In a small human village.
There was a forge reserved for a bladesmith.
At that moment, a young man was swinging a hammer, pounding a red-hot blade held in his tongs.
"Almost there, just a little more. Once I hammer the dragon man's scales completely into the blade, Dakki will be complete."
Yet when he lowered the finished blade into water to cool it, his brow immediately furrowed.
After tapping the finished blade with his hammer to test it, he had heard, through its ringing, minute internal cracks where the materials had failed to fuse seamlessly:
"Another failure?"
Realizing this, he tossed the blade into a nearby pile of incomplete swords like garbage, without the slightest reluctance.
Among that pile of scrap were no fewer than ten flawed, unfinished blades like this one.
He clearly felt he was only one final step from success, yet he remained stuck there, unable to advance an inch.
"Where exactly did I go wrong? Why can't I get the blade to fuse perfectly with the Dragon Man Scales?"
Just then.
Someone lifted the door curtain from outside.
Two human youths stood at the entrance, one leading a Flame Divine Steed that was clearly no ordinary horse.
"Are you Master Dao Qiu?"
"I'm Dao Qiu. And you are?"
"My name is Li Xia, a human monk with reasonably decent strength. I've come because of your reputation, hoping to make a deal with you, Master Dao Qiu..."
The youth wore a bright, easy smile.
The visitor was none other than Li Xia.
Beside him were Bankotsu, holding the reins, and Entei, being led by them.
"A deal? But I'm only a swordsmith."
The young man, who had a cloth wrapped around his head, looked puzzled.
"It's precisely because you're an excellent swordsmith that I made this