Cedric was going to depart tomorrow and had been pleased to find out that Brigid was going to be joining him. He was glad to have the opportunity to work with one of his friends again. even if the battle itself would be grim, he was glad to have someone he could talk with for the journey. Today he needed to pick up his new equipment.

A lot had changed since his meeting with the prince, the biggest of which was that he received a home in the capital. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it felt extremely luxurious to him. He had been reluctant to leave the stone building, even if it was to get a new sword. All of the chosen had received homes in the capital, though many had already left on missions. He would be gone soon too, but he would enjoy his new place while he could. He was going to get a sword but could also use the opportunity to get some furniture. His place had some, but he had grown used to having dozens of pillows and wanted to get more.

He had received some money and Steven had told him that it was a large amount. Cedric didn’t actually know but had a general idea of what to expect. Sir L said that he wouldn’t need to worry about a lot. Most people wouldn’t try and create problems with the Chosen. That was obvious. If it was in the past, then he probably would have completely avoided someone known as the Chosen. Normal people didn’t treat him well back then, and he would’ve expected worse from them.

He was walking through the street and felt more than a few glances directed at him. Anyone who shared a stage with a member of the royal family would be remembered. A few people had even waved or saluted at him. Sir L had warned him to be nice to others but not too nice. Not really knowing how to balance those things he settled for nodding at the people who looked towards him. Nobody actually approached him though. It was the opposite of what he had experienced.

In the past, he was afraid of looking at others. Meeting someone’s eyes usually wound up with him getting insulted at the very least. Even now he found himself avoiding eye contact with these people, even if he knew that they wouldn’t look at him like that. No, these people would be like those from the cheering crowds and stare at him with awe and respect.

Cedric had originally planned on getting the things he needed through somebody like Sir L. That plan failed, as Sir L demanded that he go and get the items he wanted personally. He said that it would improve his image and could help him once he tried becoming a bodyguard. Something about earning some recognition and getting people to identify him. That was why he was going to get the items himself, and also why he was wearing the same uniform he had worn during the celebration.

He was putting most of his focus toward avoiding any stumbles and had managed to avoid them so far. Tripping and falling would be an unwanted reminder of who he had been and embarrassing too. He picked up his pace a bit. He was used to slowing his pace to fit people like Sir L when they walked together, but he didn’t need to do that now. He slowly increased the length of his stride, and the speed at which he took his steps. To him, this felt more like walking normally, but others might need to run just to keep up. With a general idea of where to go, he sped through the streets.

Eventually, he found the blacksmith. It was easily identifiable because the building was ironically black. It had a symbol of a hammer painted across the side, but it already stuck out because of its odd coloring. The building was small probably half the size of the house he had received, and he noticed only two windows on the whole building. It probably got obnoxiously hot inside someplace like that.

His initial impression proved true as the building was easily far too hot. It was hot enough that he might even start sweating after being in there for a while. The building had stone doors too, though they weren’t as heavy as they seemed. The inside was a cramped space, and only a small section near the entrance was designed for meeting people. The majority of the place was a forge, and he saw three people working away at one thing or another. Not wanting to disturb them, he moved slowly towards the only desk he saw.

It was made of metal, and he noticed that the chairs he saw were also metal. Even before resting his hand upon the greyish metal, he expected it to be hot. It wasn’t to the point that it would burn someone like him, but he didn’t think it would be very comfortable for normal people. As he stood there and waited his eyes scanned the three-working people. One of the people seemed to be melting large chunks of metals and mixing them with something. He wasn’t very tall but had muscles that bulged thickly. He had a long beard that was tied into a braid and wrapped around his neck. It didn’t look very comfortable. Noticing that the man was not wearing a shirt, Cedric assumed that another would be the one to approach him.

The next person he saw was hammering away at something. The motions seemed exaggerated like he was putting on a show but the force behind them showed his strength. The man’s strength could never match someone with the elixir, but he was clearly stronger than most normal people. He wore a dark brown shirt that clung to his body from sweat. This man was clean-shaven and around the same height as the previous. All the people inside were short and were all over a full head’s length shorter than Cedric.

The last person was a girl. She had red hair and had it tied into a braid. Her braid was wrapped around the top of her head into a circular headband though. Like the earlier man, she was hammering away at something, though she kept glancing at the clean-shaven man. She was maybe a hand shorter than the other two, so Cedric guessed that she was an apprentice or something. Cedric watched her for a second, before realizing that her shirt was also clinging to her body from sweat. Plus, hers was white and was somewhat transparent. Cedric wasn’t so brazen enough to keep staring and quickly shifted his gaze to the items in the room.

It didn’t take long for him to find his weapon. It lay on a desk and looked like it hadn’t been moved since it was made. The desk itself was dented slightly by the weight of the blade. He was tempted to hop over to the forge and examine the weapon more closely but thought that would be rude. Instead, he just let his gaze wash over the sword.

It was long easily as tall as he was. Furthermore, it was wider than he was too, and as thick as his arm to boot. The blade was entirely black, the hilt included, and he couldn’t help but get a little excited. The hilt was as long as his forearm, and he noticed the blade didn’t have any guard.

Actually, it didn’t even look all that sharp, and he realized that it only had a superficial edge. It would still cut, though that would mostly be due to his own speed and strength rather than the blade. Looking at it that way, it seemed more like an enormous cleaver, though one meant to cleave through a giant’s bones. Well, city gates wouldn’t be much thicker than that. he wondered if everyone was receiving weapons like that. It would be cool if they matched. When he tried picturing that, he realized that it wouldn’t be cool and felt a little embarrassed at the thought.

That would be something he kept to himself. As he stared at the sword, he missed the approach of the clean-shaven man and had probably missed some of what he had said. Cedric only noticed when he felt the man’s hand hit his arm. He was clearly irritated, and Cedric withered slightly under the gaze.

“Sorry, I got distracted by the sword.”

The man’s gaze slowly moved toward the enormous weapon, and he nodded slightly before responding.

“No worries lad, but do you be needin? Your mother sent you to pick something up?”

The man’s voice carried an accent that Cedric didn’t recognize. He phrased it like a question, and Cedric realized that the man didn’t recognize him. Well, there was no reason he would if he missed the celebration the other day. Cedric knew he wasn’t old, but he was technically an adult. That didn’t seem to matter here though.

“No, I’m here for the sword. I’m Cedric.”

Shaking his head, Cedric tried to give the man a confident smile. At the mention of the sword and his name, the other two stopped working too. They looked at Cedric like he was a crazy person. He could guess why too. Unlike the three people here, he seemed to be less muscular than even the female apprentice. He was more muscular than before the elixir, but he didn’t think he would ever be able to get the bulging muscles that these people had.

Cedric noticed that the man who had touched him earlier was watching him with some curiosity. He probably recognized the uniform and guessed that there was some truth to his words. Despite his obvious skepticism, the man spoke easily.

“Well, if you can actually carry that thing, I don’t think anyone will complain about me giving it to you. And the names Ragnas.”

His voice stopped the other two, who both looked like they were biting back a comment. Cedric nodded and took that as permission to cross over the desk. He used one of his arms to help steady himself as he leapt over the desk. Only to be shown that there was a door connected to a part of the desk. It was connected in a way to hide it from the customers, but the man had opened it to let Cedric through. Cedric awkwardly rubbed the back of his head with his shorter arm.

Then in a desperate attempt to end the embarrassment he felt, he grabbed the sword by the hilt and lifted it easily. There was a creaking noise as the metal desk was freed from the weight of the sword. Cedric stared at the sword realizing that it was definitely hot enough to burn a normal person. It only felt mildly uncomfortable in his own hands, and he did a light practice swing with the weapon. It clanged with the stone wall of the building cutting through it easily.

In his excitement, he didn’t hold back on the speed, and he wasn’t used to the blade’s lightness either. The two factors made him swing a lot faster than he intended, and he couldn’t stop himself from cutting into the wall. He immediately pulled the sword from the wall and wanted to apologize to the blacksmith. The man though seemed frozen by what just happened, and Cedric realized that he moved to stand between him and the other people.

“No. I’m sorry. I was just, um trying the balance. Isn’t that what people are supposed to do?’

He was panicking a little, not wanting to frighten the people more. His prattling managed to get the man in front to chuckle slightly, and he waved off Cedric’s concern. After a few more pieces of advice, Cedric was asked to do some practice swings. He obliged, swinging the weapon more slowly than he had before. By the time he left, the man didn’t seem nearly as worried and even the other two had said a thing or two.

Feeling much better, Cedric left the building with his sword tied to his back. The scabbard had a long metal sash attached to it, as anything made of leather would just break. Wearing the new sword proudly, he headed back home. he could get pillows on the way. There was a giddiness in his step as he remembered that he was going to his home. A proper house at that.