Akushitsuna made his way downtown while noticing the winds particularly strong gusts on this very day. He could feel his clothes bustling in the wind effortlessly, as he took a casual stroll towards today's destination. Along the way he couldn't help but look up into the sunny sky that bore down onto the city as a whole. It was rather odd how the sun shown its face; yet, he found himself confused as to how the winds gave such a powerful force on an otherwise peaceful day.  

He was making his way to one blacksmith's shop in particular, and via the recommendation of a newfound ally to meet on this day. Ikazuchi said that this man specifically had a variety of objects that could be of interest to man such as himself. Aku took a interest in such, and was nearing the destination of which he sought. Ikazuchi was to meet him at the blacksmith's shop shortly to follow. As Aku made his way into the narrowing buildings that accompanied either sides of himself, the gusts of wind would only become that much stronger. The power of their gusts had become so strong that he felt a significant level of resistance with each step, even if he were able to overcome it with a certain level of ease.

The sorcerer would.ve soon came to the entrance of the shop, and entered only to feel a certain level of relaxation to follow. After relaxing himself from the struggle of walking through the weather, Aku would begin to browse the shops wares. It was a short time later that he heard a certain level of metal clinging against one another drawing his attention. Aku looked upwards to see a man in shaggy clothing dashing out of the shop at a rather alarming speed. "Get back here you filthy thief!"

The mage turned his attention towards the owner who would've soon turned his attention towards himself and another. "I'll pay a hefty fee to whoever catches that bastard and the valuables he stole! First come first serve  damnit, i've a shop to keep after!" That was all that Akushitsuna needed to hear as he turned roundabout, but amidst doing so noticed that Ikazuchi had already arrived. "Follow me and I'll join you back here afterwards."

With that note he'd already taken off at top speed to follow the thief at hand. He'd no time to waste after giving the fool a few second lead. IT wasn't exactly his problem to deal with, but the mage needed coin to fill his pocket at the current moment in time. He could see the idiotic thief dashing towards an alleyway in the near distance at this point, but it was somewhat unfortunate that his objective was assisted with the assistance of the wind blowing now towards them. "Shadoudasshu (シャドウダッシュ, Shadow Dash)" He spoke clearly as he leaned downwards dashing immediately towards the corner of the alley that his now enemy had entered. Within a mere moment Aku had been launched at great speeds, and lands with a sliding demeanor before quickly raising upright to continue his pursuit. "Resistance is futile, turn yourself in before I have no choice but to take any means needed."

The thief continued to move at rather tremendous speeds for someone who appeared to be in such poor health, but Aku sighed as he kneeled over in preparation to close the distance before the two, and launches himself with full speed leaping at him. As Suna came within range of the poor soul, he reached outwards to grab the man by the collar of the shirt. He would then slam it downwards causing the man to fall to the ground in a rolling motion as he grappled him, only to look up to his ally as he turns the corner. "Kumo! Restaing him immediately!"

WC: 660

Weapons, Armor, and Equipment in general; These made up some of the most highly sought items on the market for Adventurers, Mercenaries, and Soldiers. Whether the individual in question was a Mage or Non-Mage, the importance of proper equipment couldn’t be underestimated. A piece of armor or a quality weapon could be the factor that determines life or death. It was for that reason that Ikazuchi encouraged his companion to visit the local Blacksmith. Although Akushitsuna wouldn’t have to rely on it as heavily as he personally does, he believed that it would be good to properly equip himself.

That was the particular reason why he found himself at a particular Blacksmith’s Shop operated by a man known as Godfrey. Although Ikazuchi didn’t know the man personally, there wasn’t any denying the man’s reputation in Baska. His tendency to offer equipment as a reward made him well-known, so this particular location was one that Ikazuchi frequented. His primary reason for this was to have his equipment maintained and repaired as needed. He was taught early in life the importance of maintaining his equipment by his Father, and further understood that during his years as an employee at a similar shop in Magnolia. His secondary reason was to browse the equipment and search for potential replacements for his own. Taking requests with Akushitsuna increased his income allowing him to consider higher quality equipment. Unfortunately, that was still only to the extent of hopeful browsing at the moment.

As he already intended to visit the shop today, Ikazuchi made a point to visit earlier in order to have his equipment serviced properly for the first time in a while. Time went by with him roaming the shop before his armor and swords were returned to him. Upon receiving them Ikazuchi made a point to go out of the way and equip the items properly. If he were going to roam with the equipment, then it was naturally better to wear it than carry it. From his more secluded location in the shop Ikazuchi was able to see Akushitsuna arrive and start to browse the shop.

Ikazuchi knew that Akushitsuna wasn’t someone who would particularly want his help, so he chose to go towards the section with swords. He found himself drawn to the katanas that he saw on display time and time again. It was a sword that had its origin in Joya, his Father’s homeland, the swords were reminiscent of the ones that he saw his father use for many years. ‘I will eventually have one of those for myself.’ He thought that to himself as he examined it thoroughly.

Ikazuchi was lost in thought for a time, but that was disrupted by the sound of metal clinking from nearby. “Hmm?” Ikazuchi glanced to his right and caught sight of a figure dashing behind him through his peripheral vision. Almost simultaneously he heard Godfrey’s angry shout about a thief. Truthfully, he wasn’t particularly interested in a thief who didn’t harm anyone in the process, but the next line captured his attention.

A reward was offered, and that was enough to get both his and his companion’s attention. Mixed with Akushitsuna’s rapid footsteps was something of a command, but it clearly expressed his intent to chase the thief. “Right behind you.” Ikazuchi called out to Akushitsuna as his body moved in pursuit of the two, and quickly exited the shop.

Ahead of Ikazuchi was Akushitsuna, and ahead of him was the thief who was hugging a rather nice sword. Ikazuchi felt a little frustrated seeing that a simple thief was making off with something that he couldn’t even afford currently. ‘What a load of bullshit.’ Now that he was involved, he found another reason to motivate himself.

As Ikazuchi reached his top running speed he noticed the activation of Akushitsuna’s dash spell. “That’s always entertaining to see…” He spoke softly to himself as he watched his companion bolt off quickly in pursuit. Akushitsuna reached the alley entrance in just a moment, but Ikazuchi wasn’t trailing too far behind.

He heard his companion’s voice carrying the short distance out of the alleyway as he approached. It was a warning to the thief, something that was reasonable in this situation. Neither of them were particularly slow, and there wasn’t any means for this person to escape today.

The first thing that Ikazuchi saw upon entering the alley was the two tumbling to the ground. As he approached the two Akushitsuna called out for him to help restrain the thief. Ikazuchi didn’t bother to waste words in this situation and directly stepped in. His first action was to kick the thief while he was down and give his partner time to return to his feet.

“I can handle it from here.” Ikazuchi took a few steps back from the thief towards the entrance while his companion stood on the opposite side. The two blocked both of the escape routes for the thief who was back on his feet. The man holding the sword clearly was becoming more anxious while trapped. It was to the extent that the man took hold of the sword.

“Hey.” Ikazuchi reacted the moment that he saw the man’s action and spoke to him. “If you turn your back to me with that sword, I will cut you down where you stand.” As he spoke to the thief, he made a point to rest his hand on the sword at his waist. This clearly scared the man, but it wouldn’t be good to approach him directly now. It wouldn’t be worth it if he ended up getting injured due to someone flailing a sword. “But, if you come at me then I won’t draw my sword even if you use that one.” Ikazuchi pushed the man towards an anxious mistake by following his threat with a seemingly easier alternative.

It was a psychological trick of sorts, one that succeeded beautifully as the man didn’t hesitate to charge at him after he spoke. It was a charging thrust without skill, something that would be easy to handle for Ikazuchi due to his experience. He made a point to wait until the last moment he could so that the man would relax and become overconfident before relying on skillful footwork to turn and reposition himself to the thief’s right side. ‘It’s over.’ He thought this to himself as he took hold of the extended right arm with his left and placed his right hand on the back of the man’s right hand. Without any hesitation Ikazuchi pushed and folded the man’s right hand into his wrist forcing it to release the sword. He didn’t stop there, he made a point to break the man’s wrist at this point as a warning. The intent was for the man to be warned of wielding weapons carelessly, though he wouldn’t speak that directly.

The man screamed due to the pain, but he didn’t care. Instead, he brought his left elbow sharply up into the man’s throat due to those screams. They didn’t need such apparent attention in the middle of the town. It was clear that the man was struggling to breathe properly after the strike, so the screams weren’t a problem for the time being. “I’ll take him, so could you get the sword?” Ikazuchi spoke to Akushitsuna now that the situation was under control. He didn’t wait for a reply from the man as it was the obvious course of action. Instead of that, he twisted the man’s right arm behind his back and grabbed his other arm just above the elbow to restrain and push the man back to the nearby shop. Ikazuchi didn’t give any thought to the cruel actions as the person who was suffering had moments ago attempted to stab him. He was only considering what he may be able to do with the reward that was offered.

Word Count: [1,310/1,000]

Aku watched as his ally came to his aid after a short period of time. Ikazuchi had kicked the thief from on top of himself, and allowed the sorcerer to quickly jump to his feet. Suna would then quickly block the ragged thief from fleeing his side of the alleyway. He stood watching the thief as he'd become more anxious beginning to walk back in the direction of Aku, who seemed to be the easier one to avoid than an ironclad knight. "There's no hope of escape." The sorcerer reaches out his arm bracing it with the other. " Ōkami no ashi (オオカミの足, Wolf Paw)" Aku would then allow the glowing claw to rest at his side, and watches as the man began to turn towards Ikazuchi who would then address him as well.

He then stands intrigued by his allies choice of words, watching as he'd challenged the man to approach unarmed. He couldn't help but chuckle when the man got his wrist destroyed in the process. Aku would nod as Ika asked for him to grab the sword. "Sure thing." He allowed his claw to vanish before snatching it up, holding the blade in one hand draped over his shoulder.

The two made their way to the shop so that they could deliver both the thief and stolen goods. Aku couldn't help but wonder a few things along the way. Such as why people liked these blades in combat so much, to him the felt like overkill, not to mention how the weight was awfully drastic and more than needed, but he couldn't help but consider this blade in particular far superior to any others he'd held.

The shop owner seemed quite excited to see they brought both the goods and thief back in one piece, then immediately took him from Ikazuchi. After being asked to wait a moment before receiving the rewards, he began to do unspeakable things to the poor thief who chose to steal from the wrong shop. Both the duo didn't appear to be bothered by the torture, and merely waited for their reward, much to the shop keepers surprise.

WC: 362
TWC 1,012

QUEST DONE