Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Joe screamed for dear life as he saw a small nick on Tatiana's Principe—but he straight-up lost his shit when he discovered a few micro nicks after leaning at it like it was a piece of jewelry that needed to be examined. While it was true these blades weren't meant to clash against metal but actual flesh and bones, it couldn't be helped if we were to spar with them.

But yeah, seeing nicks from one's brand-new sword would frustrate even me—and I was a little sorry for it—but Tatiana couldn't care less while Joe was this close to taking the Principe back.

Tatiana rolled her eyes, "It's bound to have nicks when used like this. We spar with real swords occasionally, even you sparred with—"

"OCCASIONALLY?!"

I had to calm Joe down, "Easy, now—"

"Why am I the only one losing my shit here?! How about your katana?! That's some expensive shit, right?!"

"Priceless. Not expensive—"

"YOU'RE RUINING YOUR— Huh?"

To Joe's fucking shock, my blade was as pristine as it looked when we fought and he looked like a silly goose trying to eye my blade like it had a secret code to a gift card or something. But yeah, it took him a second to remember that he also used his Sollingen to clash with my katana—and even though it had wear on some parts of it—it seemed like he discovered more from our short exchange.

"What the fuck— What's that thing made out of?!"

"Ten thousand souls of the damned—"

"WHAT?!"

Even Isaac's hearing amplified and barged in our conversation, "Souls— WHAT?!"

I chortled, "Don't ask me that question, seriously. I'd have to kill all of you the moment you know."

"NOW I'M FUCKING CURIOUS! IS IT FROM METEORS OR SOMETHING?!/ BRO! PLEASE! ARGH! DAMMIT! I WANT TO KNOW TOO BUT— ARGHHH!!!"

In any case, Joe and Isaac then bonded from their morbid curiosity about my blade, so Tatiana and I just left them as we walked over to where Kaley and the rest went after everything settled down.

Because as much as I would've loved to go on and on about Old Man Kaiseki's creations, I just wasn't in the mood today and we have to put a bandaid fix on Tatiana's new sword.

"I thought we were fixing this thing?"

"Just gonna grab my emergency whetstone in the Raptor then we'll head to the closest workshop."

"I don't really mind the scratches though—"

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"It's still kinda new, you know?"

"Pfft— Have I told you that I just throw around new phones I bought like I owned them for years already? These nicks are nothing."

"C'mon, I got you a nice gift! It should still be as pristine as my blade!"

"Hah! Then why don't you get me one, huh? I'll easily pawn this beauty if you can get me a katana made by your grandpa!"

"Heh, that IS the plan. Don't worry, I'll try and hook you up the first chance we get!"

"Just like that?"

"Just like that— I mean, you gotta come in with my recommendation first, study under us for a bit—sorry, a while! Then you pass the tests, live, mine the ores ourselves, help Ojii-san with the forging process, get a tattoo, and then we're done! Not a guaranteed katana though but it'd almost always be in that ballpark. And from what I could see in you, it IS around that ballpark."

"But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"I mean— Is it possible to get more than one? You have three, right?"

"Four, actually. But it's still over there—"

"Ah— The tachi, right?"

"Yep. I'm not even sure if it's done or not—though I'm leaning that it is—it takes quite a while for repairs to be done. However, it's up to him but he might just melt it and combine it to a new billet… I'm just guessing now because that's what happened when Arashi-san snapped his blade in half and we all got punished for it."

"Wait…"

"Hmm?"

"You mean they break? Like— snap in half? I already assumed they're unbreakable if anything—"

"Nothing's unbreakable, Tatiana—but they are fucking ductile and flexible at the same time. It's almost magic, I tell ya."

"How did… that other dude? What's his name again? Kimochi?"

"Pfft— Hah! Arashi, Arashi— Storm or Gale in common tongue but yeah, just assume Arashi-san's my older stepbrother, Like Aoi. What's your question again?"

"How did his blade—whatever it was, break?"

"Ah. We were all just messing around this one time and we three—Me, Aoi, and Arashi-san—were testing out Ojii-san's prototypes and he, Arashi-san, tried his katana against this unfinished oodachi."

"Wait— So was his katana better than yours or about the same?"

"Hmm~ I'm not entirely sure but at that time I guess it's about the same?"

"Huh?"

"They're not the ones I'm using now, alright? Just take that into account. However, the blade he was using that time did snap in half though it managed to cut through the oodachi's edge by a little~ bit. Maybe a few millimeters... Maaan~ If getting chased down the mountain by Aoi was fucking scary, imagine getting chased down by our Ojii-san. We didn't even make it past the chicken coop."

"Wow, you really should tell me— us, more of these stories of yours. We're getting bits here and there and I'm just gonna assume Kaley knows more than us!"

"Well, duh! Of course, she does— Wanna see how it's done though?"

"What's what done— Oh! You mean the— Yeah, unless someone wants a beat-up bastard sword, you can try to break it with yours."

"Fuck yeah!"

In any case, it took a bit to get to where Kaley and the rest went with our vehicle so we decided to just head straight for the closest workshop and have them come to us. It seemed like they paid a quick visit to Jade as they gave Iskoh a ride, but they were all wondering as to why we had Tatiana's sword in a vise clamp.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And without batting an eye, I swung horizontally from left to right and hit her blade by the tip, and chipped off a small piece. There was a moment where the sound of metal tearing through metal was unbearable, but only Tatiana and I were in the immediate vicinity of where her bastard sword was held tight.

"Holy fuck! You chipped it like it's nothing!"

I shook my head, chuckling, "It's a little hard on my forearms but yeah— wanna try?"

"Really?"

"Just slice all the way through and do remember that you die if you chip it—my sword, I mean."

"Hah! That doesn't sound too—"

Then Quinn cut in as she walked inside the workshop, "Hey! The fuck are you two doing?"

"Stuff!" Tatiana and I answered at the same time.

"Stuff that's more important than dinner?! Come on, now! I'll eat without you two! We all know that his katana's magic so putting it through a stress test wouldn't do us any good!"

"Wear eye protection!"

"Nah! I'm not staying— We're not staying long! Get on it, alright?!"

"Fine~ Fine~"

In any case, Tatiana was a little excited when I handed her my blade but the moment she struck down her old sword and tried to snap it in half—which only happened after the second swing, the look on her face as she grimaced was fucking priceless.

I chuckled, "Something wrong?"

"A little hard on the forearms, huh?"

"It stung quite a bit?"

"Yeah— but you made it look easy! I thought I didn't have to apply as much force! It almost hit my head from the first swing when it bounced back!"

"I did tell you to go all the way through! In any case~ First timers doing that take a few swings—even with a hammer, but yeah, mine's pretty tough, huh?"

Then Tatiana remembered to check my blade.

"Fuck. Me. This is fucking magic. Ever run it with the device you have?"

"To check what it's actually made of?"

"Yeah, that thing."

"No."

"Why?"

"It'd lose the magic, no?"

"Pfft! Fine, fine~ Have it your way. Oh! Fine~ Keep your secrets~"

"Heh. Come on, they're all waiting. Let's have dinner—"

All of a sudden, the moment Tatiana gave me my katana back, she moved in for a kiss as she sheathed it in my scabbard herself—and she was just wearing this smile—as she carried the box where her Principe was placed.

"Is that your thank you for the sword?"

"Oh, fuck no. You'll have more than just a kiss later, that was just a taste."

"Hah! I'll look forward to it. Remember to ask Unc to make you a sheath for that thing— He'll probably make it with leather but ask for hardwood instead, alright? Tell him to make it like my scabbard where it'd have this little nub for the oil after we put some on it later."

"Definitely asking for 'hardwood', yeah… will definitely ask for that."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah~ You're welcome, you're welcome~"

With that said, we all drove to the multipurpose hall and everyone else from our team besides Morales' was present. Still, Morales was still present with a couple of his officers and we all shared a nice meal prepared by Iskoh's cooks.

Everything was going swimmingly well and even if the joint run by the Hounds and the Jackals still left a lot to be desired, both groups were gelling pretty well despite Iskoh's attempts to have the slightly unhealthy competitive spirit going.

And he did so once again right as dinner ended:

"Listen up, pups, time for a scavenger hunt!"

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