Only I Am A Reader

Knock. Knock.

"Come in."

While Leo was still analyzing the inconspicuous smithy, Rain knocked two light knocks before a rough voice sounded out from behind the door.

Receiving a response, Rain opened the door revealing a short corridor, directly going inside. Leo's eyes stopped wandering as he followed Rain's steps.

'This is… extravagant.'

The smithy beyond the corridor was nothing like the shabby Blackbird that was influenced by Crane's despair, everything was shiny and orderly, the unique swords hung on the walls gave the place a vibe of 'fanciness'.

Clang! Duang! Clang!

As he inspected the place from the inside, Leo's eyes were attracted to the constant hammering, finally noticing the blacksmith that was hidden by the furnace.

'This is a… blacksmith alright.'

Unlike the lean Crane who could no longer be recognized as a 'blacksmith' after shaving his beard, the man hammering in front of Leo exactly fitted the picture of his occupation in most people's imagination. Whether it was his short stature, the thick red beard, or his hulking body, everything about him screamed 'fantasy smith'.

Bang.

"You are here for 'that', right?"

Putting down his hammer, the smith glanced at Rain's serious face as he grabbed his pliers to pick up the piece he was working on.

"Yes."

Fshhhhh…

Leo could barely hear Rain's affirmation as the screeching sound of vaporizing water covered everything. Only after the voice faded did the smith put his pliers aside and approach the opposite wall.

"To be honest, I was surprised when you came yesterday to ask for one of these so soon. I wonder if you were lucky or just impatient?"

Leo was slightly surprised as the smith threw a glance in his direction along the last of his words, but having somewhat guessed the reason they came here, he was more interested in the smith's target.

'Oh?'

As the smith's hands finally lay on one of the hanged weapons, Leo grew even more interested, even in the midst of so many unique and special weapons, the one the smith reached for was the most ordinary of them all!

Taking it down with some trouble due to his height, the smith put the sword down on the table at the center of the smithy just before Leo…

"What are you waiting for, hold it, it's yours after all."

Staring at the sword in a daze, Leo scrutinized the plain sword as he grabbed hold of it, compared to the most recent swords Crane had made him, this sword's body was slightly thinner, it was also about 10cms or so longer.

Shiing.

With the sword out of its sheath, Leo's eyes widened as he noticed the craftsmanship reflected on its smooth surface that seemed to be even a level higher than that of Crane. However, he was much more shocked in his heart than he showed…

As soon as the blade came out of its cover, Leo instinctively felt a great familiarity with it. Despite this being his first time holding it, he was quickly entranced by it, it was as if something inside of him longed for it!

Coming out of his trance as soon as he came to realize his situation, Leo couldn't help but raise both of his eyebrows as he exclaimed deep in his mind.

'Breathing Steel!'

It wasn't his heart that longed for this foreign blade, rather it was another 'part' of him that was very recently acquired! It was nothing other than the Sword Breath that just settled in!

According to this specific reaction towards the sword, Leo immediately came up with the blade's crafting material, it was undeniably Breathing Iron!

Bearing half the name of the 'energy' that contributed to forming it, Breathing Iron was one of the most common metals among the variety of mutated metals that emerged around the world.

The raw form of the metal itself had no outstanding properties when compared to normal iron. In fact, it was slightly weaker, but even so, it was one of the most sought-after metals since the beginning of the Sword Epoch.

The reason behind that was simple, this mutated metal only showed its true potential when used to make swords!

"Is this really for me?"

Leo's hand trembled slightly in excitement, although it wouldn't be that hard for him to obtain something similar using his knowledge, it was surprising to obtain it this early. The sword geek in Arthur heavily affected him at this moment.

Under the influence of Sword Breath, Breathing Iron that was forged into Breathing Steel swords had one of the most basic but useful abilities in this world, it amplified the strength of Sword Breath by 5%!

While five percent might seem like nothing, Leo knew the importance of whatever small difference in this world where 'grades' mattered the most. When it strictly came to the 'ability' of their Sword Breath, only a few special 'tools' could break the equality between all Swordsmen at the same grade, and a Breathing Steel Sword was precisely one such item!

"Indeed. You can say that this is a… gift."

Although Leo's instinctive question was directed at the smith, Rain was the one to answer with a heavy nod, a faint smile could be easily noticed on his face as he witnessed Leo's response.

"Alright. Off you go, I still have more work to do… make sure to take care of that sword."

Following Rain while still dazed by his new item, Leo found himself outside of the smithy before he knew it, tightly gripping on the sheathed sword as he stared at Rain's back.

'I guess it's about time…'

In the same manner that they reached their destination, the duo silently walked back to Rain's terrace house, the only difference was that a new 'companion' had accompanied them back…

"Follow me."

Going through the door, Rain maintained his movements as he sped to the kitchen. He was already sitting down by the time Leo entered the kitchen.

"Sit…"

Leaning his new sword on the wall, Leo sat down at his usual seat, his now calm gaze resting on Rain's face.

"I know this might seem abrupt, but I will be leaving Swordkeep today."

The serenity on Leo's face remained unfazed as an understanding smile surfaced on his face, he slightly nodded upon hearing Rain's last words.

"This is farewell…"