Chapter 9

'I'll miss you and your stinking gutters...' she remembered another reason why she wanted to leave the walls as often as possible. Metals are still rare in the smaller cities so building a proper sewage system proved to be very difficult. Only New Sydney managed to build an acceptable one so far. Of course the Dwarves in the southern mountains are said to have one too but considering their proficiency in metallurgy and the abundance of iron in the mountains didn't really make that very surprising. One of their cities was found in the sixth year after Hope. They're supposedly friendly and open to trade but just reaching the city is very tough. Many commercial expeditions had to be aborted because the journey proved to be too difficult. Some of course were lost completely.

Leaving the square the hooded figure, now covered in snow, entered a side street went to her preferred blacksmith. She had told him previously that she would leave the Valaan tonight so he was still awake, waiting for her while drinking one of his own beers.

Gwenith entered the shop and sat down opposite him. "Hi Khal." "Hi Gwen...so it's finally time for you to leave permanently...really a shame, but it's not like you were here most of the time anyway." Gwenith listened and smirked as she took a gulp from the mug already placed before her. "Your beer is getting better...still sucks though, you might want to stick to weapons Khal." taking the insult without flinching Khal emptied his cup and filled it again. He held it towards Gwenith. "To Valaan, the formerly second free city of the east." "To Val, our stinking mother and protecting walls" they both emptied their cups again when Khal got up. "Before you leave I want you to have something." he started as he went into the cellar where he stored his equipment. 'Aaah, part of the reason why I came here...you were always the sentimental type." Gwenith though while smiling brightly. 'I do like him though, even though his beer barely qualifies as mud.'

When she got up Khal entered the room with a seven feet long sword with a diameter of nearly one foot at certain parts. He breathed heavily as he handed her the weapon. "It's black steel, weighs about two hundred pounds." Khals Strength was at 300 so it was difficult for him to even carry the weapon around. "I made them especially for you Gwen." he added "Them?" Gwenith asked surprised "Of course, I know you only fight with two of those steelbars but don't think I'll be carrying them at the same time." He grunted as he went to get the second one of the swords while Gwenith looked at it with sparkling eyes. "Identify"

Blacksteel Ultragreatsword

Damage 350 + 717

Bonus dependant on Strength stat. 50% of Strength stat added.

Requires 850 Strength to use properly.

Requires level 200 to use (Reduced by 10)

Durability: 10'000

'Only one level to go, my other two swords don't even start to compare...' She easily lifted the sword and moved it as if it was as light as a feather. The requirement in Strength was only a suggestion as everybody could technically wield the sword, it just wouldn't be very effective. And there would be a damage reduction equal to the missing Strength. Every piece of equipment worked this way. One could even equip items with a higher level requirement but most of the bonuses would be reduced to nothing and the strain on the person would be enormous. Novices would burn their hands or even break their arms when trying to wield a level 100 sword. Accidents like that would rarely happen because you instantly felt the pain spreading once you tried to use an inappropriate item. Experiments were done though and some people even endured weeks of pain believing the weapon would grow on them. It never did.

Khal sat down while taking another swig of his beer after bringing the second sword. It was the same as the first one indicating that he made them himself. "They're some of the best I've ever made...glad there's somebody who can wield them properly." he said and added "I also bought some quality leather for you to strap them to your back. You'll be able to unsheathe them in no time." Khal pointed to the counter were an assortment of dark leather belts lay. 'I'm gonna feel like a horse but I guess they're only a little bigger than my current ones.' Gwenith thought as she unstrapped her current two swords and the rugged leather straps that were holding them. She laid them on the table while equipping her new belts and swords.

Gwenith is 5 feet 9 so the seven feet swords looked huge on her. They nearly touched the ground while hovering a whole foot above her head. It didn't look ridiculous though because it seemed like she didn't even feel the swords, they seemed to be part of her. Gwenith wrapped her hands in some cloth because of the burns she received when touching the weapons. She was still one level to low. 'I didn't level for quite some time and I'd rather not take one of the old ones with me so my body has to do until I hit 190' she thought and said "How much for both of them. I assume you'll take the two old ones as a down payment, they're still in alright shape...the leather is a gift" Even though their relationship was good she never expected any gifts. Everybody had to survive. She mostly did business with Khal because there weren't many customers and his work had very high quality. He didn't mass produce knight swords but specified in personalized crafts. He didn't have a lot of customers but they were all high level Travelers (Travelers is the noun other races use to describe Humans as they suddenly appeared and talk of a different world).

"The black steel wasn't cheap but you know that. I worked for a long time on each of them. They're 5000 gold and the leather is a gift." he stated the final prize. Khal was honest with his long time customers and they knew and valued this quality. 'I'll have only 340 Gold left after this but if anything's worth it then it's these swords.' thought Gwenith as she removed a piece of cloth from her backpack that was now worn behind her new swords. She laid the piece of cloth on the table and spoke "Wallet." as soon as the word was spoken Gwenith could see a small window where her current funds were listed. She removed 5000 gold which materialized right above the cloth. She wrapped it around the gold and closed it with some string to make it easier for Khal to collect. This way he could put it in his wallet with one movement.

"Thank you for the purchase, I hope to see you again soon." he smiled as he promptly hugged her. "I'll miss you little furyball, I can still see the little girl wielding two greatswords." she hugged him back "Don't worry I'll be back if there's no capable smith in the west..." he released her and said "As proud as I am of my work there really are some magicians of the craft in the capital...and the rumors I heard from some people visiting the Dwarves are hardly believable...but we don't live on Earth anymore so who knows what's possible and impossible anymore."

Gwenith put her backpack back on and turned towards the door. "You sure you don't want to take some beer with you?" said Khal as she opened the door to a snowy wind while covering her head with her hood. "I think I'll pass on that. Bye Khal and thanks for the swords." "No worries, thanks for the gold hahahaha." hearty laughter could be heard as Gwenith walked into the night.

The visibility in the snow was only about ten feet but Gwenith knew the city very well and soon reached the street leading to the western gate. She didn't make many friends and acquaintances in her time in Valaan and she already said farewell to the ones that mattered enough to her the day before. She spent most of her time either fighting in the wild or training and learning under Gareth's supervision. Making friends wasn't particularly difficult for her but she never really saw the use in it and enjoyed being alone a lot more than being with others. And the enjoyment she got out of fighting was incomparable to anything else she experienced in her life so far. The only thing that came even remotely close was sex but most of the partners Gwenith had so far disappointed her. 'My swords can't suddenly go limp during the fight.'

She waved to the guard manning the gate, signaling that she wanted him to open it. The guard looked at her with a perplexed face and just shook his head. "You're drunk, go home to bed little girl!" he had to shout even though they were barely twenty feet apart from each other. Gwenith just rolled her eyes and jumped. The stone wall surrounding the city was about 17 feet in height. She landed next to the guard and smiled at him as he nearly fell on his ass from the surprise. "What the fuck?!" he muttered but the mysterious hooded lady had already left. She jumped down the other side of the wall and continued in walking speed towards the west.