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"Apologies, I hope I didn\'t keep you waiting."

"Not at all," I replied quickly.

"It\'s rare when someone takes the time to personally select a weapon."

He smiled modestly. "It\'s nothing much." Then he set the box on the counter.

It bore a symbol I recognized - the emblem of Garrick\'s old party.

"What is this?" I asked, interested and confusion warring within me.

novel-hosted-NovelFire

To be honest I\'m not even sure what\'s within this box.

I know it\'s a weapon of course, but I didn\'t think that A.T had an ongoing story before the original plot right?

But I\'ll figure it out as soon as he reveals this weapon to me.

"This..." Jin\'s gaze fixed on me. "This was crafted by my master and I, long ago. Decades before your time."

Maybe the A.T. messed everything up. So even if I controlled the big events in the novel as written, there\'s all this backstory I didn\'t plan for.

But...for the present to work, the past had to have happened somehow. Damn it, this is making my head spin.

With too much information to process, I heard the creak of the box opening.

Jin opened the box. Nestled inside was a hybrid blade, sharing features of both cutlass and sabre.

Gold shone on the scabbard and the cupped hilt.

He blew the dust away and lifted it with surprising ease.

"This was...for an old friend\'s birthday. Held it back until he achieved his goals. Sadly, he didn\'t live to see them through. But..." His eyes met mine.

"You and him, you share a striking resemblance, even down to your mana signatures."

Really? That\'s strangely odd... No way my signature could resemble Garrick\'s. The whole idea was impossible. A fluke had to be.

SHING!

The weapon was beautiful as he unsheathed it.

A single-edged blade, bearing the signature ripple of a Japanese forge.

"This sword has no name. If you know the traditions, I\'ll let you claim it."

Claiming? A name? I wasn\'t sure about that... even this process was something I didn\'t even know of.

"Sorry, I\'m not up on sword-naming traditions," I admitted. Tightly controlled, no sense revealing my ignorance.

Jin smiled. "That\'s fine. A hint then. It involves something every swordsman possesses. When the blade truly \'bonds\', it\'ll whisper ask for its name from you."

Skill? Some sort of innate connection?

"Oh…I think I get it."

"Good." Jin nodded. "Might take a few tries. If it doesn\'t work, we\'ll find something else fitting."

He handed it over.

The grip felt…strange. A pull, like it was draining something.

sha....shaaaa....

My vision darkened as the blade flared, I saw the hungry light as the blade was sucking something out of me. Souls in swords...was that a real thing?

Jin watched closely. "This sword has a hunger," he said. "Feed it, and it\'ll acknowledge you as its master."

Was this some kind of test? "Are you sure about this?" My voice was tight.

FWANG!

[Warning! You\'re losing 1% mana every 10 seconds!]

[Mana Reserves: 90%]

I swore under my breath.

My mana pool was dropping fast, the blade feasting on me.

"Guess I don\'t have much of a choice, do I?"

"...!"

***

Jin watched from behind the counter, his aura flaring crimson and black.

One wrong move from the boy, and he\'d have to step in.

"...!"

Jin\'s eyes widened. Not fear, no – this aura... The boy possessed a terrifying raw power.

"it can\'t be..."

His voice was barely a whisper.

[{Standard Ability}: Projectile Projection [Grade 4] Has Been Activated!]

Rel activated projectile projection, he could see his aura reflexively pour out of his body.

An instinctual response as Rel\'s aura pulsed outward. Blackness crept up his hand, engulfing the sword.

crackle...crackle...crackle...

Crackles echoed in the shop.

Pain tore through Rel, squeezing his lungs, and painting agony across his face.

Every heartbeat was a vice tightening, his stolen mana and aura feeding the hungry blade.

Lightning – no, his aura – burst and climbed.

The crackles intensified.

ackk...

Rel choked out. He could taste blood. The weapon was a leech, draining him to his core.

And then finally Blackness consumed the blade entirely.

Rel\'s knees buckled, as the world around him spun.

Jin moved, then hesitated. Watching and calculating.

"uuuhh... my head..."

Rel struggled and struggled... it was until then he heard a whisper as clear as day.

"n-a-m-e" a silent voice spoke.

"What?" Rel choked. "The hell…?"

"what... is... my... name..." the voice in his head whispered.

Rel held onto the sword tightly and used his left hand to hold onto the counter... he held the sword towards his face.

***

{Rel\'s POV}

"Your name?" I asked the sword, my voice echoing in the quiet shop.

Was it talking to me? Couldn\'t be. It was just me and Jin here.

I held the sword up looking at the clear reflection of myself.

I lifted the blade, my reflection staring back, as the sword turned into its normal steel form.

What should I call you?

Names... I\'ve never been good with them.

It\'s like sometimes I forget my own, like it was never really there.

I never liked it anyway.

The past me, the one desperate to be \'Rel\'...that kid\'s too far gone to matter now.

"You know," I said to the sword, the words feeling strange in my mouth, "your name will be Axel."

"A-x-e-l ?" the voice whispered.

"That\'s right." I smiled. "I hope you accept your name."

"I...do..."

shaa...aaa...aa..a...

Suddenly the blade\'s usual glow faded away and it was like the soul had disappeared in its sleep.

FWANG!

[A new weapon has been added...]

[Weapon: \'Axel\' [Grade: 1] - [This weapon has a true name.] - [Condition: Perfect] - [Enchantments: None] - [Special Effects: 50% Damage Increase, 50% Aura Output Increase, 50% Attack Power Increase,] - [Contents: The blade \'Axel\' can deal true damage when using aura...]

___________

Authors Notes:

- Rel took the IDS station and used 3 different Ubers before arriving in Kyoto.