My Isekai adventure was going off the rails fast. Not only was there a clear lack of cheat skills and levelling up, the sword I just found had started talking to me. "Uh, hi," I said uncertainly, despite my better judgment.

There was what sounded like a "tsk" sound. Did a sword just click its tongue at me? Did swords even had tongues in the first place? I knew shoes had tongues, but--

"Just my luck to be found by a fool," muttered the sword in a light baritone. I bristled, but it continued speaking before I could cut in. "Anyway, my name is Deux, and I'm the second masterpiece made by the famous sword smith named Masamane."

I tilted my head slightly. That name sounded vaguely off for some reason. I might not be familiar with swords, but the names of some sword smiths had come up in various manga and anime.

"The first one was a failure of a prototype, which happens to be the one lying on the ground over there," continued the sword. "Greetings, Eins, it has been a long time. It must be a strange turn of fate for us to meet again."

I turned to look at the sword with the white hilt on the ground, but it just lay there silently like a sword should. If anything, this talkative sabre was the unusual one. If you asked me, its sharpness couldn't be compared to the white one's though. "In what way is Eins a failure?" I inquired politely. "It seems pretty sharp to me."

"Hmph! Sharpness isn't everything, you know?" scoffed Deux.

But you're swords! I was tempted to retort.

"My creator made me with mercy in mind. I will rob the target of all its health except two points," it asserted proudly, but I didn't think that was anything to be proud of. That explained the strips of bark when I cut the branches just now.

"On the other hand, Eins is perfectly sharp, almost too sharp even, but only when the target is of a Level that has the number '1' in it or on thin, straight objects," it added.

I was struck speechless. What was with those limitations? It was as if the sword smith had made joke weapons. Naturally, I wouldn't mention that in front of the swords themselves though. Still...

"You're thinking something rude about me, aren't you," said Deux. If swords had eyes, it would probably be glaring at me right now.

"Uh, let me introduce myself," I quickly said to change the subject. Holding up the sword in front of me, I addressed it, "My name is Rynn Tan and I'm sixteen this year. Nice to meet you, Dou."

"It's Deux, not Dou! I wish I could say the pleasure is mine, but well, I suppose I must accept the fact that you are my new master now." It gave a heavy sigh.

I was beginning to understand why it had been left under that large boulder. If I had the strength, I would probably have the urge to slam that rock back on top of it. Nevertheless, I forced a smile onto my face and went to pick Eins up again. "Nice to meet you too, Eins. Thanks for saving my life just now," I told it.

Naturally, there was no reply, but I just spoke to it politely anyway. I much preferred a taciturn sword to a complaining one! Looking at the two swords in my hands, I realised I had a problem. Neither of them had scabbards, and although they were relatively light for swords, carrying them like this would probably get tiring after a while. Was there some way I could fashion a carrier for them? I glanced around, but it was unlikely there would be any fabric in a forest like this.

I had no choice but to ask Deux for a solution. He gave me a surprising one. "Why don't you simply use your Void? Or do they call it Storage nowadays?"

I just stared at the sabre, confusion clear in my expression. There was a short silence. It then spoke again. "Don't tell me you don't have the Conjuration affinity and you came all the way out here with nothing but the clothes on your back?"

I winced despite only understanding part of what it was saying.

"I can't believe my new master is more of a fool than I expected...No, wait, judging from those clothes, are you an Earthian?!" exclaimed Deux. "Yes, that must be it, no wonder you have that foolishly blank expression! Everything in Shyi'eld is new to you! What a relief!"

I couldn't help glancing down at my clothes. I was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and comfortable black slacks with walking shoes and socks. Not particularly ladylike, but thankfully it was practical enough for an unexpected adventure. My shoulder-length hair was also tied up into my usual ponytail. If it could tell from the style of my clothes that I was from Earth, that meant that the people here dressed differently, as could be expected from a parallel world. Perhaps medieval or ancient greek-styled clothing? Or even Victorian-style? Steampunk would be cool too! Maybe there was an unexpected twist and it turned out to be really futuristic instead?

As my imagination got carried away, Deux started to explain about this "Void" thing it mentioned. It turned out to be some sort of magic. Magic!? That caught my attention right away.