"COME ON! PUT YER BACK INTO IT! YA, LITTLE RUNT!" Yelled a large set man with a shaggy black beard and a bald head wearing a long-sleeved shirt, leather pants, boots and a leather apron with goggles over his eyes.

At his side was a younger man in his late teens with spiky red hair dressed the same as he was with a hammer in hand, both covered in soot from all the smoke inside their smithy.

"Alright! Boss!" The teen answered eagerly holding the hammer up high then brought it down on a red-hot piece of metal that the man was holding in place on top of an anvil with a pair of iron tongs in one hand and a hammer of his own in the other.

When the hammer stroke the metal sparks flew everywhere landing on the floor and on other items the two had made: swords, axes, daggers, spears, shields and pieces armor.

"NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! BAHAHAHAHA!" The man let out a hardy laugh striking the metal as well and now giving off a bluish glow putting a smirk to the man's face. "OK! THIS TIME I'LL LET YA FINISH THS!" He yelled at his partner, who nodded in answer.

"Got it!" The teen raised his hammer high. "A STRIKE TO FREE YOUR POWER!" The teen brought down the hammer, striking the glowing metal, making it glow even brighter. "ANOTHER STRIKE TO GIVE YOU SHAPE!" He hit it again, and it took the shape of a glowing sword. "AND A FINAL STRIKE TO FORGE YOUR NEW LIFE!" With the final strike of the hammer, a bright blue light covered the two Blacksmiths when it cleared what was on the anvil was a long silver sword that had a wolf head as a pommel.

"Yeah! And that's the last one for today!" He cheered, throwing his arms in the air only of his boss to give him a quick hit on the head with a hammer. "OW! What gives, Reiner?!"

Reiner pushed his goggles up, showing a pair of deep black eyes. Reiner a master blacksmith with years of experience under his belt, be it in making items or knocking heads off their bodies. "Ya, runt! You got to try it out first, remember?" He said, not yelling for once as he took an old bastard sword off a wall rack, the sword had a few dents and nicks on it from years of use and abuse. "Come on, try taking a whack at my Garlan!" He ordered, holding his sword up to block a hit.

"Right boss!" The teen nodded, picking up the newly made sword and held it with both hands. "But don't blame me if that rusty old thing breaks on the first swing!" He smiled, pulling his goggles up, showing a pair of blazing red eyes.

"Hah!" Reiner just let out a short laugh at his student claim which irritated him.

"Don't laugh! My items are just as good as your's!" He yelled, taking a blind swing at the older man but once the two swords connected the one he was holding broke in two with blue mist flowing out from where it broke. "Wha-!?"

"BAHAHAHA! WELL, IT LOOKS LIKE YA STILL NEED TO LEARN A THING OR TWO!" Reiner laughed, putting Garlan back in its place. "Now get out of here, Blake, can't have you breaking more things in here."

"Yeah..." Blake muttered under his breath as he made his way out of the smithy.

Blake, a 17-year-old blacksmith in training under his master and adoptive father Reiner but ten years ago things were very different for this young man back when he was alone and homeless.

The only things he had to call his own were his name, the rags he'd used as clothes and a hammer that he kept with him no matter what. Blake had no idea where he came from or why he was left alone, and for a long time, he just kept walking mindlessly without anywhere to go until one day he collapsed at the gates to a town named Fairmaw.

Later on, when Blake woke up days afterward he was in a bed with Reiner sitting next to him, the only thing the older man asked for was boy's name and once he got that he just got up smiled at the lost boy, rubbed a hand through his red hair and said. "Alright, kid, starting today, you're my student, so hurry up and get off your lazy ass, ya runt!"

And from that day forward all Blake wanted to do with his life was to master the art of smithery where blacksmiths use magical Ore extracted from the bodies of monsters that roam the land, sea, and sky.

Monster Ore can be used by blacksmiths like Reiner and Blake to create items which contain some of the abilities of the monster the Ore came from such as controlling the air or being nearly unbreakable, the stronger or rarer the monster, the better the Ore and in turn the better the item.

"Alright! Time get out these dumb clothes." Blake muttered leaving the leather apron on a clothing rack outside the smithy and got blinded by the midday sun. "Damn! We've been at it for a while, huh?" He covered his eyes then walked toward a small two-story cottage made of stone and wood. "Mom! Is it too late to get breakfast!" He called out into a small kitchen after opening the back door of his home and found a woman cooking at an oven.

Her hair was a cheerful orange touching her lower back. She wore a simple yellow sundress and an apron with brown shoes. "Hmm?" When she heard Blake's voice, she turned around to at him with her eyes seemingly closed with a large wooden spoon in her hand. Her name was Isabelle, Blake's ever-cheerful adoptive mother and loving wife of Reiner.

"Oh, hello dear, if it's breakfast you're after better come back tomorrow! But you can have meat stew for lunch today, hehe." She giggled then took a quick look at Blake and frowned. "But go get cleared up first! I can't have you dirtying up my home with soot, Blake!" She told and swung her spoon at him, getting some the stew in his face.

"Yea, yea, yea, I hear you..." Blake said, going over to some stairs while wiping his face with a towel from the kitchen counter.

After a while he came back down dressed in a black button-up vest over a red shirt, next up were a pair of white pants with black boots and a brown belt that he had his hammer attracted never to leave his side.

"Hey, mom, where's Mari?" Blake asked, going over to a covered table in the kitchen, looking around with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Hmm~mmm, Marius? I'm not sure myself?" Isabelle answered, humming a tune as she tossed in a few herbs and spices into a pot and gave it a stir filling the air with a rich aroma that made Blake drool. "That sister of your's has such a way of disappearing whenever you're not around it's very troubling for your father and I, you know?" She said, losing her cheerfulness then turned around to Blake with a wooden bowl filled with stew. "Now, eat up! I want my little man to get big and strong like his daddy!" She teased Blake by giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Mom! Stop it!" Blake yelled, pushing his mother away while she giggled more. "I'm almost 18! Stop doing th- *smells the stew* but thanks for the food!" He quickly changed his tone, picking up a spoon about to dig in when he felt something under the table. "Huh? What the?" He lifted the tablecloth a little and saw ahead of orange hair that ended in black tips and a pair of dull but cute amber eyes staring back at him. "Oh? Hi, Mari, what are you doing down there?" Blake asked his little sister without a bit of shock in his voice or on his face.

"Good afternoon, big brother." Mari's small voice answered as she crawled out from under the table. She was a small girl with chin-length hair, wearing black shorts with a little yellow skirt over them, sandals and an orange tube top with an 'M' sewn into the back.

Marius was Reiner's and Isabelle's 10-year-old baby girl. Named Marius due to Reiner wanting another son after taking Blake in, however, she goes by Mari most of the time. She was born the same year Blake was adopted by the two, quiet and serious for her age while still having her cute sides, usually she helps out her mother with housework when she can or watching her father and Blake when they work to pass the time but most importantly she has an everlasting love for her big brother.

Without any words she took a seat on Blake's lap, letting her legs hang in the air. "Feed me." She ordered while pounding her tiny fists on the table.

"Ugh..." One of Blake's eyebrows twitched at her request but went along with it, bringing a spoon full of stew to her mouth. "Ok, but say 'ah'?" He asked, waving it in her face, but she didn't do it. "Hey, you're the one who asked, so say it or get off." Still, nothing and Blake knew what she wanted to hear. "...Please?" He begged just a little, and that's when she opened her mouth for Blake to feed her. "Good girl." Blake smiled at her as they shared his stew.

"~Aww~!" Their mother popped in to stare at them from a corner, making Mari look down, covering her eyes with her hair while Blake got red in his face. "Ehehe, did I mess up your sweet moment there or make it better?" She asked, smiling at the two with stars in place of her eyes.

Blake let out a groan passing a hand over his face, followed by Mari doing the same thing. "Please, don't start with that, I just got away from Reiner, and I don't need your teasing after his yelling." As Blake finished saying that the back door to the kitchen got kicked open by Reiner so hard that it slammed into the wall, the table Blake and Mari were at jumped into the air. "No! No! No!" he watched in horror as his bowl of stew almost fell over, but thankfully Mari caught it. "Thank you, Mari, you're a lifesaver..." He patted her on the head, then covered her ears. "...AND YOU STOP SLAMMING EVERY FUCKING DOOR YOU SEE OPEN! GODDESS DAMMIT!" He yelled at Reiner, who just grinned at him.

"Pipe down you little runt! I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN YELL IN THIS HOUSE, BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Reiner sent a booming laugh into the house until his wife smacked him upside his head with her stirring spoon, leaving a large bump on his head. "Ah, sorry about that, dear." He apologized quietly and took a seat at the table with his arms crossed.

After a bit, Isabelle came with a mug of ale and stew for Reiner. "Time for my man to ~eat~" She smiled, and Reiner returned her smile until Isabelle brought out a rag and wiped his bald head making a sound like she was cleaning a window getting silent laughs out of Blake and Mari as they covered their mouths with Reiner glaring swords at them. "Ah, there you go! It's good money, but I hate that you two come in here covered in soot every day." She complained, pouting as she held the rag away from herself. "By the way, you two were in there a lot longer today? Why is that?"

"Oof, The army's been increasing their orders lately, and it's getting rough trying to keep up with them," Reiner answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he took a sip from his ale and looked at Blake. "...And we're one Wolf Long-sword short. Aren't we, Blake?"

Blake stopped, feeding Mari to look at Reiner. "Hey! That was your fault! Trying something I made on that monster, you call a sword!" He answered with a vine popping out on his head.

Reiner's prized sword Garlan made from the Ore of a Fire Gaint, and even though it had some cuts and dents in it, it was still a mighty sword. Most of the damage on the thing was from Reiner using it to cut or more like smash through stone pillars a few times for fun when he used to show off to Blake and Mari.

"Hmph, just know that until you can make something stronger than my Garlan you're never going be a master blacksmith, ya runt," Reiner explained, giving Blake a toothy grin then put on a serious look. "So you're going to find a wolf in the Dron Forest outside of town got it?"

"So you're sending me? Your only son? Alone? Into a forest filled with monsters that love to eat people? Like the giant spiders, insects, man-eating plants..." Blake started, listing off just a few of the monsters that lived in the forest. "...worse yet there's supposed to be a gang of bandits who have a reputation for kidnapping people and selling them into slavery too, hahaha!" He added while leaning over Mari with his hands out menacingly but she just stared up at him and poked him on the nose. "Aww, you're no fun."

"Hah! Seems like someone has been doing his homework for once, huh?" Reiner said in amazement getting a glare from Blake, but that was brushed aside easily. "Besides the hunters are out of town right now, so I'm sure you can handle this little quest of mine, right?"

"Of course, I can! Gotta keep my fighting skills up too!" Blake agreed, picking up Mari as he got up from his seat then set her down nicely with her looking up at him. "No...I'm not taking you with me this time." He told Mari, giving her a hard look.

"...Fine..." Mari answered, giving Blake a cold stare that made him flinch.

"Uh, thanks," Blake said, feeling a chill run down his spine. "Oh yea, Reiner, I'm going to need something to kill that wolf so got anything for me?"

"...I think I've got something for you?" Reiner took a moment to think then got up and went into another room and came back with a sword that had a wing guard in a brown scabbard that he tossed to Blake. "There! That should be enough for anything creeping around there. It's a Swift Sparrow Sword."

"Yea, I'm sure this will help take out a wolf! I bet it's just going to sit there while I get up close and start hacking and slashing at it." Blake joked, taking the sword out of its scabbard and gave it a few swings then sheathed it and attached it to his belt. "Alright, I'm off! See you guys in an hour or so!"

Before Blake could get to the front door, his mom came up to him with an apple in each hand. "Here one of you and one for Nash, be safe dear" She handed Blake the fruit with a smile.

"Thanks, mom, you're more useful than pops over there," Blake said, pointing at Reiner and took a bite out of one of the apples. "Later!" Then walked to the front door.

And the town of Fairmaw opened up to him. Fairmaw was made up by small houses, dirt roads, a somewhat useless wall around it, and a big hill to the back of town overlooking it, just your simple countryside town with nothing too special to it.

"Hey, Nash! We're headed to Dron Forest today you up for it?" Blake went to the side of his home and standing there was a black destrier with a white patch around its nose and brown saddle on its back tied to a wooden post.

Nash Blake's loyal and faithful horse that he raised since he was a colt with a happy neigh from the horse, Blake smiled. "Good to hear, oh? Here's an apple for you, bud." He held out the apple for Nash who took a large bite out of most it then Blake saddled up and with a pull of Nash's reins they made their way to the town gate.

At the gate, Blake was stopped by a guardsman in light iron armor and a spear in one hand. "Going out for materials, Blake?" He asked, giving Blake a quick look over.

"Yep, taking a ride through Dron Forest this time around," Blake answered, holding up the reins on Nash giving them a quick crack as the guard opened the gate and a wide-open field came into view.

"Alright, everything looks good on you, be careful in there, I've gotten word that someone's been moving around in there a lot lately and something fell out of the sky over there a few hours ago." The guard warned, pointing over to Dron Forest in the distance. "Mind seeing what's going for me?"

"Sure thing!" Blake yelled, already riding off towards the forest without any more words. "What was that about something falling out of the sky through?"

Dron Forest

Blake and Nash came to the edge of the forest, tall trees and large bushes gave off an ominous aura. "Whoa!" Blake yelled, pulling on the reins to stop Nash then he took a quick look around getting an odd feeling and got off Nash to step closer to the forest. "Hmm, you can come out now," Blake called out to the trees and bushes.

"Heh! We got us a smart one, boys!" A malice filled voice laughed as three men came out from the bushes each of them wore black with bandannas covering their mouths, just your common bandits. One had a massive claymore on his back while the other two looked like they didn't have anything, but bandits always have something somewhere.

"So tell us, boy? What are you doing coming out here, eh? Hope you aren't causing any trouble in that town over there?" One of them asked, pointing towards Fairmaw.

"Huh? Since when do bandits act like countryside rangers?" Blake answered with a question of his own, taking a grip on his sword, earning him looks from the three men. "So can I get by you guys without any trouble?"

"Hahaha!" All of them laughed at Blake's question then surrounded him with one on each side, and the one with the claymore stood in front of him.

"Should we teach him a lesson?" The one to the left asked, pulling out a long dagger from his boot, spinning it around a few times. "Hahaha! Scared yet, boy?"

"Meh, not really, I was about to go find and fight a wolf," Blake answered without a bit of fear even going as far as to pick his nose in front of bandits making all three of them glare at him with the intent to kill. "Hmm? What's wrong? Why are you letting out so much bloodlust?"

"Nothing, I'm just pissed that I'm gonna have to clean my blade after I'm done skinning you!" The one to the left yelled, rushing at Blake with his dagger pulling it back to slash at the redhead but Blake jumped back at the last moment making the blade missed him by an inch. "Tch, Stay still!"

"Make me!" Blake pulled out his sword with his right hand and used it to parry another slash from the bandit knocking him off balance. "Hey, keep better footing man, this is a fight after all." He joked, low-kicking his opponent, sending him to ground.

"Grrr! Think you can mess with us, huh!?" The one to the right yelled as he brought out his dagger while the one in front with the claymore started to reach for his weapon with the one on the ground jumping back to his feet and went after Blake again.

Now Blake was dodging slashes from the two with daggers. "HAH!" He stroke out at one of them, leaving him with a small cut above his eye, making him flinch as blood flowed down his face. "I was trying to get your eye, sorry about that." Blake apologized, blocking a strike from the other dagger wielder then spun the two blades around sending his attacker's weapon flying into a tree.

"SON OF AGHHH!" The bleeding one was yelling when Blake sent a strong left hook into his face that shut him up along with knocking a small pouch he had tied to his belt off and into the air.

"Mine!" Blake cheered, using the bandit he disarmed as a step to jump into the air and caught the pouch before landing back down with a kick for the bandit that put him to ground. "Looting looters, sweet!" Blake cheered, opening the pouch to find a few silver coins each one engraved with an ornate 'V.' "Well? Lookie, here! Who did you guys off to get these?" He asked, biting into one of the coins to make sure they were real then he turned to last of the bandits who was having a hard time trying to get his sword off his back. "Uhmm? I know having a sword on your back looks cool and all, but if you can't draw the damn thing, don't do it."

"Arggh! Forget it!" The last one yelled, giving up on his claymore and choose to run at Blake with his arms held out to grab him.

Blake just sidestepped him while still checking the rest of the coins. "By the way, horse," He warned finished with the coins and tied the pouch to his belt then returned his sword to its scabbard.

"Horse?" The bandit questioned dumbfounded about to rush at Blake again. "What HOOOOORSE!?!" Until he was suddenly sent flying forward by Nash giving him a kick with his hind legs and crashed into a tree with leaves falling top of him.

"Horse," Blake said in a matter of fact tone and got back on Nash. "Thanks for the warm-up boys see you around, ride, Nash!" With a tug of the reins, Blake and Nash galloped into the forest.

"Dammit! That weirdo is going to have our heads for this." One of the bandits groaned, going over to pull his dagger out of the tree.

Inside Dron Forest

Blake and Nash came to a clearing with a small pond in the middle. "Hmm?" Blake took a look around to make sure another band of would-be bandits wasn't waiting for him. "...Alright, nothing weird here for now, anyway." He muttered and got off Nash walking over to the pond, hoping to get a drink but then stopped.

"Hmm? Yeah, bad idea." He kicked a stone into the pool of water, and instantly eight long and skinny legs ripped out of the edges of the pool warping the stone in a net made of silk, then a giant blue spider appeared from under the artificial pond. "Pond Trapper, nasty."

Forest monster, Pond Trapper: These are giant aquatic spiders that instead of spinning webs dig holes then make a net to gather rainwater to give off the appears of a harmless pond then when something touches the water they spring their trap!

Items forged from this monster's Ore are bows, spears, knives, and clothing from its silk.

"Tricky little bastard, aren't you?" Blake readied his sword as the Pond Trapper started to let out a loud hiss when it realized all it got was a rock, with all eight of its black eyes glaring at Blake. "Aww, what's wrong didn't catch anything good today?"

"!" The spider darted towards Blake with each leg digging into the ground as it crawled up to him.

"Sorry, about that, but I don't want to get eaten today!" Blake jumped back as the Pond Trapper raised its front legs and tried to impale him.

"!?" Only to get its legs stuck in the ground thrashing about wildly.

"Arrgah!" Before it could break free, Blake rushed in to stab it in the face then slashed upwards leaving its head in two halves with its body still twitching in a pool of blue blood. "Well, I can't let you suffer." He gave the spider one final stab into its body ending it and made it drop a small blue plumb of Ore with something looking like a spider on it. "Sweet a little bonus for today!" He cheered, putting the Ore into a small bag on Nash's saddle.

"Now for that wolf, got any ideas, Nash?" Blake asked his horse, who twisted his head at Blake. "Yea, that's true the wolves in here are pretty good at hiding until they find something they want to eat sooooo...?" Blake gave Nash a long hard stare, nodding with a hand under his chin. "...Yea."

"!" To which the destrier backed away from him.

"I was joking, Nash! Come on I would nev-!" Nash whipped his tail in Blake's face, letting out an amused neigh. "Ow...I wonder how much bait I can get out of you?"

"?" Nash stopped halfway with his neigh at that.

"What? I was joking, honest!" Blake crossed his heart playfully while Nash walked around the clearing then turned his head to the trees. "Hmm? What is it, Nash?" Blake asked, watching in the same direction as Nash and saw nothing but trees, bushes, and tall grass. "I don't see what you see, bud."

"..." Nash moved his head for Blake to follow him as he walked into the trees.

"Uh, ok, just going to follow a horse...that's fine." Blake followed Nash, seeing no real reason why he shouldn't, animals often know better than people when it comes to nature, or that's what a book he read once said anyway.

Within minutes Nash brought Blake to a partly destroyed castle in the middle of the forest. "HUH?! When the hell did a freaking castle get here?!" He yelled, staring at the crumbling building in disbelief, he and Reiner had come through the forest so many times before and they never found this place.

"How did this thing get here?!" Blake stared up at the sky, and from the looks of things, this castle just fell through the trees and landed here. "Hmm, wait? That guard said something fell into the forest, but this is..." Blake trailed off, walking up to what looked like a door made of stone but something was missing. "...A door without a handle how useful of keeping people out." He examined it more carefully and couldn't find a way to open it.

"Ok, if you can't open a door, just break it down!" Blake grabbed his hammer from his belt and pulled back before striking the door with all his might with no results as the hammer just bounced off the door without leaving so much as a crack in it. "...Well, I'm out of ideas. What about you, Nash?"

"..." Nash was off on the side tapping his hoof on a stone anvil beckoning Blake over to it.

"Hmm, a stone anvil? You think I should hit it with my hammer?" Blake asked his horse, who nodded in return. "Ok, you're the one who found this place, so it's worth a try!" He held his hammer up high and brought it down on the anvil...which was followed by a low humming sound...then in seconds the stone door started to slide open. "Look at that! You're smart for a horse." Nash blew air into Blake's face with his nose at that remark. "And you have a great sense of humor too."

Inside the castle looked a little bit better than its outside, apart from all the stone that had broken off from the walls, ceiling, and pillars. After following some torches that were somehow still lit, Blake and Nash came to a room that looked like a smithy much to Blake's surprise.

"What the? A smithy!" Blake yelled, going around the room as he looked for some Ore, but sadly there wasn't anything he could snatch for himself the only things inside the smithy were an anvil, a few tools and its forge which was still burning getting Blake's attention now. "Oh? Something is still cooking in the oven, eh?" He went up to it and took a peek inside, seeing a small black Ore that had a purple aura around it getting heated by the flames. "That looks like it'd make a good item way better than using wolf Ore."

Blake grabbed a pair tongs, but Nash gave him a look. "What? If someone didn't want me to take it, they would have left a note, right?" Blake asked, snapping the tongs at Nash who turned away. "Goody horseshoes." Blake removed the heated Ore from the forge and placed it on the anvil then held his hammer in his right hand. "Alright! Time to make a real sword!" Blake yelled as he began striking the Ore with his hammer.

Elsewhere in the forest

The three bandits that tried to attack Blake earlier were all sited in front of a hollowed-out tree.

"..." Inside of it was a small boy with pale skin wearing a neatly button-up white dress shirt, short black pants, a pair high-class dress shoes with white socks and a black cape with a hood over his head. In his left hand he had a small black book with a white pentagram inside a circle on the cover and in his other hand was a black ball of mana dancing on his fingertips.

"So you incompetent fools, allowed some random boy and his horse to enter the forest even after I gave you such simple orders to follow; 'Do not allow anyone to reach the inside of this forest.'" He repeated the command he gave his henchmen. "...so do you have anything to say for yourselves on this massive failure?" The boy asked with his annoyance coming clear through his voice as the bandits just hung their heads low. "...I said: Do you have anything to say for yourselves on this massive failure?" He asked again, throwing the ball at a tree causing it to fall just behind the bandits.

"W-w-w-we tr-!" One of them was about to speak, but the boy held up a hand to stop him.

"I don't need your words...and you also lost that bit of coin I gave you as well not that it matters to me." The boy added, waving his free hand around doing so caused some coins made of copper, silver, and gold to fall in front of the trio. "I told you three that the price for your servitude is an easy task for me, as long as you do your job correctly that is."

"Ugh..." The bandits could feel a burning gaze of hatred on them as this small child who was half their size acted like he could do whatever he wanted with them.

"Well, uhmm you see, sir, he wasn't uh scared of us, and he was good at fighting, so we're sorry about our, um foolishness." One of the bandits answered, trying to sound as well-mannered as possible but when he looked up all he saw was the boy's face with a scowl on it. "S-so is there something we can do for you? I mean to uh reassure you of our worth?"

"How can you reassure me of something so little?" The boy asked with his scowl turning into a small smile. "You're worth to me was as much as a fly's worth is to you, and right now your worth is lower than the ground you walk on, please try to understand that you, fools." He told the three of them and was growing bored of this talk maybe he should just rid himself of these men, but in the air above the bandits, an orb of ominous blackness formed catching the boy's full attention. "AH!"

"Valac, report to us." A deep malevolent voice spoke through the orb sending chills down the spines of all who heard.

"I have not been able to find what you have asked of me, my lord," Valac answered in a small voice as he hung his head under the orb just as the bandits did with him earlier. "!" He noticed that the light around him was slowly turning into darkness as if the orb itself was banishing all brightness away.

"Hmm, you are failing us, Valac." The voice said, slightly sounding disappointed which was enough to make Valac flinch under its words. "We sent you on this task because you are the least restricted of our servants as well as one of the more trusting of them, so we hope that you will bring us fruit."

"Y-yes, m-m-my lord." Valac shattered over his words as the orb talked down to him. "To explain my failure I had these men look over the entrance to the forest in order for my search to be unnoticed but they allowed a boy to come in, I hope you can forgive me for this my lord."

"A boy, you say?" The orb asked, sounding somewhat curious about it. "Describe his form to us."

"Yes, my lord," Valac answered, pointing at one the bandits. "You! Speak! Now!" He barked at him, hoping that this bit of information could lower his master's anger.

"Umm, he was a teenager with red hair and eyes, a red shirt under a black vest, white pants and boots uh..." The bandit started to answer then paused to think about what Blake had on him. "...oh yea? And I think he had a hammer? Good thing he didn't use that along with his sword on us right, heh." He tried to make a joke, but the mood didn't change, so he just went silent.

"Hmm, red hair and eyes with a hammer...?" The orb said mostly to itself than anyone else.

"My lord?" Valac questioned as it seemed like the orb had forgotten about him for the moment as it was thinking to itself.

"It is nothing just a thought for another time and place." It answered, starting to fade into nothingness. "Now, go forth and finish our task, Valac."

Once the orb was gone, the light returned. "*sigh* Now then you three be on your way and do your job, or I will deal with you...without any interruptions next time," Valac warned, shaking his book in the air a few times.

"Yes, sir!" They all yelled together and dashed into the forest without any more words.

"Tch! Humans are such a waste of time," Valac muttered to himself, pulling down his hood. A pair of jet black horns struck out from his head of black hair, and his eyes were a deep blood red. "Why must I do things this way?" He asked, rubbing one of his horns.

Back with Blake

The sound of a striking hammer metal was the only thing that could be heard within the fallen castle that Blake had found, with each hit of the hammer the Ore glowed brighter and brighter. "Alright! Time to finish this up!" Blake cheered, holding his hammer up high.

"A STRIKE TO FREE YOUR POWER!" As the hammer met the Ore, a purple aura surrounded Blake. "ANOTHER STRIKE TO GIVE YOU SHAPE!" With the next hit, the Ore turned into a glowing purple sword. "AND A FINAL STRIKE TO FORGE YOUR NEW LIFE!" When the last strike came down, a massive blast of darkness erupted out of the sword. "WHAT?! NASH! GET OUT OF HERE!" Blake tried to cry out, but he was already swallowed up by the darkness.

"!" Nash paced back and forth while looking at where Blake was a moment ago, which was a swirling mass of darkness then it stopped as suddenly as it came.

"Ugh..." Blake was okay..."Uggggh!" ...Well, he was shaking but okay, and it felt like someone tried to take his soul just then and there. "...Uh, that was different." He groaned, feeling a headache come on. "Hmm? Soft?" He muttered and looked down at his right hand in it wasn't his hammer that was thrown off to the side but someone's hand. "Huh?" Following the hand up, Blake found a sleeping girl laying on the anvil who looked around his age.

She had long black hair, dressed in a short sleeveless black dress with a small purple belt around her waist, covering her arms were long black fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows, as for footwear she had a pair of dark purple shoes with black knee socks.

"A girl...?" Blake said in amazement then looked at his hammer then back at the girl then back at his hammer again. "Did I just make a girl?" He asked himself dumbfounded then he took a closer at her face. "Whoa! Not bad me! She's pretty!" He thought, watching her breath in and out, which caused his eyes to drift down to her chest. "Really pretty in some places..." Blake started to get a few ideas in his head until Nash brought him out of it with a neigh. "Nash! I wasn't thinking about doing any of tha-!" Blake couldn't finish because he felt the hand he was holding squeeze his. "Shit!" He turned back to the girl with her now open purple eyes staring at him. "...A-a-ah, hi..."

"..." The girl stared at Blake for a bit, examining him with her eyes like he was the strangest thing that ever was then her eyes went to their hands still holding on to each other then stared back at Blake who was sweating like crazy. "Who are you?" She asked in a calm voice getting off the anvil, now standing a few inches under Blake looking up at him a little.

"Uh...I'm Blake," Blake answered, confused at the way this girl was acting. "Uhmm, aren't you...? Uh...I don't know? A little freaked out by a guy you don't know holding your hand while you were sleeping?" He asked the girl, letting go of her hand with a light blush on his cheeks.

"Not at all, it is not that you were undressing me, correct?" She asked, sending Blake a suspicious stare until he shook his head in an answer, and she smiled at him. "Good, I am Risabeel it is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Blake." Risabeel introduced herself doing a small curtsy.

"Same here, Risabeel," Blake said, rubbing the back of his head. "She called me 'sir,' hehe." He thought never being called sir before by anyone then a big question popped into his head. "Soooo? Uh, you were inside that Ore I was hammering awhile ago?"

"Hmm?" Risabeel tilted her head to one side at Blake's question. "Sir Blake, I do not understand your question?"

"Wait? You don't know where you are?" Blake asked, very confused now.

"No, I do not..." Risabeel answered, taking a look around the room then started thinking with her eyes closed. "...In fact, the only thing I can remember is my name. How odd?" She asked herself with a hand under her chin while Blake and Nash stared each other then back at her.

"Yeah, odd..." Blake said in agreement, taking a quick look around, trying to find anything that would give him some answers, but there wasn't much. "Argg, I feel another headache coming on." He groaned in his mind and rubbed his temples to ease the pain. "Since this place doesn't have anything to help, then I guess I'll cut this hunt short for now, follow me, Risabeel." He decided, walking outside with Nash and Risabeel.

Once they got outside the first thing Blake saw was the trio of bandits. "HEY! It's you guys! Did follow me? Aww, that's so cute!" He hollered over to them with a cocky smile on his face while the men glared at him with veins bulging on their heads from their earlier defeat.

"IT'S HIM!" They all yelled, going straight for their weapons. "WE'RE GOING TO TAKE YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!"

"Maybe when I'm in my nineties!" Blake mocked, pulling out his sword to blocked a strike aimed at his neck holding the bandit in place. "But I can't play much this time." He added, grabbing the bandit's arm.

"What the hell!?!" The bandit screamed when Blake sent him flying into a tree.

"Ok, time for a new trick!" Blake smiled as winds started to cover his sword's blade. "Sparrow Wing Gale!" Blake sent out a powerful gust of wind from his sword that picked up one of the bandits then slammed him back down hard. "Two down! One to go!" He stared at the last of them which was the one with the claymore and this time he had his sword ready. "Hey, so you finally get to use that big old sword of yours!"

"Shut up! I'll split you in two!" The bandit roared, pulling the sword behind his back, readying a massive swing if only Blake didn't give him a swift kick directly between the legs. "Argggghhh!" He screamed with his hands dropping his claymore as they shot to his groin. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT!?" He cried in a high pitched voice kneeling on the ground.

"Uhmm? Well, you did kind of leave that part of your body wide open, and I couldn't resist, it is one of the quickest ways to bring a man down, and that's what I wanted...so...yeah." Blake answered as the man started to let out tears of pain before falling on his face, cussing Blake over and over again.

"Sir Blake, do you know these men?" Risabeel asked, staring at each of the bandits as they groaned in pain on the ground.

"Nope! They're just a bunch of bandits nothing more." Blake answered, getting up on Nash's back and held out his hand for Risabeel. "Come on! I'll take you to my hometown."

"Yes, Sir Blake." Risabeel took Blake's hand in hers and sat behind him then wrapped her arms around Blake as Nash rode off.

"I fucking hate that kid." The bandit thrown into the tree cussed trying to stand up after Blake and Risabeel were gone.

"My, my, you three are such a useless bunch of fools," Valac said in an overly bright tone despite yet another failure by the trio of bandits, walking in on them as they recovered. "You failed again. How sad." He added, opening his book and made it float in the air. "I should have done this from the time we met."

"Shut it! You little weirdo! We're done working for your ass!" Another one yelled at Valac glaring at the small boy who didn't even pay him any mind.

"Oh, no, no, you will be done working for me when your bodies can no longer go on," Valac said ominously as three shadowy spirits erupted out of his book leaving behind black wisps as they flew through the air. "Now, take your pick boys even if they aren't that much to fight over." The spirits nodded to Valac before grabbing onto the bandits then forced their way into the bandits' mouths and down their throats.

"GULAKAE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO US!" One of them choked falling to the ground as he and the others started to scream in pain like they were being ripped apart from the inside out.

Valac crouched down to the bandit with the sweetest smiles even blushing in delight. "I am just helping you free your inner Demons is all. Enjoy it while you can!" He cheered like this was the best thing ever. "Ehehhe! I'm going to have so much fun in that town later! hehehe-HAHAHAHAHA!"

Chapter End