I walked through the streets of the castle town the next day. Everyone was talking about the heroes that had been summoned, and how they were going to save the kingdom. I just sighed and shook my head before walking to the weapons shop to look at new equipment to buy later on. When I got in, the man with the shield was there with a red headed lady.

I immediately categorized the lady as one to be wary of and continued on with my browsing. I vaguely heard them buying some chainmail and other items before leaving. I looked at a longsword and looked it over being reminded of my weathered sequence back in Eorzea. Being reminded of the item I walked over to the blacksmith with an idea on my mind.

"Hey, mate, got any blacksmithing tools you don't use?" I asked and he looked at me with a confused look

"Going to open a forge and run me out of business?" He asked and I smirked

"Not at all, there's just something I want to try" I said and he nodded and handed over a bag of tools

"That'll run you thirty silver" he said and I handed over the required amount before walking out

"Alright, now I just need some ore and a quiet place to use my knowledge" I said to myself aloud as I walked out of the city and started walking through the forest to a distant town

I continued walking through the night, making sure to keep on my guard. The next morning I arrived in the village of Riyute where I walked up to a few merchants and browsed their wares.

"Is there any place I could get some ore?" I asked and the man nodded

"Yes there is a mine over to the west, there are monsters over there though so be careful" The merchant said and I nodded thankfully

Once I had my location I bought a small satchel and started making my way towards the mine. When I arrived I found a used pickaxe and a hammer. Grabbing the equipment I walked into the mine and headed down the tunnels.

I found a nice spot next to a small stream and started mining. After a few hours I had collected a decent amount of ore so I started making my way up.

While I was walking up I had started thinking about how I was going to forge the weapon.

"I could just forge it outright but the blade will be weak… plus if the level system this shard has affects the weapon I may not even be able to wield it" I muttered to myself as I walked out of the mines and put the equipment back where I found it

"I could start off with it being simple and treat it as if it were an anima weapon…" I mused as I found a small clearing outside the village,

Once I set up my small camp, I started melting down the ore. With practiced ease I melted down the ore and poured it into a cast that I had created before. Once I had the metal bar I moved it over to a makeshift anvil. I then reheated up the metal and used one of the tools that the blacksmith gave me to start shaping the weapon.

I took my time in creating the sword, even putting my own aether into the weapon. When I was finished I quenched the blade in a small barrel of water. When I pulled it out I swung it around a few times before slamming it against a rock, shattering it instantly.

"Figures, the metal wasn't forged right" I muttered as I picked up the pieces and reforged the blade this time placing my aether along the blade to reinforce it as well as sharpen it

Once finished I looked along the steel colored blade and swung it around. Once satisfied I made a quick sheathe and put the sword away. I then put everything away and got a light sleep.

I woke up the next morning and I held my newly crafted weapon and focused on my paladin soulstone, however as I did nothing happened. I sighed and nodded.

"Figured, the soulstone hasn't been responding for a few weeks, maybe I need a shield? But that wouldn't make any sense…" I thought to myself as I strapped the weapon to my waist next to one of my daggers and packed up camp

I then walked into the village and started helping out where I could while keeping my ear out for any mention of slaves from Luralona village. This continued on for a few more weeks. Eventually I saw a man with a green cloak walk into the village, but as soon as I saw the shield on his arm I knew it was the shield hero and left him to do his business.

Every day I would focus on my paladin soulstone but it always ended up the same. It never responded, my aether just flowed around the stone and it never responded.

Eventually I fell into a sort of routine until the day came.

I was walking around the village early morning doing a patrol that I had set up to help maintain security for everyone in the village. It provided decent pay and I had no right to complain. The day started off well, no monsters had appeared but that just put me on edge.

"As the Adventuring idiom goes, if the fight doesn't begin in the morning, come noon pandora's box will open" I said aloud to myself as I heard a loud cracking sound and the world cracked open "Yup there's pandora's box, so it wasn't a one day thing…" I said as I ran into the village drawing my daggers

I ran through the village as the first monster appeared. I quickly cut it to shreds before pushing my aether out through my hands as I cast jin chi ten then cast the mudra Huton, sending a swirl of air around me. I ran into the oncoming monsters and quickly cut them down before using Ten then chi to cast Raton, feeling my aether drop to dangerous levels I watched as a bolt of thin lightning struck a zombie turning it to ash.

"By the twelve, if only the paladin soul would respond!" I growled in anger as I ducked under a hoard of giant wasps

Thats when I felt a collision behind me and I got launched forward dropping my weapons. I rolled forward and got to my feet. That's when I saw the giant zombie.

The monster reared its arm back and swung down. I was just about to dodge when the shield hero jumped in front and took the hit.

"Get out of here! Run!" He yelled but I narrowed my eyes and took a fighting stance "What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled and I smirked

"I'm not going to let you have all the fun, I took a job defending the village and by the twelve I'm going to defend it" I said confidently to which he nodded

It was at that point I felt my remaining Aether be sucked into a soulstone and my class changed. When the light died down I smiled as I drew the sword that I had forged weeks prior.

"Let's go shall we?" I asked as I stepped up next to him and held my blade with a practiced hand