Preparation

[Rotted Cult] was another word used by some extremists for the [Church of Rot], despite the country of Atharia allowing almost all the religions to exist inside it's territory.

Glaring at the decayed one last time, the angry Angran turned back and said,"Some days ago, several of my Angran brothers and sisters have been silently attacked by these putrid ones, yet due to the nature of business of my kin, we cannot really get any help from the city guards and knights."

By the end of his explanation,Aratt sighed as if he was greatly affected from all that happened, yet Archie could only shake his head at the act.

Throwing a look filled with mockery, the black haired youth jeered,"Very sad, very heartbreaking, now why don't you tell me the real reason, even if your kinsmen couldn't get help from anyone, it doesn't mean they are unable to defend themselves from anyone."

As the Angran was about to retort, Archie continued,"And there's certainly no reason for those undyings to attack your kins for absolutely no reason, Let alone attack silently as is opposed to their crazed nature."

Seeing the indignant expression on the youth's face the rat could only sigh and say,"Very well, I'll attest that it isn't my real motivation for this request, yet I regrettably cannot reveal the reason,as it's really just orders from above."

Getting confirmation, Archie nodded and asked,"Indeed, now this is a proper reason, although I'll have to ask you, will doing this get me in any kind of conflict with the authorities?"

The Angran shook his head and responded with confidence,"None from anyone and we'll be taking care of any witnesses to not arise."

Archie could only chuckle at that, remarking,"You're saying witnesses,as if I have any way to take care of them permanently, let's not talk about their enigmatic colleague."

Aratt wanted to say something, yet stopped and asked,"Enigmatic colleague? would you mind explaining about that, Mr. Archie?"

Archie tilted his head and asked amused,"Isn't the target those undying sitting near the fountain, yapping on about their church and how their kind will take over the world?"

Getting a nod, he continued,"Then they certainly do have a quite peculiar friend, that has control over their action and is able to come and go as he wishes, almost as if he can turn invisible."

Hearing the answer, Aratt's face dimmed and turned grim, he put a hand on his chin for some time and kept thinking to himself, Archie didn't say anything and let the Angran decide for himself.

After much deliberation,The ratman sighed and lamented with a resolute face,"So be it, You—Mr. Archie complete the task of dealing with the Rotting ones, if the invisible bastard appear, we'll be dealing with him ourselves, and rest assured because no harm shall come to you from him."

Archie, stared into the eye of the determined Angran and thought,'I certainly can't trust him fully, but if he says that he can take care of them then it really is not my problem, but I really cannot understand what their goal is, was it to lure the 'invisible bastard ' or was it just to take care of the cursed rotted,it doesn't seem like its the former considering he didn't even know the involvement of the vanishing man, but if it's the latter then why ask me specifically to do it.'

Finding no answer from his pondering Archie could only sigh and ask,"I trust your word Mr. Aratt, but what if I somehow do get injured or will have to deal with the invisible guy, wouldn't that put me in a disadvantaged position in this deal? Hell, I also might lose my life over such a simple task..."

The Angran stared at the youth, then chuckled and uttered through gritted teeth,"Very well then Mr. Archie, if something happens to you from that invisible guy then, I'll take full responsibility and compensate you for your losses."

A beaming smile almost appeared on the face of the Human listening to that, but he tried to control himself and change the topic and spoke,"That is very generous of you, so why don't we take a look at the supplies you've prepared for me to take care of them."

Nodding his head, the rat moved to the inner side of the attic where it looked like several things were covered with a white cloth.

Taking the cloth off, Aratt revealed all the things that were hidden underneath, including a single silver longsword, a thin but strong rope with a small blade attached to one of its end, some small black balls, a flintlock pistol with several silver and blue bullets.

First taking hold of the enchanting sword, Aratt drew his hand against its body as if admiring his own lover while muttering,"This beauty is made from an alloy of silver and steel made especially to hurt the Rotted, yet it can also be used to hunt other beings due to its strong body."

Gazing at it once more, he gave it to Archie who taking hold of it with both hands, saw that its straight blade has no engravings but a fuller running through two thirds of the sword, it had a plain black but comfortable handle below its guard and ending with a round pommel.

It was a plain but incredibly exquisite piece of artwork made for slaughter or defence, either chosen by the holder of the sword.

Since ages, swords have been the pinnacle of warcraft, even though they aren't as versatile as spear, they aren't as deadly as a dagger in close range, they aren't as hard hitting as an axe, yet they are still used more than all of them.

The reason behind that is simple, they can do all of that, they might not have a reach as long as a spear, but it is still more than a dagger, yet it can be used as both for modest range or close range, the technique and angle of attacking is more diverse in a sword compared to an axe.

Hence, even though swords might be a bit weak in individual characteristics compared to different armaments, their manifold utilisation makes them the king of weapons.

Swinging the king of weapons with both hands, Archie continued to check its weight, its handling and his own body's response to the armament.

Content with it, he swung it once last time, then nodded and turned to the Angran.

Aratt seeing that, huffed with pride and bought the next item in his hand, A thin rope with a heavy pointy dart like rod on one of it's end.

Holding it carefully, he gave it to Archie saying,"As your usual request, I added this strange piece of creation too, but I cannot understand how you control it."

Smiling while observing the rope and blade, the youth answered,"I actually learnt it during my travels to this city by one of the wandering refugees, teaching me was a way for him to earn some money, and I could get some life lessons so that I wouldn't die as fast. It's called rope-dart in some parts."

Nodding, the rat replied,"The dart is made of similar silver and steel alloy, and the rope is made of a strong fiber, that won't be damaged even if 5 men hang by it."

Continuing, he spoke with a bit sadness in his voice,"I wanted both the sword and the dart to be of Celestial Steel, yet that is too expensive and luxurious to use on petty rotting bastards."

Shaking his head, Archie muttered mockingly,"If either of us could buy that much Celestial Steel, we wouldn't be doing this petty 'assassination' of those that cannot die."

Laughing from the human's response, The Angran held the flintlock pistol in his hand next, admired it's beautiful embroidery on its metallic body and said,"This is one of the newer generation of the pistols, it's less prone to accidental fire, less prone to accidentally setting you on fire,less prone to accidentally blasting itself and several other accidents.

In short, it is better and has higher chances of killing the enemy, more than killing you or a random bystander. It's bullets, meanwhile are specifically these lead balls. I have also left some gunpowder for you to add to it."

The king of weapons, despite being the best at its thing, could never do anything when the enemy was far, other than being thrown at with strength more than a human could have.

To counter this problem,bows were made, yet as technology evolved, better alternatives were developed, including the humble Gun.

A gun could be fired from quite some distance depending on what its type was, yet the bullet fired from it is so fast, that no human or his sword could keep up with it.

Those that could, should not be accounted with other humans, because only someone that has grown beyond the capability of humanity, could ever imagine of being faster or stronger against a Gun.

Nodding his head, Aratt finally held the last thing in his hand, the small round and dark spheres, with a fuse above them, ready to be ignited.

Giving them to Archie, he spoke,"These are smoke bombs, should be used only when there is some emergency, like that invisible guy, otherwise I advise against using them, as they will not just attract the soldiers guarding the city, they'll also make you along with your enemy unable to see much of what's going and hence it's a double edged blade."