《A Way of Life》Chapter 13.1 - Power of the Sword
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Walking into town, Kyril saw that there were a large number of shops still open and were all lit up by large candles that hung on its walls and entrances.
Kyril was currently strolling through the streets of Vale Town's outer vicinity. Through the guidance of his memories, Kyril had no trouble finding his way around.
After ten minutes of walking, Kyril arrived in front of store that had a sign hanging above the entrance. Engraved on the sign were the words ‘Gaana Armoury.’
Entering the shop, the first thing Kyril noticed was the large familiar figure reclining on a chair with their leather padded legs resting atop a wooden counter.
“Hm? If it isn't the library kid. You’re not calling me to open the library are ya?” The man yawned. “If so, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning,” the man said.
Taking a closer look at the figure, Kyril instantly recognised this figure as one of the guards of the library. Without knowing it, Kyril’s body slightly relaxed and a soft breath escaped his mouth. Thinking back to their first meeting, this man had not treated him like a bird that could not fly.
“Actually, I’m just here to look for a replacement,” Kyril said and reached into his pocket. Two halves of a knife were then placed on the counter.
“So it’s finally broken huh?” The guard reached for the broken blade and then pointed his thumb to a door behind him. “Check in their. Aside from knives, there are swords, bows, and axes. Once you choose something, come and pay for it here.”
Kyril nodded his head and opened the door. Through the opening, a silvery light filled the room reflected off of the metal blades and arrows, and escaped through the opening of the door.
Kyril swept his eyes over the various weapons. The room’s walls were lined categorically with the different weapons the guard mentioned, but aside from the swords that hung on the wall opposite him, none of the other weapons piqued his interest.
“Should I get a sword instead? In terms of fighting the sword will always win. Compared to a knife, the sword is like a tiger in front of an ant! In the hands of a powerful Practitioner, the sword is simply unmatched!”
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Kyril had read several historical records of terrifyingly strong Practitioners in the library and ever since ancient times, the sword had always been the ultimate bladed weapon.
A single slash would rip mountains like butter!
A single strike to a person can cause fountains of blood!
A single wave could create a sea of blood out of an army of thousands!
With but a sword and a single move, a strong Practitioner can dominate the world!
This is the power of the sword.
But a sword that cannot be used is like a brush that cannot paint. All the swords in front of Kyril were simply too big.
“However, right now my body is too small. All the swords here are at least a head taller so it’s a bit impractical to use one at the moment...” Kyril thought. While swords were extremely powerful, it could only be considered powerful if used properly and with such a height disparity, a mere twelve year old child trying to control a sword tens of centimetres taller than them was too difficult.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Kyril noticed that in the top-right corner of his eyes, an unusually black curved sword hanging down the walls like the crescent moon.
“That’s quite a unique sword...” Kyril moved to the side and reached for the sword.
Kyril looked at the curved sword in his hands. It had a blade that was as long as some of the other swords on the wall, but because of its curved blade, its actual height only reached to the nose of Kyril, making it tens of centimetres smaller than the other swords. A perfect fit for Kyril.
Looking at the curved sword, Kyril remembered back to the swords of his previous life. Out of all the swords, there was one sword that resembled the sword he held in his hands - the katana. Among all the swords, the katana was peerless in its field. It's curved blade allowed for swift attacks that could kill in an instant and it was forged in such a way that bricks that had the hardness of rocks could not stop it's cutting power!
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With these thoughts in mind, Kyril began swinging the katana with both hands.
Swish!
Each swing sliced through the air with an ear splitting sound. Even though Kyril had not learnt any sword techniques, the mere sharpness of the blade was enough to cut holes in the air.
“Unlike the other swords, this curved sword is smaller so it is easily carried. Moreover, it’s weight and height suit me perfectly...” Kyril stopped swinging and a wry smile formed on his face. “Hopefully the price won’t be too high...”
Exiting the room, Kyril placed the katana in front of the guard. “How much is this?”
“Mmm?” The guard looked at the curved sword and then shook his head. “You youngsters really need to stop being so impulsive,” the guard paused. “There has already been tens of other kids who thought they could learn how to use this sword only to bring it back to me and demand their money back. Even that Seth kid of that bastard Garren couldn’t handle this sword,” the guard said. In his eyes, Kyril noticed a fleeting ray of hatred.
Lifting his face to Kyril, the guard continued, “kid you should know that between straight swords and curved swords, curved swords are by far the most difficult to train in. Curved swords can’t cut with both sides of the blade and are less effective at stabbing therefore decreasing its overall power. And... I’ll say it bluntly. With your body’s condition, it’s useless. Are you sure you still want to buy it?”
The guard tried his best to convince Kyril, but it was to no avail. Immediately after asking Kyril, Kyril responded with a deep nod.
“So what if it’s the most difficult to train in? Nothing ventured nothing gained! If I don’t at least try to use it, then it would be for sure that I achieved nothing! Only by experiencing difficulty and setbacks can one truly grow!” Kyril thought. How could he be compared to those youngsters? He was a person with the experience of two lives, there was no way such a thing could scare him.
“Haa… that’ll be two hundred coppers. Just so you know, if you plan on returning the sword, I won’t be giving back the same amount of money and I won’t be accepting it back if it’s damaged.”
“Yeah,” Kyril replied and hid the sword in his robe before turning his back to face the front door. But just as he was about to place his hands in the door handle, the door abruptly swung open and a child at the height of Kyril’s shoulder came into view.
A wall of silence separated the two as they looked at each other, both with vastly different expressions. Kyril put on a face that was like still water and just observed the child. Not a twitch of muscle on his face, but the child opposite had a variety of changing faces that finally stopped at wide-eyed with an opening and closing mouth.
“Ason, what’re you standing there for? Weren’t you going to say something to him?” The guard suddenly said. If the guard did not say anything, then the silence between the two could have continued for hours!
“Aa...um… um…”
The child’s eyes raced back and forth between the guard and Kyril. His body started shaking and his legs trembled like leaves in the wind.
“I… um… Excuse me!”
The child bolted off to the opening side of Kyril and straight up the stairs with occasional loud thumps and cries of agony.
Seeing the child run off, the guard let out a sigh. “Sorry, my son gets nervous easily. Please don’t mind him.”
“It’s fine,” Kyril smiled wryly and gave a slight bow to the guard, “I’ll be going then.”
Exiting the shop, Kyril made sure that the curved sword was completely hidden in his robe then started his way towards a shop that leaked an aroma capable of driving the stomach mad.
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