New Weapon Type: Gunblades

Kirou was currently standing outside of the Village Armory. Like his previous trip, he could hear the sounds of metal being hammered from behind the door. Unlike before, he didn't knock to gain Bladesmith's attention before he could enter. He just quietly snuck in and waited next to the door. Like that, he allowed another hour to pass before his presence was acknowledged.

It was only after he had finished hammering that piece of metal into shape that he stopped working and turned around to greet Kirou. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, lad."

"It's fine. After all, I'm the one who showed up while you were working." Kirou said this to Bladesmith as they both approached the resting area of the cottage.

"So, you have the materials you need to make that unique weapon of yours?" asked Bladesmith out of curiosity.

"In fact, I have. It's just that I'm going to need a bit of help in the creation process." Kirou said this with confidence while looking at Bladesmith.

"What kind of help you talking, lad?"

"This kind." Kirou then took out a piece of leather. It was from one of the lower grade pieces he obtained from the monsters he hunted in the forest. The leather itself was of good quality but in his eyes, it was only fit to be used as paper.

Bladesmith received the piece of leather from him and raised an eyebrow when he felt it in his hands. He then shrugged and looked at the weapon design that was drawn on the inner side. It was the blueprint for a weapon Bladesmith admittedly had never seen before as it incorporated many different ideas. After studying it for a few minutes, Bladesmith nodded a bit in understanding before speaking to Kirou, "As you said, this design is certainly new. With that being the case, how can I help?"

"I knew you would think so. I currently need help forging a few of the smaller pieces and the barrels for this. At my current level and strength, I wouldn't be able to create a strong enough barrel. If I make it, it probably won't last long before I'd need to forge it again after a few uses. As for the smaller pieces, it seems like I'd either have to be a jewelry craftsman or a master blacksmith to be able to make them as my molds for them aren't coming out properly when I try to make them." Kirou said this in one breath as he remembered his failed attempts at creating the molds back when he was in the forest. The molds themselves are easy to make but Immortal Era apparently made it so that one cannot make refined or small tools without the requisite craftsman class.

Hearing his words, Bladesmith nodded as he realized why Kirou would need help, especially for the small pieces. Running a few simulations in his head, Bladesmith decided that he would like to see where Kirou got his confidence and agreed to help him.

"Alright lad. Since I'm helping with this, you've got to take this forging seriously. This weapon is your design so you gotta give me the exact details for each piece I'll be creating so that it matches up with your end and you gotta provide the materials for this. From what I can tell, this weapon is the type that can be strengthened just by you changing out parts later on with stronger variants. Be that as it may, I don't want any prototype I'm working on to be worthless. If this weapon isn't as good as its design suggests by the end of it, then I'll be scrapping it and taking away the {Blacksmith} class I gave ya. Deal?" Bladesmith extended his hands out to Kirou after saying all this.

Hearing his words, Kirou could tell that Bladesmith was deeply invested in the design and wanted the weapon created to live up to it's potential. He couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips before he took Bladesmith's hand and shook it. "Deal!"

After the handshake, both sat back down and decided to discuss the required dimensions and the materials to be used for each part after learning their use by the end of it. This discussion went on for an hour and by the end of it, Kirou realized that if they went with the final details, then he would need to make another trip to the forest. Of course, considering that it was due to their discussion that they now realized that they needed to use different materials in the weapon's creation, Bladesmith decided to provide the missing materials. Of course, Kirou would have to go find them later to replenish his stock but that was for another time.

*******

Now that all the details have been finalized, all materials gathered around them, and both understanding their roles, both men entered the smithy section. Upon remembering that his smithy only had one anvil set up, Bladesmith furrowed his brows slightly.

"It seems that we are gonna have to take turns using the anvil. This is gonna take us more time than we originally wanted." Bladesmith said this with a sigh as he couldn't believe he forgot something as simple as this.

"Don't worry about it. I came prepared with my own set." After saying this, Kirou took out the anvil and hammer he recently received from the village Blacksmith Zac.

Seeing the anvil and hammer caused Bladesmith to raise an eyebrow. "It seems like you've been quite busy around the village and did the old man a favor if he was the one who gave you those. Though they aren't exceptional, they are enough for the time being."

"Then let us begin," Kirou said this then took out a piece of metal from the furnace and started hammering away. As he was hammering, Bladesmith looked at him with a peculiar gaze before he did the same.

'Now I'm looking forward to this even more.' This was Bladesmith's final thought before he started to focus solely on his assigned job.

*******

Kirou and Bladesmith were both sitting in the resting area. Sitting on the small table in front of them was a bunch of parts both big and small. These parts were currently placed between two cylindrical barrels. All in all, the items on the small table didn't look like they were related in any way, besides their color being black.

Kirou was in no rush to assemble them and Bladesmith was not interested in rushing him either. Both of them were resting in that rest area. Creating the parts truly was a daunting task. This was especially so for the items that needed to be reforged so that they had certain patterns on them. It truly was hard work and both needed rest after spending three hours to complete everything. After that three hours of hard work, both truly needed a proper break.

This break lasted twenty minutes and it was only then that life seemed to return to the bodies of both men.

"This weapon of yours better be good or I swear on our race to break both your arms and legs," Bladesmith said half-joking, half-serious after he revived.

"At this point, if it doesn't work, I'll do it myself. This took WAY too long for me to disagree with you," replied Kirou with some mirth as a wry smile graced his lips.

Both men then stood up and proceeded to stretch. You could hear popping sounds coming from their bodies and it was so in sync that if anyone was outside the cottage door at that moment, they would have mistaken those popping sounds to be coming from one person.

"Alright, that's enough rest. Get on with it lad." Bladesmith's patience had finally run out and his curiosity has finally won out.

"On it." Kirou then proceeded to the table and started assembling the weapons. An ignorant man would have no idea what Kirou was doing now if they saw him assembling the weapons but Bladesmith could tell that this weapons complexity was there for a reason. The outline of the weapon from the design was quite simple in and of itself but the fact that Kirou added so many different parts into its creation told him that this weapon wasn't simple. All he could do now was sit and wait for Kirou to finish the assembly.

Like that, another ten minutes passed. When Kirou's hands finally stopped moving, assembled on the table were two unique shaped bladed weapons. If any martial art fanatic from the real world was present, they would recognize that the assembled weapons looked similar to single bladed tonfas. The difference was that barrel holding the blades was a bit wider and more reinforced.

The entire barrel measured twenty-two inches, with a five-inch blade attached to the long side of tonfas. The handle was located fifteen inches from where the blade and barrel were connected, leaving seven inches on the other side. What's weird about this tonfa when compared to other bladed tonfas of it's design was that the seven inch part of the tonfa was hollow and the handle of the tonfa itself got thicker closer to the barrel. All in all, it truly was a re-imagining of the design of a tonfa and this was a new variant on a tried and true weapon.

Kirou himself couldn't help but smile at seeing the final product of his and Bladesmith's collaboration. It reminded him of his early day as this was one of the weapons he was first proficient in. He eventually outgrew its use in his work but he made sure to practice it every few days whenever he had time. Bladesmith also spent some time looking over the weapon and he had to admit that it had a nice look in his eyes.

"Now that you are done with the assembly and we've both finished admiring it, you mind showing me how it's used, lad?"

"Sure, but I'm gonna need a target though. This isn't a weapon that shows its true worth against a practice dummy." Kirou said this as he took the new yet familiar weapons in his hands and started reminiscing.

"That's good. Follow me then." After saying this, Bladesmith led Kirou out the back door of the cottage. Outside the back door of the cottage sat a training field. The training field itself looked worn as if it hadn't been used for a long time. Scattered around it were marks of a major battle that no one bothered to clean up. With the training field like that, it looked similar to a battlefield.

"This will be the battle area. Don't let the damaged look fool you. For there to be any damage here requires an immortal to be at least at the pill stage going all out. And as for your opponent, that will be me. Or rather, him." After saying that, Bladesmith's shadow took form and another Bladesmith appeared next to the original. Looking at them both, if Kirou didn't see the shadow form with his own eyes, he wouldn't know which was which. "Don't worry. I've already adjusted its strength to match yours."

Kirou raised an eyebrow at Bladesmith's last comment. He already knew that Bladesmith would be strong but his current skill and the damage around him told a completely different story. Granted, Kirou was never underestimating him, to begin with, but it looks like he was fooled by Bladesmith being in this village. Like with Manager Almia, no Lycan in this village is a pushover.

"Well, I'll take you up on that offer then." Immediately after he finished speaking, Bladesmith's shadow rushed at Kirou.

At first, it looked like there was nothing in the shadow's hand, but that soon changed. As the shadow got within a meter of Kirou, a knife similar to the one Bladesmith had given him appeared in the shadow's hands. One was thrust at him while the other was held with a reverse grip.

Kirou patiently waited a bit longer and the moment the shadow got close enough, his body moved. The hand holding the knife thrusting at Kirou was hit on the wrist by the short side of one tonfa while the bladed edge of the aimed for the shadow's throat. The shadow used its other knife to respond by blocking the strike preemptively before kicking at Kirou's midsection. The kick connected, but instead of hitting his midsection, the kick hit one of Kirou's legs which he used to block and allowed the force to separate both fighters.

After sliding a few feet back, then rushed back to the shadow where the two started exchanging blows at a close distance. As the fight progressed Bladesmith couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows. When one got to his level, they would be able to immediately notice the changes happening in a fight between weaker beings. As it stood, he noticed that his shadow was actually losing out in the exchanges with Kirou. It wasn't obvious but he could tell, Kirou was beating his shadow limited to the same strength as him and he was doing so while holding back.

'Just how much of a freak is this lad? Even if the shadow is severely weakened in its strength, it still has all my combat experience. So how on earth is he beating it while he himself is holding back?' This thought plagued Bladesmith's mind as he watched the fight.

What Bladesmith didn't know was that Kirou had similar thoughts of his own. Just like Bladesmith's Shadow, Kirou was currently fighting with lowered stats. His original body was trained to the peak of human limits and then some in his past life. Oftentimes he would practice fighting against stronger opponents while lowering his strength but it was never this low. The main reason he was winning this fight is that unlike Bladesmith, he started controlling this body while it was weaker so he could squeeze out a bit more power as opposed to the recently created shadow. That advantage was currently waning as he had to squeeze out even more as the shadow grew accustomed to his current limits.

'It seems with this weakened body, this is about as much as I can push it. I guess it's time for me to end this before I tire out.' That was what Kirou thought as he separated himself from the close fight with the shadow. The shadow stayed where it was while remaining alert. This movement caught Bladesmith by surprise because he couldn't see through Kirou's plan.

"Senior Bladesmith, you won't suffer any backlash if this shadow of yours dies, right?" Kirou asked this while never once removing his eyes from the shadow. He also calmed his breathing while he could.

Hearing those words caused Bladesmith's eyes to narrow slightly. It seems like the lad is about to reveal the weapon's secret. "Kill it if you can. At most I'll have to rest for a while."

"Then I'll have to apologize in advance." After saying those words, Kirou rushed towards the shadow once again. The shadow, in turn, also rushed forward. Something at the back of his mind kept nagging at Bladesmith but he wasn't sure what it was.

'Wait, didn't the lad make something similar to ammo and loaded it into that weapon?' Bladesmith opened his eyes in realization when he remembered this, but it was far too late. Before he could even blink, he heard a sound.

BANG!!!

Bladesmith looked over to find his shadow falling to the ground with two holes in its body. One in the head and the other in its chest. Looking at Kirou, he could see that the lad took a few hits in some none vital areas so that he could trade them for the shadow's life. The lad currently stood there as if out of energy. It seems like he underestimated the kid when he had set the shadow's strength so low.

'I guess I truly do need a few hours rest.' That was his thought as he approached Kirou.

"Well, lad. Now that I've seen em in combat, I can positively agree that you've created a new weapon for me to see. As promised, here are your rewards."

Kirou sat down as he heard the system prompts and a white light flashed over him.

<System Message: You have completed the quest <Pique Bladesmith's Curiosity>.>

[You have received the following:]

Skill Book: Shadow Clone

Blacksmith Subclass(Permanent)

10 sp

Instructor Bladesmith Affinity - Intimate

Looking over the rewards, he noticed that unlike Old Wolf's Skill Book, this one wasn't random. He also noticed that it seemed familiar. He took out the book from his inventory and opened it, which prompt it to turn into a white light that entered his body.

[Skill Learned...]

Skill: Shadow Clone

Skill Level: 1/5

Rank: A (S at max)

Cost: 25 MP

Description: This is a downgraded version of Weapon Master Bladesmith's signature skill, 'Shadow Body.' This skill allows its user to create a second body (or more) from his shadow. The shadow clone is capped at 75% for all stats from the user. When the shadow is destroyed the user regains 10% HP and is slowed by 50% for 3 seconds. The user can create 2 shadows at most at the moment.

Looking over the new skill, Kirou couldn't help but say, "This is..."

"Consider that a gift for impressing me, lad. That weapon of yours seems very interesting. If it wasn't for the ungodly time it takes to forge the pieces and the apparent skill required to use it, I might just be tempted to make one myself." Bladesmith said this as he extended a hand out to help Kirou up.

Kirou took his hand and stood up. They both went back into the cottage and sat in the resting area after that.

"Now that we got that out of the way, I'm sure your curious, right?" asked Bladesmith with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Curious about what?" was Kirou answer. After saying that he immediately noticed something weird with his quest rewards but held back.

Seeing his thoughtful look, Bladesmith kept the smile on his face which appeared to be even cheekier than before, "You sure you aren't curious?"

Seeing that smile, Kirou couldn't help but show a deadpanned expression before expressing his thoughts, "It's about the fact that you, my class instructor, was able to give me the {Blacksmith} subclass, instead of Blacksmith Zac, right?"

"Exactly lad." Bladesmith laughed heartily when Kirou pointed it out. "I'm sure you found it weird when I gave you the {Blacksmith} class yet you found out that the village had a proper blacksmith as well, right?"

"You're right. It was weird. Even Blacksmith Zac had a peculiar look in his eyes when he noticed I already had the subclass." After saying this, Kirou thought back to his meeting with Blacksmith Zac.

"The reason for that is simple. Weapon Masters are beings who tend to use all weapons they fancy. With peculiar weapons like yours in existence..." Bladesmith looked at the tonfas in Kirou's possession. "With weapons like those around, not all blacksmiths can make and maintain them. If it's not them who make and maintain them, then who does this?"

"The weapon masters themselves," was Kirou's answer.

"Exactly, lad. With weapons needing to be customized for their personal use and normal blacksmiths being unable to make em, it's up to the weapon masters themselves to make their own gear. It got so bad back then that the Blacksmith Guild was forced to teach Weapon Master's the Art of Blacksmithing and now we are technically a branch of their guild, at least in terms of smithing. Back in the day, there was an old saying to describe this, 'While not all blacksmiths are weapon masters, all weapon masters are blacksmiths.' That saying is still used in some places today."

Hearing those words, Kirou could help but raise an eyebrow and chuckle. He had to admit, that saying really did hit the nail on the head.

"Now that I've informed you of that, you mind telling me what to call that thing," Bladesmith said as he looked at the tonfas. "I'm gonna need to send a message to the Weapon Master Guild about the creation of a new weapon type."

'That's actually a thing in this game?' That was Kirou's thought but what he said to Bladesmith was, "The weapons themselves are called Tonfas. As for the weapon type, I would name it {Gunblades} since it makes use of both a blade for short-range and a gun for mid-range."

"Gunblades huh? It has a nice ring to it."