"Hmm? Sure." Aika didn't think much about it since it really was Tsubaki's job as a blacksmith and her judgment would help the others to have assurance in her sword. Aika handed over her nodachi towards her.

However, when Tsubaki was about to touch the hilt of the sword, her hand suddenly stopped midair. Everyone then looked towards her and noticed that she was sweating profusely, "Tsubaki?" Finn asked with his brows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" Aika also asked in confusion.

A few seconds later, Tsubaki took back her hand and shook her head, "I can't check your sword..." She then looked straight towards Aika, "It feels like it's going to consume me..."

"What do you mean?" Aika asked again.

"I don't know... It's just that my instincts as a blacksmith are warning me against this sword... What the hell is that thing?" Tsubaki stared at Aika's nodachi. Although she was fearing the unknown feeling which it was giving her, she was also very interested in it.

"Really?" Aika then looked towards Sona and Koneko, "Do you feel the same?"

Sona rubbed her chin in contemplation before directly grabbing the hilt of the nodachi, "No... I don't feel anything."

Koneko did the same and also shook her head.

As a curious one, Tiona approached them and asked, "Hey, can I touch it?"

"Sure." Aika handed it to her. If there would really be a reaction, then it would probably happen to someone Shop was not close to her and she wanted to see it.

Tiona, without any reservation, grabbed the hilt of the sword. However, the next second, black and red aura like energies emerged from it and started wrapping around Tiona's arm.

Tiona immediately dropped the sword and jumped back with a horrified expression, "Tiona!" Tione shouted in concern while the rest readied their weapons just in case something else happened.

"Woops." Aika caught the sword before it touched the ground and said, "I see... It looks like you don't want to be touched by strangers. I'll keep that in mind."

"Tiona, are you alright?" The girls of the Loki Familia approached the sweating Amazoness and helped her stand up.

"I'm alright... But what the hell was that? That was scary..." Tiona replied with a strained smile.

"R-really, what the hell is that?" Tsubaki muttered with a twitching mouth. She thanked her instincts.

"Scary?" Lefiya muttered. She and the rest knew that Tiona is one of the fearless ones in their group and to think that she was scared.

"Just for reference, what did you see?" Aika suddenly asked, not minding the defensive look they were giving her and her sword.

Tiona was able to calm herself down after taking a few deep breaths and her usual smile returned, "I saw the two silhouettes of giant dragons eyeing me. If that makes sense."

Ais twitched when she heard about the dragons, however, Riveria immediately grabbed her hand to calm her down. Ais nodded at her and signaled that she wouldn't do anything.

"I see... Two dragons, huh." Aika muttered in understanding.

"That weapon... It's alive, right?" Tsubaki suddenly said.

Everyone from the Loki Familia was startled at her words, as this was their first time hearing about a weapon being alive.

With a big grin, Aika only answered, "Yep~."

Sighing, Tsubaki continued to answer for the confused expressions of the Loki Familia, "I only heard about it from Hephaestus, but it seems that in this world, extremely capable blacksmiths can imbue thoughts or will into their weapons. I'm not capable of doing the same, however, it seems that Hephaestus created a few of them in the past."

"By giving the weapon its own awareness, you could make it so that it would only allow the wielder or the creator to use it. There are also other uses, but Hephaestus didn't say anything else as it would only corrupt my understanding regarding the weapons since I haven't reached that level yet."

She then looked towards Aika again, "Can I ask who forged this?"

Aika thought for a moment and recalled what Kisuke said regarding her Zanpakuto. Although the shape of the sword and its spirits were shaped by her nature as a Shinigami, the materials used were her Sacred Gear. So in essence, the one who forged her Zanpakuto was the Biblical God, "He's not around anymore and I'm sure that no one knows about him here, so I'll spare you the effort of searching for him."

"...I see."

Although incredibly curious, Finn didn't have the right to poke his nose into their secrets. He clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention before saying, "Let's prepare to set off tomorrow. We'll change lookouts every 4 hours."

After dismissing everyone, the trio immediately separated themselves to prepare for tomorrow while Tsubaki offered to do some maintenance on Ais' sword, which was already a 'Durandal' from the start, "Sword Princess, show me your weapon. It probably needs maintenance."

"...Please do." Both of them then separated from the group.

In Tsubaki's tent, Ais watched her as she cleaned and sharpened her sword. A few seconds later, Tsubaki started talking, "Still, to think the little girl from back then would now be the Adventurer representative of the city... Guess I should have established a contract with you? What a waste that I didn't..."

Ais only stayed quiet.

"...Well, not really." said Tsubaki as she suddenly took back her words, which startled Ais a bit, "To be honest with you, Sword Princess, I did not feel a shred of desire to create weapons for you back then."

"Ten years ago... or rather, nine years ago, wasn't it? You were like a drawn sword back then. You kept fighting regardless of how damaged your edge became. I didn't think you would live very long."

Ais stayed silent as she couldn't deny any of her words.

"Why did you think I would make a weapon for someone like you, who viewed yourself as nothing more than a sword?"

"I..."

"That's right, you were not a weapon user. You were like the weapons that we forge. 'Sword Princess' was a rather ironic nickname that the Gods decided to award you back then. The name was just a joke. The only thing I wondered about was when you would break."

Thanks to Tsubaki's words, Ais recalled Loki's words too, 'Ais, If you keep running by falling forward, you will eventually stumble and trip. Don't forget this, all right?' While regretting that she couldn't change, Tsubaki suddenly said something contrary to that.

"However, you've changed."

"Eh...?"

"I'm saying that you've mellowed out. While people used to describe you as a doll, your expressions have softened."

With a frown, Ais asked, "Do you think that I have become weaker?"

"You've probably become stronger. Your level has been going up after all."

"That's not what I meant!"

Tsubaki became silent for a few seconds and finished the sword's maintenance and handed it over to Ais, "Maybe you've lost your edge, but if I was to describe you as a sword, then it would be because you've found your sheath."

Ais' eyes slightly widened, "By being protected by a sheath, a sword loses its need to constantly stay sharp. And when one meets an enemy that needs to be cut down, the protected sword can leap from its sheath in a flash of light. In other words, you've found your comrades."

================================================================================================================================================================================================

Phis-Chama's Corner:

28th00: I swear to Ophis, if I have to come back to this chapter to clean up any commas...

Alexander: Well, I take it as our running gag. In my case, I once described that I tend to use more commas because of my linguistic background. I can only use my own experience. So, in case some of the commas were mine, no offense intended.