Larna looked up at the deep blue sky, thankful that he had the trunk of the big tree to lean against. He opened the bowl he had brought with him and smelled the scent of fried meat. They deserved some rest after the training.

  “Ugh, my legs are killing me! …Hey Larna, won't you eat those?”

  “Uh… you can take it.”

  Vale took the fried meatballs from Larna’s bowl. He watched them go with a wrinkled face.

  They were delicious, but he noticed how Vale looked at them. He could eat them another time, and today’s Vale lunch looked very poor.

  “Of course they are heart-shaped,” Vale said, analyzing the meatballs closely.

  Larna’s brow furrowed, and his face felt hot. “Just eat them!”

  This was one of the few times when Vale was silent. He slowly chewed, eyes closed, like trying to fully grasp the taste.

  “Hmm!” He happily moaned. “This is delicious! Thanks, this was exactly what I needed for my leg ache!”

  “Don’t use your leg ache as an excuse.”

  Vale chuckled and ate the rest of the meatballs. One by one, he enjoyed every bite. He cleaned his mouth with his wrist, a satisfied smile on his face.

  But his smile faded as his face got serious. “I’ve been thinking about our battle yesterday.”

  Larna hunched. Yesterday, he spent several minutes resting on his bed, looking at the ceiling of his bedroom, dwelling on that battle.

  Vale’s words were a temporary aid that cheered him, but during their exercise and at home, the effect passed by. He couldn’t shake that battle out of his head—after all, he lost.

  A black flame consumed him from inside. This flame was merciless and felt as if it would never run out of fuel. It made him want to punch the walls and rip his weak skin.

  “Hello? Someone’s at home?” Vale said, knocking Larna’s head.

  Larna blinked back to reality and pushed Vale’s hand away. “Then? Did you have any revelation?”

  “Hum Hum,” Vale chuckled dramatically. “I think I know what you need.”

  “Reborn?”

  Depression aside, he had been trying to find something useful in their battle. He ended up overwhelmed and concluded that more practice would do the job.

  “Uhum,” Vale coughed, ignoring Larna’s pessimism. “When I started, I used a sword and shield, too. Everyone does it,” He said with a shrug.

  “But I remember feeling restrained. I couldn’t attack as I wanted, and the shield was a pain. When I discovered the dual-blades, all those problems were solved.”

  “Try another weapon…” Larna muttered.

  Vale could be right. Larna liked the shield—it had saved him from instant defeats so many times. But the sword that paired with it was too short. Because of it, Larna had failed that attack when Vale was open. Maybe if he had a larger weapon…

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  “Thanks, Vale. I’ll give it a try.”

  —

  Larna couldn’t stop wondering what weapon would fit him. Back at home, he slammed the door of his bedroom closed, stumbled onto his pc, and searched ‘Battle weapons’.

  He clicked a page that showed a vertical list with weapon names. He scrolled down, and down, and down. The vertical list seemed not to have an end.

  There is in this infinite arsenal a weapon that fits me, right?

  His finger grew sore from scrolling. Okay, it’s enough. I’ll just do a test.

  Larna searched ‘Battle ideal weapon test,’ and a lot of results showed on the screen. At first, he looked for an official one, but there didn't seem to be any. So Larna just took the first one.

  [You’re a man or woman?]

  Larna grimaced at the screen, doubting that the question was relevant. This test didn’t stop asking silly questions like ‘Favorite color?’, ‘Pizza or Hamburger’. Finally, Larna reached the last one.

  [Do you like to look at the sky?]

  Larna stared at the screen, his eyes detached from everything. The white screen reflected in his eyes and face. His right eye started twitching.

  He didn't even bother to complain about the importance of the question, just answered ‘Yes’.

  He narrowed at the spiraling charging symbol that appeared on the screen’s center. He completely doubted the veracity of this test. He had completed it because it was too late when he considered doing another. But looking back, he should have stopped immediately.

  Finally, the charging icon faded, and the screen became entirely white.

  It crashed!?

  To Larna’s relief and disgrace, a string of letters slowly faded into the center of the screen. It said:

  [Any]

  Larna blinked. Any… any?!

  He smashed his desk with his hands. What kind of test is this? What does it mean by any?!

  He glared at the screen, noticing a string at its corner.

  [Made by Analyzer]

  I curse you, Analyzer!

  —

  “Any?” Vale asked.

  “Yeah,” Larna said with a sigh.

  Vale’s mouth twitched until he burst out laughing.

  “Where did you find that test? On the Deep Web?!”

  Larna sighed. “It was the first result. It said it was made for someone called ‘Analyzer’.”

  Vale’s laugh faded as he stood up. He dusted off his clothes and extended his hand to Larna.

  “Then we will have to do it ourselves.”

  Larna rose to his feet with the help of Vale’s pull. “Do what? Don’t tell me that…”

  “We’ll try all weapons!” Vale said, giving Larna a thumbs up.

  Larna's face contorted—the never-ending list of weapons flashing by his mind. “There are too many!”

  Vale rubbed his chin, humming. “Then just pick a random one.”

  Larna narrowed his eyes at Vale. He was about to argue when Vale gestured for him to stop. “Just do it. It’ll be quick.”

  Larna sighed and mentally summoned the Battle interface. He navigated through the ‘Equipment’ to the ‘Weapons’ section. Then glared at a button at the corner of his field of view—[Random weapon]. Then mentally tapped it.

  Larna’s attention was drawn again to reality. His sword and shield shimmered with blue light. Their shape slowly changed into the shape of the new weapon.

  The blue light condensed on Larna’s back. It took the form of a big spike that rose vertically above his head.

  A big rectangular shape followed, covering his entire back.

  “It’s a powerful one!” Vale said, clenching his fists with a grin.

  Larna’s knees bent over by the unexpected weight of the weapon. It was definitely heavier than the previous one. Despite that, Larna could take its weight.

  He straightened. Then brought his weapon to view.