Valerian, The Legendary

The young man looked the old man in the eyes and said, “You do not have to worry much about that, just put your heart at ease and give me a month to deal with this matter.”

Fern was surprised and did not know what to say to this. He thought that the young man was just a bit too emotional at this moment. After finding out about Shiba’s condition Valerian must have been influenced. He looked at the child and with a sigh, he said, “Go inside the forge and start working. We have to prepare three swords today, and you will be forging them. After that, I will teach you how to engrave the blade surface.”

Valerian nodded and entered the forging room. The two people began to work quickly and it took a few hours to complete the assignment of the sword forging. The three swords did not have any wave pattern but they were all exquisite in appearance. The quality of the weapons was not on par with the sword that Valerian had made for himself.

The young man looked at the three weapons and said, “Teacher why do I not have any wave pattern today? They all look so dull.”

Fern smiled and said, “Do you think that the wave pattern is a cabbage that you can grow whenever you want?”

Valerian was surprised and Fern said, “To gain the wave pattern, you will need to reach a state of dedicated focus. That state is not easy to achieve.”

The young man nodded and said, “Would you mind if I try with one more set of materials?”

Fern knew that it was of no use to dissuade this guy so he nodded. Valerian did not waste a second and picked up a set of materials and then he closed his eyes before placing the material inside the furnace to smelt.

.....

His eyes were shining and the smelting material reflected on their surface perfectly. Fern was shocked as he thought, ‘His eyes changed.”

The old man could not believe what was going on in his forging room. Valerian was too young to reach a level where he could form a waving layer pattern.

While this might be true, it was not a lie that the young man was growing stronger at a terrible pace. This was not a rhythm that ordinary people could keep up with.

Valerian did not stop, as he began to let go of his thoughts, he suddenly began to see that the surface of the metal was getting colder. So, to heat it up, he placed the weapon inside the furnace and then again began hammering it.

The forging room was echoing with a dinging sound and it was very calming. Suddenly, Fern opened his eyes wide and his breathing changed. He could not believe that he was lost in a daze from the effect of the hammering sound.

He looked at Valerian, who was putting down his hammer and the next moment he dropped the sword embryo inside a pail of cold water. After a series of hissing sounds the young man pulled the blade out of the pail.

Looking at the blade, a smile appeared on his face and he said, “Teacher, look.”

Fern walked forward in agitation and he checked the blade for a minute and said, “You damn genius. How did you do it?”

Valerian tilted his head and asked, “What do you mean by this?”

Fern asked, “How did you increase your concentration to this level all of a sudden?”

“Oh, that. I just circulated my mana through my brain and eyes. That helped me focus on all this.”, replied Valerian.

Fern was surprised and asked, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Valerian nodded and the old man handed him the sword before leaving the forging room in a hurry. The prince asked him, “Where are you going, teacher?”

The old man replied without turning back, “To record this in my journal. You can leave the shop if you want to.”

Valerian asked, “Then what about the engraving?”

“You cannot learn everything in one go, wait till tomorrow and I will teach you.”, replied the old man.

Valerian was surprised by this behaviour and shook his head in exasperation. Then he stayed inside the forging until he finished the handle of the sword and tied a leather string on it.

Then he left the place, before leaving the shop he told Fern that he will take this sword to gift the maiden.

Fern was delighted and supported the boy. Valerian moved back to the palace to have a meal and evening coaching. On the way he was greeted by a lot of people in the city as they all saw him as a celebrity.

…

Inside the dining hall, the maiden was sitting on her chair, while Train was missing. Valerian came inside and said, “Good evening, your excellency.”

The maiden looked at him with a faint smile on her face and replied, “Good evening to you too, Master Valerian. Today, I will have to ask you to serve yourself. Train has gone out for some work.”

Valerian nodded and said, “I do not mind doing that, Your Excellency. Do not worry. Also, if you do not mind, I would like to present you with something.”

The maiden was surprised and she did not expect this to happen, but nodded and said, “Please go ahead.”

Valerian took out a glistening sword from inside his magic pouch, and presented it to the lady with both hands. The maiden stood up from her chair when she saw a wave layer pattern on the blade surface.

The maiden did not know how to react at this and asked, “This, how can I take this. Isn’t it your sword?”

Valerian smiled and said, “This is the second sword with the wave pattern that I have forged. I apologize for not giving you the first one. But I hope that this one will help you or if you choose, then it may help a warrior of your choice to standfast in the battlefield.”

The maiden was surprised and said, “I am overwhelmed by this gesture, Master Valerian. Thank you, it will be my honor to accept this weapon.”

Valerian smiled before he sat down on his chair and began eating. The maiden also followed and while eating she asked, “Master Valerian, did you find out what is going on with Shiba and Master Fern?”

The young man nodded and told her everything. When he finished the story, he asked, “Your Excellency, did you not know what happened to Miss Shiba?”

The maiden shook her head and said, “Master Fern is someone very old and so is his daughter. Miss Shiba is eighty years old. I have heard about the tragedy of her son and her husband, but I do not know what happened after the treatments. I have tried to help her but the exact level of her sickness is not clear to me.”

Valerian nodded and asked, “Your Excellency, what do you intend to do with the information acquired from Wakar?”

The maiden thought for a bit and said, “I would like to organize an attack against the Lunakes.”

Valerian took a deep breath and said, “I would like to have your permission and participate in this attack and lend my help to your clan.”

“How can you embroil in the conflict of the magicals?”, asked the maiden.

Valerian shook his head and said, “You are the maiden of the patron magical creatures of my nation. It is my duty to help you. Also, this expedition can be taken as my training.”

The maiden was left speechless, she was aware of Valerian’s prowess and said, “Very well, I allow you. However, do not risk your life.”

Valerian nodded and said, “I will try. When will the attack happen?”

The maiden replied, “Our scouts have began verifying the details of the information we found and it will take them one month at the least to complete it.”

Valerian nodded and said, “During this one month, I will do my best to make swords for all the front liners. At least as much as possible. A good weapon and a better wielder can change the course of the war.”

The maiden nodded and said, “Since that is the case, I will arrange for you too be supplied with all the things and materials you may need. Prepare the best weapons that you can.”

Valerian smiled and nodded, before he began eating the food.

After eating, Valerian left the place and came to the practice room while the maiden kept looking at the sword in front of her and said, “I name you, Valerian, sword of strength.”