The trio arrived at a blacksmith sitting in a remote corner of the village. They had visited a few before this one but, they simply couldn't afford the weapons.
Oliver looked at the blacksmith, all the color in his skin was drained out. Even his blue eyes were slightly pale.
"With what money we have left... We might be able to find something here."
Yadrith was hunched over, "It's ok... I'll take anything from here, even if it's the cheapest... As long as we can afford it." The color was visibly drained from him, too.
Even Mahaya seemed a little disturbed.
They had visited four blacksmiths, yet couldn't even afford a small knife from any of them... Not that they were looking for a small knife—it's just that blades were that expensive.
They entered the shabby blacksmith. Inside sat a man with pure-white hair cascading down his back, his skin was pale, and his eyes were black.
"Welcome, I don't get buyers often." He stood up, "And forgive my disrespect. Greetings, True Demon." He did a short gesture of respect to Mahaya and then introduced his collection of weapons.
'Wow.' Yadrith felt the color drain from his face, 'Expensive... Overwhelmingly so.' He looked away and turned to the Blacksmith, "Do you have anything cheaper than four nyll?"
The Blacksmith stared at Yadrith for a few moments before nodding. He then headed off to a remote closet in the corner of the store. A few minutes later, he emerged with a sword that looked like it was made completely out of stone.
"..." Yadrith could not believe what he was seeing, there was no leather, no metal... Just stone. He looked at the Blacksmith, holding back any rude comments.
"This is an experimental weapon of mine. Ill give it to you at the price of two nyll."
Oliver cleared his throat, "Sorry sir, but I'm just curious about the viability of a stone sword in combat."
The Blacksmith was emotionless, "Stone? This is not made of stone."
Oliver parted his mouth, and Yadrith felt a bit of annoyance.
'Is this bastard trying to scam us?' Yadrith clenched his fist, 'Who would have known the shabby rundown place was bullshit?'
"Before you make shallow judgements, I must explain. This sword is made of bone. It's emerged from a special interest of mine, yet nobody has bought it in over forty years."
At his words, Oliver's eyes suddenly widened, but Yadrith stood rooted to his spot with no change in expression.
"I think you should take this." Oliver had cold sweat forming at his temples.
The Blacksmith glanced at Oliver, then back at Yadrith.
"A-alright then, what type of bone is it?"
Oliver suddenly bit his lip, "We'll take it!"
"..." Yadrith silently turned to Oliver, but before he could refute anything Oliver pushed him to the side and payed the man two nyll.
"Of course, there's also an extra charge of one nyll for the scabbard."
"...Seriously?" Yadrith complained.
The man looked at Yadrith with a calm expression, "This is a common practice among blacksmith."
Yadrith wanted to say something else, but he saw Oliver glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. 'Is this bone sword actually valuable?' Yadrith suddenly interpreted Oliver's odd behavior, assuming the sword to be made out of the remains of a dragon or something similar to that.
"Thank you so much, sir." Oliver bowed after paying the last nyll. He quickly sheathed the sword and ushered Yadrith out of the blacksmith.
The moment they were all out, he immediately said three words.
"We are leaving."
Inside the shop sat the Blacksmith, his emotionless expression twisted into a smile.
***
The three had been travelling in an awkward silence for about three hours until Oliver suddenly stopped, collapsing to his knees. Mahaya also seemed to be acting strange, as she had been trembling ever since they left the village.
"You should learn to read the room, Yadrith." Oliver stared at his shaking hands. "Don't recall that man we met, forget about him. Don't ever mention the creator of this sword, don't tell anybody where you got it, or that it's of 'Bone'. From today on, it is a stone sword. That is all."
Yadrith, Oliver, and Mahaya felt a chill run over them.
"W-why? What was that?" Yadrith asked with an anxious look.
"Someone incredible just looked over at us." Oliver let out a deep breath, calming his mind, "Take your sword... It should serve you better than any blade could." He handed Yadrith the sword and finally completely calmed down. "We'll begin training tomorrow. I need time to clear my mind, let's keep moving and go as far as we can. Just remember my words from earlier."
"Alright."
Yadrith held the sword silently, 'What is this feeling?' It was the first time he had touched it, but he felt like something within him was resonating with the weapon. 'Buying this was a perfect idea.'
The Stone Sword resembled a Jian, only that it was completely made of stone, even the scabbard was made out of that same stone, which is apparently some sort of bone.
'Such an odd weapon.'
***
"Ha, the sun has been up for five hours now, Yadrith." Oliver spoke, sitting next to a small campfire.
"Is that so?" He slid out of his bedroll and stretched. "Let me get ready, then we'll begin."
For the next hour or so, Yadrith took care of his hygiene and then arrived back before Oliver, holding his Stone Sword.
"I'm ready, teach me, Rekh."
Oliver smiled at him for a few seconds and then glanced at Mahaya. Yadrith just knew they were talking about him just by the way they looked at each other.
"Hm... Rekh? That's down the line. It should take us about three months to cross the continent, so hopefully you'll enter the First Step in a couple of months." Oliver dusted off his pants and stood up, "Usually it takes years to enter the First Step, but, for us travelling through a foreign land, many dangers will bring you closer to your blade."
'I thought it'd be a quick thing... Well, this works fine as well.' Yadrith resolved himself.
Oliver unsheathed his blade, took a stance, and did a simple strike at the air. "Just keep familiarizing yourself with the feeling of swinging a blade, next week I'll teach you something new."
"How long should I swing it a day?"
"We're gonna be constantly travelling, so I suggest when we stop. You'll have to cut out some of your sleep. As for your question, just swing until you feel like you're done."
"Alright."
Yadrith took a stance similar to Oliver's and swung the blade at the air. It was an average feeling he had maneuvered knives and pretended they were swords before. Nothing was different, so he continued.
Twenty minutes passed.
"Let's go."
They traveled as far as possible, and once again set up camp. Oliver decided to set up Yadrith's stuff until the end of the weeklong deadline, so that Yadrith had more time to practice.
Tonight, he swung his blade for fifty minutes, and a total of 236 times. He felt nothing.
In the morning he woke up, did his usual hygienic practices. Then he swung his blade, this time only for ten minutes.
On his last swing, he felt something.
'...What was that? On that last swing, I felt an emotion? A purpose? I need to feel it again!'
He got into stance again, but Oliver quickly called him, signaling it was time to go.
"Next time then."
They traveled once more. Night fell, and they stopped just as usual. Yadrith began his practice, originally he was bored and only doing it because he had to. But, after his feeling in the morning, he wanted to feel what he felt again.
For two hours, his blade tirelessly swung through the air. Yet, he felt nothing.
Four days quickly passed, like usual, he trained and travelled. His usual banter over these past few days with Oliver and Mahaya had been lacking, as his concentration was on one thing. His Stone Sword.
Nothing else was on his mind, besides feeling that sensation again while swinging a blade. He had pondered about it the past few days. It had felt like he was connected with his sword, but only for a fleeting moment.
"Look's like the suns going down." Oliver sighed, "Let's stop here for tonight."
As usual, they set up camp. This night, Yadrith decided to help and set up his own stuff.
Oliver looked at him with a strange look. "I said I'd deal with your stuff for a week, you still have tonight. Why aren't you taking advantage of that?"
"I don't know... It just feels like I'm missing something. Mindlessly swinging my blade is regressing anything I've learned." Yadrith looked at his palms and sighed.
Oliver chuckled, "I felt like that once as well, instead of chasing the unknown. Why don't you think of other things while swinging your sword? Like your past experiences, or loved ones?"
Yadrith stroked his chin, "Ill try."
He walked away from his bedroll and released his blade from its sheathe. He silently took his stance and frowned.
'A past experience?'
His face suddenly sunk. "I-I can't remember."
His stance fell suddenly.
'When? When was it that I had forgotten my life on Earth?"
Yadrith remembered Earth, and almost everything about it. But he had forgotten his loved ones and his experiences. The lie about having amnesia seemed to had became true.
He suddenly stroked his head and blinked as hard as he could, adopting his stance once more. 'I won't let this sway me.'
If he got stronger, there was a good chance he would recover his memories, anyway. Right now he had set a new goal for himself, recover his memories. The hollow feeling taking over him was dreadful.
'Who even am I?'
Yadrith Jubel? But, what encompasses truly who Yadrith Jubel was. A person who randomly fell into the world, who doesn't remember even living in their old world.
He bit his lip and lifted his sword.
'If I feel like nothing, then I'll become something through this.'
The sword fell, and he felt connected to it once again. He wanted to form a sword that could give him a purpose, and with each swing, he felt it.
'I understand now.' He swung his sword once more, 'What Oliver taught me is that you can imbue a sword with your will, to project your will into the world.'
Actually, he felt like you could probably achieve this with anything. Even an instrument, but his bond with this Stone Sword will always be special.
He walked toward a tree and held his sword.
'I want to cut down this tree.'
He told himself and projected his will into his sword. Simultaneously, his sword was unleashed from a stance moving horizontally.
The sword did not cut through the tree. It had stopped after cutting just a few inches into it. '...'
Oliver appeared behind Yadrith.
"The first step to reaching Rekh, imbuing an object with intent. Congratulations, however you just now figured out. What's still impossible will remain impossible. Even with a strong will, you can't cut down a tree in one strike with a sword." He softly pushed Yadrith away from the tree, "Though... If you have entered the First Step of Rekh."
The pure-white glow from before exited his body, in that moment his sword moved cutting through the tree. And not just that tree.
Five trees behind it also fell.
"Incredible..."