A few coins richer, Elixar strolled down from the council offices towards his destination. He passed various housing types and eventually found himself stationary, taking in the diversity that Kumogakure had to offer in its housing complexes. There were clear tiers between different districts of Kumogakure, it was something he'd grow desensitized to, not because of his clan's standings putting him in the nicer of homes, but because he'd had the opportunities to live in the less posh housing and to this day still owned a small apartment in the lower districts just if he needed a break from the clan. It was through this he'd managed to befriend many of the locals and come off just that little bit more human than some ninja had a tendency to be.
He couldn't necessarily be classified as friendly, but he was kind, and this kindness had managed to loosen the hearts and lips of many a villager, landing him in good terms with people who were useful to him. The most notable of these figures was a blacksmith, the blacksmith was little well known in Kumo, he was often referred to as decrepit, outdated and weary, his tools were shabby, and he had long since lost his touch with swordsmanship, and the village. Some had even gone so far as to say they'd like him kicked out. In fact, it was one of these requests that had peaked Elixar's interest in him, and had had him volunteer to do the removal.
In doing so he'd made a companion for his career. Elixar immediately recognised the man's talent for obscure blades, and formed a contract with him. He would only purchase swords from him. That day, the first of many ridiculously powerful blades was born. Ryoma Tetsu, the old blacksmith was short, and in many ways looked like your stereotypical dwarf, miner, blacksmith character in an MMO, and behaved every bit the part. He was curt, had a hearty laugh and was always straight to the point, with a bustling sense of humour once he acknowledged you. His hair was paling, once being a marvellous jet black, but like his fame - had faded. It was actually Elixar's purpose today to reclaim one of his blades, after some shenanigans had caused it to no longer be in his possession, but instead end up back with the creator.
Elixar lumped the bag of coins on the table. Ryo, blackened by the soot of the furnace came to inspect the money.
"There's 2,000 of your namesake, just like you asked." Ryo nodded with a brief grunt. Accepting the payment, he handed the blade in its sheath to the swordsman. As soon as Elixar's hand touched the handle and lifted away from the blacksmith, he stiffened completely. His voice was tense. "What did you do to it?" He stared down at the blacksmith who was sitting with one leg dangling over a stool and the other tucked away under his thigh.
"Sealing. It aught to teach you to 'drop' your weapon so casually." He brandished a pipe and took a brief puff from it, grinning at the shocked swordsman. 'I had to make friends with the one blacksmith that was capable of sealing techniques...' Elixar sighed inwardly. Elixar reached for his pocket to withdraw another some of money, his body language screaming 'how much?'
"3,000 Ryo."
Elixar stopped and looked at him, his jaw almost making contact with the ground. "Per sealing removal." Elixar's mouth opened wider.
"That's 11,000 Ryo total."
"Don't drop your weapon again."
Elixar sighed, defeated, there was no bartering with the blacksmith. He sheathed the blade, happy to have his precious companion back, but disgruntled to find that he wouldn't be wielding it the way he used to any time soon. "Are you not going to give it a swing?" Elixar shrugged, he was still distraught at the loss of his original sword. He slung it from over his back and drew the blade slowly, the dark metal glinting in the low light. The hairs on his right arm stood on end, enthralled by the reunion with a partner they so dearly missed. Elixar found himself grinning stupidly. Ryo returned the grin, he was proud of his work and one of the reasons he was so fond of the boy - even though he had a tendency to swindle money out of him - was that Elixar, without fail, was amazed by his work. Elixar inspected the blade's front and back, it was as beautiful as ever; Above the black oak would that makes up the handle, black leather is wrapped around in a crossing pattern that gives it the impression of a katana or blade of that sort before drawn. The hand guard was small and thin to the point its hard to call it a guard and acted as more of a stopper for the blade so that it rests just atop the sheathe. Now the blade was drawn, both shinobi were met with the sight of an obsidian black blade. Styled like a katana with one cutting edge and one flat edge, the blade is actually perfectly straight rather than curved. The blade has also been shined so that it has a slightly paler, shined cutting edge to differentiate it from the rest of the blade. The blade's length came in at 86 centimetres, and the weight lay closer to the hilt than it does the tip.
"It's a good sword."
"Of course it is." Elixar's vision focused, zoning out his surroundings and observer. He stepped forwards and thrusted into empty space, as if piercing through space and time. A sharp ring of the air splitting to make way for his blade rang out through the shop. Elixar rejoined the surroundings, no longer in his little mental space. He turned to look at the blacksmith, their stupid grins even wider than before. Elixar drew an arc from his left to right, a wall of water dragging from his blade. He noticed that it felt more awkward than it used to, but it was good that he was aware of it now, he felt that he was putting in more physical effort. The water splashed everywhere once the technique was complete. Ryo immediately complained.
"Don't splash water everywhere you dunce! I have to clean this now. Get out you idiot. Honestly." He hopped off of his stool to collect a mop twice the size of his body. Elixar laughed, sheathing the blade.
"Sorry about that, I'll get your money as soon as possible." He turned to leave, he could hear the sound of Ryo mopping the floor as he opened the door. "Oh, and Tetsu-kun." Ryo looked up at his name being called, Elixar was smiling. His expression suddenly shifted to intense anger, his eyes blazed a dangerous gold and the temperature of the room dropped just a few degrees on eye contact. "Don't ever mess with my blades again." He hissed, at the mention of the word blade Ryo felt his heart being pierced by the same thrust that had rung out in the shop moments before. His hairs stood up on end and he gripped the mop tightly. Elixar's expression softened. "Okay?" He shut the door, walking out into the street.
Back in the shop, Ryo stood motionless, still silent as if he'd been killed on his feet. The sound of sweat hitting the pool of water at his feet brought him back to his senses, he mopped his brow, surprised that he'd broken into such a cold sweat. He returned to mopping the floor. "I've contracted one scary child." He mumbled to himself.
[1277 Words - Exit]
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