Chapter 22 Compatibility

“You spoiled little brat! Young master, sometimes you just act too carelessly!”

“Give me a break, Thomas. It’s bad enough that I have to lay here and feed on those bitter potions. Don’t they have anything better-flavored?”

“Flavored ones are expensive. And to be honest, the worse they taste the more you are going to act carefully on the future so that you’re not going to be forced to taste them again.”

“Hey, Thomas… How do you expect me to get strong enough to avenge Mirild if I don’t get into fights myself?”

The old servant couldn’t think of a proper answer.

‘Good. The guy calmed down a bit.’ Josiah thought.

Josiah was laying in his bed. For the next few days after the fight against the vurdum, Josiah could not move due to the wounds in his chest, especially the one made by the stabbing. Thomas had to take care of him for those days. The potions of that world were far more effective than medicine of his own world, but not even those made instantaneous effects for wounds of that caliber.

“Thomas… The vurdum I killed dropped a sword.”

“That’s nice…” Thomas answered with a frown. “…But I can’t help but to think you are far overdoing yourself, young master.”

“But it didn’t react to my blood. I was meaning to ask… What is that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t it react?”

“Now that I think of you’ve never faced this situation before, right, young master? Not all weapons are compatible with all kinds of blood.”

“Kinds of blood…?”

“Yes. They are separated in kinds. Some resonate with some weapons. Others resonate with other weapons. Even if a completely new nature-produced weapon is ready to receive the natural and become a binding item, there is a chance it does not accept the wielder's blood. It is not compatible.”

“Uh.”

Josiah thought inside his head:

‘I wonder if this has anything to do with actual blood-type, like in A, AB, O… I don’t recall the terminology existing in this world, though…’

“But didn’t you once say to me the weapons come from the contact of special creatures and the blood absorbed by the weapon-wielder? The bloodbound weapon then reacts to the blood of the beast and it gives birth to a new natural weapon after its death? Why would a non-compatible weapon surge from the body of a creature I slay with a sword of mine?”

“Very observant. True. It is in fact common that a beast whose blood can be absorbed to strengthen the weapon creates a compatible one when it dies. This phenomenon, however, occurs when a beast has suffered damage from several weapons, each reacting to a certain type of blood.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. That sword is probably compatible with someone who has fought the same vurdum at some point then…”

Josiah took the time to look at the sword the huge creature dropped at his death. A large blade created by a greenish mineral. It was brute. The delimitations of the hilt and the blade were approximate. But Thomas would make a more stylized wrapping later, as he did with the daggers.

“Do you want it for you, then?”

“It does not accept my bound either.”

“How do you know?”

“I can tell.”

Actually, Thomas had ‘tested it’ earlier when Josiah was still asleep.

“Hmm. Do you think we can make a quick buck by selling that, then? It must be worth a lot, right?”

“That does depend on your power to negotiate. This is the last day you need to rest in bed. Why don’t you try to go to Rimrid tomorrow afternoon? It’s better if you take the day out off of your physical training anyway, just to be sure.”

“Can’t you come with me?”

“I have the farm to take care of…”

‘So much for negotiating. What is an eight-year-old kid supposed to do on his own? Well, so be it. I’m going to have to learn the art of trading sooner or later anyway.’

“How much would you pay for this sword, Thomas?”

“It is a binding item. It should be worth at least a couple Gold Ores.”

“Gold ones?”

The Gold Ore was the most valuable coin used for trade inside the empire limits.



The next day Josiah took his lunch early and traveled to the neighboring Rimrid. The second biggest commercial town around, losing only to the actual capital, which he didn’t want to face yet.

The first impression Josiah had of the city is that it felt dirty, ugly, and cramped. The streets were too narrow, there was too many people walking around, and the mud infested every single spot to walk in.

‘This takes me back to Dirtswamp Point. Except that without the eternal darkness, since there are no trees or high buildings. Oh, also without the robbers.’

Josiah started walking in the middle street, looking at the scribblings on the plates, searching for somewhere to sell his spare weapon.

‘Can’t believe it’s been already eight years since I left there… Oh, there it is.’

Josiah found the main shop, named Forge Gorge. The entrance door was one of those short, wooden ones, with the hinges made so that it always stays closed. The doors being like on a lot of the shops on that street made it all feel like a wild west movie.

‘Do I kick this one and do an accent?’ Josiah though.

Instead, he just entered normally.

“You lost your papa, kiddo?” The voice was deep and unmotivated. It came from the huge, bald vendor behind the counter. He had several weapons in front of him and was seemingly busy with something.

“Do you… Handle binding weapons?”

“I do have some here. Why?”

“Do you buy?”

Josiah set the blade on the counter, getting the guy’s attention.

He scratched the back of his head.

“Now what is this? A pure one? Brand new?” He got it in his hands and pointed it to the lightstick.

“You bet. I dropped it yesterday. I killed a huge vurdum!”

“Yeah, right kid. You selling me this heh? What does it do?”

“I… Don’t know. It hasn’t been bound yet.”

The man confirmed it looking at the glass stone.

“Do you think I can make say… Four Gold Ores for it?” Josiah asked.

The man stopped looking at the weapon to stare back at him.

Then he started bursting out a loud laugh.

Josiah didn’t know how to react. Seeing that wouldn’t go anywhere he took his weapon and got out, slightly upset.



In the next forty minutes or so Josiah looked around for better deals in the lesser-known streets of Rimrid. No luck. Everybody wanted less than a Gold Ore. Four-tenths was the better he could find, but he could tell he was being taken lightly by the vendor because of his age.

Then, a short young boy touched his shoulder with his hand.

“Hey!”

Josiah turned around to check the guy. He was a bit taller than him, but far thinner.

“Don’t be so on the defensive. I saw you trying to sell those swords of yours?”

“I am selling only the green one actually…”

“I know a place where they pay a lot for brute stuff. Follow me.”

Josiah shrugged off and followed him.

‘Following a suspicious character to the alleys of an unknown city? What could go wrong? Worst case scenario I die and wake up as a baby in another world…’

“Here:” The boy pointed his arms at the entrance of a humble house, without any signs or plates on the outside.

Josiah knocked on the wooden surface since there was no door and walked in. He could hear metal clashing on the back.

“Shiyo? What’s this? Don’t bring boys from everywhere here.” An older man with thick eyebrows which seemed to be always frowning said, coming to the entrance, looking more worried to hide the activities which were occurring back there than anything else.

“He wants to sell a weapon. A pure one. Never bound before.”

“Here, lemme see...”



Twenty minutes later, Josiah didn’t have his weapon in hands anymore, and he got the amount he asked: four valuable Golden Ores on a small sack inside his pocket.

“Thanks a lot, Shiyo. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have found this place. Shiyo, was it?”

“Yes.”

The boy stood there, staring at Josiah instead of waving back and saying his manners.

Josiah understood and browsed his pocket. Luckily he had brought the normal ores he economized together with him in case something like that happened.

“Here. For you.” He put two of them on the boy’s hands.

“Thanks a lot mister!”

Only then, the young Shiyo said goodbye and parted ways.

‘I guess that’s how this works around a commercial town like this huh? Well… Now to get back to Couche. I’m going to find something to eat and go before it gets too dark.’

Josiah was on his way back to the main street when he heard some suspicious giggling and voices behind him.

‘Oh…’

“Check it out. That’s the baby boy who got a sack full of Goldies. Four goldies, boys. One for each of us.”

When he turned back, there were four men on their late-twenties to mid-thirties following, walking side-by-side. They all dressed in large, cheap, and unmatching clothes.

Josiah got wary:

'Sh*t, and now that. A group of thugs? That's just what I needed...'