The Moonlight Swordsman

Aizel walked back to his apartment, his face expressionless.

Alora was still watching the K-drama, but this time she noticed Aizel. She was already aware of what had occurred in the coffee shop.

"You're not going to give up on your journey because of that, are you?" Alora asked while staring into Aizel's eyes.

"I have seen someone suffer much worse in her whole life. The person is still living with a smile on her face. Compare to that, this is nothing." Aizel responded while going back to his room without bothering to see the smile on Alora's face.

He lay down in his bed and slept until the morning, only to be awakened by Alora's loud voice.

"Do you even sleep?" Aizel awoke irritably and went straight to the bathroom to take a bath.

"Make me pancakes and eggs as soon as possible." Meanwhile, she sat at the table, waiting for Aizel to prepare her breakfast.

After taking a bath and brushing his teeth, Aizel changed into his usual black t-shirt and track pants and went straight to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

While preparing breakfast, he asked Alora what had been bothering him since yesterday.

"How did you pay for all that pizza yesterday, Alora?"

"Why should I even pay?" Alora replied as she ate the pancakes and eggs that Aizel had just served her.

"Then how did you get so much without even paying? Don't tell me..." Aizel realized that Alora had to have used her power in some way to accomplish this.

"Instead of paying attention here, you should be more concerned with healing your cracked core. I know what I am doing." Alora responded while stuffing pancake after pancake into her mouth.

"So I can heal my core"? Aizel asked Alora with anticipation.

"Yes, but it will take a long time, and you will have to do it alone." Alora finished speaking just as Aizel began to imagine what he could do once his core was fully healed.

"I should first learn more about magic," Aizel muttered to himself as he returned to the room to return Xelgar.

Aizel returned to his room at the Traveler's Paradise Inn and proceeded to the restaurant to drink Alesmith beer.

He placed his order for beer and waited patiently.

The waiter delivered the Alesmith beer and placed it on the table.

Aizel took the first slip slowly to fully appreciate the blend of three flavors.

"The best way to start the day," Aizel muttered as he drank his beer slowly. After finishing the beer, he placed the copper coins on the table and left the restaurant.

"Alisha said she would take me to the weapon shop, but she isn't here. I suppose I should go on my own." Aizel reflected as he walked towards the weapon shop to examine the sword he had received as a reward.

While walking through the streets, he noticed that the streets were still crowded with merchants and people traveling by carriages and horses. Some hunters were getting ready to go hunting.

There was also some recruitment going on for hunters and adventurers to go on hunts, missions, and other adventures. They were shouting while attempting to recruit new members for their teams in order to strengthen their party.

Aizel arrived at the weapon shop, a three-story, small, pointed castle-style building.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the shop was how crowded it was. There were common people, hunters, and guards negotiating to buy or sell weapons everywhere.

Aizel worked his way through the crowd until he found someone who could tell him about the weapon. He reached out to the elderly man, who had just agreed to purchase a spear from a guard.

"Hey, I'd like you to look at my sword and tell me more about it," Aizel asked the old man while he nodded in agreement.

Aizel pulled out the pure black, double-edged sword and set it in front of the table. The old man looked the sword up and down, impressed with its craftsmanship.

"It is an uncommon grade spirit-type weapon. Spirit weapons are rare because they have the potential to grow and even form a spirit," the old man responded after giving a full check.

"How many different grades are there?" Aizel inquired as the old man gave him a disgusted look.

"Are you simply wasting my time here?" The old man replied clearly; he thought Aizel was just wasting his time here.

"No, I'm serious; I lost my memory and don't remember now." As the old man finally understood the situation, Aizel said.

"There are six weapon grades. Common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, and mythic. Your sword is an uncommon type. Even though it is rare here, you can easily find it in big cities and towns."

"That'll be two copper coins for inspection." While Aizel paid him the coins and returned the weapon to his ring, the old man finished speaking.

"Is there anything you need to buy or sell?" The old man inquired, while Aizel shook his head in rejection.

Aizel left the shop while pondering about the sword.

"Even though you are a spirit weapon, you are of an uncommon grade. You may mature to some extent, but in the end, people will replace you with someone better." Aizel took out the sword again while speaking to it in a low voice.

"But don't worry, I'm not like the others. If what Alora said about my powers is true, I'll make you the best sword in all of Xelgar. Buddy, you and I will rule the world."

The sword responded by making a little hum.

"Hehe, you like it; then let me use my power in an interesting way. There's a saying that if you give your most precious weapon a name, its power increases twice as much."

"I've already planned what I'm going to call you; when the time comes, I'll call you out."

The sword made two pleasant humming sounds after the choice. Aizel grinned a little despite feeling a tiny headache coming on.

He detected his mind's consciousness by sending some mana to the location of his cracked core, and he noticed that some mental energy had been expended.

Aizel had a devilish grin.

"Yeah, this is going to be entertaining."