Chapter 30 : weapon grade
At the main gate of the palace, two soldiers were standing on guard. When they saw that twenty-nine chariots were waiting outside to enter, they quickly opened the main gate from both sides.
Duryodhana's chariot entered first, followed by Arjuna's chariot, whose charioteer was his brother Nakul. After the chariots of these two princes went inside, all the remaining chariots also began to enter.
After a short while, it was my turn as well. When I went inside, I saw that the palace was neither very far nor very close.
On both sides of the gate, there were statues of two elephants, each with its trunk raised upward.
Between the gate and the palace lay a grassy field, and several narrow paths made of stone had been built, leading in different directions.
The chariots of the princes and princesses were being moved to the side, and there were many attendants around the chariots, taking care of the horses.
After parking the chariot, I got down and helped Princess Urvi and Princess Poonruivi step off the chariot.
"Thank you,"
both of them said in return for my help. I didn't say anything in response.
Now, because 29 participants had gotten down from their chariots, they were standing there, while 27 charioteers were standing a little distance away from them.
You might be wondering why I said there were 27 charioteers. You will find the answer for one missing charioteer in the previous chapter,
and as for the other missing charioteer, the reason is that I never considered myself a charioteer.
I noticed something here—tents had been set up in several areas of the garden. If counted, there were around thirty of them.
Oh, now I understand. These tents are meant for the charioteers who have participated in the competition as drivers, and I am one of them as well.
I was wondering how the royal members had so easily allowed charioteers to enter the palace.
So this is the reason arrangements have been made here for the charioteers to stay, and this place can be considered part of the palace itself.
Anyway, it's only for a few days. Once the competition ends, there will be no need to stay here anymore.
Some people might be wondering how I concluded that these tents were meant for the charioteers.
Could they not be for the princes and princesses as well?
They could stay here too, couldn't they?
To all of them, my answer is this how did such a question even arise?
Don't you know that princes and princesses would never be made to stay outside like this?
Who would be foolish enough to set up tents for them to live in?
Just then, some male attendants and maidservants arrived, and they went to each prince and princess.
A maidservant came to Princess Poonruivi and Princess Urvi, who were with me.
As soon as she arrived, she asked,
"Princesses, would you like to see your rooms now, or after some time? If you wish to go later, we will wait."
"What? Only for us? Has no room been arranged for our charioteer?" Princess Urvi asked.
"Princess, a tent has been arranged here for your charioteer," the maid replied humbly.
"What kind of arrangement is this? All guests are equal, aren't they? Or is this decided by whether someone belongs to a royal family or to another caste?" Princess Urvi asked sharply.
Until now, she had believed that everyone was not judged by their caste. But this was the first time she had faced such behavior.
"Forgive me, Princess, I have no answer to your question. Such arrangements have been decided by those in higher authority," the maid replied.
Princess Poonruivi, unlike Urvi, was not unaware of society's mindset regarding caste. So she looked at the maid and gave her a signal.
"Maid, we will go a little later. For now, you may take someone else to show them their rooms."
"As you wish, Princess," The maid bowed respectfully and went to another princess.
"Thank you for worrying about me, Princess Urvi, but I'm fine here. It's only a matter of a few days." I said with a smile to Princess Urvi.
"Karn, aren't you hurt by this kind of treatment?" Princess Urvi asked in surprise.
"Me, hurt? That's impossible. Only those who are weak become sad because of others' opinions. Am I weak?" I replied bluntly.
"I've seen someone like you for the first time," Princess Poonruivi said.
"Thank you for the compliment; I took it as praise."
"For some time, the three of us talked to each other.
The maid who had come earlier returned.
Seeing this, the two princesses felt it was no longer appropriate to stay. After saying that they would meet me tomorrow, they left with the maid."
"I set off, and after searching for some time, I found my tent, which was numbered ten.
I turned my face toward the sky and saw that the sun had been replaced by the moon, which meant night had fallen, though it was not yet dark.
That meant some time still remained before complete darkness.
The cool night breeze was blowing, and slowly the moonlight was covering everything."
"I entered my tent. It was quite spacious, and it had everything needed to live comfortably.
There was a bed, a pillow, a chair to sit on, and a few lamps were burning along the walls of the tent.
They may discriminate, but giving this much to someone is no small thing, I muttered."
"Then I sat down on the chair, took off my shoes, and placed them to the side.
Now I had some free time, so what should I do at this moment?
"Yes!" An idea came to my mind, and I called the system.
[ Host, I am online to serve you ]
A system panel appeared in front of me, and the system's mechanical male voice echoed.
I nodded at the system's words, then took out a green crystal from my pocket.
The crystal was glowing with green energy. I had obtained it from the roots of that old tree, and for a long time I had been thinking that I would ask the system about it once it appeared.
"System, the crystal you see in my hand—can you tell me about it?" I asked.
[ Yes, Host. I will display the information about it for you ]
At that moment, a green panel appeared above the green crystal I was holding, with information about the item written on it.
[ Item Name: Life of Leaf Crystal ]
[ Grade: Higher Grade ]
[ Origin: A crystal formed from the life energy of a ten-thousand-year-old demon tree. This demon lived its entire life standing in one place, and the forest that exists now came into being because of it. ]
[ Use: This crystal can be used to craft any higher-grade weapon. ]
"Oh, so this is what the crystal is used for… and the tree I cut down was actually a demon—though a good demon."
I muttered in surprise and understood why I had obtained that green crystal from the old tree.
Then I suddenly remembered something. The panel was showing a detail—Grade. In this world, there were different kinds of weapons, but I had no idea how weapons were classified into grades.
After thinking about it, I asked the System, "System, can you tell me about the weapon grades?"
[ Host, in response to your question, there are six types of grades in this world ]
[ First: Lower Grade ]
[ Second: Middle Grade ]
[ Third: Higher Grade ]
[ Fourth: Advanced Grade ]
[ Fifth: Divine Grade ]
[ the last, Sixth: Supreme Grade ]
[Lower Grade: Weapons of this grade include all those that anyone can use and that are made only from normal materials ]
[ Middle Grade: Weapons of this grade are powerful weapons that have killed many people and have been bathed in blood ]
[Higher Grade: Weapons of this grade are made from special materials rich in unique or extraordinary power. Such weapons possess a special skill of their own.]
[ Advance Grade: Weapons of this grade are possessed only by sages, ascetics, and enlightened masters. They are obtained through intense devotion and penance to the gods. Such weapons do not have a permanent physical form and can manifest into a physical form only when summoned ]
[ Divine Grade: Weapons of this grade contain immense destructive power. Like Advance Grade weapons, they do not have a fixed physical form ]
[ Supreme Grade: Weapons of this grade possess their own life. Such weapons can even take on a human form ]
I finished reading all of this completely. It didn't surprise me at all, such weapons truly exist, and I've even seen them on TV.
I looked at the crystal in my hand. With this, I could make a higher-grade weapon.
But to forge a weapon, I would first need to learn the basic knowledge of blacksmithing.
And I already possessed an ability that made me perfectly suited to become a blacksmith.
First, the competition would have to end. After that, I would create a special weapon of my own—a single arrow.
I had made up my mind, but just then my stomach growled. It must have been night already. I would have to go outside and find out where food was being served.
The royal family couldn't be so low as to not arrange food for their guests.
I then stored the crystal in my system's storage; keeping it outside like this wasn't safe.
Then I stepped out of my tent.
To be continued..