Relics of the Past

It was dark inside the building. The only thing Jason could see was the staircase leading downwards directly in front of him.

The staircase itself didn't look very long. There was only about ten steps max. At the bottom of the staircase Jason could see a faint yellow light coming from a doorway to the left. 

Jason thought as he looked down the stairs. "Is this really where they make their weapons? This place is a lot darker than Alex's." He  began to descend the stairs. He descended the stairs one stair at a time until he reached the bottom. 

Jason continued walking until he reached the doorway to his left. He stepped through the doorway. 

The room itself was not very bright. There was only one source of light within the entire room and it was a furnace, stationed in the middle of the room, built into the wall. Other than the furnace there wasn't much else in the room other than an anvil stationed in front of the furnace. The room itself was almost completely empty. 

Jason thought as he looked at the room. "This setup is completely different from Alex's. If this was Alex's shop he would have the entire room full of all kinds of weapons and armor." Jason walked into the room and thought as he continued look around the room. "I don't get it. Didn't Aeolos say it was a mess in here? There is nothing in here!" 

Jason stopped walking. He spotted two doors in the room. One door was at the end of the room directly across from the door he came in the room from. The other door was to Jason's right and was directly across from the furnace. 

Jason looked at the door to the right and then at the door at the end of the room. He could see a light beneath the door at the end of the room, but he could see nothing beneath the door to his right. 

Jason looked at both of the doors again and then walked over and placed his right hand on the door to his right. He turned the handle of the door and pulled the door open. 

The room itself wasn't very big. The room itself wasn't much bigger than a janitor's closet. But, there were countless weapons inside the room. 

Within the room were multiple weapons hanging on the walls. There were swords, spears, knives, curved swords, straight swords, short swords, long swords, katanas, and even axes. There were even multiple pieces of armor scattered around inside the room. There was chest armor, leg armor, masks, and even helmets. There were even numbers engraved into some of the weapons and armor pieces. 

Jason spotted a lot of low numbers on the weapons and armor pieces. Numbers that ranged all the way from one up to fifteen. The numbers that stood out to Jason the most were three numbers in particular. A twenty eight engraved into a helmet. An eighty seven engraved into a chestplate. And an infinity symbol engraved into a black mask. 

Jason mumbled as he looked at the helmet with a twenty eight and the chestplate with an eighty seven. "Why are both of their numbers here? They are..." 

Norv said from behind Jason. "The most respected Slashers of their time." 

Jason quickly turned around. He saw Norv and Aeolos standing next to each other facing him. He said to Norv. "How do you have their gear? Where did you get it? Why is it here?" 

Norv said to Jason. "They entrusted it to Alex. But, then he left..." 

Jason had a look of surprise on his face as he said. "Are you saying... all of this was once Alex's?" 

Norv nodded and said. "Either gear he forged or gear he was given... everything in this room belongs to him." 

Jason's expression suddenly changed as he thought. "Wait, but what about..." He turned his head and looked at the black mask with an infinity symbol engraved into it. He said to Norv as he looked at the mask. "The black mask... what's the story behind that?" He turned his head and looked at Norv as he said. "Why does it have an infinity symbol? The highest number is eighty seven, right? But, wouldn't the infinite be higher than eighty seven?"

Norv put his left hand to his chin as he mumbled. "The mask...? What was special about the mask again...?"  

Aeolos looked confused as he said. "Infinity symbol? It isn't an infinity symbol, idiot. It is a sideways eight." 

Jason looked completely dumbfounded as he said. "A what...?" 

Aeolos said while annoyed. "It's a sideways eight. When a Slasher engraved their number into that mask they made their eight sideways to trick other Slashers. So, the other Slashers would believe they were more powerful than eighty seven. But, that is impossible. Eighty seven is the highest number. There is no one more powerful than an eighty seven."

Norv nodded and said. "Ah yes that's right... I remember now... An eight that wanted to be more powerful than the most powerful... but was only an eight..." 

Jason turned his head slightly and glanced at the black mask as he thought. "So it was just an eight..." He turned his head and looked at Aeolos and Norv again. He had a conflicted expression on his face as he said to them. "So, you two really are Slashers... just like me..." 

Aeolos smiled and pointed his left thumb at himself as he said. "That's right. I'm number thirty six, the forger!" 

Jason mumbled with relief. "Thirty six? That's too low..." 

Aeolos said with annoyance. "Too low?! What do you mean too low?! What is your number?"

Jason thought. "My number?" An image of a swordsman clad in black armor appeared in Jason's head. The swordsman held the hilt of a black greatsword in their left hand. The blade of the black greatsword leaned against their left shoulder. A look of annoyance appeared on Jason's face as he said. "I don't remember." 

Aeolos looked confused as he said. "Are you serious? You really don't remember your own number?"

Jason said while annoyed. "Yes I'm serious!" He said with disappointment. "I can't remember at all..." 

Aeolos pointed at Jason with his left pointer finger and said while annoyed. "Then who are you to say my number is too low! You might not even have a number! You could be unranked for all I know!"  

Jason nodded and said with a saddened expression. "You could be right..." 

Aeolos placed his left hand on his chin and said. "But, we're probably about the same strength. So, you're probably thirty five." 

Jason thought with annoyance. "Thirty five? That's not even close... But, it is better if he doesn't know..." Jason said to Aeolos. "Yeah something like that..." 

A confused and disgusted expression appeared on Aeolos's face as he said. "Why are you being so agreeable? It's creepy." 

Before Jason could respond Norv intervened and said. "Aeolos, let's not forget why we brought him here..." 

Aeolos said. "Oh yeah that's right. I was going to take you to your friend." 

A confused expression appeared on Jason's face as he said. "Friend? What friend?" 

Aeolos said. "Follow me. I'll take you to him." Aeolos turned and ran toward the door at the end of the room. He opened the door and darted out of the room. 

Jason sighed and said. "Why does he run everywhere?" Jason walked toward the door at the end of the room. As soon as he reached the door he took one last look at the room and one last look at Norv and then stepped through the doorway and left the room. 

The room had three things in it. It had a staircase in the upper right corner of the room that led upwards, it had a bathroom next to the staircase in the lower right corner of the room, and it had a connecting room attached to it in the left side of the room. 

The bathroom was pretty much entirely white. It had a sink with a cabinet underneath in the lower right corner of the room. There was a toilet next to the sink in the upper right corner of the room. The left side of the room contained a bathtub with a shower head attached to it that took up both the upper left corner and lower left corner of the room. Hanging in front of the bathtub were white shower corners pulled all the way to the right corner. In between the toilet and the bathtub were two towel hangers. One towel hanger was placed above the other one. 

The connecting room had a wall that blocked it off from the rest of the room and a doorway with no door. There was no sign that the doorway had ever had a door attached to it. 

Jason was able to see inside the connecting room through the doorway. There were only two things in the room. A bed, with white blankets, made neatly, that looked like it hadn't been touched in years and a wooden desk that was empty. The bed was in the upper right corner of the room and the wooden desk was in the upper left corner. 

Jason thought as he looked at the connecting room. "Not in there..." He turned his head and looked at the staircase that led upwards. He walked toward the staircase. He stopped walking when he reached the staircase. 

Jason looked up the staircase. He was able to see the top of the staircase. At the top of the staircase was a wall on the left side, a wall straight ahead, and a door to the right side. The door on the right side was wide open. 

Jason began walking up the staircase as he thought. "So this is where he went..." He continued to ascend the staircase until he reached the top. He then immediately turned right and walked through the doorway. 

The room Jason entered was divided in half. A wooden counter blocked half of the room off. 

The half of the room Jason was in had a chair situated behind the counter. As well as a bunch of wooden drawers connected to the counter. At the right end of the counter, the end of the counter farthest from Jason, was an opening in order to access the other half of the room. 

The other half of the room was empty. It only contained a wooden door and two windows attached to the wall. 

Jason thought as he looked at the room. "This must be where they take requests..." 

Jason spotted a door directly across from him that was perpendicular to the opening at the end of the right side of the counter. The door was wide open. 

Jason walked toward the door as he looked into the room through the doorway. From the doorway he could see faint yellow and blue lights but the room itself was dark. Jason reached the doorway and walked into the room.

The room had three furnaces located on the right side of the room. There were small furnaces located in the upper right corner of the room and one big furnace located by the center of the right wall. There were also two anvils in the right side of the room. There was an anvil in front of the two small furnaces and there was an anvil in front of the big furnace. 

In the lower right corner of the room was a wooden corner desk with three monitors stationed on top of it that emitted faint blue light. On the side of the corner desk closest to Jason was a tall, wide, black tower that connected to the three monitors. 

The front of the room, the side of the room opposite of where Jason was, had three closed wooden doors that led into other rooms. The door in the middle was directly across from the door Jason came in from. The door to the right was close to the corner of the room located by the two small furnaces. The door to the left was located by the wooden staircase attached to the left wall that led upwards. 

The left side of the room had a wooden staircase attached to the wall that led upwards. The staircase was located in the upper left corner of the room. To the right of the wooden staircase were five mannequins that were organized in a sideways "L" shape. Two of the mannequins were placed next to the staircase wall and two were placed in front of the wall directly across from Jason.  

The fifth mannequin was different from the other four. The fifth mannequin was placed in the corner between the staircase wall and the wall directly across from Jason. It was made of a different material than the other four. It was made of thick titanium and was mounted to both of the walls and the floor itself. 

Each of the five mannequins wore a different set of armor. All five wore chest armor, leg armor, gloves, and boots. Also none of the five had a helmet. The only difference between each set was the type of material used and the color of each set. 

The farthest mannequin on the left wore a complete set of red leather armor. The mannequin next to it wore a complete set of gray iron armor. After the two mannequins on the left was the two mannequins on the right. The farthest mannequin on the right wore a complete set of gold armor. The mannequin next to it wore a complete set of silver armor.

The last mannequin, the fifth mannequin, wore a complete set of thick, rough black armor. The armor itself looked extremely heavy and extremely durable. Jason was unable to tell what material the armor was made of. 

The rest of the room had weapons hanging from the walls organized by type and length. Every wall had a weapon hanging from it except the left wall. 

The weapons hanging from the walls went from left to right and it began from the front wall. The front wall had greatswords from the mannequin with gold armor to the left door.  After the left door was broadswords all the way to the middle door. After the middle door was longswords all the way to the right door. Lastly, after the right door was shortswords all the way to the closer of the two furnaces. 

The next wall was the right wall. There was sabres from the two small furnaces all the way to the big furnace. After the big furnace was scimitars all the way to the desk with the monitors. 

The last wall with weapons hanging from it was the wall closest to Jason. From the desk with monitors all the way to the door Jason came in from was spears, halberds, and katanas. After the door was battle axes, axes, and scythes all the way to the left wall. 

The left wall did not have any weapons hanging from it. But, it also wasn't empty either. Instead of weapons the left wall had two masks hanging from it. There was a silver mask on the left and a gold mask on the right. 

Jason stood in the middle of the room and thought. "This is way more organized than Alex's shop..." He looked at the three closed doors in front of him and then looked at the staircase as he thought. "Which way did he go?" 

A voice from behind Jason said. "He went upstairs." 

Jason jumped and then immediately turned around and faced the person who was previously behind him. 

Norv stood by the doorway of the room and said. "He is not on this floor. He went upstairs..."

Jason thought while startled. "Where did he come from?! I didn't even hear him..." He nodded to Norv and then turned and faced the staircase. He began to walk toward the staircase. 

As soon as he reached the bottom step he stopped and looked up. The top of the staircase had a wall to the left and wall to the front. To the right was a hallway. 

Jason moved his head slightly to the right and looked back at Norv. He then looked at the top of the staircase again. He began to walk up the staircase. 

As Jason was walking up the staircase he heard Aeolos yell out to him from the upper floor. "You're just now getting up here?! Hurry up already!" Aeolos sighed and said. "You move so slow!" 

Jason furrowed his eyebrows and mumbled while irritated. "Why would I move fast? I'm not training or fighting anybody!" He continued to walk up the stairs. As soon as he reached the last step he turned right and walked into the hallway. 

There was a wall to Jason's left and a wall at the end of the hallway. To Jason's right was two doors and another hallway. There was a open door on the left side of the other hallway and a closed door on the right side. 

Jason walked toward the open door and spotted Aeolos. 

Aeolos stood in the doorway completely blocking the view of the open room. He said to Jason. "You're finally here." He sighed and said. "You're so slow though. I said follow me and you didn't even try to keep up with me. Maybe I was wrong. You're more like a thirty than a thirty five." 

Jason said with an annoyed tone. "Quit blabbering. Why did you lead me here? Who is this friend you keep talking about?" 

Aeolos said. "Why are you so aggressive? You don't have to worry. Your friend is safe." 

Jason said while confused. "What friend? What do you mean they are safe? Where are they?" 

Aeolos said. "He is here." 

Jason replied back. "Where?" 

Aeolos stared at Jason with a confused look and then a moment of realization washed over his face. He suddenly said to Jason. "My bad." He stepped backwards and then moved to the right as he said. "He is right here." 

Jason was able to see into the room. Aeolos was no longer blocking the doorway. 

Within the room was an empty closet to the left, a bed in the middle pressed up against the wall directly across from Jason, and an empty desk pressed up against the right wall. 

On top of the bed was a figure Jason immediately recognized. The figure wore a red and black outfit. The dominant color was red and the secondary color was black. The figure's head rested on the soft, white pillow and their body laid on top of the soft, white blankets. The figure's feet pointed straight up on the bed and were covered with brown boot socks. Next to the figure was their sword which rested by the figure's left side. At the foot of the bed was the figure's black boots. The boots' laces were pulled tightly and tucked into the boots. 

Jason began to walk toward the figure as he said with both shock and surprise. "Thomas?!"