Strengthening Zakega

[Red Lightning]

Beniiro was in Radasanth, wandering the Bazaar that took place here in search of a blacksmith. While there were probably other blacksmiths in the city, the Bazaar was the closest he knew of that would harbor one of good enough quality for him. He wanted to strengthen Zakega's blade, after his Citadel match with the barbarian warrior, for he knew that while it was his only weapon it wasn't strong enough for his tastes.

The Bazaar was less crowded that usual, he found, and he prefered it that way. The sheer amount of people that usually inhabited the streets these days made him nervous, and he often held Zakega in his paws unsheathed than in its scabbard. It also made it easier for him to see the giant tent that had a hammer and a forge insignma upon it. Beniiro smiled slightly, his yellow eyes examining the tent. It had been awhile since he had visited this particular blacksmith: She had been the one he had gone to when he first aqquired Zakega, to identify what metal it was made out of, but to his dismay she did not know. However, she did know that it was at least strong as steel, so now Beniiro was going to find out if he could make it stronger or not.

Yes.

The feeling echoed through his mind like a wave, and Beniiro stared down at his blade in surprise. Hmm? He thought back.

Yes. This time, the feeling was more appreciative than anything, as if Zakega appreciated the fact that Beniiro was trying to make it stronger. The feline chuckled as he held Zakega in its sheath in his left paw, walking slowly to the tent.

The inside of it was dark and smoky from the work that the old woman was doing. Erin, she called herself, was dressed in an apron and a simple work outfit, and her hands and some of her face were covered in soot from the burning fire in the chimney of the tent. Beniiro didn't know how a chimney got here, but he assumed it was some enchantment upon that tent itself that made such a thing possible.

Erin was working as he stepped in silently. He eyed her form for a minute. For a human, she was very attractive, even though her years of youth had passed by her. Clearing his throat so that she would look up from her task, he said in greeting, "Its been awhile, Erin. Three years?"

Chronologically wise this takes place right after Ben's match with the barbarian Wulfgang.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin looked up at the voice. Cheerful bright blue eyes that seemed decades younger twinkled as she smiled. She studied the familiar figure for a moment the shook her head.

"Beniiro. You're right it's been around three years. It's good to see you again. What can I do for you?" Erin sneezed suddenly, wrinkling her nose against that itching sensation of another sneeze coming. She grabbed a damp cloth and ran it over her face and hands, cleaning them of the soot staining the skin.

"Eklan wood, the smoke from it makes me sneeze every time." Erin said as she pulled a mock disgusted expression through her laughter.

[Red Lightning]

Beniiro joined in the old woman's chuckling. It felt good to see an old friend, especially someone who could help him.

"Eklan wood?" Beniiro asked, suddenly interested. "What are you making?" It was quite curious.

Then he remembered why he had come here in the first place. "Anyways, I need you to re-forge Zakega's blade. I want the same metal to still be there, but I want another alloy of a metal mixed with it as well." Beniiro's feline face fell slightly into a frown as he remembered the money he had in his purse. "Whats the strongest metal I could have alloyed into Zakega with 500 gold pieces?" He asked Erin, holding out Zakega with the sheath still sorrounding it.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin shook her head still grinning.

"It's a secret." Erin said a bit teasingly. " If I went about speak of my projects, paid for or other, I'd lose many of my customers." Erin carefully took the sheathed sword. She inspected the handle and sheathe before pulling the sword several inches from sheathe and looking over the metal.

Catching a lower lip between her teeth she worried it as she turned the blade catching the blade in the sullen light of the fire and highlighting minuscule nicks.

"If you give me three days to do a proper job I can alloy the metal of your sword with Damascus. It will lighten it's weight a little but it will make it almost as strong as Mythril. The job will cost you 480 gold." Erin re-sheathed the sword and laid it on the counter between Beniiro and herself.

[Red Lightning]

"Lighten it?" The nekojin was almost bouyant with glee. Zakega was already lighter than it was supposed to be, as he had estimated that it was about as heavy as a normal short sword, but if this woman could lighten it even more then she would be a goddess. "Wow. That would be the best, Erin!" Beniiro's eyes widened in pride as he watched her examine Zakega with an expert's eyes.

"And the price is fine, making it nearly as strong as mythril would be great, just as long as it is stronger than it is now." Beniiro said quickly, now excited by the prospects ahead. "I might as well just pay you now, if its going to take three days to make it." As he spoke he took out his money from his pack and handed her the slip for a voucher for 300 gold and 180 gold pieces, which he counted out carefully beforehand.

Yes! He could hear Zakega cry in happiness and gratitude. It seemed as if it had been waiting for an upgrade for a very long time. Beniiro smiled and sent a thought back. No problem. This helps me too, you know.

He didn't know why, but suddenly he felt like a little child again, all happy over a new toy. Walking over to Erin, he sat down on a small cot near the fireplace and grinned jovialy at the blacksmith. "Do you mind if I stay here with you then for those nights? I don't have anywhere else to go." He looked around himself. "I can make myself useful as long as I'm here. Do you need a bodyguard, or materials, or..." He left the sentance trailing as he looked at her with open and honest eyes.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin arched a brow as she looked down at her young friend. If I were a decade younger I'd welcome this cute youngling to my bed. The cruelty that is time. Erin chuckled and banished that thought with a mischievous laugh.

"You are welcome to stay here if you like, I know I have a second cot folded away somewhere. You may find yourself bore though. I am a 'my way only' type of person when it comes to the weapons I make, repair or alter." Erin slanted Beniiro an amused look. "Then again I have no doubt you will find ways to amuse yourself in the next three days. I only ask that you lead no merchant father's to my stall."

Carefully picking up the unique sword once more Erin headed for a side panel that should have led to the outside, instead as she brushed the cloth aside a large room was briefly shown.

"Oh, there is a opening near the chimney that leads into a second smaller room that you can use while I'm working on your sword. Ignore the mess in there, I'm also positive that the other cot is in there along with my extra blankets. Help yourself to my supplies and holler if someone approaches the front counter." Erin's drifted back through the panel as she began another analysis to figure out just what type of metal she was working with before she began the reforging of Benjiro's sword.

Erin chuckled to herself as she wondered how long it would take Benjiro to try and enter this room only to find that the panel led him outside instead of into her work room.

[Red Lightning]

Beniiro chuckled softly as Erin's voice drifted away. "Thank you, Erin." He called back to her. He could feel Zakega gloating as it was taken away to be worked upon, and Beniiro sent an amused thought back to it.

Beniiro looked around and saw the side panel she had mentioned. Opening it up, he was surprised to see that it did not lead into a small room but just simply outside.

The feline arched one eyebrow. A joke from Erin, assumingly. Beniiro sighed as he sat back down on the the bench. He considered calling the black smith back to tell her that the magic panel wasn't working, but he knew she would simply laugh so he decided to figure it out for himself.

Looking at the runes upon the panel he regonized them as defensive runes, commonly used upon Bladewraith robes for extra protection. These ones, however, seemed to be more intricate than simple reinforcing runes, and Beniiro was having trouble figuring them out when a thought from Zakega interrupted his thoughts.

Paw.

At first Beniiro was confused. Paw? he thought back, confusion in his tone.

Paw. Left. This time it sounded more like instructions. Beniiro didn't know how it would know, but he did as what the blade seemed to instruct. He placed his paw on the runes of the panel and slid it left.

The panel opened once more, but this time it opened not to the outside but to a small room with a cot for sleeping and several blankets strewn about. She must be a messy sleeper... Beniiro thought to himself before closing the panel once more and moving to the counter. He took a seat behind the counter on a small wooded stool and looked around the tent. On one wall there were dozens of weapons and armor, but what caught Beniiro's attention was a single blade hanging high on one of the tent walls.

It was obviously finely crafted, he could tell that with one glance. The blade was long and wide, being a broadsword of immense size, and along the length of its blade were red markings, runes that Beniiro could not understand. Its hilt was wire-wrapped and ended in a claw, huge and probably belonging to some draconic beast.

"What a magnificent sword..." The feline swordsman whispered in awe. It was almost glowing in the dark tent.

While he was gazing at this blade Beniiro did not notice the man dressed in the suit that stood in the doorway, also gazing at this blade but with a different interest. The man held a cane in one hand and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes, however, were glowing red, but as he looked back on the feline swordsman they became grey. Taking one last look at the sword, the man in the suit murmured something like, "Arioch shall have you back, I promise...", before dissapearing into a plume of smoke.

[Moonlit Raven]

Early the next morning, before the sun had fully risen, a muffled shriek came from the work room Erin had sequestered herself in. A moment later she came rushing out, her sable hair, normally pulled back into a tight braid, flowed freely around her face and shoulders as she raced for the chimney.

Grabbing a small vial of a glittering violet powder Erin hurried back to the work room. Half formed words about mixtures, blends and reactions drifted through the air after her.

~~~~~~~~
Two days later
~~~~~~~~

Erin emerged from the workshop a tired woman, in her grasp Benjiro's naked sword gleamed brightly in the light of day. She laid the sheathe on the counter and held the sword up for Benjiro's inspection.

"He's lost about a third of his weight. I fine tuned the balance and made sure that I didn't destroy the special properties of your sword." Erin wiped at her tired heavy eyes and smiled at her young friend.

"If I didn't know any better I'd have to say that your sword did about half of the work itself. For a while I thought that the Damascus would ruin the original metal of your sword but then I got the idea to try and add the vial of Bóithre I recently acquired. I'm happy to say that it worked and preserved a balance between the two metals."

[Red Lightning]

As she handed Beniiro the blade, he felt another surge of happiness race through his arm and into his body. Along with that surge was a bit of pride: the feline knew that Erin hadn't been joking when she said that the blade must've done half the work itself.

Even though she said it lost about a third of its weight, Zakega felt like it was twenty pounds lighter, in Beniiro's perspective. He carefully drew the blade from its ancient sheath and it rang out with a clear note, a bell in the silence of the morning.

"Its beautiful..."Beniiro murmured, as he examined the blade. Its black surface was almost glowing in the newborn light, and both the blade and Beniiro's eyes started to glow red slightly in the darkness. If one looked closely, they would be able to see tiny sparks dancing along the glowing red blade.

Realizing that his blade was now glowing Beniiro sent a thought to it, a feeling to 'stop that'. Immediately the blade and his eyes stopped glowing red, but he could still feel a triumph-like feeling emananating from Zakega.

Beniiro looked up at the tired old eyes of the smithy, and he smiled. "Its perfect...no wonder your known as the best around these parts." He complimented her, not as a kiss-ass compliment but a real one. "Thank you so much....I cleaned up the mess in there for you too." He gestured to the side panel by the chimney. "Well, I must be off, there are adventures awaiting me!"

But as he turned he came face-to-face with the pony-tailed man who had visited earlier. Instead of meeting him, however, the man went straight to the counter off Erin with his hands in his pockets. Beniiro stayed, unsure of this unusually dressed man.

The man looked up at the giant blade hanging from the tent wall, and without meeting Erin's gaze he said calmly. "I'll pay 10,000 gold for the Dragon Buster, Al' Ornio." He pointed up towards the blade, and Beniiro's jaw nearly dropped.

Careful!!! Zakega cried as Beniiro edged closer, and the feline swordsman looked down at his newfound blade in surprise.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin grinned, her pleased smile wiping all traces to exhaustion.

"I'm pleased you are happy with the alterations." Erin paused for a moment and thought before she spoke again. "You should speak to him about displaying himself, it can be dangerous. If I were a less honest woman I would have taken your lovely sword and fled. Subtlety is normally the best route." Erin frowned unsure she had placed what she meant in as vague yet clear way as possible.

"Anywho, you have fun and keep yourself safe. I'll see you in a year or so."

Erin did little more than blink at the sudden appearance of the man. She shook her head at his offer, annoyance flickering across her face briefly.

"Come now, we been over this many times before. I'll not sell the blade. Don't you remember the last time you touched that sword? It nearly killed you when it rejected you. Give up already, Acario. We both know that only I can handle it and I'm just the keeper of it. We are still searching for it's wielder." Erin glanced at Benjiro and tilted her head slightly, silently telling him to leave.

Transaction complete. Red Lightning loses 480 gold and gains 100 EXP for good IC interactions.