-William Shakespeare

Kim's reaction was a bit surprising, though John couldn't say he actually had any idea of what to expect. Part of him thought Kim would jump on the opportunity to train with him again, only to eventually end up pushing herself to near **** once more and forcing John to abandon her as an ally entirely. Another part thought she might verbally attack him, either due to his apparent desperation for allies or due to his weakness and her desire for power.

The lackluster response puzzled John, but he chose to go with the flow, following after Kim without any objection. With Sophia close behind him, John trailed the young Slayer all the way across the front yard, into the building opposite them, the one not actually attached to the house proper. The closer they came to the open doorway, the louder that same ringing noise John had heard earlier grew.

Coming inside, his deep suspicions were confirmed. Within the building was nothing resembling a typical home, nor even a typical structure. Everything inside was either stone or steel, from the floor to the vaulted ceilings and even the many columns of solid iron stretching between the two. John had honestly expected some kind of wooden structure enchanted to protect the innards from fire and heat, but it seemed the Moon Clan were as practical as their representative. Not only that, but the heat inside was so much more intense than he’d expected. He suspected there might have been an enchantment on the door to block most of the inner fires' warmth.

Within, John saw a number of forges, but only one was lit. Only one had an attendant, a woman furiously dragging a glistening, glowing whetstone across the edge of a blade. The woman's face was a mask of focus and perspiration - despite her distance from the fading embers of her furnace, she may as well have been in the bellows herself for all the heat her body seemed to give off. Despite the three of them entering with no attempts to hide themselves, the woman never so much as glanced up. Her eyes lit along the edge of the blade as if testing its sharpness through only her gaze.

The woman was a sharp, imposing figure. Her body and face screamed what Kim's eyes always did - intent, purpose, and an ironclad will. From the few that John had met, mostly Kim and her handful of guards prior to this, John was starting to think that was a requirement for initiation into the clan. Even then, at that moment, this woman had become the embodiment of it. In addition to her unwavering gaze, every fiber of her body moved with purpose.

A gloved hand rested on the hilt of the blade and never flinched as each stroke of her other arm wound leather cord into place with such **** that the enchanted leather seemed to scream. The black leather garments laying across most of her body, save for the rare metal bits and pieces coating her most **** areas, glistened and radiated with the heat of the forge, still hot and worn into her body. Whatever enchanted gear she wore, whatever her purpose in doing so, it was clear that this woman neither shied away from the forge nor was she afraid to embrace its fiery delights should the urge strike her. In spite of the fact that she occupied herself now with the hilt of a blade and was not even involved with the fire, a heat radiated from the woman that seemed to eclipse even the forge.

“Father, might I venture outside?” Sophia asked, her hand over her mouth. “I find this heat stifling… are all your forges indoors? It seems unnecessarily overpowering.”

“Well, I think most of them are? Maybe not in the old days, but… sure, go outside.” John nodded immediately, seeing how uncomfortable the usually stoic harpy was. “I’ll show you my new weapon when I’m finished.

Sophia nodded and was off immediately. Kim’s eyes never left the woman attending the forge, a strange suspicion entering her gaze.

"It seems she is putting the finish on your blade and wrapping its hilt," Kim noted quietly, eyes locked on the woman. "Its enchantments are finished. Its edge is sharpened. You are nearly ready to wield it, John Newman. Tell me… what is the first thing that you will cut with it?"

Kim's voice was deadly serious. John had thought it was a rhetorical question of sorts, or perhaps a moral quandary… but the Asian Slayer was glaring at him as if she expected him to draw his blade and take life at that very moment. The seriousness didn't spur an answer from John. If anything, it only made him more frightened to speak. But the response was obvious to John when he gave himself the time to think about Kim and her revelations.

"The first thing I cut will be the next person to threaten me or my family."

Kim smiled at the words, a wicked and deadly grin.

"Now you understand the Abyss…" Kim began, her eyes travelling to the woman across from them. "Koharu! Are you nearly finished with that weapon? You told me you would finish nearly an hour ago."

The woman tending to John's blade jolted as if startled out of a reverie, eyeing Kim and then John as if they had suddenly intruded upon her private space. Her hands gently released the leather strips she'd only just finished securing, the blade now resting across her lap. The woman's curious eyes travelled between the two new figures as if uncertain who to address.

"My apologies, Slayer. I may have grown too involved with this blade at some point if I have already overstayed our deadline by such lengths. I assume this is the one for whom I have been forging?"

"Indeed," Kim noted, though her eyes never left the blade. "Have you made all the enhancements to the blade as I asked you?"

"Yes, milady. But I cannot… I do not remember placing them."

Kim started to say something but hesitated a moment later. Something passed between her eyes and that of Koharu's, an unspoken message that John could only begin to guess at. Kim stepped forward and took hold of the wrapped hilt of the newly forged blade, running her fingers along the metal and uneven leather wrappings.

"It seems to be as finely crafted as any you have made for us," Kim noted, sounding almost disappointed by that fact. "Surely you cannot be dissatisfied?"

"No, miladly, not dissatisfied."

"Then let our friend test the blade himself," Kim proposed as she stepped forward and reached out to Koharu. Koharu seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if thinking about pulling the blade away, but released her grip as Kim deftly handled the blade by it's flat edge. The Slayer turned and offered John the handle, giving John the proper chance to inspect it up close as he grasped the hilt of it. The blade was reasonably simple, and seemed made to mirror the blades of the Order. It didn't have the same style of craftsmanship, and there was no sigil or design anywhere on the blade to indicate either the Moon Clan or the Order, but since all of the Moon members John had seen wielded blades that did not resemble the Order's at all, he assumed it was intentional to replace his broken sword.

"Fortunately Koharu has a great deal of experience with a wide variety of weapons and how to forge them. We were very lucky to have her join our cause - she has been honing her skills for centuries. My mother knew her from her time in Japan - she was a travelling blacksmith before she allied with my mother and then the Moon Clan, and has worked at smithies across most of Europe and Asia. This blade should be similar enough to the Order's weapons for you to adapt, with a few minor alterations. The most important is that it is highly reinforced - this steel has been magically enchanted, forged in a flame supplied with mana crystals, and cooled in blessed water. It is as durable as my own. It will never require sharpening, and even Lord Brighton would have difficulty breaking it."

"That is strong," John whispered, stepping back and giving the blade a slow and short test swing. Its weight was a bit off, but the blade itself felt like his old sword had finally returned to him. As it passed by his eyes one more time, John noticed something along the side of the blade. Engraved along the flattest part, four symbols John didn't recognize were visible, black markings on the otherwise plain gray of the steel. They didn't seem to be any form of writing that he was familiar with, Eastern, Western, or otherwise.

"I see you've noticed the second change," Kim noted, stepping to close the gap John had placed between them. Gently she took John's free hand and guided it toward the markings. "You asked me for a blade to rival the strength I sought for myself, and I honored that promise as best as I could. The blade likely weighs more than your previous weapon because there are no grooves - we need the space and the flat edge to carve runes. Each of these runes is a very powerful enchantment. They can be activated by touching them, or by attuning your mana to the frequency of the enchantment and flooding the blade with it - but that will require some training and familiarity. This first one…"

Rune of Rupture Activated! Draining 10 MP/second

The pop-up on John's menu was unexpected, but even more so was the subtle blue glow that surrounded the blade. Not only across the edge, but the hilt, guard, and cross - it gave the entire thing a bluish tint, which was admittedly a cool look for the blade.

"This rune will channel your mana into a disruptive form, allowing you to strike out at magical abilities. It's excellent for breaking enchantments, blocking spells more effectively, and cutting through magical armor. It can even destroy objects you can't physically touch - illusions, in particular, but also scrying spells, magical light… anything you can see and that has a location, you can destroy. Of course, doing so requires an expenditure of mana in direct proportion to the power and mana of your opponent's spell… if you encounter someone far more powerful than you, even a mundane spell could leave you exhausted to dispel it."

"Right, that seems helpful," John noted, lifting his finger free of the rune to stop the drain on his mana. He recalled the fight against the Cabal officer after he'd been captured and kidnapped - how he'd been almost helpless against the massive fist of purple magical haze that had caught him so effortlessly. Having a blade with the ability to dispel magic would be insanely helpful for him against more magically-savvy mages.

"To put it mildly," Kim agreed dryly. "This second rune is a channeling rune."

Rune of Channeling Activated!

"This rune will transfer the next spell you cast through your blade. The effectiveness varies by technique; anything relying on explosions will disrupt the path of your blade and lose some ****, as well as dampening your strike, for instance, and attacks involving solid material will either be disrupted by the strike of your blade or will likely get in the way of the blade and - again - dampen its impact. As I doubt that you have shown me the full arsenal of your skills, I'll leave it to you to experiment. But the advantage of casting magic without your hands ever leaving the blade once you learn to activate it without reaching up to touch it should not be overlooked."

"Definitely."

"The third rune is almost useless if you cannot learn to control it without touching, but once you do, it will save your life at some point. I can assure you of that."

Rune of Puppeteering Activated! Draining 25 MP/second

"Costly," John noted, staring at the blade. Unlike the first rune, there was no aura to the weapon and his sword showed no reaction to the activated ability.

"For good reason," Kim said, lifting John's finger back off the rune. Surprisingly, the ability didn't deactivate until she pressed his finger down on the rune again. "While this rune is active, a connection is formed with the mind of the one who touched it. You will be able to move the blade from up to thirty yards away, and the more control you gain over your mana, the finer the movement will be. It will never be as fast or as controlled as if you were wielding the blade with your hands, but if you ever become disabled, or if you are held in place by a trap, spell, enchantment, or curse that keeps you from reaching your blade, you can use this ability - especially in combination with the Rune of Rupture - to keep yourself alive, and perhaps even free yourself."

"A blade with utility, I love it."

"This final rune is to allow you to use the rest."

Mana Rune Activated! 227 Mana Restored! 523 Mana Remaining.

"Woah, that's… that's some amazing storage capacity," John noted. "And it was already charged?"

"The blade was made to hold enough mana to activate the enchantments in case of emergencies for a considerable duration. We charged it for you so that it would be available if you needed it. As you grow more powerful the enchantment may become somewhat outdated, but that only provides more incentive to leave it alone, so that in any situation, you will have enough mana to work with in a true emergency."

"This blade truly is amazing," John said, half-mesmerized. When Kim removed her hands from his own, John started to run his fingers along the immaculately smooth steel, feeling along the flat of his new blade, eyes running all the way from the tip down to the once-more dormant runes. John's hand had travelled only halfway, however, when another light ignited.

Glowing with a furious crimson and orange that flickered and radiated as if a flame had lit on his sword, John watched as the light he had accidentally activated lit not only a new, fifth rune he hadn't seen before, but then continued to spread. Unlike the other runes this one lit the entire blade, that shifting orange and bright red hue lighting the entire edge of the blade, highlighting the trim of the handle, and igniting the center of the pommel - making the handle look as if a brilliant and luminescent gemstone had been embedded in the ordinarily plain steel.

Rune of Resonance Activated! 0% Charge

"Koharu, what is this?" Kim asked, her face breaking its usual calm as her eyes narrowed. The blacksmith barely seemed to see her, finally rising from her position by the forge and approaching the blade with reverence. The Asian woman's eyes were as wide as John's own, and when she reached them, she seemed to be fighting between stretching out and touching the blade or flinching away from its radiance.

"I… I am sorry, Slayer, I do not know. I do not remember making these enchantments. I did manage to place the four you asked for, but this one…"

"What is it?" John asked, angling the blade toward both of the women so that they could see it more clearly. He cast Observe to see what useful information he could get out of it, but he only got a description of the blade.

신세계의 송곳니 [Epic Weapon]
25-53 Damage + 1.5x STR
Durability: 100/100
Rune of Rupture
Rune of Channeling
Rune of Puppeteering
Mana Rune [523 Mana]
Rune of Resonance [0%]
A blade forged by Koharu as payment to the Gamer for services rendered. Without meaning to, Koharu used every ounce of her skill to forge this blade for you.

"My abilities don't say anything about what it does."

"I don't… I don't know," Kim admitted, stunned. She seemed to catch herself a moment later, though her annoyance was still clear. "I am not familiar with this rune… Koharu?"

"This is new."

The words silenced the room, only the distant crackling of the dying forge embers filling the air. John and Kim exchanged glances, waiting for Koharu to continue. The blacksmith finally reached out and touched the blade with a gloved hand, tilting it slightly toward her face.

"In all my travels, with my centuries of experience forging… I have never seen this rune before. Not even once."

"Well, I can probably figure it out," John said, trying to defuse the growing tension he could feel in the room. He could tell that asking a blacksmith how she enchanted a blade with a rune she knew nothing about was possible would get him nowhere. "Hey, maybe it has something to do with the blade's name? What does it mean, anyway?"

"Name? I hadn't… I don't think I gave it one. It is yours to wield, John, but names are often given by those who tell of one's deeds, not necessarily the wielder themselves."

"Well, it has a name, but it's in… I'm not sure if it's Japanese, or Korean, or… sorry, I'm not familiar enough with the writing of Asian languages."

"Show me. Write it down."

Kim had moved to another section of the forge in an instant, retrieving a sharpened piece of coal and a large piece of cloth. Using the makeshift utensils - and making a mental note to start carrying paper and pens in his inventory space - John did his best to replicate the runes, eyeing the Observe window carefully, even enlarging it so that he could make sure each line was as perfect as he could make it with such rough tools.

When he finished, Kim's tension had not eased. She lifted the cloth up and held it closer, inspecting the markings for a long while without saying anything.

"Sinsegyeui song-gosni," Kim eventually said. "John Newman… your system has given your blade a very ambitious name."

"What does it mean?"

"It's Korean. The best translation would be… Fang of the New World."

There it was again. That same term, and it kept coming up. Somehow it made John almost as anxious as Kim.

"Doesn't really tell me anything about this 'Rune of Resonance', but I guess it sounds cool. Sorry for causing all this confusion."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Kim said very pointedly, bundling the cloth up and tossing it into the open flames of the forge. "With this, I shall consider our deal complete, John."

"Remember my offer. Whenever you're available… I'm always up for training."

"John, you-" Kim sighed, shaking her head. "You offer me a great deal. I have nothing to offer you after this blade, and I do not like to be in the debt of another, even if I were to trust this arrangement."

"This blade is obviously more than you intended to give me. Consider me in your debt… and allow me to repay it."

Kim looked at John, eyes shifting for a moment between the blade and the Gamer.

"I cannot say I agree with your innocence, John Newman… but somehow I do trust it. Very well. Let me give you my phone number. When our schedules align, we can train, and I will do so without the haste and reckless abandon you saw of me before."

"I appreciate that," John said. As he handed the Slayer his phone and watched her effortlessly program herself as a new contact, John got a very satisfying pop-up.

Sub-Quest Completed! Ally: Increase your standing with a Faction, become allied with a new faction, or save a friendly Faction member's life.

---

With John Newman gone, the forge remained silent, though neither of its other occupants had left. Kim and Koharu stood, staring at each other. Koharu twitched nervously but tried to meet her Slayer's gaze with dignity.

"Were you hiding anything from me while he was here?" Kim finally asked, when she sensed the blacksmith could get no more uncomfortable without fleeing. "Do you know what that rune was? What power it holds?"

"I'm sorry, Slayer. I meant what I said. I have never seen that rune, or heard of one that would react in such a way - much less remain hidden until activated."

"Then I ask you but one thing. Answer me truthfully, Koharu. Has this ever happened to you before?"

"Yes, my lady. But… only once."

Kim remained silent, her glare only intensifying until Koharu continued.

"It was a very, very long time ago. Almost two hundred years. I was making my second circuit of the Eastern edge of Asia in my lifetime, and had just disembarked in Japan when I was contacted by a man to forge him a blade. I didn't recognize his name at the time, but he had the trappings of a minor lord and offered me enough mana gems to pay my way for years. Not only that, but he allowed me to stay in his manor while using his smithy, and gave me a full year to complete the blade. I was honed in my craft at this point, my name was becoming known, but… I still couldn't imagine why he chose me.

"Further, the longer I stayed with him, the more I began to respect him. Though I was hardly more than a stranger with a good reputation, he had invited me into his home without hesitation. He gave me free roam of the manor during my off times, paid for my transportation to the local villages, ate his meals at my side, and even brought some to the forge when I got too involved in my work. He even left me alone in the manor for a few days at a time. He always apologized and said he had business to attend to. I asked him when he returned from one of those trips why he trusted a stranger - even a professional - in his home while he was away… he smiled and told me that I was a good person, and he could feel it. He never offered any other explanation."

"This is all well and good, but where does this amnesia of yours come into play?"

"The more I respected him, the more I wanted the blade to be a success. Not just for my reputation but because I had started to believe in him. I ended up spending the full year he offered me to forge the blade, and… I cannot for the life of me remember the last month I spent there."

"An entire month? Gone?"

"It's a blurry haze at best, even now. At the time it felt as if I had gone to bed one night after re-infusing the blade with the man's seemingly limitless supply of mana gems for what felt like the tenth time that week… and when I woke up, it was a month later, and the man was saying his farewells as I left his manor for the final time."

"What was so special about that blade, then?"

"I don't… I don't know about the blade itself," Koharu said quietly. "I can't remember what I did to it. Without knowing, it's hard to tell how much of the legendary things I heard that man accomplish were thanks to my blade or how much were due to his own abilities. I know a few decades later the blade eventually broke in one of the man's battles. I tracked him for years because I was so confused about what had happened, but when it broke I was just passing into Western Europe. By the time I found a way to contact him, he had already replaced the blade with another of even greater power. I assume he'd had another smith forge him a replacement before mine broke, but he thanked me for my work and told me it had served him well, and that he had never regretted his choice of smith."

Koharu's face broke open into a wide smile. Her nerves and uncertainty had faded, brushed away by seemingly happy memories. Kim's gaze remained stern - who was this man? What exactly was so great about him that he could inspire such reverence in Koharu? Not to mention his apparently eccentric nature.

"You said you didn't recognize his name while you were working for him. Why did you recognize it later?"

"I… I recognized it because even if I had not followed him, I would have known his name. Lady Slayer, the last time this happened - the last time I lost myself in a blade… it was for him. Isamu Masanori."

"No," Kim hissed, hand travelling to the hilt of her blade, if not out of fear then at least comfort.

"It was before he began his war against the Abyss, before he consolidated his kingdom, but… it was him. I'm absolutely certain of it."

"Why have you never mentioned this? Making a blade of such infamy, even if it did break… that would have-"

"Would have made me powerful enemies," Koharu said, shaking her head. "That blade carved a path of destruction across dozens of countries. Masanori destroyed nearly as many terrible organizations in his prime as the Order did in the same period, and without the benefit of an army. He was eventually struck down fighting against one of the Six Deities, but he left devastation and thousands of Abyssal deaths in his wake. If anyone learned I had forged the sword that he used when he set out on the path he took, there would have been those seeking my head, and those seeking my service. Considering those who would be seeking me, I wished to give neither."

Kim was silent, and finally her gaze had broken away from Koharu. Her knuckles were white upon the hilt of her blade, and every muscle in her body stood rigid. Beads of sweat began to form across her brow as the flickering embers of the forge reflected in her eyes. When she finally spoke, her voice was almost hoarse.

"…This cannot be coincidence."

"Slayer, do you know something? What caused this to happen, perhaps? I fear for what I may have done."

"We must tell no one of this," Kim said. "Word must never get out. If it does, John Newman will be in terrible danger."

"I did not intend to break my silence now except to explain to you what happened, my Slayer, but… why do you say John Newman would be in danger? There are many blades that powerful, and I have forged countless weapons for others since then. Surely no one would think anything of a powerful weapon in the hand of a budding mage?"

"There is one person who will. One person who has already shown an interest in John Newman, if Moira's tales are to be believed. The late Masanori's wife.

"Himiko Nakamura."