"The blade turned to dust, then reformed back into a sword?" Ryuu stared, shaken by the whole thing.
Kaguya, on the other hand, noticed Rayleigh was packing another sword.
'This probably isn't magic,' she thought. 'A magic sword, maybe? Interesting.'
Seeing that the Zanpakuto had hooked them, Rayleigh struck while the iron was hot.
"I made this. It's a Zanpakuto—Haineko," he explained. "Like you just saw, it turns into ash. It also messes with the surrounding sand and dust, giving whoever's holding it total control over dust."
'Zanpakuto?'
The girls looked at each other. None of them had ever heard of a sword like that.
Kaguya spoke up. "You're telling us that power comes from the sword itself?"
Rayleigh smirked, reversing his grip so the blade pointed at the ground.
"Damn right. This is Haineko's power."
"The Zanpakuto I make might look like normal katanas at first, but they aren't even close."
"A Zanpakuto is forged from a soul. It's basically an extension of whoever wields it—their other half."
"Every blade has a name. If you call it out, you unleash its real power. I call that Shikai."
"So yeah, the name is a huge deal."
"Beyond that, if you keep talking to your Zanpakuto and earn its respect, you can reach an even higher level."
"I call it... Bankai!"
"How much power a Zanpakuto puts out depends on the user. If someone actually reaches Bankai... well, shit, I'm talking too much."
Rayleigh cut himself off.
Alise snapped out of her daze, clenching her fists.
She was hyped!
"That's insane! A Zanpakuto! I've never seen a magic weapon like that!"
Lyra, the Pallum, was having a hard time buying it.
She tried to figure out how the hell the blade disappeared, but she was stumped.
Still, she couldn't accept that a regular-looking sword could pack that kind of power. It threw all her common sense right out the window.
'If Orario really had weapons this strong, why would high-level Adventurers ignore them?'
Lyra was sharp and naturally paranoid.
Kaguya was feeling the doubt, too.
'Going by what this guy said, a single Zanpakuto was equal to a heavy-hitting spell.'
'And since it was a weapon, it bypassed Magic Slots. Even some poor bastard with zero Magic or Skills could use it.'
That was not only 'powerful', but it was game-breaking!
It could flip the entire power structure of Orario on its head!
Thinking about it, she couldn't help but wonder if his Familia emblem was fake.
'Maybe this was some scam set up by the Evilus.'
'A Zanpakuto...'
If it wasn't for that sword, she would've already tried to arrest him.
Rayleigh had no idea his sales pitch just made him look sketchy as hell. They even thought he might be running with the Evilus!
Only Alise actually bought it.
Like a curious kid, she pointed at the Asauchi. "What about this one? Is it a Zanpakuto too? What kind of powers does it have?"
"This one?"
Rayleigh hesitated for a second. "It isn't a Zanpakuto yet, but someone already called dibs on it."
"Then... are there any Zanpakuto for fire users?" Alise asked, her eyes practically sparkling.
'Fire, huh?'
Alise's question made Rayleigh think of the oldest, most badass fire-type Zanpakuto: Ryūjin Jakka.
Then there was Tobiume, the sword of Soul Society's number one punching bag.
But Tobiume was a joke compared to Ryūjin Jakka... it just shot fireballs.
'No... wait. Isn't there another fire-type? One used by a Captain-class guy?'
Ichigo's old man, former Captain of the 10th Division, Isshin Shiba's Zanpakuto: Engetsu.
When Engetsu is released, it dumps a massive amount of spiritual pressure into the blade to spit out flames, boosting its attack power.
It can also manipulate that fire to burn or blow the crap out of enemies.
"Hell yeah there is, and it's strong as hell. Oh, and it even lets you breathe fire."
"Huh?"
"Breathe fire!"
Alise's eyes lit up.
"That's amazing!"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Alise, Alise Lovell, Captain of the Astraea Familia!"
"I want the Zanpakuto that lets me breathe fire!"
"Wait, Alise?!"
"Hey, calm down, you idiot Captain!"
Seeing how the others reacted, Rayleigh knew his sales pitch had blown up in his face.
He didn't bother explaining himself.
Instead, he just said, "I'm heading back for today. Alise-san, if you actually want one of my swords, you can put in a custom order for me at the Hephaestus Familia's weapon shop."
"Okay! I will!"
"Hey!"
"Someone stop this idiot!"
Rayleigh headed back to the surface with his loot and hit up the Guild to trade his Magic Stones for cash.
..
Not long after leaving the Guild, he heard someone yelling his name.
He turned around.
And saw God!
"Thank god, I finally found you, Rayleigh!" Ardi yelled, waving and jogging over with a huge smile.
Damn right.... the customer is God... a loaded one at that!
...
He'd blown all his previous Valis on Recovery Potions.
They were the only way to prop up his pathetic stats and stretch out his Shikai's duration.
Seven potions total, running him 1,050 Valis.
He just cashed in all the Magic Stones he gathered today for 30,000 Valis.
It wasn't like he was slow at killing monsters, the bastards on the Upper Floors just respawned way too slow!
With Haineko's Shikai, farming on the Sixth Floor was a joke, like mowing grass.
Even so, he only walked away with 30,000 Valis.
He only managed to forge an extra Asauchi because one of the seniors blacksmith basically handed him the materials for free.
The materials for a single Asauchi cost a cool million Valis!
He had been in this fucked-up world for a year.
It took him five months just to drag his ass to Orario.
Before that, he spent all his time scraping together cash.
Why didn't he just come to Orario from the start?
Because this was another world!
A primitive, backward, barbaric, and dangerous world.
Heading out on a journey without being prepared was basically suicide.
Thinking back to the absolute grind of forging his first Asauchi and saving enough for travel, Rayleigh's obsession with money hit a whole new high.
For a blacksmith, having your own workshop was a must. But that thing cost millions, maybe even tens of millions of Valis.
Inside the Familia, he could only take on the most basic forging jobs right now, like banging out iron swords.
Each sword made him 1,000 Valis—barely enough to buy three bowls of spaghetti.
Forging ten swords a day would only net him 10,000 Valis.
That was a third of what he made today, and it wouldn't give him much Excellia either.
So, looking at Ardi standing in front of him, all Rayleigh saw was fifty million Valis lying on the ground, just waiting to be picked up!
"Ardi."
From the sound of it, Rayleigh figured she had been looking for him for a while.
It was probably about their deal.
A custom weapon!
"Rayleigh, you actually got into the Hephaestus Familia! Congratulations!"
The girl gave him a huge, genuine smile.
Her smile was so bright it seemed to warm up the air around them. She was happy for him, even though it had nothing to do with her.
Rayleigh smiled back. "Thanks."
"So, now that you're a blacksmith in the Hephaestus Familia, can you forge a weapon for me?"
"Yep." Rayleigh looked at the girl with total confidence. "Pick a blade made by me, and you won't regret it."
"Huh? But I'm more used to swords. Can't you make a sword?" Ardi looked a little worried.
Rayleigh shook his head.
He pointed a finger at her and said, "The shape isn't the issue. The key is.... the soul."
"The soul... You mentioned that before, didn't you?"
Seeing Ardi looking confused, Rayleigh got serious.
He lowered his voice. "The Zanpakuto I forge are weapons infused with the user's soul. I'm not using some metaphor here—it's literal. Physical. Get it? A Zanpakuto is another you. If you ever actually grasp what I'm saying, you'll be able to reach.... Bankai."
'Ban...kai?' Ardi tilted her head.
She asked a question to clear things up, but now she just felt even more lost.
"Don't overthink this thing," Rayleigh said. "Once you have your Zanpakuto in your hands, most of those questions will answer themselves."
Hearing that, Ardi nodded.
"I get it! So, when do we start?"
'Hmm...'
"Tomorrow morning at eight. Let's meet in front of the Guild."
"Okay!"
"See you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah! See you tomorrow, Rayleigh."
'Hell yeah! I finally made a sale!'
Walking back to his Familia, the thought of selling his first Zanpakuto had his heart pounding.
He took a deep breath, raised his right arm, and pointed a single finger at the sky.
"The prologue to a legend starts tomorrow."
After that cocky little declaration, Rayleigh picked up the pace.
He didn't have his own workshop, and outsiders sure as hell weren't allowed in the Familia's internal work areas.
So, he had to find a spot in the city to borrow before tomorrow.
'Tsk.'
'For the start of a legend.... this is pretty lame.'
That evening, he got a key from Tsubaki. It was for a place where she used to lock herself away to forge weapons.
Since she needed to forge non-stop for a month straight, doing it at the Familia base would just piss people off or get her interrupted.
So, she set up a quiet spot out of the way.
Rumor had it a few First-Class Armaments had been born in that exact room.
Taking the key, Rayleigh thought to himself that the second Zanpakuto in this world was about to be born there too.
"By the way," Tsubaki added, "no one's used it in a while, so it probably needs a good scrub. Consider that your rental fee. I'm counting on you, alright?"