about to learn is almost similar to that. The only difference is that you just to depict your shadow as a vacuum and put your weapon inside]
'Cool, what is the name of this skill?'
[The name of the skill is 'Void']
'Sure, let me try it out'
Orpheus did what Costas said and his shadow began to expand slowly. After the shadow had expanded to a suitable range, he put his blade into it and the blade disappeared immediately along with the shadow shrinking back to its normal state.
"Whoa! But how do I get it out?"
[That is easy. You just have to place your palms above your shadow and try to feel a connection with it. After you feel the connection, instruct the shadow to hand you the blade. Alternatively, just do what you did to perform the void. The only difference is that you are imagining your weapon before bringing it out]
Orpheus chose to use the first method and his shadow extended to his arm, covering it before returning to the ground. Just after the shadow had returned, his blade resurfaced in his hands.
'Hmm, so he is of the darkness element.' Sara finally understood what Orpheus was doing
"Sara thanks for the blades. Here's your imbursement" Orpheus placed his weapons into his shadow and tossed a gold gem towards her before leaving the shop
"Sure, come again anytime"
——————————
Orpheus walked back to the academy while smiling happily until a guard approached him.
"Orpheus, the Dean wants to see you in his office right now." The guard said before walking away.
'Why would the Dean want to see me of all people?'
Orpheus walked into the admin block of the academy and made his way to the Dean's office. He got to a door with the label of 'Dean' on it and knocked lightly.
*Knock*
"Come in" a voice said from behind the door
Orpheus walked into the office and stood facing the desk
"Sir, I heard you wanted to see me"
"Yes, yes, yes, please have a seat." Mr Philippos said
"Ok sir." Orpheus sat on the couch in the office
"Okay, so straight to the point," Mr Philippos cleared his throat, and adjusted his glasses before continuing "I don't know how to tell you this. Hmm, your family was murdered yesterday morning"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"