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The city of Longart, capital of Allard was founded between two rivers in very dangerous, yet fertile lands.

The city was very big, with houses crumpled together without much order. The commerce was booming with merchant stalls all around the plazas selling food and trinkets while the main stores were inside the buildings with the fancier things. Most of them were localized at the center of the city, not too far from the Drinking Bear Tavern.

They called it the merchant district because of it.

Riou and Maximilian were there, strolling through the streets.

"I should get a sword don't you think Max?" Asked Riou looking at the shops selling them as they passed by.

"I don’t know, inside a city, only soldiers, nobles and bandits would carry one. Why do you need a sword? I don't see much reason for you to use them" Spoke the curious Mage “I think you are dangerous enough without one”.

"I can’t use magic in front of everyone. We don’t want them thinking I’m an apprentice remember?. And people will tolerate a lot better seeing me as a swordsman than some crazy magic user... and... there might be another reason" said Riou glancing the sword through the window.

"And what would that be?" The Mage was intrigued.

"I always wanted one for myself" Said the boy with gleaming eyes rushing towards the weapon shop.

"Hey now, let’s not rush it, swords are expensive you know?" Shouted Max.

"You are a Magus, you must be filthy rich, aren’t you? Don't be a miser now... come on"

Defeated, Max followed him inside the weapon shop.

The weapon shop had many weapons on display, from huge halberds to tiny daggers, bows and crossbows. Many were very colorful and detailed. Looking at them with more care, those extreme details, some used gold and silver metals on key parts of the weapon. Even him knew such soft metals would be bad weapons.

To be honest to himself, he felt like those weapons seemed more ornaments than actual usable weapons.

"What do you think young man, this is one of my finest pieces. This sword with a gold hilt has an iron so strong it could dent the very walls of the city without getting a scratch!”

"Iron? you mean it’s made of pure iron?" Asked Riou very confused.

"But yes! The purest Iron there is! Imported from the islands and crafted here in Allard by the finest Blacksmiths" Answered proudly the merchant.

"So all your weapons are made of Iron? Just Iron..." Riou asked again to confirm, a bit disappointed to discover that.

"Yes? Of course some may have copper here and there for coloring, the hilt is also made of other materials..." Said the merchant not understanding what was the issue there.

"Max, is this common in this land?" He asked the mage for his input as well.

"Yes Riou, usually this is what weapons are made of" Answered the Mage intrigued as well to what the issue was.

"Thank you then, that would be all." He waved and left the shop very disappointed. Max quickly interjected once they left the store.

"I don't understand, I thought you wanted a sword"

"Yes, and that's what we're gonna get. I can’t believe we have been using iron swords this whole time. No wonder you don’t think highly of them, you must change it every few months.”

“Well, that’s true… a good sword can last a few battles at most”

“Oh come on, you guys have magic here but are way too behind on the metalworking technology. A plain iron sword… really?" Said him going towards a big house that had a sign that of a hammer and an anvil.

"You mean you know how to do a better weapon than those in the shop?" Asked Max following the boy that walked in a hurry.

“Necessity is the mother of invention, I guess with magic you never actually needed better metal.”

“Well… we do have magical apparatus that do most of the hard work, even for farms and construction work. But, what do you want to create?”

"I want a steel grade weapon. Something that can outlast an iron sword for a long shot.”

"Steel? Never heard of it.” said the mage.

“It’s more durable and malleable than plain iron, it won’t break or dent as easily either. It would even be better if we could find some tungsten or other good metal to incorporate on the blade as well. That would make a hell of a sword”

Max widened his eyes “That’s the sword of legends you are speaking off. Heroes used weapons that could strike through shields and even bend as needed. Never breaking.They called it living metal for the blade seemed alive in the hand of its master, fighting alongside him and refusing to shatter under pressure" Spoke Max imagining how that could be possible, but at that rate he knew better than to doubt or discredit Riou.

Riou entered what seemed to be the biggest Blacksmith's shop in town. The shop was in high demand. Lots of tools, armors and weapons were laying around while deep inside the workshop Riou could see the forge. It was way too big and open to possibly generate enough heat to do what he wanted.

"Hello there!" Riou said to the working blacksmith "Is this the best forge in town?" He asked seriously.

The blacksmith was hammering what seemed to be a horseshoe in the anvil and stopped the hammer mid air when he heard that question.

"What are you saying boy? Is my forge not good enough for you?" Said the angered big black bearded man, his beard went all the way to his protuberant belly. He was very big, almost as big as Syldis.

"You see, I need a very specific job done... weapons to be more precise" said Riou, not impressed at all by the man's aggressive tone.

"Sorry boy, but I'm busy enough already" Said the man getting back to hammering the horseshoe.

"Are you the best weapon-smith in town? I mean, the very best?" Questioned once more, Riou as Max looked at him not understanding why he wanted to anger the blacksmith.

"Boy... you are this close to getting a hammer to the head" Said the angry man showing him his hammer, "I'm the best Blacksmith of this city. Just so you know, my craft is so good that I'm only allowed to produce them for the armies, so go now boy, I'm losing heat here" said the man getting back to hammering the Horseshoe.

The boy looked with a devilish smile on his face.

"To think of a renowned blacksmith as yourself, the greatest weaponsmith of all Allard would deny a request from the Great Magus, the Dragon Killer himself." Riou said, emphasizing the titles.

The man dropped his hammer when he realized who were the old man beside the boy

Riou continued "And just after all the distance that he traveled, specifically, searching for this very shop... what a shame, but if you can't... you can't... we shall leave you alone master blacksmith and search for a lesser skilled man for this crucial job" Said the mischievous boy turning and already walking away.

"Wait!!!" Shouted the man quickly approaching Maximilian "It's an honor to meet the great Magus! But is it really you?" Said the now joyous big blacksmith, all the angry attitude was gone.

Maximilian was a hermit, few people actually knew his face... but everyone has heard of his feats.

"Oh, of course it's him, and we will prove! Bring us as many Iron ingots as you have to spare together with some raw coal… the best you have and don’t forget to get the strongest crucible as well" said the boy, smiling to the Magus that could see at first hand what a trickster the boy was.

The blacksmith promptly brought everything. Riou prepared the coal, smashing a portion of them into dust.

He set many ingots inside the crucible with a small amount of coal dust he prepared.

He looked towards Maximilian and said "Time to bring the heat, oh great Magus!" smiling from ear to ear.

Maximilian forced a smile but stepped forward.

The Magus held his hand towards the forge flame and crucible and muttered some unknown words in the elvish tongue. Since his necklace was not tuned for it, Riou could not understand a word.

Soon a flame irradiated from the Mage hands and was quickly turning ingots red.

Riou noticed that it would take a lot of time to get to enough heat for all those Iron ingots using that method.

"Hey now Dragon Killer, put more effort into it, use that new technique, the one you showed me that other day" Said Riou trying to get Max to use his way of conjuring fire which would produce more heat than that.

Mas was struggling, he wasn't able to do that just yet.

"Blacksmith, bring us something that can remove the impurities that will float from the iron in the crucible.”

The blacksmith promptly went to the tool storage to check, and as soon as he was not looking, Riou stepped up and pointed a finger to the crucible.

A bright clear blue flame could faintly be seen reaching the ingots that started to melt instantly by its contact... in instants, all iron had melted and was emitting a yellowish, almost white bright color.

Maximilian was still not able to use that kind of Magic, he needed more time and study to truly understand all the concepts behind it.

Riou stepped back and signaled Max to keep going as the Blacksmith was coming back with a long metal thing to scoop the impurities.

The Blacksmith was astonished by the speed that the ingots melt and the color that they were displaying.

They ended up producing quite a few long steel ingots which were ready to be transformed into swords.

"Now my good blacksmith... I want you to follow some instructions." Said Riou to the blacksmith, starting to explain the process he wanted to use to manufacture the swords he wanted.

He explained the metal folding process, and the need to remove slag from the metal block if it formed while working the metal. He also explained the importance of getting the metal heated enough and then thrown into water at the right moment.

And to keep the Blacksmith true to the recipe, he said that it was a magic secret to help the great magus to canalize his magic through the weapon. If the recipe was not followed the great magus would know.

Riou made way more ingots than he needed, so they agreed with the blacksmith that would use the excess metal to test and train before actually producing the requested items.

Since they had the metal to spare and as he didn’t know what to choose for himself, he made plenty of requests to the blacksmith.

He asked for a few things to be made, a Dagger, single edged and slightly curved, with a thicker blade with a nice edge and tip, especially designed for puncturing as well as slashing, it was rather big, almost the size of a short sword.

He also wanted a pair of short swords, also single edged, intended for dual wielding, its main purpose was to slash and deflect multiple enemies, so he wished for a lighter build and the design remembered the elven models that frequently appeared in the games and movies of his world.

He also wanted a proper double edged sword, heavier than normal, with a stronger core and reinforced handle, designed to withstand punishment and able to deliver heavier blows, something that no iron sword could compete against.

Also he asked for a rapier, a thin and light sword made precision striking and puncturing. He thought about the weapon of his opponent from his last duel, something made of steel could be even thinner and more deadly than that one. So he wished to test it out as well.

They arranged a couple of weeks time so the blacksmith could work the metal and learn how to produce the weapons.

They left the shop and started to walk through the streets, they had spent most of the day discussing with the blacksmith and the sun was setting in the horizon. It was time to get back to the castle to attend the feast.

And now that they were away from prying ears, Max had to ask "What was that all about? I heard the gibberish part, but please explain to me what was the real intention of all this effort?"

"Gibberish? No, no, no!" and the boy gave a lecture about steel and his properties while they walked the streets.

"Amazing... are you not afraid that the Blacksmith could employ what he learned to mass produce it?" Asked Max again.

"Actually... no, he’s missing the most important part and the secret to it all. Without the magus spell, he won’t produce the ingots… meaning that even if he wanted to, his forge is not hot enough to do the carbon inducing technique. With that open forge of his he has no chance. So all he has is the limited amount of ingots we gave him” Said Riou non nonchalantly.

The number of people in the streets had diminished greatly, as the sun was completely gone, the city changed completely by the night.

After a few turns, Riou could only see suspicious individuals roaming the streets. With darker and battered clothes, some of them even carried knives and daggers, neatly displayed and hanging from their belts.

"So this is how the night time is... the city is not crime free as it seemed during the day." Commented the boy looking at the sight of suspicious figures on some alleys.

"Unfortunately they were always there, the difference is that now there are less patrols and no people for them to mingle... no city is truly safe in this land, there are always criminals prowling about"

"I see... that's unfortunate." Riou notices a group moving quickly through an alley on the other side of the street. They seemed too interested in getting in front of them and were running by the parallel street.

The boy and the mage were talking about the economy and the issues that caused banditry to happen in a country like Allard while heading to the front gate to catch one of the carriages to the castle.

The moment they stepped away from the main road and into a darker side street. They were quickly surrounded by five thugs.

A boy and an old man roaming the dark streets were too good of a prey for these thugs to pass on.

"Whaddya doin strolling about? Didn’t ya know the city gets dangerous at night? Are ya lost? We can help you get back on your way, just hand over everything to us" Said what seemed to be the leader of the band. Clearly not the brightest individual, he displayed rotten teeth and an unhealthy overall appearance, he reeked of old sweat and filth that even from the distance Riou could barely stand it. He was clearly sick of something, his black hair was scarce and even his eyes couldn’t move properly at the same time.

Riou was certain that they couldn’t be regula bandits of the city, otherwise the guards would have found them eventually.

Riou looked at Max "Should I, or do you want to?" he politely offered the thugs to the mage who just shook his head and signaled for him to proceed.

Riou stretched his neck and right arm while walking forward. The boy was smiling towards their leader.

The five wore very similar clothes, Riou noticed that all of them had a leather strap around the left arm... probably to be recognized as a part of a gang of some sort.

The Thugs did not know how to react at first. But as Riou approached, the thug pulled a long rusty knife from the belt and pointed it to the boy. Unphased by it, Riou kept advancing.

When the boy reached a strike distance, the thug swung his knife tightly aiming to slash the boy's chest.

Riou just went straight for the knife with his left hand, quickly and fearlessly he grabbed the knife rusty, cutting edge with his bare hands stopping the swing in place completely.

The thug looked at his hand holding the blade very confused to why it was not bleeding.

Riou then just casually removed the knife from the thug’s hand.

None of the thugs could understand what was going on, and after having his knife removed the stinky one stepped away from Riou.

He then showed his hand and the knife to the thugs, asserting that he was not hurt and clearly disappointed with the knife state..

The calm boy then looked back to the thugs and smiled devilishly. He carefully put his thumb on the razor sharp edge of the knife and without breaking eye contact with the leader of the group he slowly pressed against the blade.

They all flinched when his thumb pressed harder and harder against the sharpest part of the edge. The thugs began to step away from the boy as he showed no signs of injury or stopping.

Suddenly

.

* Cling*

The knife broke by the pressure of his thumb. At that moment the five thugs began to run away thinking that the boy was some sort of devil, as they never saw anyone able to do such a strange thing.

They quickly vanished in the dark alleys as Riou waved them goodbye.

Maximilian laughed "They will have nightmares about you now, you know that right?"

"Maybe now they will think twice before attacking someone again." Said the serious boy looking into the alley they just ran into.

“I still find it astonishing how you can use mana to create these small shields so close to the skin. The closer I can make them is this”

The mage conjured a two palm large, transparent round magic shield just a palm away from his chest.

“I told you already. You need to go smaller, into cellular or better yet, and nano level to achieve this level.

"Indeed you told me… and I’m yet trying to understand that concept, but let's get going, we have to get back to the castle or we may be late for the feast"

"What’s this feast all about anyway? What are they celebrating?" Questioned the boy throwing the broken knife away.

"Well, today was the fourteenth... or was it the fifteenth Maiden’s challenge for the princess, tonight is the winner’s feast. A tradition of sorts”

Riou raised his eyebrows “Princess? As in the king’s daughter?”

“Of course”

“Is she a young woman with light blond hair and crystal clear blue eyes?”

“Yes, have you seen her then? Maybe you’ve watched the duel by any chance?”

Riou froze for a moment “Yes… I kinda watched it, so, what was that all about?” he forced a smile.

“Well, to put it simple, every now and then some lord, usually from the north, challenges the princess for a duel. They set a date and a place and the duel takes place. It’s a very old tradition from the north, Hanna, the queen is a daughter of the north, so her daughter also opted to follow that tradition as well. How can I explain it… It works like a marriage proposal" Explained Maximilian.

"Wait, wait, wait, did you say marriage!?" exclaimed the boy a bit too shocked “I mean… marriage? Really?”

"Well, yes. The queen was a princess of the north kingdom so her daughter shares her ancestry. And by the north’s tradition, only a man that can win against the woman he desires, in a fair duel, can have the right to betroth her. You see, northern women tend to be… how do I say it… quite fericious and warrior like. You met Syldis. So this tradition is just a clever way to allow the strong women that decides to follow the path, to fight off suitors she does not approve of.”

“What happens if they lose the fight?”

“Well, it’s quite hard to win against a woman that really doesn't want to marry you. She usually concedes the fight elegantly when she finds a proper suitor.”

“Thank god I los… I mean, watched that fine duel from afar, she sure won it! No doubt or question about that. A complete Victory”

“Oh yes, that’s what I heard. Which is no surprise, the princess has trained since a very young age. I recall she even went to the Mage academy for a couple of years as well. She is very skilled in the arcane arts as well, but her major focus was always the sword. No lord or lord’s son was able to win against her yet." Explained the mage.

“I see, they are using this tradition to get into the royal family of Allard. Damn, so she fought fifteen times already? I get it now why she was so upset about it… and that Kasius guy is her brother right? So why was he a jerk to her.”

The mage nodded “Kasius wants his sister married as soon as possible, to a lesser noble and far away from Allard, that way it’s less likely for her to compete for the throne with him”

“Can’t she just deny these challenges?” questioned Riou.

“By tradition, no… a maiden of the north must accept all and every challenge until she finds a suitor, then the rite changes and she doesn't need to fight anymore. But the tradition was meant to allow the strong woman to defend herself from weak suitors. That was the only way for them to choose her future instead of being married to whoever their fathers decided.”

Riou took a deep breath and sighed ‘I really dodged a bullet... things would have gotten pretty complicated if I had won that fight’

"So you’ve seen the duel? I was searching for some old documents on the king's library and lost track of time, but I heard she won against two challengers this time"

Riou just nodded with a wry smile. “Yeah, she sure did, she won both fights easily.”