Chapter 36: 5th day of the festival

After being dismissed I headed out of the palace entering the waiting carriage.

-Step step-

Once arrived I settled down on the soft materials of its interior.

The coachman on the carriage was expressing his hate for foreigners and travelers blaming them for the heavy traffic on the streets.

I have no idea how many times I must mention it but the traffic here is amazing.

It feels like we're drowning in a endless sea of people. 

"Get away from my horse! It isn't a tourist attraction!"

The coachman was visibly angry, lashing out on the people getting too close to the two strapped horses.

I cant blame them though, horses are generally rare to be found anywhere outside of Daimon.

They're creatures that have been with man long before the anax guild came along.

Knowing that the entirety of Ydgan is made up with small scattered island.

horses are only to be found on the gigantic ones that can be considered a country with enough resources to contain these creatures.

Enough of my continues blabbering though. 

I have a new plan for the last 2 days before the grand tournament.

I will try blacksmithing.

The 4th user Glava was a blacksmith. And know with his memories intact with my own I can use to manage my own thing.

And this time, I want to try finish the blade he threw away before his death.

***

Solan returned to the manor, servants gathered for his arrival. 

"Welcome back Sir.Solan" 

Alfred stood there proudly, with his back straightened and chest puffed out. Like a knight standing posted up Infront of his kings castle.

A proud servant indeed.

"What's for dinner?"

Solan asked, feeling his stomach growling ever so slightly. 

"You decide. Master Sarah isn't here to decide and the chefs wanted a request from you". 

"Anything's fine as long as it fills my stomach for the next hours".

"Oh? and what could possible plan?"

"Do we have any smiths here in Soldat if we exclude the research facility?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of Solan's question, curious to where it would lead him he answered simply.

"There's a smithing room in the basement?"

"Really?"

Solan answered already knowing about it but wanted the confirmation.

He had walked past it before many times in the past.

Just across the training ground was a well fortified wooden door. Serving as a bulkhead door leading down several stairs to what you could call a blacksmith. 

As for the reason why there was a random blacksmith residing within the manor you'd had to go back to master Sarah's younger day.

She came from a long linage of blacksmiths and when she became admiral and was given this place she made a blacksmith despite not ever having used it. 

A decoration simply to remind Sarah of her family. 

"I'll attend dinner as soon as ready, and I'll head down the blacksmith to try work".

"Do you even have experience with smithing?"

"A bit, I've watched some people work in the research facility before, its interesting to say the least".

"You know, Master Sarah is a very skilled craftswoman herself, she would be delighted to help you with whatever your doing if it involves blacksmithing".

"Yeah, but she wont be here for a while so I'll just see what I can make out of it".

Solan said before continuing his walk.

Everything went simple as this, first he got changed into more lighter clothes. A black cotton shirt that was tight on its chest and more loose the further it went down.

After having his dinner where the chefs delivered some quality steak Solan ate a lot of it, gulfing the delicious strings of flesh and biting into the tenderized meat.

Once getting nourished he put on his white marine coat and headed to his room to make a few preparations —a baggy black tee to which felt tight on the chest and was made with a material to tolerate limited heat.

Walking out the sun was starting to set beneath the sea blanket.

Walking across the green garden the trees started casting a shadow above him. 

"There it is"

A heavy bulkhead stood 30 meters away from him, located in a flat area away from the surrounding trees.

Arriving Infront of it Solan looked down at it. 

Taking note of the reinforced metal holding the wooden door down. 

Knocking on the wooden surface it had a heavy feel to it. It seemed to be thick wood that felt impregnable.

Before Solan took his next breath he raised his hand, clenching his fist. 

Forming the slight radiant of his vessel the green aura forming around his fist was covered in a layer of black hardened armor.

—Smash!—

The bulkhead was completely destroyed. The fences entirely bent from the heavy impact and wooden splits scattered everywhere on the ground. 

Watching through the now revealed gate there was a marbled stone stairs leading down to a empty darkness.

-Step. step-

Walking down there were scones with un-lit torches attached firmly to the granite walls. Infront of him was a short corridor with an open entrance at the end.

Making his way at to the entrance Solan took note of the dusty floor—cobweb resting in the corners of the corridor hinting that the place was had been untouched for months or even years. 

 Entering the end he was met with the scene of a well organized smithy. Tools already resting on the long stone tables to his right. There was an anvil in the center of the room along with a smithy oven attached to the left corner.

This place needed cleaning. Solan took a tour around to see if everything was well maintained and to his surprise there wasn't one speck of rust on any of the metallic tools scattered everywhere — Presumably to the fact the smithy was beneath the garden protected from rain or any type of damaging liquid. 

***

Solan got to work immediately and after what felt like hours of agony he cleansed the entire room — Not a speck of dust was left behind. Everything was polished and cleansed by Solan's hard work.

He had even lit the torches back in the corridor and decorated the place with more lamps to for the lighting.

Solan was quick to understand that the smithy was uniquely made. The oven was connected to a pipe that went up, there were several air pipes inside the walls that functioned in a way for oxygen to enter the isolated room easily.

"...This should do it"

Solan told himself, feeling slightly proud of his hard work. Doing chores such as cleaning was a pain to think about, but after it felt more rewarding to see your own work. 

Solan took one last look around before approaching one of the tools. Getting hold of a big steel hammer he noticed the engraving on the wooden handle. 

A lotus symbol.

He raised his eyebrow slightly, he had seen the same symbol before.

His master had the same symbol on her sword. 

Memories started to surge through his mind — Glava's memories, he could see several scenes of him learning the smithy skills and making weapons. The memories were fusing with his own mind. 

It started to feel like he himself was a craftsman something he wasn't yet. 

"S-Stop! What are you doing!"

Along with the visions he saw the tragic one appeared too. 

The feeling of a blade went through his chest. 

Solan felt weak in his knees — Stumbling onto the brick floor with his right knee he felt pain coursing through his body. It felt like his insides were getting twisted and turned.

He knew what he was going through.

It was Glava's memories.

Every emotion and pain the man had felt before his death was starting to make its way within Solan own body. 

His breath hitched up his throat — Barely being able to breath he tried to hold his throat together he was met with no luck as it continued to harass his mind. 

"Hah.. Hah"

"You damn criminals! we haven't done anything! why are you killing our people!"

Another vision of Glava appeared, one that Solan hadn't seen yet.

 Glava was standing, a long sword residing through his chest. 

He stood there menacingly as the attackers who looked horrified at the standing man they'd just pierced through.

"Just wait! I-I'll kill all of you".

His voice was distorted, talking in a deep inhumane tone Solan himself was confused to see what he was witnessing.

Glava's eyes were shining in the signature color of the vessel. A radiance of death was emitting from his body. 

"W-What are you?" 

The attackers were panicking before one of their bosses signed to kill him.

"What are you guys doing! he's dying... Just finish him already".

The attackers charged at Glava with a new wave of sword only to be met with a armored fist onto their faces crushing their skulls completely on impact. 

Glava looked nothing like a human anymore, fangs starting to grow from his teeth's and black scales starting to form around his visible skin. 

As Solan watched in agony he started to understand the situation. 

'So that's it..."

"The curse".

Glava was turning into a Leviathan. His human like appearance was changing to the true form of the vessel. 

For the first time Solan witnessed the real fate of every curse bearer. 

Glava was starting to act inhumane, creating sharp claws from his armor he threshed away the living light of the enemies. Cutting them apart the surface was clad in a sea of blood. 

"W-What the hell are you"

The attackers started to retreat in horror, they were unsure of what they were seeing. 

The uncanny sight of a human being turning into a beast scared them off. 

"...It doesn't matter if insanity takes me away nor if i find Pierre's grave... what I'm seeing... is what I'm destined to become, the consequences of wielding the curse of Pierre".

Solan's sight became blurry and by the time he knew it he was knocked out flat — landing hard on the ground.