Episode 28 The One Who Sees No Others

“Who are you?!” Ryuu gasps, staring stunned at the brand new stranger standing before them.

The new stranger is tall, wearing a dark, elaborate robe. Under the robe he wears a thin layer of chain mail, and his hands are gloved with the thick, durable hide of an unknown creature. Lastly, long bangs of black hair cover his handsome face and eyes, which are covered by a pair of black sunglasses.

The stranger waves an arm, and suddenly several luminous balls of light illuminate the path left and right, revealing the trail leading further down into the depths of the valley below, squished between two rocky clefts of mountains.

“Come with me,” the stranger murmurs in a hoarse whisper, silently gliding down the rocky path, his footsteps hardly making any noise.

Arai and Ivy quickly follow after him, while Kunai and Ryuu glance at each other perplexedly before hesitantly following after the other three.

“Who is this guy?” Kunai mutters next to Ryuu.

“I don’t know,” Ryuu replies in a low growl, “however, he took care of those Undead Lycanthropes like nothing with that big sword of his. It looks like he’s the weapon maker guy we’re looking for. Regardless, this is a very powerful person we’re dealing with…”

Just ahead, the stranger glances back at Kunai and Ryuu out of the corner of his eye, a sneer playing about his lips that remains unnoticed by the others in the gloom.

Kunai, Ryuu, Arai, and Ivy take their seats on a few wooden chairs, sitting down in front of a large, old table made of oak. On top of the table are scattered many papers and designs, and several pieces of rocky minerals and pieces of old unmade weapons.

“So lemme guess,” Ryuu says suddenly, “you’re Azuma, the weapon maker we’re looking for. What’s with the sunglasses? I doubt you get very much sun here.”

“That is correct, I am Azuma,” he replies in an almost snakelike whisper. “The reason that I wear these glasses is because…I am blind.”

“You’re blind?!” Kunai, Arai, and Ivy all gasp as one in shock.

“If you’re blind, how can you create weapons?” Kunai asks in amazement. “Don’t you need to see?”

Azuma ignores Kunai and then turns to the others, staring at them and speaking in his clear, loud voice once more. “It has been a long time since I’ve had visitors. Tell me, why do you come to my lonely abode?”

“Uh…” Kunai mumbles. “Well, we’d heard that you can make weapons. I’m in need of a claw, and since we’d heard that there are no others who know how to make them nowadays, we came looking for you.”

“I do not make weapons for just anybody,” Azuma replies in a slightly sinister whisper. “Only those worthy of my unique brand of weaponry will depart this house bearing new arms.”

“What do you mean by, ‘worthy?’” Ryuu asks.

“My weapons are only crafted for those who deserve them,” Azuma answers, “those who possess the potential of great power within them. A test—is required.”

“What kind of test?” Kunai whispers.

“You wish for a claw, correct?” Azuma whispers in his clear, strong voice.

“Y-Yeah,” Kunai replies.

“Then go, go into the unenviable depths of this vile valley,” Azuma replies, “and bring back to me the claw of the beast which resides in there.”

“The claw of the beast?” Ryuu mutters. “What kind of ‘beast’ are you talking about?”

“The beast I created myself,” Azuma answers, “of which casts its ugly shadow over this valley. A beast woven of shadow, of which I revived from the dead and fused with the arm of a monster long since departed from this world—the third arm of the monster Zakum.”

“What?!” Kunai and Ryuu gasp aloud.

“Go and bring back to me the claw of this beast,” Azuma continues, “and I shall forge you a powerful claw out of it. Until that time, I’ve no more to say to you. Be gone.”

“But…where are we supposed to find this monster?” Kunai asks worriedly.

“The monster lives deep within the eaves of this very valley,” Azuma answers. “Slay the beast and retrieve the beast’s claw. Bring the claw back to me. That is all.”

“A monster woven of shadow, which casts its shadow over this valley, fused with the arm of a monster long since departed from the world,” Arai murmurs under his breath. “That can only be…”

“An Undead Paradox, and a fusion of the Undead Third Arm of Zakum, the Ice and Lightning Arm,” Ryuu answers.

“So wait,” Kunai murmurs. “This guy, he made this monster? So that means he brought them back from the dead with those yellow undead seals, correct?”

“Yes,” Ryuu replies. “But this is bad. The learning of writing Undead Seals was forbidden long ago for fear of people reviving monsters they couldn’t bring back to the dead. This guy has to be very powerful as far as the dark arts go to be able to do such a thing.”

“So in other words,” Kunai replies, “this guy’s dangerous.”

“He’s creepy,” Ivy shivers, “and I still couldn’t tell even after meeting him whether he’s nice or not.”

“Neither can I,” Ryuu growls. “The best thing we can do is hurry up and bring him back that claw, and get going as soon as possible. We should avoid as little contact with him as we can, we don’t know how dangerous he may be.”

“And what’s with the blind thing?” Kunai asks. “How is it possible for him to make weapons if he’s blind? It’s impossible…he’d have to see to be able to shape it.”

“We may never know,” Ryuu replies, “and quite frankly, I’m more interested in leaving this place. Azuma’s valley reeks of danger.”

“Seems like we’re dealing with a necromancer of some sorts,” Arai comments as they walk along further down still into the valley floor.