Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

Speechless all the way.

It took Yue Ren half an hour to arrive at the familiar building. He didn't use any means of transportation along the way, as the workshop wasn't far from his residence, and he walked there at a leisurely pace.

It's a bit smaller than my home, and there aren't any buildings that look impressive from a distance. It's surrounded by iron railings, so people outside can't see what's inside.

Of course, outsiders generally wouldn't go to look. Besides the fact that this isn't a densely populated area, the large characters "Kawasaki Forging Company" on the entrance are enough to deter anyone who might want to peep.

In Japan, these kinds of skill-based workplaces are protected by law. If someone is caught peeping without permission and the police are called, they will be taken away by the police without any reason.

Arriving at the iron gate, he took out the only two keys he had.

Originally, I only had one key, and the other one belonged to the old man. But now that the old man has passed away, and given the clear ownership of the property, all the keys belong to him.

I've thought about giving my sister a hand, but I guess she probably won't accept it.

The Yue man couldn't figure out what the other party's mentality was—whether it was desire or fear. Now that he thought about it, there were many things about Japan that he couldn't understand upon closer examination.

Pushing open the door, you'll find a large open space, two warehouse-like buildings, and several large pieces of machinery.

The Yue people certainly knew what it was: a water trough, a soil-covering board, and an essential tool for forging knives. However, because of its large size and the fact that it was not easily damaged, it was placed outdoors, and of course, under a shed to protect it from special weather conditions.

After looking around and finding nothing unusual, Yue Ren went to one of the warehouses. Upon opening it, he saw a variety of fairly tidy facilities, mostly forging tools such as bellows, fire beds, various hammers and pliers, as well as piles of charcoal, coal, and tamahagane (a type of steel used for forging).

Ignoring all this, Yue Ren continued walking deeper into the warehouse, arriving at a secluded area—a small room. Pushing open the door, he found a clean and tidy bed, a bookshelf with many books and some handicrafts, an office desk and chair, and on the desk were a pencil case, papers, and a letter.

Yue Ren sat down in a chair, picked up the envelope, and began to read it by the light shining in from the window behind him.

Why so casual? Because it was addressed to Kawasaki Etsuto, and it was a letter to him.

For a moment, the room was quiet except for the rustling sound of skin rubbing against paper.

A moment later, Yue Ren put the letter on the table, leaned back in his chair, looked up at the sky, and felt extremely complicated.

The old man truly loves deeply.

The above contains some of the old man's instructions, such as what kind of things he should forge at this stage, how the finished products can be exchanged for money to maintain basic operations, how to obtain various forging materials, and even a list of contact persons and their contact information attached at the end.

Yue Ren glanced through them and recognized many of the names. These were all provided to him little by little by the old man over the years. It could be said that as long as Yue Ren followed the instructions step by step, his path to becoming a swordsmith would not be greatly hindered.

Whether you choose to take a job to make a living or pursue further education, it will be very easy.

To be honest, this whole process gave him quite a shock, and he inexplicably felt like he had received the inheritance of a sect.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that the old man left such a letter at least showed that his death was not caused by any accident. After all, the old man's health had always been very good. Now that he knew it might be the world of magic, he was worried that the old man was related to these things. Now it seemed that he could rule out that suspicion.

Feeling lighter, Yue Ren carefully put the letter away and prepared to leave.

There's no rush with the forging; the materials are right here, and he can come anytime he has time. Right now, we need to take care of the things at hand first.

After leaving the warehouse, he locked the door, but instead of leaving immediately, he turned around and went to another warehouse. The largest thing inside was a forging furnace. This was also a forging workshop. Since he was here, he should take a look around. Anyway, he had plenty of time and wasn't in a hurry.

What he didn't expect was that he would discover a problem once he looked at it.

It wasn't that anything was damaged or stolen, but rather that he actually sensed very subtle fluctuations in magical energy, and his eyes also caught magical energy not far away.

This made the Yue man tense up, and at the same time, with a thought, a strangely styled slender sword appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"Black Keys"

The exorcism equipment used by the Holy Church was one of only two physical items that Yue Ren had previously obtained through a lottery.

Its features include its extremely convenient portability via the hilt, and its blade, which should be generated by magic, can also be created by incantations in this world.

It has relatively weak physical destructive power, but it has the ability to interfere with spirits. It is a basic anti-heretic equipment for agents. Although I have never used it, I estimate that it should be quite effective against cursed spirits.

When he reached the end of the cursed energy while maintaining his fighting stance, he did not find the cursed spirit. The aura was emanating from the ground next to the furnace, a place that most people would not go.

Yue Ren carefully poked the ground with the black key, but stopped at a very shallow spot. The boy was stunned for a moment, then realized that it might be something.

Using a weapon to clear away the surrounding soil, they indeed discovered a long, rectangular box.

Only then did he finally realize that there was no cursed spirit here, but just a box, a box that only a sorcerer could find.

When I took it out, I was surprised to find that it was quite heavy.

It's a little over a meter long and looks somewhat like a box for storing samurai swords.

Upon opening it, sure enough, inside was something wrapped in cloth, and the protruding shape was undoubtedly a complete Japanese samurai sword.

But besides that, there were a few other things on it: two letters and a very old, hand-woven book.

He picked up the two letters and couldn't help but smile wryly when he saw the names on them.

One letter was still addressed to him, while the other was addressed to a highly skilled sorcerer.

Yue Ren didn't open it immediately. Instead, he put everything back in its place and placed the weapon box along with the black key in his "backpack".

The Yue people have studied it and found that each compartment in this backpack is independent, with one item per compartment. The size and weight of each item cannot be too large, but it can be accessed and used at any time, just like spatial equipment. The ten compartments are very convenient.

After restoring the excavated ground to its original state, Yue Ren inspected it and, upon confirming that there were no further problems, left the area.

Why did he leave in such a hurry instead of continuing to watch? Because he looked at his watch and it was already eleven o'clock, and he still had to deliver a lunchbox to his sister.

His sister's school was not close to where he was.

——11:05

After squeezing into the subway and enduring half an hour of crowds and the smell of sweat, he spent another ten minutes arriving at his sister's school, Holy Light Academy.

Although the name sounds a bit cheesy, it is a real high school that ranks third among Tokyo high schools for its high-quality education and college entrance rate, and has cultivated many outstanding students over the years.

Upon arriving at the school gate, he was unsurprisingly stopped by the gatekeeper. Although he looked like a high school student, he wasn't wearing the Holy Light Academy uniform, and since it was during class time, students weren't allowed to leave the school freely.

Without hesitation, the Yue man stated his purpose directly and presented the lunchbox as evidence.

As expected, Yue Ren arrived at the guard room at the gate, while the gatekeeper made a phone call to the school.

——12:07

Kawasaki Etsuto, who was admiring the scenery from the gatehouse, noticed a familiar figure rushing towards him, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

After the other person came to him—

"Being careless isn't like you, sister."

Upon hearing this, the beautiful girl became somewhat hesitant, but ultimately managed to suppress her inner emotions.

"I'm sorry to bother you."

A slight blush appeared on the girl's face, seemingly out of embarrassment.

"It's nothing, I just came back from the workshop, it was just a quick thing. Now that the things have been delivered, I'm going to go check on the school. Well then, sister, enjoy your meal."

After saying that, Yue Ren left the school under the watchful eyes of the gatekeeper and his sister, leaving behind a figure with slightly clenched hands, standing alone in the same spot.

"See you when I get home..."

Today is Monday, which is also known as Monday in Japan. It's not unusual to see students on the street, but these students aren't going home; they're just leaving school to buy things nearby.

Japanese students' school hours differ somewhat from those in China. Although they also eat lunch, it is generally only forty or fifty minutes, so there is no lunch break. After lunch, classes continue until three or four in the afternoon.

Of course, not everyone is so free. In important periods like high school, there are usually after-school study interest groups or similar activities, organized by teachers or spontaneously organized by close classmates. However, these are mostly things that good students should consider. If you really don't want to study, no one will stop you.

Alternatively, those with other aspirations might participate in club activities and take a special route. For example, if someone is good at basketball, they might start participating in various competitions during high school club activities. After gaining fame and achievements, they might be specially admitted to relevant universities. This is similar to the special talent admissions program in China.

So, in this respect, everyone is actually the same. It's just that here, a system similar to that of domestic universities is implemented in high school, and people are classified earlier.

Along the way, I saw many youthful and beautiful figures, some of whom were quite striking. It can only be said that, in terms of student uniforms alone, this country was very farsighted.

Yue Ren really enjoyed this atmosphere, especially after seeing that "pollutant" yesterday. People's hearts turned towards the sun. For him, who had a good childhood, peace felt precious, especially after the contrast.

The streets were bustling with people, and although noisy, they perfectly showcased the charm of peacetime, which made him feel happy.

However, just as he was enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city, a system notification sounded in his mind.

"Temporary Task"

Difficulty: Beginner

Mission objective: Defeat the cursed spirit.

Time Limit: 30 minutes

"Timer begins"

The light band reappeared beneath their feet. Yue Ren paused for a moment, then followed without hesitation.

This time it was still a shady alleyway corner in the city, still with a nauseating stench, only even more filthy than before, and that was clearly visible to the naked eye.

There were no hidden tricks involved; it was just there openly, except that this thing was much bigger and uglier than the previous one, and looked more like a miscellaneous fusion.

Without the patience to continue observing, Yue Ren charged forward after imbuing his hands and feet with magical power. Halfway there, as he began his attack, the "Black Key" appeared in his hand.

With the help of "test weapon" and "tracing the source", he had become familiar with the characteristics of the weapon in his hand. At this moment, he was undoubtedly able to use it skillfully, and he did not hold back at all in this attack.

Yue Ren was incredibly fast. Before the giant cursed spirit could react, he was already in front of it, wielding the "Black Key" and delivering a clean and decisive slash.

The next moment, a huge wound appeared on the thing, spraying out a huge amount of blood, but it did not dissipate.

The Yue man was mentally prepared for this. Suddenly, a light blue spell appeared on his weapon. At the same time, he reversed his grip on the weapon and, using the momentum from the previous twist of his body, launched a horizontal slash in the opposite direction.

A crisp slicing sound was accompanied by a horrible scream as the man's body was split in two by the blow.

The entire movement was clean and efficient, unlike what a novice would do.

Watching the corpse fall to the ground and quickly dissipate like ashes, Yue Ren unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mission Complete"

Rewards: Skill Points +10, Attribute Points +10

The surrounding environment gradually returned to normal after the source of pollution was removed. Although he heard the system's voice, Yue Ren still carefully checked the surroundings and only planned to leave after confirming that there was no problem.

Just as a stain that had been clinging to the table was cleaned away, Yue Ren's mood returned to calm, and he even felt a little refreshed.

This was his first real encounter with a cursed spirit. Yue Ren felt there was still room for improvement, but he also learned a lot. For example, the weapon in his hand, "Black Key," could still kill cursed spirits even without being imbued with cursed power. By the standards of ordinary weapons, its effectiveness had exceeded Yue Ren's expectations.

When the second strike was imbued with cursed power, the feel of that strike was like cutting tofu, exceptionally smooth.

However, judging from the rewards given by the system, this cursed spirit should not be anything powerful. Based on its sluggish reaction just now, Yue Ren thinks it is at most a level four cursed spirit, or even a third-rate one like the one he encountered last time.

He wasn't really dissatisfied, and even hoped to have a few more so he could practice and get familiar with them. Even if they were mediocre, they should still allow him to accumulate some combat experience. He wasn't pursuing anything like proving himself against strong enemies, after all, he only had one life. What he needed most right now was "accumulation".

But I'm afraid those restless guys won't give us time.