Chapter 19: Bran’s Blade

Chapter 19: Bran’s Blade

This was the Northlands. What did Northlanders need most? Fine swords and armor. But these weren’t just about the shape. Each armor plate, each iron ring had specific craftsmanship. Bran needed to study these deeply. He needed to sense them with his ability, then mimic them at their essence. Only then could he get a satisfying result.

Material could not be created from nothing based on Mana. Bran’s ability was the reshaping and adjustment of material, so understanding the material became the focus of his training. In this regard, the family’s fairly large warehouse of old and broken weapon s provided good help for Bran. Danny stood at the storehouse door, looking at the child before her, and couldn’t help but feel some admiration. The child before her was so focused. On one side was a broken sword, on the other a newly formed single-handed blade. A line of light could be seen reflected on the blade. This line of light slowly moved across the middle of the blade towards the tip. Danny knew this was Mana altering the material properties of the blade. Watching the light slowly move to the tip, Danny and Bran both let out a long sigh at the same time.

Having thought things through a bit, Bran began to calm down, no longer anxious. Now he knew he not only had Black Cat Huahua, but also his family, and Danny. He was never alone, he had just ignored too much before. He only felt that he had fallen into this bizarre World, but never thought about the trouble his arrival and his actions brought to his current family. Danny was right, this was the Northlands. So Bran spent most of the remaining days of that winter soaking in the storehouse, using Mana to sense the subtle parts of blades and armor, and striving to mimic them.

“Danny, help me test this blade.” Bran shouted loudly.

Danny picked up the blade and walked out of the storehouse with Bran. She swung it down against the test stone outside the door, then sheathed it and looked at the edge, saying to Bran, “Not bad!”

Bran laughed. “Still far from it.”

“It really is quite good already.”

“I have seen most of the weapons in the storehouse. Like that broken two-handed sword, they are all much better than this blade I made. Even weapons like that can break. I really can’t see what’s good about this blade?”

“Is that why you’ve been reluctant to turn that broken sword into a new weapon?”

“Yes, I’m starting to understand why these old and broken weapons are still stored in the storehouse. If I cannot surpass them, what face do I have to use them as material?”

Bran walked to a wooden post about the thickness of an arm. He drew the Goose Feather Blade he had custom-made for himself, hanging at his waist. With a swift and effortless swing, without any flashiness, just as the blade was about to touch the post, his whole body suddenly unfurled. It was like a whip body flicking, making the tip crack. The blade suddenly emitted a ringing sound, and the wooden post snapped accordingly. This left Danny, standing beside him, speechless and stunned for a moment.

Northlanders were tall and strong, their weapons tended to be heavy and thick. So when Bran’s Goose Feather Blade was made, people mockingly called it an embroidery needle. However, noticing Bran’s noticeably slimmer build compared to Northlander children his age, people thought they understood Bran’s choice.

Looking at Danny beside him, Bran said proudly, “Sometimes I’m not so useless. At least, not as useless as many people imagine.”

“How did you do that?”

“As long as the blade is fast enough.” Bran smiled proudly.

…

“Danny, it’s spring. Take me out for a walk, maybe go hunting near the Castle or something.”

“Okay,” Danny agreed, then asked in return, “Aren’t you planning on building the Castle anymore?”

“No rush. It will be built soon. With the current progress, I’ll soon be able to make first-rate swords and blades. Then, as an exchange, many people will actively come to help us. I need to experience the use of blades in practice now. Take me out, even if it’s just to kill two rabbits. It will help with blade-making.”

…

Danny listened as Bran hummed a strange song, repeating only the words “Happy Birthday to You” over and over. The tune that should have been happy was sung by Bran in a low, sad tone. Even a glimmer of tears flickered in the corner of this little brat’s eyes.

Bran hummed the song but did not stop the work in his hands. That broken two-handed greatsword was finally dissolved and reshaped by Bran today into a thick-backed, guarded Single Blade. The entire blade was plain and unadorned. The blade surface lacked a bright shine, instead seeming somewhat dull. Facing the daily, repetitive work that seemed unchanging to outsiders, Danny had become somewhat aesthetically fatigued with Bran’s blade-making process. Even though Bran emphasized that the important thing was the inner quality, he couldn’t make Danny feel any enthusiasm. So when Bran shouted, “Danny, we succeeded!”, Danny just lazily walked over, picked up the blade, and headed towards the test stone outside the storehouse…

On an early summer evening, the Duke’s Idiot son stood near the Castle gate carrying a large wooden board. On the board were written the big characters “Test Blade”. Standing beside him were his Idiot Black Cat and his Idiot Attendant. If that were all, most Knights would just laugh and pass by. Who would bother with an Idiot? However, Black Cat Huahua had a floral ornament on its head. Each petal of the ornament reflected scattered, dreamlike spots of light under the setting sun’s glow, making the Knights stop to take a closer look. Bran declared that the winner could have this ornament. Danny held the Single Blade, looking somewhat unnatural, so she wore an expression that kept strangers at a distance, completely unaware that she was already Idiot Number Three.

The impact of the crowd quickly spread throughout the Castle. Even the Duke and his wife stood on the second-floor balcony to watch, feeling helpless about this fourth son. Yet what happened next made everyone remember it for a lifetime…

First, Third Sister, unable to resist her fondness for the ornament, stepped forward. Her Short Blade touched the Single Blade in Danny’s hand. Perhaps due to Danny’s lack of confidence, her strike wasn’t decisive enough. The result of the collision was a small, inconspicuous chip in Third Sister’s Short Blade. It wasn’t a huge damage; a little polishing would fix it.

Then, Third Sister’s Attendant, wanting to regain face, swaggered up and crossed blades with Danny. Perhaps because both were women, each held back somewhat. It still ended with a chip in the other’s weapon.

Things gradually began to spiral out of control. The Knights, roused by competitive spirit, stepped forward one after another. Danny began to fully unleash her capabilities as the silly big sister. Each blade strike became more solid, each strike more confident. At the same time, words like “You look down on people,” “You’re the Idiots” kept spilling from her mouth, venting the frustration she had felt since becoming Bran’s Attendant. Finally, a somewhat angry great Knight clashed his two-handed sword against Danny, who was now unleashing her full force. That two-handed sword snapped with a sound. The clamor stopped as if necks had been wrung. Only Danny’s shouts were heard: “You’re the Idiots! Your whole families are Idiots!”…

At this point, the Duke and his wife standing on the second floor couldn’t help but shake their heads.

The Single Blade in Danny’s hand attracted the gaze of everyone present. At that moment, in the last ray of the setting sun, a hint of greed was reflected in the eyes of all the Knights. Then, as if hallucinating, people heard Bran’s voice: “It’s yours, Danny. This blade is named Birthday.”