Spoiler :

Sadly once again it is this fic that has been holding me up, for some reason I keep having trouble writing it...once again my apologies for the delay/slow speed/bad quality etc. Just glad that not not many people read this as I might of had a riot on my hands other wise...

Anyway, even though this chapter isn't that exciting I hope that at least a little of it is entertaining. Some of you dislike Will's personality/style because you find his wordiness and obsession with details boring, well over time I am hoping to show how his somewhat stodgy 'scholarly' mind can also be amusing if you look at his actions with humor that is.

Swords Are More Attractive...

(Wilhelm Dragonsong)

To the others it had looked like I had vanished with that last flash of light soon after my apprentice did but actually I had only ran a bit quicker than the average eye could see, until I stood directly behind the master. I tapped him discretely on the shoulder and by the time he turned around to look at me I had already ported us path into his office.

Being a marital artist close to reaching the immortal path and the master of a dojo he was made of stern stuff and probably had a variety of experiences as a youth to back him up. Despite the sudden change in retirement he just blinked a few times but otherwise seemed unaffected by the trip.

Right after he recovered he attacked me. Or attempted to attack me, should I say. His hand went to his belt and he taped a decretive mark there, which instantly emitted a glowing light which turned into a sword, at the same time he rushed at me with what was probably his fastest speed, unfortunately for him I was faster.

I can say easily and without shame that it was quite lucky that my level was more than reasonably beyond his. To someone just above his level or below he would seem quite terrifying. Sadly my strength is technically beyond grandmaster and while he is defiantly a master, even though I was a bit caught off guard to me he didn’t seem dangerous.

I also have been fighting longer then he has been alive, my instincts were so honed that I didn’t ever think to act, I just reacted. A split second after he got within a foot of me he was pinned to the floor and his sword was in my hand.

The blade quickly caught my attention and I studied it for a long moment. Not bad, I thought, it was made from decent dwarven steel with an even a faint touch of mithril. However the workmanship was what really gave it its worth.

Its smith was probably not far off from becoming a master level in metal working when they made it.

More mysteriously it seemed to my practiced eye that they had a gained quite a bit of artistic enlightenment when making the blade. In other words their sensibility was quite good even if their experience was not quite there yet to being considered truly great.

As I studied the weapon from different angles I noticed that it had been enchanted with a spell to protect it from dulling and or rusting. However this enchantment wasn’t of that great of quality and it was already starting to fray at the edges.

I plucked off the gossamer haze of the fraying spell and started to make a much stronger magic ‘fabric’ from scratch. I had had just finished with the foundation and was about to start on the finishing touches, when I heard a small sound which distracted me from my work.

I glanced to the sides and then up before finally looking downward. And saw the Master lying on the floor struggling to breathe. Though he was almost completely immobilized by the pressure of my spell and wasn’t able to speak, I felt as though the hatred of which he glared at me said volumes.

Whoops, I had somehow forgotten about him. I was just about to apologize for my clumsy discourteous behavior, when threads of the spell that were still connected to the blade tugged at my attention again.

I paused a moment and looked at the blade and then at my dojo master several times, but the attractiveness of the blade and my current slight irritation with the master tipped the scale and I easily made my decision. I returned to my enchantment work; Hey don’t judge me! Besides it wasn’t like lying on the floor for a little while longer wouldn't hurt him.

I carefully fine-tuned the last little bit of the spell and sealed it strongly to make it last as long as possible. I bet that this spell won’t wear off for at least hundreds of years, I smirked to myself. Also I hadn’t just refreshed and improved the sword. Oh no, actually I had completely upgraded it!

Listen to its snazzy new features, besides its near invulnerability and near infinite durability I had also added in one of my still somewhat experimental alchemic spells. According to my research, if the spell functioned properly it would slowly gather excess magic and store it.

Some of it would just act as a backup power source for the rest of the enchantments…but then some of it, yes some of would be used to trigger slight transmutation processes that would hopefully slowly transfigure some of the more ordinary materials in the blade into more rare ones, while at the same time act as a mechanism to acclimatize the blade to, the one who used it most.

Essentially over time the sword should adapt and become much easier to wield as well as more powerful! Now completely satisfied from my refurbishment of the blade, I gently set it on the master’s desk. Now that’s much better, I thought to myself, I really disliked seeing shoddy spell work. Actually who did?

Now able to properly focus on my real reason to be there, I walked over to Master and knelt at his side. Looking down at him and his continued glare, I asked calmly.

“If I let you up do you swear on your honor not to attack me?”

He seemed to seriously think about this because he stopped glaring for a few minutes to close his eyes. After a short while he gritted his teeth and then opened his eyes and nodded lsliglhty at me.

Snapping my fingers as a warning I released him and promptly sat up and started gasping for breath.

“I-“Huff “-should have” puff “known better” wheeze.

He coughed for a few minutes and then taking some deep breaths he quickly got his breathing back to normal.

He turned to me and frowning wryly said.

“If I couldn’t he lay a finger on my dad while I was in my prime, how in the world did I expect to get anywhere with you?”

“Well,” I said, after a moments reflection “I am no father but I suspect that your strong feelings for your daughter-“

“That’s right I had forgotten.” He interrupted me in realization and upon remembering why I had pinned him in the first place, grabbed the collar of my robe and shouted in my face.

“YOU! HOW COULD YOU!!”

Note: The sword/magic Otaku alert is blaring right?