Song of the Blades [Quest] + Working

Reo leaned over the counter of the massive shop. It was full of numerous scrolls and even some books – which were rare. The amount of knowledge present in this shop was amazing – and yet Reo couldn’t read any of it. Well, he wasn’t able to read any of the really good knowledge scrolls. He could read the ones that had cooking recipes or things of that nature. Some of the shop’s scrolls were ancient and rare and possibly dangerous, though. These ones could unleash curses or summon creatures or do any number of things that were dangerous and unsafe. The problem was that Reo didn’t know which of the scrolls were like that.

[113 Words + Working]

So, he was content with reading only the barest of scrolls that came through the shop. Those that the owner would open and read for him or that they said wasn’t cursed and didn’t have any seals on the scrolls. The worst were the scrolls that had a seal so that the words vanished as soon as it was read once. Reo had made the mistake of opening a scroll like that once before – it was not a pleasant day as he had to pay for that scroll out of his pocket. Sadly, not many scrolls came into the shop. Reo wasn’t sure if it was the location or something else that caused the discrepancy between the number of scrolls they had and the number that moved either in or out of the shop. Then again, the normal shopkeeper was a bit eccentric and the outside of the shop wasn’t in the best condition so it was possible that the shop was just not very appealing to many people. In that case, Reo would just have to do his very best to make sure he got return customers; he loved this shop. It could be due to the two separate adventures he had pertaining to the shop before he entered it, but he was fond of the place. Good memories and all that.

[Post 2: 223 Word + Working]

So, it was that Reo found himself sitting in the shop waiting for customers. His shift was nearing the end and he had two customers so far since he arrived a few hours earlier. That was a good day – relatively speaking. A small little bell chimed. The bell was Reo’s addition to the shop so that he would know whenever a customer entered. It was impossible to see the door through the mounds upon mounds of scrolls.

“Hi. I’m here to give you this scroll.” The man said, face ashen. Reo – used to people depositing dangerous scrolls – quickly got out some Ryo.

[Post 3: 103 Words + Working]

The last hour of Reo’s shift whittled by as he waited. Eventually, he was able to close up shop. He blew out the lantern that he had been using the light the shop – as it had grown dark during his shift – and left the building.

Reo hurried home – though he didn’t run. Running would only draw unwanted attention. By time he made it home, Reo found that his mother was already asleep. That meant his father would be as well as he generally went to sleep before his mom. So, Reo found himself tip toeing through the house in order to be quiet. Luckily, Reo happened to be a Ninja-in-training so he was decent at doing this. He didn’t stop at his own room. Rather, he stopped at the room of the exchange student whom lived with him. Mibu Tsukasa. Reo carefully cracked the door open and sneaked into the room. The Tanto was propped against a wall near his bed. Reo carefully grabbed it and snuck back out of the room. He would be back with it before sunrise and he would never know the blade had gone missing.

[Post 4: 190 Words]

“Sure, here’s how much I’ll pay for it. What’s in the scroll? We aren’t very well organized here but I’m working on creating sections for each area of the shop. If I do that, then it will be a lot easier to shop here.” Reo said, sure the man was going to say that it was a dangerous cursed scroll of some kind. Those were being put in their own section on the far eastern wall.

“Hmm? It’s got a recipe for my ma’s favorite soup. “

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Do you mind if I ask why your face looks like you just saw a ghost?” Reo asked the man politely. Well, as politely as one can when directly confronting them.

[Post 5: 120 words]

“Oh…well, I think I did. I was out near the Wind Canyons just a little bit ago and I saw a person standing there. That wasn’t all that unusual but then he placed his sword into the sand and it…the blade glowed. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen” The man said as he snatched the ryo off the table. “Anyways, thank you for buying the scroll.” The man promptly exited the shop. Reo didn’t quite believe the man’s story but felt it had some merit. It would certainly explain why he was so shaken up and, in a world where a spiritual dragon head can roar at you from a scroll you opened…. well, Reo would believe just about anything after that. Still, Reo wasn’t entirely sure the scroll was safe to be opened so he placed it in an unsure pile and began to jot down a note about it on a piece of sticky paper. He placed the note underneath the scroll and it explained why it was placed in the unsure pile.

[Post 6: 176 Words]

Then, Reo sat and waited for his shift to end. It was a good day with three customers – even if one only sold a scroll and did not buy any. Still, Reo had plenty of time to think as he sat there. And think he did. Reo was becoming increasingly interested in the idea that the man could have been telling the truth. If so, then there would be only one way to go about testing it. He would need to take a blade to the Wind Canyon and test it. Sadly, Reo didn’t own any swords so he would have to borrow one of the Tanto’s from Tsukasa. This wasn’t like with the scroll as Reo would bring it back before long. He just needed to slam it into the sand in front of the canyon. Easy.

[Post 7: 138 words]

Once out of the house, Reo picked his pace back up to a slightly hurried walk. Not enough to draw attention, but not so slow that getting to the Wind Canyon would take all night. Reo stopped and stood outside the canyon once he made it there.

Then, he slammed the tanto into the ground. True to the rumor, the blade began to glow. More than that, Reo could swear he heard joyous – dancing – music playing somewhere. And, weirdest of all, a scroll appeared out of nowhere when Reo pulled the blade out of the ground.The blade still glowed, so Reo would have to explain to Tsukasa what happened. He could only hope the swordsman wouldn’t mind a glowing blade.

[Post 8: 120 Words]

Nonetheless, Reo made his way back home with the glowing tanto and the scroll with him. The blade didn’t seem to be brittle so he could only assume that the shining didn’t weaken the blade in anyway. Reo actually tested it a few times on sand walls as he walked. It cut a bit better than he would have expected it to. Or perhaps Reo swung a bit harder than he thought he could manage. Regardless, the blade managed to do more than it normally would have. Perhaps the blade was made even stronger.

It took a solid hour of walking for Reo to make it back to his house.

[Post 9:110 Words]

Once inside, he repeated his steps of sneaking into Mibu Tsukasa’s room. He placed the blade onto the wall exactly where he had it before – except now it glowed like the full moon. That probably wouldn’t help Tsukasa sleep. Then, he snuck out of the room. Once outside Tsukasa’s room, Reo stopped sneaking and walked into his own room. With a yawn, he placed the small scroll on the floor next to his bed and lay down. The semi-hard mattress gave only a little as the monk lay down. He would have the scroll checked out at the Odd Tree Library in the morning. For now, sleep.

[Post 10: 107 Words]
[Total Words:1,280 Words]