Chapter 30: Caught Red Handed (2)

“Good.” Yuna said as she stepped back into the shop. Christina still had a confused face as she followed. The conversation had been very different from the one she’d imagined. Not only had she failed to determine Yuna’s relationship with Thadius, she’d been deterred from cooking for him.

As they walked in, Thadius was walking out of the workshop. “Alright then. It’s time to go see the blacksmith. Yuna, if you tell me what you want, I can tell the blacksmith while you two explore the city. Christina hasn’t seen the sights in years, and you haven’t seen them at all. So let me pick up our gear while you have some fun. Marshal’s going to let us stay over his place while he’s out, so I’ll meet you two there afterwards. From my understanding, it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Yuna was psyched about hitting the town, and Christina wanted another opportunity to talk with her. So they left while Thadius headed next door to ‘Ironclad’.

When Thadius walked into the shop, the first thing he noticed was the heat of the forge. The shop was one huge room with a counter and dozens of weapons hanging off the wall. In the back of the dimly lit space was a thin old man. He was hammering away with only the light of the forge and white-hot sword to guide him.

Thadius walked up to the single counter to call out to him. “Excuse me sir!” he yelled over the ringing of the metal.

“What is it!?” the old man rasped as he walked up to the counter.

Thadius caught his breath. Had he not killed the man himself, he would have thought his master rose from the grave.

“From the look on your face and that silly ass robe, you must be one of my brother’s students.”

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“Y-yes sir.”

“And how is my little brother faring these days? Last I heard, he couldn’t get any students that could endure his ridiculous training.”

“...he’s dead.” Thadius replied solemnly as he pulled out Corban’s note. An uncomfortable silence fill the room as the smithy read. It felt like minutes before the old man spoke again.

“How did he die?” he whispered.

“He died by my hand. He was weakened by a curse, so-”

“So instead of leaving him to rot, you killed him..” the blacksmith finished.

“I did.”

“I figured as much. You don’t seem like the type of man who’d kill his master in cold blood.”

The old man leaned on the counter and sighed heavily. “The last time I saw him was when he told me about Morticul’s curse. He’d finished his training compound a few months before, and told me he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to teaching.” The old man closed his eyes, drawing up a painful memory. “We fought that day. He didn’t have a single student left and came to me to cry about it, so I told him to find a cure instead of sitting on his ass waiting to babysit strangers. But he was stubborn, never taking no for an answer. I'm just glad he was able to find some peace."

The blacksmith looked at Thadius then, appraising him. It wasn't long before a small smile appeared on his face. "He talks about you in great detail in this letter. He named you as his heir and asked me to make you a soulbound weapon."

"Soulbound?"

"It’s a weapon that can only be used by you. It grows with you, evolving into something truly extraordinary. Corban wanted to give you his sword, but he lost it to the dragon."

"That sounds too good to be true."

"Smart lad. There is a catch to a weapon that shares your soul. Care to take a guess?"

"It can hurt you.”

“It can kill you.” the old man replied. “Soulbound weapons are quite strong if you can survive long enough. A soulbound weapon is only as strong as its wielder, and when the wielder dies it stops growing. On the other hand, if the weapon breaks, half of the wielder’s soul is destroyed. Not many survive that.”

“Is that why people choose regular weapons, or go out to find better ones?”

“What could be better than a weapon with no limit?”

“A legendary weapon possibly.”

“Most legendary weapons are soulbound weapons.”

“What?”

“Most ‘legendary’ weapon’s have someone’s name or title attached to them. Did you notice?”

Thadius quickly thought of all the legendary weapons he’d ever come across in his gaming career. Weapons like Thor’s Hammer or Areil’s Bow quickly came to mind. Many powerful weapons had been named after the people that wielded them, but were the weapons always that powerful? According to this man, legendary weapons weren’t just found, they were born and raised.

“Can such a weapon be repaired?” Thadius asked hopefully. He was a Traveler, so death wasn’t the end for him. However, he didn’t want a weapon that couldn’t be repaired.

“Why would- oh. That’s right. As a Traveler, the penalty for a soulbound weapons doesn’t mean much to you. They can be repaired like any other weapon to restore durability, but if it breaks you’ll have to come back here or find another smith that can soul forge.”

“Sign me up.”

“Ha! He said you caught on quick. Come, let me take your measurements.”

“Excuse me mister?”

“Call me Carson.”

“Mr.Carson, I have a friend who also finished your brother’s training. Could she possibly…” As soon as Thadius formed the question, he threw it away. He didn’t mind having a soulbound weapon. Yet, he didn’t feel comfortable with Yuna swinging a sword that could take her life if it broke.

“You mean the Fallen Goddess? Even if she’s fallen, forging the soul of a God is beyond my expertise. Their blood is too strong to be handled by mortal hands.” Carson replied as he measured Thadius’ fingers.

“That’s fine. As long as she gets her long-sword, I’m sure she won’t care.”

“A long-sword? How tall is she?”

“About this high.” Thadius raised a hand to his chest.

“Alright. I’ll throw that in with your weapon as a favor to my brother. Now, what weapon did you want?”

“A shield.”

“Good. I don’t get many shield requests. Its nice to mix it up every now and then. Sit tight. It won’t take long.” Carson said as he went back to his forge.

Thadius sat down in the corner as he listened to the bellows and the roaring fire. He drowned out the hammering of the metal as he thought about his future plans. Only a couple of hours had passed when Carson called out to him. “Thadius, it’s time.”

Thadius walked up to the old man and admired his work. It was a plain iron shield. There was no design engraved on the front, which would make it easier for swords to glide across the surface, but the material was lacking.

“Why iron?” Thadius asked. He at least thought it was going to be steel or mythril.