Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 148: Steel Beneath a Crimson Sky
“Thank you for the help, Gendry. Put a Scabbard on this Short sword for me. Add the price to the total.”
The calm, friendly voice snapped the apprentice smith out of his haze.
The sturdy young man blinked hard and shook his head instinctively, then found the absurdly handsome customer in front of him watching with a questioning look.
He abruptly sobered.
Did I just drift off?
Gendry was not entirely sure whether he had simply been sleeping poorly lately.
Still, it hardly seemed important.
Once his thoughts cleared, he followed Lannor’s gaze and located the item the customer wanted.
It was a Short sword roughly the length of an adult’s forearm, with a one-handed grip wrapped in red leather. The blade itself was barely over ten inches long.
“My lord, the Scabbard will be ready shortly. That one comes included.”
Gendry accepted a silver stag from Lannor and handed several copper coins back as change.
The silver stag ranked below the Golden Dragon and silver moon in value.
Normally, a single silver stag could buy a perfectly serviceable Longsword, but Tobho Mott’s reputation and craftsmanship meant even a forearm-length Short sword in this shop cost silver.
Gendry passed over the weapon, completed the sale, and returned to the furnace to continue hammering away at the horned helm.
From beginning to end, the owner of the forge never even opened his eyes from the reclining chair in the back. A Short sword sale, successful or otherwise, was beneath his notice.
Everything about it felt utterly ordinary.
One insignificant transaction among thousands the forge had already seen.
Lannor was very satisfied with that sense of “ordinary.”
He turned and walked away with Arya.
“This is yours now.”
He held the newly purchased Short sword out toward her, hilt first.
“Your Rapier’s decent enough, but if I’m going to teach you properly, you should carry a Short sword in your off-hand for parrying.”
In truth, every Emperor’s Children warrior carried within his mind an impossibly vast and refined archive of swordsmanship.
To them, swordsmanship was an artistic medium.
Even though beings like them rarely had practical use anymore for agile combinations like Rapier and Short sword, they still knew the techniques.
Lannor’s daily [Deep Memory Dive] had already become routine. Apart from the nights spent killing Count Stessa and battling Dagong, he had never skipped it.
Even through mere exposure, his understanding of swordsmanship had risen far beyond ordinary people, regardless of whether his body could fully execute all those monstrous techniques yet.
A Short sword actually possessed advantages over a Longsword when used for parrying. During a Clash of Steel, the leverage it created required far less strength.
At minimum, it would help Arya avoid immediately losing contests of strength against boys her own age.
Provided, of course, she successfully absorbed the initial impact of the opposing blade and reached the binding phase first.
“Ha! Thanks!”
Arya grinned as she strapped the Short sword to her right hip opposite Needle.
She was already imagining what sort of swordsmanship Lannor would teach her.
Lannor merely nodded indifferently at her thanks.
He had already promised to teach her. What, was he supposed to cheat a little girl now?
At the same moment, however, his ears twitched faintly.
While casually rolling his neck as if loosening stiff muscles, he flicked a glance toward the alley behind him to the right.
Darkness pooled there between the buildings.
And within that darkness, several voices were discussing something openly at normal volume.
They had no idea how sharp a Witcher’s hearing truly was.
To ordinary people, it would have blended into meaningless street noise.
To a Witcher, it was information.
“That sword on his back, just looking at the hilt ... no, just the silver pommel carving alone’s worth a damn fortune!”
“He’s got the current Hand of the King’s daughter beside him!”
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.