CLANG

“I think I understand the hitting process more. If I control the strength and put more thought into accuracy, I should be able to determine the hardness of it pretty quickly with my ability. The hard part is the handle though… what to do… what to do…”

CLANG

It has already been 15 days since I worked on different weapons inside the hut. At first, I tried to take it slow and do the amount the old man said I should do but the more I tried it out, the longer I stayed inside the hut with now only leaving when I needed nutrients or had to sleep on something more comfortable than a large anvil.

CLANG

I thought at the beginning that the moment I tried to forge a weapon, a switch in my head will be flipped that would make me the best that ever existed. But I guess I literally can understand weapons. So I had to start from scratch and oh boy was I bad. Even if you could hear what you did wrong, hearing a list of your mistakes that was larger than the list of every person living in a metropolis is still hurtful.

CLANG

But after reforging the weapons every and every time.

CLANG

I got better at it, making me able to craft relatively quality weapons for now.

CLANG

Well, those had quality if we keep in mind that they weren’t even [Common] grade weapons but only regular ones.

CLANG

But there was no running away from lifting this heavy hammer and swinging it down to hit the hot metal

CLANG

And Hit!

CLANG

And Hit!

CLANG

And Hit!

I wasn’t fast while working in the forge. In fact, I tried to be as careful as possible with the weapons, putting the most effort into them. I’m trying to improve in capabilities not in how fast I could finish them. And after ten days I did in fact become faster even though I put in the same amount of effort into those weapons. But there was one underlying fact that I wouldn’t forget.

'I can't do this faster than 8 hours or it will not be of the quality I want it to be. But there is no need to rush things. Even if the constant working made me mentally tired…'

As I thought… even if my body became so strong, my mind still was used to working in [Mortalis] limits, draining more than it needed to be. But that was fine. With these 15 days, I became a bit more used to it, but not like I wished it to be so I just have to do more than I did before. And maybe I could create one more [Common] grade weapon.

Yes. I did in fact create one before. It was a little dagger that was made with different alloys that used special metals normal people didn’t know about. The way I created it was by accident though. By infusing my Will into the hammer and striking the metal, I thought I could be better in the tempering process but the side effect of it was that it created a bad [Common] grade weapon.

There were a couple of weapons I tried to create according to the book the old man gave me like whips, bows, swords, spears, gauntlet, axes and shields. I did about 21 weapons which 17 was of good quality, 3 were great quality and one even peaked in my eyes.

I was hammering in the hut, not recognising my surroundings while doing so. I was in my own world while working on something I didn’t expect from myself ten days ago. And that is to create a [Common] grade weapon right now. It was a dagger that should become sharp while not losing that sharpness with each proper cut. I was now working on the hitting process for the dagger while shaping it so it would look like the blueprints I made before starting.

I finished four hours later with a dagger that, if someone paid close attention to it, displayed a slight grey glow. I think I did it! Hahaha… I did it!

“YES!! [Common] GRADE! LET’S GO!”

I was excited to see something better than normal weapons that I forgot I had the dagger in my hand and accidentally hit a weapon with it, breaking the normal weapon in two.

“...”

Let’s just put this down for a second. I can’t accidentally kill another innocent weapon like that. And with that being said, I left the hut while yawning out loud. Man, was I beat. I stayed up all night while doing this dagger, neglecting the sleep I missed with this. I should be more careful from now on.

It was about 1.12 AM for normal time but 12 PM for me, making it exactly 15 days since the old man went off for his ‘Happy Time’ outside the barrier. The simulated sun shone through the open window of the hut, remembering that I worked all night long again. But what can I do? I started to enjoy my work more and more with every weapon I made.

With my skin was slightly tanned, every hair on my body dry and my hands numb, I should really try to have some rest. I walked out of the hut while stretching my body from side to side. Breathing in the fresh air and bathing under the sun, I felt the fatigue build up quite a lot.

“I should go take a bath. Breakfast can wait.”

“No, it can’t, boy. We got something to do today.”

Oh fuck. He arrived. Just before I could close my eyes and think about the relaxing bath I’ll take in just some minutes did he show up and ruin all the fun of that thought. But it was also my fault for overworking, so I couldn’t complain without looking dumb.

"Don't worry, you'll get to rest. Today, we have something different to do. So take your shower and dress up well with the clothes I laid on the table. We are going out!”

Now that piqued my interest. New clothes? Going out? And most importantly, having rest? Is this man the same one before leaving? Maybe all that stress that was built up got out now, leaving the old man relaxed. If there is a secret besides what I think it is, then maybe I should ask the old man about it.

Sighing, I walked towards the bigger hut but before long, I could see a grin on his face. What are you grinning at, old bastard?

“Old man… what is it now? And please don’t make me regret asking this question…”

"Hehehe~ don't you worry~ I know you'll like what we are going to do."

Why are you chuckling like a girl? This isn’t some gossip in junior high but an important conversation. Or at least I hope it is. Not that I want to get teased by this old man again. Just gnaws on my dignity…

"…and what is that?"

"Of course meeting our future neighbours! Some already came to see the place so let's go!"

Wait? Neighbours? In this forest? Where humans wouldn’t live unless they are stupid or hiding? Wait… am I stupid?

Hold on! That’s not the focus here! If the old man takes me out to ‘greet the neighbours’ then that means those said neighbours aren’t normal humans. And given the fact that the old man isn’t that friendly with the neutral family faction, hates the evil faction like the pest and the good faction living in cities meant that the ones coming aren’t humans.

‘The association was negotiating with most races for the break… at least those were the old man’s words so they should hold some value. The races that were the most friendly with the humans were the dwarves and… !!!

"ELVES! THEY ARE FINALLY HERE?!"

“Shut up, brat! And yes, we are going to meet elves. In fact, it's the mayor of the city who will be overseeing the construction with his family for now while the association is building it. I’ll explain more on the way so go get ready!”

Hehehe… Elves were a race not much different than humans except for their muscle mass, their height average which was about 10 cm more than the human average and their pointy long ears. And I was quite excited to see another intelligent race since I learned about them. Some had a whole different culture while some had a resemblance with some human cultures. The reason why we could say Elven culture and not the culture of their tribes was because only humans were so divided to have such different cultures.

honestly, that was a hit in my chest when I realised that may be true. Humans were fighting with each other for one solid reason. Greed. Even if other races possess this emotion as well, Humans had it excessively, making them dangerous when they become desperate.

But there was one problem for me besides my smelly body and that was that I was originally socially awkward with people. I just stay stuck between a rock and a hard place when having conversations with people I don’t know much. The old man was an exception at the beginning with the fact that he already had an aura that made me feel protected.

Well, some people can wear some pretty good masks, can’t they?

But even after so much time, after so much training and so much effort, I still don’t think I would be good in a conversation. Destroying buildings and terrains or being able to create great artefacts won’t make you a social person.

With this thought in my head, walking towards the hut was now more nerve-wracking than ever. Washing myself up as fast as possible, I left the bathroom and changed into the clothing the old man gave me.

It was a white poet shirt and black pants coupled with black leather pants. Looking at myself in the mirror, I looked like I was going to act for an extra in a Pirate movie. But this is what the humans used when the last time they interacted with other races so I guess this is as expected.

Leaving the hut, I saw a man with a dark blue poet and black pants and leather shoes. His hair was tied at the back, making his neck stand out more than it usually would. I bet if a girl in my class would see him, they would scream with hearts in their eyes.

The old man looked at me with a smile while throwing something at me. I caught it, realising it is a scabbard with beautiful decorations on it and a belt for tying the scabbard to it. The size of the scabbard was perfect for a certain blade I knew.

“I thought as much but why should I bring Keyser with me while we are going to meet Elves? Doesn’t that make us look on guard?”

“It’s fine as long as you don’t draw it outside a duel. And besides, leaving this barrier without a weapon is dangerous no matter how fast Keyser can fly towards you so just take it.”

Fine. not like I was complaining when I was happier with Keyser at my side. And so, I called it out and put it inside the scabbard before tying it at the belt the old man gave me.

"Alright, boy! We will go now so follow me closely!"

The old man turned around and started to move fast while I was closely following behind him. I believe we were heading towards the northwest from the hut. I followed closely behind the old man while he started to explain to me the details of today's meeting.

The elves we are going to meet are the family members of the future mayor of the elven city that is being built inside the forest. With the oncoming event that is ‘The Break’, the mayor wanted his children to start living on earth a week before the rest young elves will come over and try to understand the humans more before they are forced to interact with them.

Upon arriving in an open field in the middle of the night, I could faintly see the outlines of a barrier that was covering a part of the thick forest. I tried to understand the barrier and felt something was different.

'something is off… This is not a barrier built with Will and engravings… so this is mana. It feels… untainted.'

While I was engrossed in the matter of mana, the old man started to shout while looking inside the thick forest with a smile on his face.

"Little girl! Would a good host just leave one important guest and a brat just Infront of the door?"

"I'm sorry sir! I wasn't trying to be rude here but we're just discussing with the Elves about our agreement. Please come in!"

Oh wow! That’s a beautiful dress right there! The moment I saw the Association director, Angelina Edwards, appears in front of the barrier just when the old man called her, I knew what the old man meant with a feast for the eyes when talking about his successor. And the 18th-century European style dress that she wore at that moment made that statement even more believable.

From the lessons I had with the old man, I knew practically everything about her from how she was a rather shy person herself like me or her fidgeting hands that the old man labelled as a cute gesture from time to time.

She may look like just about 20 years old but I knew that behind that beautiful face was a woman that was 58 years old. It was quite impressive how this person is supposed to be the strongest person with how she looked. I was quite tall so looking down to look her into the eyes felt a bit wrong, to be honest. But I guess one should never judge a book by its cover as she earned the title of second youngest director ever.

The old man was the youngest one ever with the record being 47 when he became the Director or at that time the Head. according to the old man, it was unusual for someone to hold the director title so long as there would be someone stronger coming every 100 years but he just beat everyone that tried to steal his position all while making drastic reforms in the Association like implementing the base structure of the information network they possess.

The old man sure is awesome, ey? But I can’t really see him as others would. When looking at him, I can only see a trouble maker acting too young for his own age while making my training sessions a living hell.

‘Yep! A complete asshole!’

I wanted to inspect the barrier for a bit more while trying to forget the things I had in mind previously when I could feel a strong gaze coming from my side. Looking at the person responsible for it, I could see the director looking at me while taking cover behind the old man. What is it? Was something wrong with my face? Maybe introducing myself would be better.

“H-hello Director. M-my name is Laith Arslan. It’s a p-pleasure to meet you.”

Damn am I nervous right now. Having the strongest man as my personal coach does not make me indifferent to other people. And especially because she has the power to command the whole Association at the moment was that my body was so tense.

The Director looked at me with curious eyes as she went out of her cover while bowing slightly just like I did. Wait! Don’t show that much respect! I won’t take it!

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as w-well, Akira Hashimoto’s disciple, Laith Arslan. My name is Angelina Edwards.”

“It’s so interesting seeing the same type of socially bad people meeting each other. Just try to relax you two~. Especially you, Director.”

The old man butted in with another smirk on his face. Glaring at him, the only wish I had at that moment was to destroy that smirk and smack him in the head. I believe you should understand why we are like this?

“But I must say… you grew up remarkably well.”

“Well, this boy had the help of the best coach ever so it is only obvious that he will show results fast like that.”

The Director looked with an empty gaze while having her index finger on her chin. Oh! This is one of the things the old man warned me about her. I should put up my defen-

“It’s amazing how you could transform a pushover to a monster with your self destructive training, sir.”

Double kill. Both I and the old man suffered damage with me suffering more from her blunt attacks. The old man warned me before that the reason she is so shy with others is that she is too direct with her words, making others distance themselves from her from an early age. This is something she struggled to keep at a bare minimum but whenever she has an empty gaze was the moment a blunt comment would leave her mouth.

Maybe I should try changing the subject or she will do more damage than I could possibly take.

"…Old man. This barrier... Is it made of Mana? It doesn't have the feeling of Will at all."

"Ehem…You are correct. This barrier is made by Mana which is the energy scattered throughout the universe, unlike Will which is only born from human determination. They use something called a [Mana Stone] and engravings like runes to manifest the barrier without anyone needing to maintain the barrier with their own Mana. That's how the Elves will be protected before the Break truly happens. Normal Humans learning of their existence without knowing about the Break would only lead to a catastrophe."

I could see the slight disappointment the old man felt at that moment. I don’t know much but I could guess why he felt like that. Humans kill things first before questioning them so it will end in a bad way if they learned that Elves are a real thing.

“Should we go? The mayor is already waiting for the two of you inside the mansion.”

We followed behind the Director, passing multiple trees before standing at what seemed to be a gate. Entering the city, my jaw could only fall as I took in the scenery that is the future Elven city. With trees wider than most apartment complexes and natural-looking apartments as if carved into the tree by mother nature, the city had its mix of what I expected and how a normal metropolis was.

Some trees were so high up that it hurt my neck to look at the top of it while others were smaller in height but wider as if being a big house. The Elves' culture was to not disturb nature like cutting down forests for wood but to manipulate it so that they could coexist with it. Having a high affinity with nature and mana, to begin with, was something that was obviously going to be part of their culture. Their roads were paved with stones though and it had the feeling of a city.

It felt fantasy yet also made sense with the engineers of the Association and the Elf tribe working together to plan out the city for every Elf that was coming to earth.

"These houses will be functional in 2 days with everything a modern house would have with a bit more to let the Elven youths understand the culture of the humans better than they learned from. They'll have training grounds like their own and facilities like schools and hospitals like humans will become a norm as well with Association members working with them together for a set time. Now, come let me introduce you both to the chief of this Elven city."

The deeper we went into the city, the more workers we encountered that worked on finishing the city. Those were all Association members, huh. Having their normal suit as a uniform with an insignia on their left chest as well as shoulder and knee protectors. It looked stylish, to be honest.

Maybe I should try to make armour as well before I start to learn how to make artefacts. This way, I could start with my… foundations… what the hell?

A large mansion. It wasn’t made of a tree but looked like a human mansion. With three floors and two wings, this beautiful building looked like an English countryside mansion. How the hell did they make something like that so fast? Or since when did they start this?

I started to pant more with what I saw. Not like it was shocking but the question here was…

“Why?”

“Hm?”

“I’m not trying to be rude, Director. But why is such a grand mansion located in the middle of the city? Not to mention that it doesn’t look like it fits inside the city.”

The mansion was too human-like to be something the Elves had. And the answer from the Director confirmed my ideas.

“The mayor wanted to have the design of human mansions instead of planting a giant tree in the middle of the city. And after showing him different kinds of mansions to pick from, his family decided on this design. The mayor described this building as a reminder that they had a positive relationship with the humans now and not like before.”

It does make sense but still. I’m crying here with the image of an Elven city now partly destroyed. But no one cared and we proceeded to enter through the gate. Walking towards the door, the director knocked on it only to be greeted by a tall man with white hair and deep blue eyes. His skin was relatively pale and he had a kind of robe out of silk on him that reminded me of traditional east Asian clothes yet the sleeves were tight on his arms yet still flexible.

But of course, the most important thing that piqued my attention was his ears that were long and pointy, just like the old man described how they would be. This made me excited to no end as I saw my first Elf.

'OH MY GOD! IT'S AN ELF! A REAL-LIFE ELF! Look at these ears! They are just as I imagined!'

"I assume besides the Association director are the two guests that have been invited today to meet the Lord and his family?"

"Yes, they are. Thank you for welcoming us."

"It is the least a humble butler can do for the helpers of our city. Please! Let me guide you to the Lord."

Walking through the corridors of the large estate, whatever I saw was a feast for my eyes. With a beautiful red carpet laid down on the floor, decorations that were Elven traditional decorations, paintings that were definitely the work of a great artist as well as weapons which I could feel the power coming from.

The moment we arrived in front of a massive door, I felt my body slightly trembling while I had a wry smile on my face. Now that we were right before them did I realise that this was actually happening.

The butler knocked on the door and waited before a gentle yet strong voice came from behind these doors.

"My Lord. The guests have arrived."

"Let them in A'ahil."

The moment I saw the room, I understood that what I saw in the corridor was just the beginning. The room we entered was probably the living room with the extravagant couches and seats in the middle of a giant room, circling around a tea table big enough to fit multiple large plates of sweets. The walls were decorated with family paintings that moved by themselves as well as weapons that had a much heavier aura than those in the hallways. Looking at the middle of the room, I could spot five Elves with three younger-looking Elves sitting on one couch while two more mature-looking Elves were seated at a little smaller couch.

With my ability that improved after 15 days, I tried to analyse these weapons on the wall before getting stopped by the old man. At least let me try! Oh, wait! That was most likely something rude to do… Shit. I messed up!

I looked back at the family in the middle of the room that just stood up to greet us. Just behave now, Laith. Try not to be the cause of another great war.

"Heh! If you like to look like the baby you are then let that droll there just fine."

'Fuck! Did my mouth water again?!'

Thanks to the remark of the old man, I hurriedly whipped my mouth while feeling the embarrassment piling up. I could swear I heard giggles coming from those younger-looking Elves.

Walking towards the empty couch while greeting them back, the man I presume to be the mayor and father of those gigglers came towards the old man while extending his right hand with the latter only responding in the same way.

"It's been a long time, Mr Hashimoto. The last time we met was in our sub-dimension if I remember correctly."

"Yes, that's the case! How long has it been, Mr Lo'oroz?"

"Maybe about 200 years? But it's good to see you the same as before."

"And it's good you finally got a family to take care off."

The two chatted more before sitting down, letting everyone else sit down as well. I didn’t know the old man already met with the mayor. Wasn’t this supposed to be something I should have known?

The two talked more with mainly Mr Lo’oroz speaking about his life the past 200 years. The Director took a sip from the tea presented by the butler, A’ahil, while talking with the wife of the mayor. So I was sitting on the right side, trying to mind my own damn business. Which was trying to inspect the weapons hanging on the wall.

I didn’t learn my lesson and I never will. These 15 days made me into a weapon fanatic so having to see different kinds of them only gave me more ideas for my own creations.

"Ah! Where are my manners! I forgot to introduce you to my family. This is my wife Ka'hlisa Lo'oroz and my 3 children. My eldest son Kali'id, my second son Fe'liu and my daughter and Laetisa."

At the mention of each name, each one bowed their head slightly. They all had the same kind of robes but theirs looked more luxurious than the one of the butler.

Looking at each and every one of them, I felt like I should be slightly jealous. I didn’t know that the cliche of Elves being beautiful and handsome was real as well! With Kali’id having a sturdier build than most Elves seemed like the most fighter-like from the three and the two others, who are twins, looked like models that could earn enough to buy themselves another mansion like this.

Especially Laetisa who had the beauty that could almost rival Gina with her blonde hair and an attractive face she definitely got from her mother. But I’d still say that Gina would win that contest.

I’m a bad person for making a contest of beauty behind the backs of those people, aren’t I?

"Nice to meet you! My name is Akira Hashimoto. I presume you already had the luck to meet with the association director, Angelina Edwards ."

"Yes. She helped us out with the arrangements of the city as well as the time slots for the arrival of our people. I’d like to thank you again for all the support, Association head"

“It is my pleasure to be able to help out one of our allies, mayor.”

"Good. Lastly, this little fella here is my disciple, Laith Arslan."

And silence fell in this very room. The mayor and his wife had the expression of someone that saw something unimaginable. Why are they so shocked? Is something wrong? And more importantly…

'SINCE WHEN CAN THIS PERVY OLD MAN SPEAK POLITELY!?!? IS THE BREAK HAPPENING ALREADY!?! WHERE SRE THE ANGLES THAT SIGNAL THE APOCALYPSE?'

I was stunned by this situation and my head was slightly spinning until I felt a slight tug from the old man, making me stand up immediately and bow down 50 degrees all while introducing myself.

"H-Hello! I'm Laith Arslan a-and the disciple of this ol... Of Akira Hashimoto. Please take care of me in the future."

Another silence that lasted not as long as the first one as it was broken by the laughter of two people.

"Pfft... hahahahahaha!" (Treihtir and Ka'hlisa)

'wh-whats so funny? Did I mess up?'

"Boy sit down... They aren't laughing at you so relax."

"Oh..."

I sat down with a blank expression on my face. This situation is really not good for my heart. The only saving grace that pulled me back together was the words of the mayor.

"I'm sorry Laith. It was refreshing to see someone so nervous in front of us. We expected the disciple of Mr Hashimoto to be experienced and all but seeing you like this as a nervous normal person was unexpected from the two of us. I hope you can forgive us this once."

"N-no it's nothing."

I felt embarrassed, having the mayor of another race apologise to me. The mayor patting his lap before standing up smiled at us before continuing to talk.

"Well anyways... How about I show you around the Mansion."