As soon as Claude laid his eyes on the spear, he recognized its model. It was a Gladiator Spear, also known as a type of javelin or short spear. Something from the Old World, before Systems and the Tangent's. When man was more often pitted against man than Monster.
The spear was jet black and shorter than the stadard spears you see today but the blade was longer-- and thicker. The spear was practical, deadly, and Claude knew it.
While most people would go for the gaudy spears with the wild attachments and unnecesary add ons, Claude knew better. Claude knew those would be the ones to break or become a hindrance to the user in tight spaces, but this simple short spear wasn't anything like that. This spear was ideal.
"This weapon is made for battle...." He thought to himself in awe.
As he continued to ogle at the masterful creation-- noticing the ridges and weave patterns towards the middle-bottom of the spear that must've been where you held it, he noticed it had writing on it that read; "When you need the dark of night in the light of day. For the devout Follower of Beez, Gaunt."
The message intrigued Claude so he waited until Bergrin was done talking to the Archer and asked, "Excuse me, Bergrin Sir. I was wondering do you know who made this spear?....uh...DuskBringer?"
"Ahhhhh yes, this here DuskBringer was brought in by a new Guild as a gift! They said it would benefit them better if someone else wielded such a weapon, not really sure what that means but its crafted very well. The only issue is the Skill....only certain Classes would be able to use this well made spear to it's fullest potential." He replied with his signature thick scottish accent before turning back to the Archer.
"Hmmmm. Interesting, anyway thanks for letting me know, Sir." Claude replied.
Bergrin's head remained facing the Archer as he replied to him, "No problem, half pint."
Bergrin's verbal jab at Claude's height got a laugh out of the intimidatingly pretty Archer and the rest of the nearby shoppers which infuriated him, but more so just made him kind of sad since he knew he wasn't meant to be a tall bearded beast of a man like Bergrin.
He did his best to let it all roll of his shoulders like rainwater-- deciding to clear his mind by reading up on the spear some more. There wasn't much known about the weapon-- even its makeup was unknown, only being described as a "Cold yet sulferous and dark hybrid metallic alloy." He couldnt find much else and decided to read the last chunk of information written on the sticker plastered to the display case. The Skill.
Weapons were often just that-- barbaric instruments of destruction, sometimes made graceful and other times made more barbaric. But one change caused weapons to go from mediocre at best to powerfully viable in an instant. That change was often known as; a Weapon Skill.
The spear within the glass confines of the display case in front of him had one as mentioned. It's name was both ominous and straight to the point.
DuskBringer Skill, (Night Trail): When DuskBringer is thrown, a trail of darkness follows in its wake that covers the distance the spear travels.
Skill aside, the weapon was alright, boasting a thick defensive length and the shortest range of all the spears in the shop by quite a large margin. The weapon could've even been classified as low tier-- if not for the Skill. It was incredibly odd when considering what kinds of fighters benefited from the dark of shadows.
"Assassins don't use spears. So, who made this and what was the intitial purpose?" He pondered as he read over the Skill again.
After a while, Claude realized he was drooling over the spear for far too long and should get going to the academy before he was late. As he turned away from Bergrin and the display case to leave the Weapon-Smith's, a very tall and well built man who must've been a Hero shoved him out of the way like he was simply a bothersome object instead of an actual person.
"Scoot, pipsqueak." The man said without sparing Claude even a seconds worth of a glance.
The strength in the man's punch was much harder than necessary and sent Claude to the floor with a loud, "THUD!".
He landed near the door that took him out of the Weapon-Smith's. As he looked around from his spot on the floor, more so out of suprise and shock since he didn't expect anyone to come to his aid. He noticed that nobody even reacted to the entire event that just took place. In fact, the pretty and agile framed Archer was still looking at Bergrin while twisting her long curly red locks of hair around like some dumbstruck airhead and the other people in the area continued browsing like brainless sheep.
As a matter of fact, the Hero closest to him-- a young Mage of some sort based on his cloak and scepter, stepped over him to exit the shop. This action caused Claude to shoot to his feet, fists balled and ready to go at anyone and everyone in the shop. His anger filled eyes landed on Bergrin who wasn't talking to the Archer anymore but instead looking at him with an expression of......respect?
Claude couldn't fathom that someone would feel respect for a guy that was just manhandled all over their shop. So, Claude assumed he was being mocked-- belittled even.
"Damn womanizer Weapon-Smith."
After Claude internally expressed his anger with Bergrin, he left with his dignity at an all time low. But, right before exiting, he heard the man that shoved him say in a rugged and rat-like voice, "I'm here to purchase DuskBringer."
Claude continued deeper into the intracitlety built city cutting corners and going through alleyways until he ended up on the street that led to the Angelos Districts Combat/Strategy Academy. He could see students in front of him all heading into the cathedral-like building with various forms of weapons and armor, as they got closer the students began to seek out their friends to form their usual cliques. Seeing this always made claude angry because he didn't have a clique….he didn't even have friends, but then again in order for him to have friends he'd have to let those royal scumbags halt his progress and ridicule him whenever they needed to reup on self confidence. So, Claude came to the conclusion he always comes too. A simple, yet effective one that was often ignorant of his internal emotions and feelings. &n
"Alright, students what will be your most difficult foe in your upcoming Guild assistance run? You get this wrong and ill make your training for today a living hell." announced Prof. Raizen. ** Professor Raizen is a teacher at the academy, who is known for his incredibly harsh tactics and respectable aura due to the fact that he was a pretty famous Tangent Hero, a swordsmen with amazing Lightning Elemental Magic. He was fast approaching the top 5 in strength but stopped for some reason and took on an angry demeanor while picking up his new position as a teacher at the Angelos Districts C.S academy. ***** Claude's hand shot into the air as he was more than confident in his answer, Prof. Raizen directed his attention to him giving the boy the greenlight
After Claude remembered his match he looked around the field littered with people and equipment until he noticed Samuel spearheading the line of students walking to the the training grounds. Samuel was walking with his usual heir of confidence that caused Claude to clench his fists in anger until his knuckles were white as snow. Every fight they had, Samuel won, Claude knew his weaknesses and tendencies but the damn gear and strength difference was always the final decider. Prof. Raizen thought training in your armor helped you get comfortable in it. He also thought that everyone should use their individual armor to their advantage in every way, the only problem was poor, common class students didnt have an advantage to utilize. Luckily, Claude had his speed but others
The finality in Prof. Raizen's words functioned like a bolt of lightning smashing into the earth and startling them both into offensive action. They descended on eachother with the focus of two wolves on the hunt. Claude went in fast, but slow enough that Samuel gave a downward chop with his brand new shining broadsword, he changed direction when he was in close enough proximity with Samuel and barely missed the Noble's blade as he felt the wind on his back with a satisfying "WHOOSHH!" Now facing Samuel's side while the boy was open to any and all attacks, Claude swung his blade cutting the part of Samuel's arm that wasn't covered in high end armor causing Samuel to let out a loud exclamation of pain. While doing so, Samuel swung his blade to the side wildly in an attempt to remove the offensiv
"HE'S BEEN REBORN??!" "What Class do you think he's awakened? I've never seen an Aura that color..." "Reborn at fifteen?? He really is the son of Marshall Leon." The onlooking students were positively stunned, they all stared at Samuel as if he were a god. The deep purple Aura seemed to radiate from him like a dark flame, making him look as omnipotent as the students thought he was. Samuel wasn't exactly aware of what happened, all he knew was that he got an immense boost of power and sent Caude flying out of the ring, "An easy win as always...." The thought filtered into his mind, leaving him with a smug grin in response to his ego being fed. After that thought, he heard a sound that seemed to come from the depths of his own mind. DING! &nbs
Claude kept his eyes closed and listened to the light fizzing sound in front of him. After a while he could smell a serene and calming smokey smell, almost like sage...someone was using Healing Magic. He opened his eyes and saw a middle aged Hispanic woman with elegant yet mature features and soft hazel eyes. The calming features of the woman were one's he grew to assign with Prof. Callista. The Academies Healer. A job he assumed she was in the act of performing due to the smell of the room and the fact that he only recently got obliterated in the midst of his opponents physical Rebirth. The memory brought his blood to a furious boil. ".....That bastard! Right when I was about to win he cheats...and then he's REBORN! The fuck are those odds!?" As he thought of the absurdity of it all he couldn't help but clench his jaw and ball his fist in anger. This seemed to grab Prof. C
Claude entered the academy and was greeted by numerous pairs of eyes, all the students that were present at yesterday's sparring match must've still been thinking about what a spectacle the match truly was. Their gazes only reminded Claude that he got absolutely decimated a day ago, and that very fact filled him with a fresh dosage of red hot rage. He went through his classes with increasing anticipation, he wanted to see Samuel, he wanted to see if the Rebirth changed him....even if it's only been a day. As he continued to go through the classes they shared together he would only see Tai who seemed to be enjoying having him and Samuel's usual group of likeminded supporters all to himself. *** Claude silently endured all of his classes until he found himself in his last class of the day, with Prof. Raizen. It was a nice class
A couple days passed by in a flash and it was time for Prof. Raizen's class to assist the SkyLight Guild in the removal of invasive Plated Snakes in the Redwoods. Claude and the rest of his class headed out to the front of the academy and waited to head to the Redwoods. "Alright everyone check your weapons and armor and get ready to move out." Prof. Raizen announced in his casually stormy tone. He took a look at his class noticing a good portion of students looked shaken...nervous— as they should on their first Guild assistance mission, while others looked excited like Veronica. Only two students here looked completely focused, like they wanted to get the job done as well as possible. "Excuse me everyone is there a Ursula Legrand here? There's been a message left for her..." a short and dainty lady with light brown hair asked from the ba