章節 69: Of Things to Come
"Argh!" Leo screamed.
It was a scream no one would hear for Leo was in a place no one but a very few people could get into. Deep below town hall, in a wide square space that Leo affectionally called his very own danger room, the Game Master of souls was in the midst of making his new power his own. Yes, he was in the midst of training, and things were not going well.
"Motherf*ck*r," Leo spat. "You're supposed to listen to me!"
Smack!
An undead fist just whacked him in the side of his face.
"Argh!" Leo screamed again.
He stumbled to the floor, blood dripping from his nose.
"Seriously," Leo sighed. "This isn't going well at all…"
The undead thing Leo had conjured up began lumbering toward him with an unhinged mouth that was moaning in that way zombies do so well. It was a sound that made the hairs on the back of Leo's arms stand on end.
"Holy sh*t!" Leo exclaimed. "Help…"
Kablam!
That was the sound of a magic-empowered double-barrel shotgun made when it fires right in the back of a zombie's skull.
"Blam! I murdered you!" laughed the little creature floating behind the now headless corpse. "This is fun, Leo!"
Leo leaned back while he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I'm glad you're enjoying watching me get beat up by my own creations, Max," Leo sighed.
"Ah, don't sweat it, kiddo… I don't expect much from a human," Max replied as he floated closer toward Leo. "Besides, this last conjuring wasn't so bad. You managed to summon seven before they went berserk on you."
Leo glanced up at Max.
He was a furry animal that was much like a rabbit. Only rabbits didn't have blood-red fur and bat wings flapping from their backs. Nor did rabbits have a single glowing horn on their foreheads plus a penchant for shooting at people with antique firearms. No, Max was no sweet and cuddly bunny. Max was an imp. But in Adventour, Max was also Leo's the Head of Human Resources, or in this case, Head of Lessers Resources.
"Not that I don't appreciate your trigger-happy support, Max," Leo picked himself up off the floor, "but what are you doing here again?"
"I'm your HR Manager, aren't I?" Max replied while pointing his gun onto Leo's chest. "So I'm here to help with your training, Leo… training."
"Rr~right," Leo raised an eyebrow at the imp. "You can't find the time to attend meetings but you're cool with helping me train?"
Max rolled his eyes — a move that made him irresistibly cute despite holding a shotgun in his tiny hands — and laughed. "Fine… you got me, Leo."
He lowered his shotgun.
"Big sis Morgana raided my gun room earlier and demanded I make myself useful," he frowned. "You know how she gets when she wants her way…"
Leo laughed. He knew exactly what Max meant.
"Honestly, though," Max grinned an impish grin. "I'm surprised how talented you are in the Eldritch sorcery department, Leo… you've got the makings of an Eldritch Sorcerer alright."
"That's high praise coming from you, Max," Leo replied but in an undertone, he added, "Although I'm not sure I'm happy hearing that I'm definitely going dark side…"
"Humans… so whiny," Max laughed. When he was done guffawing at Leo, Max continued, "Alright, let's get serious… how about you try summoning something less PG-13 than zombies… A vamp… or better yet, how about a dullahan?"
The only door to Leo's danger room slid open and McCloud stepped through it.
"Looks like we'll have to postpone the dullahan summoning, Max," Leo began walking quickly toward McCloud, "something's come up… something did come up, right? Please tell me something came up?"
McCloud nodded. "You wanted to know when Black Howler and Jaybird came back…"
"Nice, another milestone unlocked," Leo high-fived his werewolf bestie. "Let's go watch history happen."
---
Jaybird had been spending the better part of the day fanning the flames of Masamune's forge. It was the one task the master smith and his brand new apprentice had given him after he'd tripped and dropped the tray of fel iron ingots onto his master's foot.
He didn't mind this punishment, however, as he got front row seats to the forging of his new weapon.
"Cool," Jaybird said while he watched Masamune teach Black Howler how to properly fold the metal on the forge.
Clang! Clang!
It was Black Howler's job to hammer the metal. It was also Black Howler's job to offer his master a glass of his own blood which made Jaybird wonder at the conditions of this apprenticeship his master had gotten himself into.
Sometime during the smithing process, Maestro and a funny-looking werewolf with half-moon spectacles over his snout came into the shop to, in Maestro's words, "Observe history in the making…"
Jaybird didn't understand what he'd meant until the server-wide notification from A.B.B. appeared in front of him a minute later.
[ATTENTION: PLAYER [Black Howler] HAS UNLOCKED [PROFESSION]. HE IS NOW THE [BLACKSMITH APPRENTICE] OF [Masamune, Vampyre Smith of Legend]. AS THE FIRST PLAYER TO REACH THIS MILESTONE, HIS ACHIEVEMENT WILL BE RECORDED IN THE ANNALS OF ADVENTOUR'S HISTORY BOOK, ALL OF WHICH WILL BE VIEWABLE TO ALL PLAYERS IN A LATER UPDATE, [The Black Obelisk].]
"Holy pretzel, sir," Jaybird said in awe. "You're amazing…"
"What are you getting all impressed over, kid?" Black Howler asked as he raised an eyebrow at his apprentice. "This is as much your achievement as mine. Or did you forget that we went on this quest together."
Jaybird couldn't reply to his master's praise but the warm feeling in his chest was definitely making him grin in a stupid way.
Much, much later, after hours of hammering and folding and washing had been done, the forging of Jaybird's weapon was finally complete.
"Your creation this is… Present the weapon, your task to do,�� Masamune instructed.
And that's how Jaybird found himself standing in front of Black Howler while his master unveiled the weapon for him — and his face was filled with wide-eyed wonder.
"That's a lie, by the way," Black Howler added in an undertone. "This was mostly Masamune's design… I just helped put it together…"
Jaybird wouldn't have minded at all if Black Howler had done it all himself. That was just how much faith he had in his master. But still, this weapon Black Howler presented him now was exactly what Jaybird hoped for.
No, it wasn't a sorcerer's staff like they'd initially discussed when they began this quest. After all, Jaybird had gotten pretty attached to the weapon Black Howler had lent him, and he didn't think flinging a staff through the air would have the same kind of coolness factor as a sword would have.
The falchion Jaybird now held in his hands had a fiery red blade that was about three feet in length. It had a fel iron cross-guard sword hilt fashioned with a salamander's head at each end. The pommel was an amber sphere with a tiny sliver of flame trapped inside it — a piece of the salamander's heart they'd managed to take after their battle with the Abomination.
"Gosh, sir… I don't know what to say," Jaybird whispered.
Sure, Black Howler was a bit rough but he hadn't pushed Jaybird away or made him feel unwanted in the week that they'd been adventuring together. In fact, logging in after another day of high school hell to continue their quest was the highlight of Jaybird's week.
"You can thank me by giving it a name," Black Howler suggested.
"Okay, um, how about Red Death?" Jaybird wondered aloud.
"Taken!" the werewolf beside Maestro interrupted.
"Seriously?" Jaybird raised an eyebrow at the werewolf. "Okay… then… how about Fire Fang?"
Jaybird looked at the faces of his gathered audience and wondered which of them would shoot the idea down and call him a doofus but after seconds of expectation, no one did. In fact, they were looking back at him with satisfied smiles on their faces.
"Fire Fang it is," he said a little more confidently. "Cool…"
"Well, now that this task is settled," Maestro stepped forward. "I've got another quest for the two of you… think you can hack it?"
"Holy pretzel… me and master on another quest right after I just got Fire Fang… this sounds like Christmas," Jaybird grinned sheepishly.
"I guess that means you're in, Jaybird," Maestro said right before turning his gaze on Black Howler. "What about you?"
Black Howler took off his apron and laid it gingerly on the workbench he'd been using. "Sure, I'm in… but I'll need you to give me a day first."
He began walking toward the door. However, before he stepped out, Black Howler glanced over his shoulder and said, "I've got a date…"
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GD_Cruz
GD_Cruz Greetings, fellow reapers!
Guess what... it's a double release day! Lol. The next chapter sees Black Howler on a date with... Ath3na?!?! What?!?! Find out how this wacky setup happened and what's in store for Ath3na and her Deathly Challengers in the next chapter, which incidentally is also the last chapter of the second volume!!! :D
Also, for all you fans who wanted Leo to play a more proactive role, look forward to volume three. :D
Guys, it's the last week of July. Please help the GMofS by sending us more votes. :D A gift would be appreciated as well. A coffee a day keeps the writing smooth and on time. ;P
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