‘Ugh… my head is hurting like shit… where am I?’

My eyelids felt heavy but I still opened my eyes. A ceiling I know oh so well. The ceiling of my bedroom. So I fainted. And the principal brought me back to my own home. I don’t know if I should be grateful for that though. But the only thing in my mind right now was the bet.

Did I win? Lose? What am I supposed to do now? I guess I’ll have to ask this myself.

I stood up from my bed slowly, realising that my body was in it’s best shape. It felt even better than it was before. Like I grew stronger. But I do not know why. Did this happen because of the pressure from the principal? Or because I just went past my limits? But I know for sure that my body shouldn’t be able to heal that fast. That meant that the principal did heal me. But if he made me stronger was another matter.

‘Hold on… where is it?’

My sword. Where was my sword? I feel kind of restless if I can’t find it. I have my connection with my weapon but I kind of have to see it now. I am not sure why but I just wanted it in my hands. It just felt that good for me.

I looked around for a bit before spotting my sword alongside my armband , phone and an envelope on the dining table. They were put in a line on the table, reminding me of a way to display items in shops. The first thing I took from there was obviously my blade. Holding it in my right hand, it made me feel more relaxed. It was just that satisfying.

“Sorry, buddy… I guess I made you worry too much.”

I know my sword can’t talk with me but the connection with it made me want to talk with it. It felt so warm in my hand, like it is a part of me already.

…I have gone insane apparently so let’s stop for now. I took the armband as well, putting it on immediately. The moment it was on my left wrist, my body looked like it used to be as well as my pressure vanishing like it never existed.

‘Thank god this still works after that… I can’t imagine what the old man would have done to me if he knew I broke that on day one. Not something I’d like to know though.’

I looked at the time on my phone. Seeing how it is almost nighttime, I must have passed out for a long time. I can hardly remember what I really did at the end. My head just hurts that much. But I remember I had my sword with me.

“7.21 PM… that long…”

I saw my backpack lying on the side of the table but before I took it back to my room, I took the envelope with me. Walking back towards my rppm, I opened the envelope,which was definitely from the principal, and started to read the content slowly as I sat back down on my bed. The letter inside had a very good feeling to it. Like the more older books in a library would have.

[I have lost the bet. As promised , I’ll tell you something I know.

Your parents are alive and well. But you will not find them anywhere here until ‘The Break’ starts.

Hope to see your growth in the future, Laith.

-Alexander Lenkov

PS next time, tell me the name of your sword. It’s an amazing one.]

‘He did keep his part of the bet. Good. And hearing about my parents is even better…’

The principal kept his part of the bet and he did give me even two pieces of information instead of just one like we stated in the bet. Only thing confusing me is this ‘Break’. I know there is something coming in about 7-8 weeks but was it this? I should call the old man afterwards.

But that last part in the letter. I think I should give my sword , The Kilij, a fitting name. I feel like it deserves one instead of just being called out like ‘my sword’ all the time.

With my ability to understand weapon’s, I can also analyse almost every weapon. I’m not sure if it is every weapon so I will stay with the statement of almost. And I can also tell that every weapon has a name and a certain modifier. This was something I learned from the vast knowledge locked inside my head. Whenever I hold an object that can be seen as a weapon, I can feel the name and modifier it possesses.

And every modifier has a potential. The more the potential, the better you can make this weapon. For example, my Kilij has the modifier “The Padishah’s Kilij” that was set in stone upon its creation and that modifier has a very high potential. Not sure if it is the highest but it is very high in comparison to the other stuff I touched like a kitchen knife or a broom that triggered my understanding as well.

Yes. My blade has a modifier but it lacks a name. A name determines the characteristics of a weapon. And those characteristics are what can decide the future of that weapon as well. If you name a knife “ my kitchen knife” it will most likely stay as a kitchen knife.

Though to be honest, my sword probably wasn’t worthy of a modifier so grant. Maybe its first appearance is worthy. I’m not sure. But giving it a name that suited it’s modifier and potential was only logical. It can decide the future of the weapon and I do not want to ruin said future.

I sat laid down on my bed, wondering what I should name it. I do not want to be so cringe and name my sword something like “Lord of blade and darkness”.

'this would be so embarrassing if I think of a name to then still be cringe…this is true pain right here…'

No… I feel bad just thinking of accidentally giving my sword a name that I would regret later. So it has to be short and sweet. Its meaning can be wide or interpreted in different ways but as long as my interpretation is known, it should be fine…

King? Emperor? No, those sound still not so good in my ears. And giving my blade just a name with no meaning would only waste my chance and my sword's future path.

What to name this blade?

My mind was more focused than I wanted it to. But for some reason, my being made me want to focus my all on this. Maybe a historical figure? No that wouldn’t fit it.

'Maybe a god? But what if those gods truly exist? What would happen if I just call out something like [Cronos] when he is right in front of me… This is a pain…'

I was never good at naming. I remember that I had to change my gamertag after Felix and dad saw that. With those faces they made, you’d think they ate something that would make them faint any minute. Especially Felix ,who was really thinking about teaching me how to name stuff. Since then, everytime I named a character, object or something similar, I’d ask Felix about his opinion. But asking him now would be impossible.

But then I remembered something that Felix said to me in 9th grade.

' "if you have that much of a problem find something related to you or it and name it accordingly…" Huh… Something about me and the blade… middle eastern? It’s a Kilij, after all…'

I went on my phone to find a translator and tried to use my brain to find something that fit my sword. Remembering the modifier, I could narrow down the names to something like “Royal one” or something similar.

This took longer than I wanted but after roughly 10 minutes, I finally found a word that suited it. Even if it wasn’t that middle eastern, I kind of liked it and the meaning behind it will not destroy its potential.

Keyser.

It basically meant Emperor in Kurdish.

Now that I think about it, it sounded awfully like the German word for Emperor. I just hope that the pronunciation and spelling won’t make it that obvious. But oh well. It wasn’t that cringe.

right?

"Well… I guess it suits you, doesn’t it? … Keyser…!"

When I said the name out loud, looking at my weapon while holding it with extreme care, something I never expected happened. Keyser started to float, making me jump up from my bed. The shine around it was the same as my Will and it started to spin around itself.

So beautiful. It was a majestic sight to see Keyser in front of me spinning around with such a shine. And then it started to make me sweat buckets. Because the tip was slowly pointing towards me. And a bad feeling crept inside of me as well as a feeling telling me to trust the process. Which one am I to listen to? But I was too late to act when Keyser shot forward, piercing my heart in that exact moment.

Or so I thought but it instead turned liquid and then into gas, moving towards… my soul… the mix of black, gold and dark green particles was slowly moving into the core of my very being, making me shudder with the thought if this is even considered normal with my ability. But after it ended, I understood one thing. Like some knowledge was granted to me at this moment.

It was part of my ability. Every weapon I created and named can be stored inside my soul. It was something akin to an Armoury. Honestly I thought that with the amount of weapons I will have , I’ll be carrying a lot of weapon boxes but this made it a lot easier. Talk about coincidence.

But I didn’t even get a minute to think when Keyser came back again. The feeling I had with it was something of rejection.

It refused to stay inside the armoury… what a weird weapon… this is not supposed to happen but it did.

Keyser didn't want to stay inside my soul even though weapons should be more comfortable inside my armoury. And that was because my blade refused to go to sleep. It wanted to move around and see the action just like with the principal. Challenging threats that will make me and Keyser grow stronger together.

Seriously, what a weird blade…

The blade didn't have consciousness but it was almost like it had one, making me understand Keyser almost instantly. Taking the weapon box that was in the corner of my room, I put Keyser back inside and called the old man. The way he answered my phone made me scared. This was too happy for my own good. I can tell I will be put into torture again.

-Ahaa~ how is my lovely disciple doing? Did they accept your leave?

“...yeah…they did…”

-Why so depressed? We must celebrate this! And I know just the right thing!

“.. what is it, old man?”

-That’s a surprise but come hungry to the hut tonight.

I had to clench my teeth for that. What can possibly be more disgusting than that goo… that disgusting thing I had to eat all this time… I can only shudder at the thought of eating that again.

A little snack won’t harm anyone, right?

While going through the kitchen like a hungry monkey, I looked at the rest of my messages which were all from Felix. Damn… I really am an asshole to make him worry that much.

I typed on my phone, thinking about what I should say to make up for my mistakes. I was still a bit angry that he couldn’t understand that I didn’t like the way they looked at me and trying to stop me but not everyone is perfect.

[Sorry for getting angry at you before. And don't worry about me, I'm fine. But I'll take a break from school for a week. so I'll see you the week after that]

[No, I'm sorry for making it difficult for you in class. And alright but text me at least every two days.]

[Fine. I’ll text you but stop worrying so much. I’m my own person as well.]

[You better not forget that or I'll beat you up.]

“Haha… yeah… just try that, buddy.”

I had a wry smile on my face when I read the last message. I wonder what Felix would think if I told him that I was actually much stronger than he was now. And seeing how much he was worried gave me only a bitter taste in my mouth. He was justified to be worried as well since I never missed a day since going to High school. But I can’t stop now and go back to school like I used to.

I looked at my room and trying to think what I’ll need for the next week. Or months to be precise. Seeing my square glasses on my table made me remember that I don’t need them any more. But out of habit, I still put them into my bag. Not like they will take too much space. And after putting spare clothes, some books, a gaming console I could use while resting and my phone into my backpack , I prepared myself to leave home yet again.

I took my headphones and pressed the play button to listen to some rock music while wearing my classic sweatshirt and sweatpants with my sneakers. Just like the day I went to meet up with that crazy bastard. Even after all that training I had with these on, they still looked the same as they did on the first day.

Maybe the old man repaired them every time they would get damaged. How I am not sure. Let’s just say Magic out of convenience.

I walked out of the apartment and made my way towards the forest, finally starting my training with my new ability.

A couple of hours ago. Inside an office with bookshelves on each side of the room that were filled with all sorts of books and objects.

On the couch in front of a tea table sat a man with black long hair that had slight grey strands. His demeanour was dignified as he held the tea cup with his very muscular hands. He just arrived and wanted to listen to the man that sat on that chair behind the desk.

“As always, this tea is fantastic.”

“Glad you like it. I really needed this after helping you out with your so-called favour…”

The man on the couch, Akira, was now intrigued. Was it really that hard for this man, who was almost as strong as himself, to push his disciple a little? Or was there something else that Akira didn’t notice. No. that wasn’t the case…

“Oh~? What happened?“

“Can’t you see my cheek? That’s what happened.”

“I bet you lowered your defence enough for the boy to do that. Don’t try to fool me with just that.”

Both taking another sip, it was silent for a moment. Akira really didn’t understand what the big deal was supposed to be. It’s not like his skin can’t be made softer and Akira was sure that Alexander did in fact lower his defence enough to get cut.

“But this wasn’t the result of all the force the child used. Most of it went towards the pressure as he cut it for a brief moment.”

Akira’s eyes widened. What did this man just say? The boy did cut what exactly? Laith just awakened so this should be out of his reach.

“What level of pressure are we talking about?”

“... it was Illustratus.”

BOOM

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

‘Ugh… here we go again with this mad man…’

Akira laughed out loud like a true madman, befitting of his nickname. And with his Will partly released, he just couldn’t help himself but to break the tea table in front of him with just his laugh. Seeing this, Alexander’s face soured.

“Like master, like disciple. You two must break my expensive furniture all the time, don’t you?”

“Hahaha~ he broke something as well?”

“That hat stand at the door. Broke it and planned to use it as a last minute spear. It looked like he had the reflexes of a veteran with his immediate reaction.”

“Hahaha! Put it on my tab. I’ll fix it as well as the table.”

And with a slow movement of his hand, the broken furnitures in the room were slowly repaired. The scene looked more like reversing time rather than actually repairing and this was better than calling a professional to do all the repairs.

“Really… you should open a repair shop with those skills.”

“Ha! I’d if only my skills weren’t so expensive that no one would be able to afford them!”

“Haaa… “

It was tiring to keep up with this madman sometimes. But Alexander didn’t mind that and focused on something he wanted to ask for a while now.

“Why did you ask me to push him a bit? couldn’t you have done that yourself? Or did you just want to brag about how talented this child is?”

Putting his hand on his chin, Akira started to think. Or that is how it looks. Alexander thought that Akira was only playing with him again as the latter should already know why he asked for that favour.

“Honestly, it’s a bit of both. But it is also because I can’t push him. He is my disciple and he is sharp enough to understand it is either training. With you , he understood that he wouldn’t get killed but that was it. You had no obligation to listen to him yet you did. And the result was even greater than the two of us could have imagined.”

“I’m just worried that he won’t turn into a mad bastard like yourself…”

“What was that?”

“I said I hope he won’t become mad like a certain bastard I know!”

Alexander glared straight at Akira with a slightly bulging vein visible on his forehead. Akira received the glare head on with a big smile on his face.

“Hahaha~ that’s why I like you. Unlike the other cowards that talk big with their tails between their legs, you at least have courage! ”

‘This is exactly what I’m worried about. If that child grows with this idiot by his side, he will only be called “The Second Mad King” by almost everyone.’

“Well you got what you wanted. And now you owe me one as well.”

The smile on Akira instantly vanished the moment he heard he now owed Alexander a favour. With a visible sigh, Akira stood up while leaving his unfinished tea on the table.

“I get it. Just tell me beforehand when you need my help. Don’t drag me into something I am not aware of.”

“I won’t. Have a nice week.”

“Thank you.”

CLICK

The door opened and closed. Akira left the office, leaving Alexander alone to his thoughts. Slightly touching his cheek where his wound started to heal at a visible rate, he gave voice to his thoughts.

“I sure hope this kid grows up into a great person. And I can’t wait to witness this growth as well…”