章 329: I Know Someone

We checked a few smithies. Two out of the five small smithies on the map, were making those replicas. They claimed that the sword was popular, and they simply copied the style, to go with the trend. In other words, they never saw an original sword. 'I don't think they lied to us, but then who's in possession of the original sword?' I thought. Fox tried to cheer me up, and said "Don't worry, we will find it". I woke up from my thoughts, and replied "I'm not worried. I just find it very weird. She asked people to make copies of it. The sword became popular, and some people even did replicas of it, without looking at the original. Why go through all that trouble? I doubt this sword is worth that much, there must be better swords out there".

Fox thought about something for a while, and said "That's true, no one would go through such trouble for one sword. Unless, it's really very unique. Unique to the point, people would kill for it". 'It is unique, but only my family is able to use that. No one would be able to use it besides me. To anyone but me, this would be useless. A simple sword… perhaps the materials are unique?…' I thought.

I was lost in my thoughts again, when suddenly I realised something. 'Moon Blade… Is it possible, that the sword was created from Lunite?' I thought. This would explain a lot of things. Lunite was very rare, to the point where some people thought of it as a legend. If that was the case, it would make perfect sense to make replicas, and try to spread the sword as much as possible. 'This will be harder than I thought. If the sword is so valuable, who knows where it might be now?' I thought.

I said to Fox "I know a guy who lives here. He might be able to help us, but we need to find him first". Fox asked "Who is that guy?". I replied "His name is Paul Treland. If we find him, he might be able to help us look for the sword". Fox didn't nod or anything. She just stood there, like a wooden pole. I waved my hand in front of her face, but nothing happened. She was lost in her thoughts. I called out "Fox, you there?!". She finally woke up, and asked "What was his name again?". I repeated "Paul Treland. You know him?".

She replied after a while "Yea… I'm shocked you know him. Do you know who that guy is?". I shook my head, and replied "How should I know? I never met him". Fox replied "You remember that first smithy we visited? That is where he is. To be precise, he is the Master Blacksmith, and owner of that place… I tried to employ him, for a new dagger… He refused, even after I showed him my feather. Are you sure he will help us?".

I replied "As long as he didn't abandon his friends, he will help me out". Fox didn't want to believe it, but followed me nevertheless. We returned to the smithy, where Paul could be found. I asked the clerk behind the counter, to see him. I wasn't even surprised when he refused. I told him "Tell him, a friend of his family came over. If he doesn't believe me, you can show him this". I handed him the emblem, which I received from Finch.

The guy still refused to go. I enveloped him with my Aura, and said "I wasn't asking you. I'm telling you". He was scared, and couldn't move, but managed to squeeze out "What.. are... you doing?!". I repeated myself, "Go tell Paul I'm here!". Others began gathering around. One of the blacksmiths shouted "Oi! You have some problems?!". I released my Aura fully, and enveloped the whole smithy. No one was able to move. I turned toward the clerk, and said "My patience is limited, I have enough of people demanding passes and shit from me. Either go tell him, or..".

I heard a voice saying "That won't be necessary. I'm Paul". A burly man walked out from a room. I retracted my Aura, and took back the emblem from the clerk. Paul asked "Why do you want to see me so urgently?". I showed him the emblem, and his face changed. He walked up to the clerk, and punched him straight in his face. He then said to him "You are fired, get lost from here". The clerk was confused to be sure, he wanted to say something, when Paul punched him out of the smithy. He shouted "And don't return!".

Others were as much shocked, as the clerk himself. Paul walked up to me, and said "I'm sorry for that guy. I told him that if something important came up, he should notify me. Come with me, we can talk back in my office". As we walked, he shouted at other blacksmiths "What are you looking at? Want more work?!". All the blacksmiths quickly returned to their jobs, not daring to look at us again. He then asked me "Is this your friend?", while pointing at Fox. I nodded my head, and replied "Yes, she is my friend".

He nodded, and said "She can wait outside". Fox wasn't really pleased with that, but she already saw how Paul was. She said, "Alright, I will wait for you here". We walked into the office, where Paul told me to sit down. He looked at me from head to toe, and asked "Were you sent by Finch here?". I replied "Kind of. He said you might be able to help me out, when I visit the Imperial City".

He asked "Are you Haily's husband?". I looked at him and laughed. He didn't know why I was laughing, therefore he asked another question, "You are not?". I replied "I'm a Wintersteed too. Haily is my cousin". He was shocked, and asked "Are you perhaps?…". I nodded, and replied "Yes, I'm Nex Wintersteed. Son of Raz and Lily". Paul stood up, walked up to me, and grabbed my shoulders. "They finally found you boy! Where is your father? Where is Raz?", he said.

I replied "You don't know? Parents died a long time ago". He replied with a weird question. "Are you sure?". I was stunned. Was I sure? I wasn't, I never saw their corpses. I only heard that they died, because the Village Chief of the Freemount Village told me. 'Would my parents just abandon me? If they didn't die, why wouldn't they return? Neither to Freemount Village, nor to the Savala Village. They must be dead, right?' I asked myself.

Paul said "Maybe your parents are still alive". I shook my head, and replied "Would they abandon me, or their family? Was my father such a man?". Paul asked, "How did you find out about their deaths?". I said "It was in Freemount Village. I now know they weren't some simple merchants, like they told me. Someone reported that they died, while on their travels. If they didn't, where would they be after so many years? It's been more than 10 years, yet they didn't visit our home village even once".

Paul thought about it for a while, and said "Raz was not a man who would abandon his son. He would protect you from danger, but then find you or at least help you out when the danger passed. You said he never appeared in Savala Village, and he never appeared here either. It seems they really died... How they died, is a different story. Your father was no weakling, neither was your mother. Someone must've targeted them, someone strong".

I always felt that the story was not true. Even more so, after I visited the Asturb Village and the Savala Village. My parents weren't weak, yet they died somehow. 'Who targeted them in that case? That woman somehow knew about the sword, was she a part of it? Whoever killed my parents, didn't find the sword on them. My parents wouldn't sell me out, so they killed them? Was all of this, because of one stupid sword?' I thought, and I could feel the anger rising within me.

'One sword… One sword destroyed my family?'. Paul shook me a bit, and said "Calm down Nex. Stay calm and collected, don't let your anger control you". I snapped out of it, and said "Whoever did this, will pay… all will pay with their lives.... Paul, can you help me find my sword? It's the Moon Blade, the sword was probably the reason for all of this". Paul nodded, and said "I will do what I can to find it. Nex, stay here. This place is like your second home, so feel free to stay as long as you want".

I nodded, and asked "You are Master Blacksmith?". Paul laughed, and replied "I'm, it took me a while to receive that title though. Do you need weapons?". I shook my head, and said "I want to learn. I want to improve my skills". Paul stood there shocked. When he snapped out of it, he asked "You learned how to smith?". I nodded, and replied "Yea. Mostly how to make different ingots though. I learned how to create weapons too, but I'm not that great. I figured you could show me more, and I could practice here".

Paul nodded, and said "I will teach you, as long as you work hard. I don't know how much you learned, therefore you will have to show me what you can do. When I determine your skill, we will be able to continue from there". I nodded my head, and asked "I have a friend with me here, can she stay here as well?". Paul asked "That masked woman? You trust her?". I replied, "To a certain degree, yes. She knows about the sword as well". Paul nodded, and said "Alright. As long as she behaves, I have no problem with that. Look out though, those that mask their personality, are usually shady". I replied while laughing a bit. "I would be shady as well", then showed him my mask. He shook his head in defeat, and said "Come. Show me what you can do".

We walked outside of the office, onto the main floor of the smithy. I saw Fox waiting, and waved at her. She walked over, and asked "Will he help us?". I replied "I will explain later. Can you wait a bit longer? I want to show Paul my smithing skills". Fox was confused, but agreed. We followed Paul to one of the workbenches, where he said "Show me what you can do". I asked "You want Ingots or weapons?". He replied with a laugh "Any idiot with strength can make ingots. A real smith creates either armours or weapons". I nodded, and decided to make a dagger out of Purified Steel.

I had a bit of experience with that, but I could only create simple shapes and forms. After about half an hour of pounding. I finished making the dagger. I still had to sharpen and polish it. When that was done, I gave it to Paul for examination. He took it, and almost immediately threw it at the ground. He said "This is shit boy. You have loads to learn, even if you want to be as much as a decent blacksmith". I didn't argue with that. After all, I was no blacksmith. Being able to make a few ingots, didn't mean I could instantly make good weapons or armour as well.

Fox on the other hand, was much more offended than I was. She said "He did well. The dagger could be used as a weapon, so it's not useless at all". She then looked at me, and asked "Why don't you show him your real dagger?". I shook my head, and replied "Fox, don't try to protect me. What he said is true. The dagger I gave him, was rubbish. The one I gave you is made using a mould, this wastes the real potential of a dagger. I would never be able to create such shape, without the use of mould. That is why, I want to learn".

Paul said "At least you know that much. Whoever taught you, was not that stupid then". I replied "He wasn't, I just didn't practice a lot". Paul nodded, and said "We can start immediately".