The inside of the blacksmith's shack was the opposite of what Leander had expected a blacksmith's home to be. Instead of a large forge, there was only a small, quaint fireplace with a bubbling pot hanging above it. The blacksmith knelt beside the pot, sniffing its contents, giving it a nod. Taking the pipe out of his lips, he tapped its contents into the fireplace.
As the ashes fell into the fire, Leander noticed that there was no fire inside the fireplace. Instead, smoke drifted upwards from somewhere underground, and a simple grate was embedded in the bottom of the fireplace – probably to stop anyone from falling into the fire down below.
Placing his pipe on the mantelpiece above the fireplace, the man picked up the wooden spoon he had left balancing on the pot. As he began to stir the pot, he turned his head slightly to see Leander standing behind him. A witty smile on his lips as he turned his attention back to the pot.
"You'll have to wait a bit longer, it's not quite ready yet."
Leander scowled, seeing this demon had reminded him of the demon from his memories – the one that had struck him down one thousand years ago.
"Are you a demon?"
The man didn't look up from his pot, continuing to stir it in circles. He responded, sounding annoyed at having been called a demon.
"I'm an oni. Don't compare me to those idiots in the north."
'An oni…'
The word sparked a faint sense of familiarity in Leander's mind, a sense of flowing movement, mind, body and soul weaving between the falling cherry blossom leaves. Shaking his head, Leander had bigger things to worry about than fractured memories of faint sensations.
Unsheathing his sword, Leander held it by the hilt and the blade, offering it to the man.
"Melaine said you could fix this. The glass sphere in the hilt is broken. She says that apparently its soul is stored within there. Can you fix it?"
Leander stared at the back of the man's head for some time until he sighed, holding his hand up, shaking it dismissively.
"Put that thing away, I'm not going to talk business until after dinner."
Hearing this, Leander's eye twitched as he gripped the sword. Taking a half step forward, he angrily spoke at the back of the man's head.
"What do you mean 'until after dinner'? This is very time-sensitive; I need this sword repaired so I can go. I'll do anything as long as it will speed up the process of repairing this sword."
The man's shoulders sagged as he stopped stirring the pot, as he faintly muttered under his breath.
"And there goes my peaceful afternoon. We haven't even exchanged names yet. Do you not have any etiquette, man?"
Gritting his teeth, Leander made a grim smile as he answered the man.
"Leander."
The man's eyes narrowed, and after a moment, he silently laughed. In an obviously sarcastic manner, the man bowed his head as he responded.
"Hello, Leander. I'm Riku. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. If it gets you out of my hair, give me that thing."
Holding his hand out to Leander, he gestured to the sword in an impatient manner. Giving Riku the sword, Leander took a few steps back to give him some space. As Riku inspected the sword, his eyes seemed to glow, his eyes moved up and down the length of the blade. After a few moments, he whistled.
"An Aegis Series. Been a while since I've seen one of these, and even then the last time I saw one of these, it was dead. Speaking of dead. It is beyond a miracle this sword hasn't died. The artificial soul within it is hanging on by a hair. I've never seen an Aegis Series with this kind of damage; wounds like this would only occur if its soul was slowly drained over years… no, thousands of years. Leander, where did you find this thing?"
Crossing his arms, Leander sighed, beginning to grow tired of retelling this story.
"I fell into a cave and found the sword in the hand of its long-dead previous owner surrounded by a bunch of orange crystals. When I tried to pick up the sword, the crystals attacked me, but when I wielded the sword, it let me cut them. So I imagine the sword's soul was slowly being eroded away by those crystals."
Riku slowly nodded along to Leander's retelling of events. His brow furrowed at the mention of orange crystals, but as he continued to examine the blade, he smiled. Riku spoke, although parts of his sentence slowly grew quiet as he thought to himself.
"Ah, corruption. The sweet sickness of this world… That explains the state of its soul. Hmm… that shouldn't be too hard…No, no, not at all…. I just need to repair it's… the binding enchantment recovers… then… Yes, yes, that should do nicely."
Glancing at the pot of bubbling stew, he slowly looked at Leander.
"So, you mean it when you say you'll do anything to speed up this process?"
Leander nodded.
"If you need some materials from somewhere nearby, I can get them for you."
Riku stared at Leander, his eyes slowly closing until he was squinting at Leander through slits. His tone of voice was different; he spoke slowly and purposefully.
"There's a cave nearby. Inside this cave are blue crystals… that will absolutely speed up this process... Leave the sword with me and go behind my home, and continue on for a bit. You should find it easily. Although, a word of warning, it is home to a particularly deadly bunch of crystal scorpions; a single drop of their venom is enough to kill one hundred men."
Hearing that he would have to go into another cave, Leander grimaced. Seeing Leander's expression, Riku raised an eyebrow.
"Or is that too much for you?"
Rubbing his face, Leander grumbled his reply.
"No… No… I can do it."
As Leander turned to leave, Riku threw an empty sack to him with a wry smile.
"Fill the bag if you can; the more, the better, okay?"
Catching the sack, Leander nodded.
"I think I can do that."
Riku tilted his head to the side, watching Leander leave.
"You realised you're leaving without a weapon? I can find something for you. There's a particularly dangerous scorpion that you might not want to take on with just your fists."
Holding the doorknob, Leander glanced back to Riku.
"Believe me, my fists will be enough."
Opening the door, Leander was about to step through, except a small girl was blocking his path. Tilting his head down, Leander furrowed his brow, looking at the girl. The top of her head barely came up to Leander's chest, two stubby horns peeked out from her wild purple hair that looked as if it hadn't been combed in years, even holding a few leaves to prove this point.
She was wearing the skin of a beast on her chest that draped down onto her thighs slightly. Her arms and legs were uncovered, showing her light brown skin. Some kind of white scales were wrapped around her right arm from her wrist stopping at her elbow. Wrapped around her shoulders was the fluffy pelt of another beast, and a necklace of fangs adorned her neck, the fangs rattled against her chest with each motion.
Tilting his head down, Leander furrowed his brow as he studied the girl before him. She was small, the top of her head barely reaching his chest, her wild purple hair a chaotic tangle that looked as though it hadn't been combed in years – several leaves tangled in its mess offered undeniable proof.
She wore a beast's hide draped over her chest, the rugged material falling just past her thighs. Her arms and legs were bare, revealing light brown skin that carried the faint marks of a life spent in the wild. Twisting around her right arm were white, scale-like bands, spiralling from her wrist to her elbow with an almost deliberate pattern.
Draped across her shoulders was the fluffy pelt of another creature, the thick fur shifting slightly with each movement. Around her neck dangled a necklace of fangs, the sharp points clicking softly against her chest with each movement. Beside the fangs, an old scar marked her collarbone.
Her mouth opened, revealing her teeth with a wide grin. Pointing at Leander, she exclaimed:
"Teach me everything you know!"
Blinking, Leander turned back to Riku, pointing at the girl with his thumb.
"Is this a friend of yours?"
Having returned to stirring the pot, Riku briefly looked up before shaking his head.
"Don't know her."
Waving her arms around, the girl loudly spoke, pointing at Leander – to Leander, it almost seemed that she only knew how to shout.
"You bested me and spared my life; for that reason, I am in your debt. But being in someone's debt is stupid, so I'm not doing that! I just want to know everything you know! Now you! Tell me the name of the man who beat me!"
Beginning to get annoyed, Leander rolled his eyes.
"I'm not telling some random stranger my-"
Before Leander could finish, Riku interrupted him.
"His name is Leander!"
Leander gave Riku an annoyed glare, which did not seem to bother the blacksmith.
"Leander!"
The girl roared.
"A mighty name! You share it with the Hero of Peace. That's so cool!"
Jumping back a few steps, she held one hand up to the sky, tightly squeezing it.
"My name is Narina, last of the-"
Before Narina could finish speaking, a loud groan rumbled out from her direction. So loud that it sounded as if a beast was declaring it was on the hunt. Riku's head appeared over Leander's shoulder, an alert expression on his face.
"Was that a beast? They don't usually come this way, but it's not uncommon."
Dropping to her knees, Narina hugged her stomach – her boisterous facade cracked – now with a weary expression on her face, Narina whined.
"That was me… I haven't had anything to eat in weeks!"
Leander blinked, looking at Riku, whose head was still resting on his shoulder and then to the girl, Narina, who had just appeared on the doorstep. Blinking a few more times, Leander stepped out of the doorway. Seeing Leander begin to walk away, Narina jumped to her feet, beginning to follow after him.
Holding her hand up, Narina called out to Leander.
"Wait, don't go, I-"
Stopping abruptly, Leander turned around, causing Narina to bump into him and fall backwards. Glaring at Narina, Leander curtly addressed her.
"I don't know how you are, but you are not following me. Go away, or stay here, I do not care. But don't for one second try to follow me."
Looking up at Leander, Narina's expression grew sad as she looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with Leander. Frowning to himself, Leander turned around, continuing to walk to where Riku had described the cave with the crystals to be.
"Damn, he's rude."
Looking up, Narina saw Riku standing next to her, holding the wooden spoon he had been using to stir the pot.
Looking down at her, Riku smiled.
"Hey, kid, I hear you're hungry. The stew isn't quite ready yet, I'm just waiting for the last ingredient. But if you're so hungry your rumbling stomach sounds like a beast, doubt you'll notice."