Chapter 185: New Sword

"Master… What kind of training sword are we looking for?"

The young Arcanist asked after walking along the streets of the city… 

They've already passed through a couple of weapon shops but his master decided to continue walking around. 

"Well, we are looking for both training sword and real sword here… and I heard about a decent weapon shop near the city gates so we might as well check it. We have plenty of time anyway…"

Reiji answered the young man. He heard about this shop when Ruthren had set up their small stall at the Blue Fish Fountain for several days.

This is one of the reasons why Reiji stayed within crowded places after arriving in this city. After all, considering his ability, this is the best way for him to gather information.

Soon, Reiji instructed Rufus to enter a shop. Because the place was a bit too far from the Tower, Rufus was not quite familiar with the shop…

[ Metal Minded Trades ] 

It is the sign outside the store…

Clang! Clang!

Chimes of the bell rang after opening the door. 

Rufus saw a clean and tidy shop… There were several displays of metalcraft like armors, bracers, helmets, pike, spears, and other smaller crafts like knives, dagger, or throwing blades.

However, he couldn't see any swords at all…

"How may I help you, esteemed Arcanists?"

A middle-aged woman politely asked after seeing the identity of her customer.

Normally, Arcanists like them would just order someone to visit a place like this so she was a bit surprised after seeing one personally come here. 

He's either looking for a very valuable object or he just wants to ensure the secrecy of his purchase.

"Ahh… Yes… I heard that this shop sells some amazing swords… So I came here looking for one but… I noticed that there's not a single sword displayed here…"

Rufus answered the woman…

The latter paused for a moment after hearing him. It seems that she was hesitating about something. 

"Did I go to the wrong place? Or perhaps this is not the best time? Should I visit next time?"

The young man asked several questions. He really doesn't know what to do after seeing her just standing there while looking at him…

"May I know who introduced you here to look for a sword?" 

This time, Rufus felt suspicious after being asked such a question. Weapons shop weren't normally this difficult…

'Master, just where did you send me this time?'

Rufus thought after noticing the weird situation. 

Of course, Reiji was also not aware of the situation here. He only heard from random passers-by that the swords here were excellent in quality. 

Now that he recalled it, the people talking about it were very vigilant with their surroundings. If not for him possessing superb senses, he would've missed their conversation. 

'Just tell her that you don't know their name.'

'I understand, Master.'

"Ahem… Ahem…"

Rufus cleared his throat before answering the woman.

"I'm sorry, I'm not aware of their names. Are there any problems?"

The middle-aged woman then sighed as she gestured for him to follow upstairs.

"I'm sorry for asking such useless questions, Sir Arcanist… I just want to make sure which of my friends should I express my gratitude for bringing such esteemed customer."

"That's fine. You can just call me Rufus."

"I understand, Sir Rufus…"

The woman then showed him the upper floor filled eight boxes… The size and length of the rectangular boxes highly indicated that there were swords inside.

'Master… I'm feeling some amazing aura coming from them… I think that this is not a normal weapon shop at all…'

'Mhmm… I think so too. But since we're already here… Just see what they can offer you.'

The woman then stood closer to one of the unopened boxes and started explaining their business…

"What we have here with us are Magic Weapons we acquired from Losea Kingdom's soldiers. As you are aware, the skirmishes happening on the northern border are getting numerous each year… In the recent battles, our contractors managed to acquire precious swords in some abandoned battlefields…"

The woman explained as she was trying to make their job legitimate.

'Contractors, huh…'

However, Rufus realized that the woman in front of him was most likely working in the black market… 

The only people who could secretly acquire swords or any other weapons on the battlefields on the northern border were the Salvagers.

After all, there was no way that General Julian of the Northern Army would let these weapons handed over to civilians.

The Salvagers can be criminals, ex-hunters, or people that couldn't find a legitimate job, and ended up risking their lives to loot the battlefields.

They were always waiting for the skirmishes to end and take all the valuable items. It is extremely dangerous but also a very lucrative job if they managed to successfully loot even a single battlefield freely…

Well, this is also the reason why many people didn't want the war to end and just for it to continue on a small scale…

"Very well… Let me see these swords…"

"Of course, Sir Rufus…"

As soon as the woman said this, she opened the five boxes one by one for him to inspect them.

"These remaining three weren't for sale as they are meant to be sent in the auction three days for now. Please, do understand since we've made a contract with them."

"Of course… It's alright… Let me check these five for now."

'Master, I have Appraisal Magic with my Magic Item. But the information I'll get is very limited…' Rufus spoke to Reiji using their Sense Link.

'That's fine. Let me see first… Just tap me on that first sword.'

Reiji said referring to the box containing the black sword that the woman opened first. 

The metal and its handle were all in black showing a menacing aura…

[ Excellent Mad Sword ] 

[ Type: Magic Weapon ] 

[ A mass-produced double-edged single-handed sword made of Fraunium Alloy. It has a Returning Core attached that would allow this sword to return to the hands of their set wielder as long as within a certain distance.  ] 

[ Skill: Quick Draw, Blood Thirst, Blood Burst, Return ] 

[ Durability: 90/90 ]

[ Class: B+ ]

[ Creator: Unknown ] 

Reiji shared the information with Rufus and realized that there's not much difference in their appraisal except the fact that Reiji can clearly see all its Skills in which Rufus and can only detect the Quick Draw and Return.

"Full durability… It seems that you've repaired them?"  Rufus asked after seeing the maxed durability…

"Yes… We don't want to sell fragile items, do we?"

"Makes sense…"

Rufus and Reiji then continued appraising all the other Magic Weapons.

[ Royal Cutlass ] 

[ Type: Magic Weapon ] 

[  A high-class slashing sword made of Oclese and powdered Sathalt. A weapon further enchanted by Druid's Blessing.  ] 

[ Skill: Bleed, Block Heal, Arcane Pierce ] 

[ Durability: 100/100 ]

[ Class: A+ ]

[ Creator: Apex Swordsmith ] 

Rufus noticed the Block Heal skill it has… It is an Arcane Magic that slows down or even stops any healing magic or potion used by their target…

It is quite a useful magic, especially in a war where they have to kill or remove as many opposing soldiers as they can to ease the front line…

They checked another sword and found an interesting one. 

This sword is similar to Odachi in his previous life!

[ Elite Gram Sword ] 

[ Type: Magic Weapon ] 

[  A top-class long single-edged long sword created with Nandryx, Owhaurhil, and Clucium Alloy.  ] 

[ Skill: Rapid Slash, Illusory Blade ] 

[ Durability: 120/120 ]

[ Class: A+ ]

[ Creator: Hojo Kiyoteru ] 

Reiji observed its cutting edge, curvature, and its thickness… 

It was truly similar to Odachi! He also noticed the creator's name and decided to remember him.

They looked at the other two swords but they are just another mass-produced swords so they decided not to buy them… 

Although the quality was still better compared to the average weapons he can find here, their durability of 80 and below were a bit too low for them.

"How much for this sword?"

Rufus asked the lady while pointing at the Elite Gram Sword that his master told him to purchase… The cutlass was a bit broader than a normal sword and feels like a saber already.

The Mad Sword, on the other hand, is a double-edged sword and a beginner like him might have some troubles using it with Kendo Techniques.

"This is a Class A sword from a different kingdom, Sir Rufus… That was why we are planning to sell it for 4,000 gold coins… However, since you grace us with your presence in our humble shop, I think that we will have an excellent day today, so I will only charge you for 3,400 gold coins…"

The woman did her best to sell the sword at a good price. 

Reiji remembers that the Class A replica of the Holy Sword was worth about 3,000 gold coins so he wasn't too surprised about the expensive price. 

Luckily, they brought a bag of gold cards with them before going to this shop.

The gold cards were from Ruthren's treasures and each of them was worth 1000 gold coins once exchanged at the Royal Bank.

After this transaction, they easily found a weapon shop selling some low-quality wooden swords and they purchased 30 of them at once since they will be in tough training…