"This is good." Will was satisfied with today.
For many hours now he had grinded endlessly for enough stone. Once he had stone in his hand new recipes appeared in his book.
Just like the same situation when he touched wood the first time, stone related recipes were added to the book. But that's not all. As it turns out, it also added new stuff related to wood as well. New recipes that were a mix of wood and stone were added. Now he could make stone tools, with the right amount of materials.
Will did not mine deep down, because that would be too much work and possibly dangerous. Instead he found a giant boulder and mined part of it.
It was tough at first, especially when using wooden tools. But after collecting enough stone he created a stone pickaxe and shovel.
For some strange reason he found it easier to mine stone over wood.
Then he used his shovel to dig up dirt, and to his surprise dirt recipes appeared in his book, but only building recipes were added. Meaning that he could build a dirt house if he wanted to. Anybody who has ever played Minecraft at one point built a 4x4x4 or 3x3x3 dirt house.
Today was a success. But now he faced another problem, being able to smelt ore.
When he mined the giant boulder, he unexpectedly found 13 copper ore. But now he needed to smelt the ore to be able to craft better armor and tools.
"In order to smelt ore I need a furnace. But I do not know how to craft one… crap."
Will did not unlock the recipe to be able to craft furnaces yet. He thought that he either needed coal or torches to be able to craft it. But he did not know where to get torches. And it was getting late and he would not have time to collect coal before the sun sets.
"Wait, the kid said that his mom was a blacksmith. Does that mean that the shop belongs to them? And if his mom is a blacksmith, then that means that they have a furnace." Will had an idea. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out what a furnace needs, he simply needed to touch the furnace inside the weapon shop and he would be able to craft it. And then he would be able to craft furnaces
*Growl*
A low growl was heard coming from behind him.
"Ugh, what now." Will started to get annoyed.
Looking at the monster behind him, he knew exactly what it was, a zombie.
{Zombie}
{HP 20/20}
Zombies are by far one of the most common monsters in most video games, and also one of the easiest to kill.
"This should be easy." Will took out his stone pickaxe and jammed it straight into the Zombies head, blood splattered violently and it made Will sick. It was easy to aim his pickaxe after getting used to swinging it. He did not bother shooting the zombie in order to preserve his bullets.
{Zombie}
{Hp 0/20}
A single swing to the head was all it took to kill it. As everyone who has ever played a zombie game, or watched a zombie movie, knows that destroying a zombie's brain is the most well known method to destroying a zombie completely.
The zombie dropped to the ground dead… well deader than before.
"What? That doesn't make se- oh… right… I understand."
Will forgot something important. He thought that he would need to swing his pickaxe more than once to kill it, but then he remembered that this wasn't a game he was playing, it was real life.
Everyone in the world knows this, if someone were to impale a pickaxe on a person's head, most likely the target will be dead. But not in video games. Sometimes hitting people on the head would count as a critical hit which would deal at least double the damage.
But since this is real life, a single swing of his pickaxe was all it took to kill a weak zombie.
"Will I die with a single shot if someone were to aim at my head?" Will wanted to know that question, but he wasn't willing to find out now.
He checked the zombie for any loot, like an experienced gamer. After finding nothing he left with all his stuff in his chest. He left before any more monsters appeared.
"Maybe by tomorrow or in two days I will be able to leave this village… but would that be a good decision? This village has food, supplies, people… I'll think about it later."
Even though this village was good, Will believed that he could create a much safer, better, and bigger place in time. It was a question of when should he leave this village.
Will took out the book and read about the Zombie to collect information.
{Zombie}
{It is by far the weakest monster, but also the most feared in the world. It is a monster made by a vile necromancer 300 years ago. When it was born, the world had been infected with the virus that spread like wildfire. It brought back many of the dead back to life, and feasted on the flesh of those who were alive. The world has never been more faced a tougher time}
{Destroy their brains and they will die instantly. Burning them will work as well. And most importantly, double-tap. They are very slow but are stronger than the average male. Do not face them in hand-to-hand combat}
{It is a highly contagious monster that should not be fought by common people}
"Okay...." Will was fascinated by this fact. But after a while he stopped reading.
Will visited the weapon shop for a quick look not expecting the shop to be open. But to his surprise, he found the kid inside the shop waiting on the counter. He was asleep with his chin resting on his arm.
"Looks like I will be able to smelt that ore faster than expected."
Opening the door it made a ringing bell.
"Huh? What?" The kid woke up and stretched his arms like a lazy cat.
"Hello." Said Will.
"Oh, it's you. Wait, what time is it?" He noticed that it got dark outside.
"I don't know. I don't have the time."
"Oh crap, it's closing time. Sorry, but you can't be here."
"Wait, can I see your furnace?"
"My what?" The kid was confused by his request. It's not everyday that someone asks you 'can I see your furnace.'
"Can I see what blacksmiths use to smelt ore?"
"Why? Do you want to be a blacksmith?"
"I guess you could say that."
"Are you looking for a job here? We are looking for someone to work the night shift."
Then Will got a great idea.
'If I take a job here, then I won't need to craft a furnace. I could just come here and craft all I want.'
"If I say 'yes' then will I be able to craft… er I mean smelt stuff in the back?"
"Of course!"
"I'll take the job."
"Great. How long have you been a blacksmith?"
"Um…"
Before Will knew it, he was taking a job and this was the interview. Having never applied for a job before, he started to get nervous.
Due to his insomnia he could never get a job.
It was somewhat easy being a lumberjack. All it required was hard labor, an axe, and a tree. But being a blacksmith was different. Not only did it require physical labor, but many other things to consider.
Welding, smelting, hammering, forging, it requires years of training and studying to become a blacksmith. If Will did not have the crafting system, then he would have never been able to craft the wooden armor or stone tools.
"I gotta be honest, I am not a blacksmith."
"Is that true?"
"Sigh… yes." Will could not lie about it. There was so much about blacksmiths that he did not know the first thing about it. It would be better if he didn't lie.
"Yeah, I knew it from the beginning. You didn't have your smith badge. And also your hands are clean and soft, which means that you are not a blacksmith" The kid was smiling coily at Will. He pointed to his hip and showed a black badge shaped like a hammer.
"You knew?"
"Of course. I wanted to see if you were a liar. Usually liars tend to steal from others. If you had lied just now I would have kicked you out."
"..." Will just got tested by a kid.
"I could teach you, if you want. Provided if you pay for the lessons."
"Um… I guess." Will's plan was to just use the furnace and possibly even craft one for his own. Regardless he was only going to do this job temporarily.
"Alright. You can go in the back, but just don't touch anything. And don't you dare make weapons or tools or anything, because you will get us in big trouble. And also there's the price tags on these weapons so you will know how much they're worth…"
After giving Will some guidance on what to do, the kid left to go to sleep.
"What's your name?" Asked Will.
"Jack. Yours?"
"Will Connor."
"Nice to meet you, Will. I guess this means that you're my apprentice. Bye."
The kid left the store in Will's hands. Not long did Will hear Jack shout in glee.
"YAHOO! GRANDMA, I GOT A STUDENT!"
"... what did I get myself into?"
All Will wanted to do was touch the furnace, but he somehow became an apprentice of a 15 year old boy.
"I did give my word to that kid, and now I have to take the night shift…"
Then Will realized something. Who was going to buy weapons in the middle of the night? Everyone is probably asleep in the comfort of their own homes.
Regardless of that at least he succeeded in getting access to the shop. The store was filled with weapons like guns, bows, crossbows, shields, and all the cliche weapons one would find in a fantasy world.
"Wait, since when do Blacksmiths make guns? And since when do they craft bows, arrows and crossbows?" Will found this fact weird. The ones who make guns are called 'gunsmiths' and blacksmiths only make swords, hammers, axes, and so on. Whereas those who create arrows are called 'fletchers' and those who create bows are called 'bowyer' and the ones who make crossbows are called 'crossbow makers' or 'crossbowmen.'
"I am confused. This is supposed to be a smithy and man I should stop talking to myself."
Due to never having friends, and being a loner, and since he had been a third rate youtuber for a few years, he made it a habit to talk to himself.
He also touched every single weapon and tool on display, from arrows, bullets, leather armor. Now he had more stuff to craft.
"Hmm… I remember that Cassandra found it cute that I talked to myself." He smiled as he remembered his girlfriend. He did love her, but they were not meant to be together.
"No, I am not going to think about the past anymore. This is a new life for me. So therefore the past is irrelevant now."
He went to the back of the store. And there it was, a furnace.
"There it is! But Jack said I should not touch… ah what the heck."
Will touched the furnace, and a new crafting recipe was added to his book.
{Basic furnace}
{Able to smelt most of the ore in the world. It is a must have for those who want to make armor, weapons and tools}
{Required: 20x stone, 10x wood, 1x flint, 5x coal}
"Flint? So that's what I needed, not torches." Will was glad he thought of this plan, otherwise he would have wasted valuable time trying to find the ingredients to craft a furnace.
And another thing, he did not know where to get flint.
"Should I go look for gravel? Is that even where I can find flint in real life?" Will was totally clueless as to where to look for flint.
Will looked at the rest of the room. His only focus was on the furnace, but there were many other things inside the store.
"Wow." Will was amazed.
It was a large room that contained many other blacksmithing stations. He touched every single one of them and recorded them inside his book.
{Anvil}
{A station used to repair and craft tools, weapons, and armor that are better than stone}
{Required: 50x iron}
{gunsmith table}
{A station used to craft and repair firearms}
{Required: 50x metal}
{Bowman's table}
{A station used to craft and repair bows, arrows, and crossbows}
{Required: 50x wood}
{Reforging station}
{A station used to make any weapon a higher or lower tier, this includes firearms, bows, and crossbows}
{Required: 10x refined mana ore, 30x stone}
"To think that this shop had so many different stations."
This was a jackpot for Will. Now he knew how to craft all of these stations for himself. And the best part is that he could actually use them right now.
Since he could not make anything else at the moment, he headed for the furnace.
In front of him appeared two boxes.
{insert smelting material}
{insert fuel}
"Now this is just like Minecraft." Will said.
He placed the ore he had on his chest. But he lacked coal for fuel. He actually found some lying around in the room.
"I'm sure Jack wouldn't mind if I took a little bit of coal for myself."
He grabbed two pieces of coal and inserted it in the 'insert fuel' box. The second he did the ore started smelting.
{2:10 minutes remaining}
Will sat down and just watched the fire smelt his ore.
When he touched the coal it added more crafting recipes in his book. Now he can make multiple light sources with ease.
2 minutes later all of his ore was smelted.
Now he had 13 copper bars. Upon touching the copper bars he unlocked even more crafting recipes.
But Will wasn't satisfied just yet. He might have unlocked crafting materials for copper, but now he wanted to have enough to craft copper tools. 13 copper bars is just not enough.
Checking the room, he found an abundance of iron ore, copper ore, and another type of metal he has never seen. Of course he touched the unknown metal
{steel bar}
{Better material than iron}
{Ingredients: 2x iron bars, 1 copper bar}
{Anvil is needed}
This surprised Will. He is able to actually craft steel, a metal that is much stronger than iron. He already had 13 copper with him, meaning that he could in fact make 13 steel bars, but he lacked the iron to make it.
Will checked how much money he had at the moment. He also checked the price tags for iron ore and steel, but there weren't any. As it turns out blacksmiths did not sell their ore.
Not wanting to steal from someone who gave him this job and opportunity, he decided that it was not worth stealing anything. Although the temptation was great, he managed to walk away. In his years of gaming experience, he has learned that rash movements will often lead to his downfall.
And also he got another list of crafting ingredients that required steel.
"I cannot steal from Jack. He does not deserve it." After placing his 13 copper bars away in his chest, Will stood in front of the counter and waited patiently.
*Ring*
The doorbell rang.
"Sup." Will said lazily. It was a strange person who covered his entire body with a black cloak, not even his face or hands could be seen.
"I'd like to buy all your arrows." It was the gentle voice of a woman,
"..."
Will did not respond because he was preoccupied by what he saw on top of the individual's head.
{HP 300/300}
{Elf}
Elves are also one of the most well known beings on Earth, either from DnD campaigns, Animes, or lord of the Rings. They're mostly known for having long pointy ears, living in the forests, great in using bows and, and in other cases even adept in magic.
Will wished he could see her face. Like any man, they wish to be able to see a real live elf.
"I said I would like to buy all your arrows."
"Oh, um, they're right over there." Will pointed to the side of the room.
"I know. I am asking if you also have some more in the back."
"I'll check.'
Will went back to the room to check for more arrows, but there weren't any.
"Sorry, it seems that there aren't any…"
Will noticed that the elf was gone, and so were the arrows.
"...That bitch."
His view of elves had decreased greatly. If there is anything that he hates more in life, is when they steal from him, although technically they stole from the shop and not from him.
Will ran outside of the shop, and sure enough he did not see where that elf ran. She had a coat which meant she blended will in the night. Will could probably still see her by looking at the words on top of her, but she was gone.
He had no idea where she ran off to.
"...I'm going to get fired." first day on the job and he had already messed up.
Dejected, Will walked back to the counter. This time he wasn't going to let anyone steal from him.
*Ring*
The doorbell rang again. The individual who entered ran inside like a bullet, and basically pounced on WIll. He almost thought that he was going to be attacked, but then he noticed who it was that entered the building.
"Wait, what was your name again?"
It was none other than Jack. His eyes were large that could pop out of their sockets. He also gripped Will's wooden armor, but he got splinters on his hands, but it did not seem to bother him in the slightest.
"What?" Will was visibly confused.
"Did you say that your name is 'Will Connor'?"
"Yeah? Why?"
"Are you sure that you aren't messing with me? You actually have a last name?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then does that mean that you're a hero?" As Jack continued to ask more and more questions, his eyes got bigger and brighter.
"Am I what now?"
"No really, are you a hero or not?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
Jack let go of Will and inspected him closely from all sides.
"Tell me, what is the name of the 'Great sage.'"
"..." Will did not know the answer.
"Do you know who the 'Fat Empress' is? Or the 'Phobia King'?"
Will shook his head.
"Do you at least know what this world is called?"
"..." Will.
"Oh my god, you are a hero." Jack realized and his eyes grew brighter like stars.
"Once again, I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Well I do. I didn't notice it at first, but your clothing is made out of wood, right?"
"Uh, yeah.'
"Usually when heroes are summoned they have weird clothing, and they also have a last name. So that must mean that you are a hero… but what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the center of the Kingdom Reyes?"
"Jack, let me tell you something, I have no idea what the hell you are saying."
"Are you serious? You have no idea?"
Will shook his head.
"But, you are a hero… I mean, you were summoned here, right? A couple of days ago I believe?"
'More like dragged against my own will.'
"I guess you could say that."
"Oh my god. An actual hero in my house."
"This is your house?"
"But, seriously, why are you in this poor village? Better yet, tell me everything that happened."
Jack grabbed a chair and sat Will down. Jack then sat on the ground and rested his chin on his hands.
Will was weirded out at this point.
"I'm going back to my apartment now."
"No, please wait."
"I am grateful that you gave me this chance to be here, but now you are creeping me out." Will got up and was about to leave.
"Wait, wait, wait, I'll give you anything you want, just please stay here."
Hearing that Will stopped in his tracks.
"Anything?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Well… okay."
This was a good chance to get some ore and steel bars. The sooner he is able to craft better items, the sooner it will guarantee his success of survival.
"I am sorry if I weirded you out. I am just so excited to finally meet a hero."
"Before I tell you anything, tell me what this hero bogus is all about."
Will knew what a hero meant, but he wasn't sure if the kid was thinking about the same thing as him. Was there a Justice league in this world or what?
"Okay… um, one second." Jack went upstairs and came back with a small book in his hands.
"This is a short and simple story about heroes. I always read this before I go to bed. Want me to read it to you?" He said with a blush.
"..." Will.
"Okay: 300 years ago, the humans faced extinction. This world was a world that seemed to spawn the most vilest, and horrendous creatures from the darkest places. From giant mountain-like centipedes with the face of a human skull, from giants who ate humans as if they were nothing but a snack, to 9-headed dragons who breathed fire and poison gas."
"Humans were never born to have the strength, speed, and abilities that those monsters have. It was like trying to kill an evil God. That is until one day, an ordinary man named 'Kleo' changed the entire world. He discovered a method to summon beings from another world. These beings were later referred to as 'heroes.'"
"Kleo had found an item from a dungeon that was older and more ancient than anything. Inside, he found the 'summoning spell' that would later be used to summon the heroes. But, it came at a price, human sacrifices. The spell required the lives of 10 willing people for a single summon."
"This method gave hope to the few remaining humans, who'd spent their whole lives living on mountains in fear, where there were almost no monsters. Out of all the remaining people, 30 were willing to sacrifice their lives to give a chance to their families, friends, and humanity. Kleo was also one of the 30 who sacrificed himself.'
"3 heroes were summoned. 2 men and 1 woman, their names were Bell Dyer, Roy Morgan, Samuel Brophy. Each of them had special skills and abilities that no other human possessed. They were the original 3 heroes that have been summoned to this world. Humanity put their faith into these 3 strangers. They thought that their lives of cowering in fear would be over and they were right. Those three had saved humanity from extinction. We had finally been set free. But it wasn't over."
"Once a hero is summoned they each possess powerful abilities. A hero has super strength, speed, and super regeneration. Not only that, but they each have unique powers of their own."
"Roy Morgan, also known as the great sage, is the first sorcerer to have ever lived, and the strongest hero even after 300 years. He could control the mana around him, conjure fireballs and lightning, tame the seas, command animals, create powerful illusions. He is the one who has also spread his power to humanity, and we have all benefited from this."
"Samuel Brophy, no one exactly knows what his powers were exactly. But we do that his contribution to mankind is the reason why humanity isn't extinct."
"And finally, Bell Dyer, also known as the 'witch' and 'the fallen hero.' Her powers were crude and evil. She could revive the dead, no matter who or what it was, and command the dead to do her biddings. Then a demon possessed her body, and she spread a terrible plague around the world. This plague would make the dead come back to live, and then eat the remaining humans, they were called 'zombies.' Those who were bitten or scratched by a zombie, would come back as an undead to continue spreading the disease. No cure has ever been found."
"In the end, the two heroes Roy Morgan and Samuel Brophy managed to take down the witch. But at the cost of Samuel Brophy's life. Roy Morgan ultimately led the humans to exterminate any and all zombies roaming the world."
"Any attempts to find the ancient cave that Kleo found has ended in complete failure. Now that he was gone no one knew where this cave was, but that still hasn't stopped curious people from finding it. It is said that there could be even stronger enchanted items in this cave, items that could rival a hero's power."
"..." Will.
Will thought if that was really a short and simple story. It was pretty long. But either way, he more or less understood the story.
"So this is the story about the first 3 heroes. What do you think?" Jack asked with a smile.
"I have a few questions: When you said something about heroes having a last name, what was that about?"
"Oh. 300 years when the first king was born, he made a law stating that only heroes should have a last and first name. This is because even before 300 years ago, people didn't have names. And now normal people have only one name, but heroes have 2, this is because people believe that heroes are powerful enough to have a second name. Anyone who has a second name will be sent to 50 years to jail. It is a law that has been here since the first 3 heroes were summoned."
"That's pretty stupid… so your name is only Jack?"
"Yup."
Will thought how gullible this kid was. Just because Will had weird clothing and a last name does not mean that he's a hero. Anyone could create weird clothing, and also give themselves another name to trick others.
It was like impersonating a police officer. It's illegal and people still do it.
"I see. Another question: This summoning spell that the book mentioned, was it also used to summon me?"
"Well, yeah, but the summoning spell is supposed to bring you to the kingdom of the Phobia King. It shouldn't make any sense that you're here right now."
"So right now there are 2 other heroes that have been summoned, besides me?"
"No. The summoning spell is able to summon 100 heroes every 100 hundred years. Every single hundred years 1000 willing people are sacrificed to summon these heroes. Meaning that right now there should be 99 other heroes right now."
Will scratched his chin. 100 heroes? Wasn't that too much? Or was it not enough?
'Wait, he also mentioned a zombie.'
"About the zombies, is there a chance that one could be roaming around the world?" Asked WIll.
"No, that's impossible. The great sage personally destroyed every single remaining zombie created by the witch. The last zombie to have existed was about 250 years ago."
"Oh… and what were to happen should a zombie be roaming around the world?"
"That's a strange question to ask. But there would probably be a mass hysteria and chaos around the world. After all, now that there are about 2 billion people in this world compared to 300 years ago, then it should be easy for the plague to spread. And probably over 50% of the human population would be easily infected. Since this disease is incurable, we would all suffer."
'It's probably better if I don't say anything about the zombie I killed outside the village… where I left the bloody corpse, for anyone to see… shit.'
"I'll be right back!"
Will dashed out the store and went straight to the place where he killed the zombie.
"Wait, I want to ask you a couple of questions!" Jack yelled loudly but it didn't reach Will's ears.
Will could not let anyone see that zombie. It will bring a lot of attention to him, and that's the one thing he wants to avoid. Now that he knows that he's a hero he wanted to keep it a secret as well.
Should people ever find out his powers to be able to craft anything, and to reincarnate, then there would be a chance that people would want to utilize this power for their own purposes, and would treat him as a slave until he dies from exhaustion.
Will knows that he's weak right now. Which is why he wants to lay low, and it's also the reason he hasn't told anyone of his powers. The reason people knew about his 'hero' status is because of his carelessness.
"How was I supposed to know that only heroes have a last and first name? That doesn't make sense. And how was I supposed to know that zombies could bring such a disaster to this world?"
Will has obviously forgotten that this world wasn't a game, but real life. And just like in the Walking Dead, and basically any other zombie movie, zombies will always bring chaos to the world.
"Where- where is the body?"
To his surprise, the corpse of the zombie was no longer there where he left it.
"Did it disappear in a puff of smoke?" Will checked for any signs, and found a new pair of tracks that weren't his own, but another animal. There were six legs and the tracks were too big to be a horse.
"What happened to the body?"
Either an animal ate the corpse, or someone was riding an animal and dragged the zombie corpse. Their tracks went deep into the woods, where monsters were residing.
"This is not good, not good at all."
Will ran back to the village to warn them about a zombie, but then he stopped in his tracks.
Jack said that there wasn't another zombie sighting since 250 years ago. And if Will were to tell them about a zombie appearing right now, then they would just laugh at him and call him crazy.
He knows this due to watching many movies when people would say something, and people wouldn't believe him and laugh at him, only to find out he was telling the truth until the very end before they die.
Without any evidence, his words were basically nothing.
Will went back inside the weapon shop. Jack was still there.
"What happened?"
"There's… nothing happened. Hopefully."
Even if Will told Jack, even if he believed him, nobody else would believe them. Will hoped that somebody properly disposed of the Zombie's corpse.
'If I destroyed his brain then the zombie shouldn't be able to move, right? Yeah, there's no way.'
Will reassured himself that the zombie wouldn't infect anyone.
"Can I ask a question now?" Asked Jack.
"Sure."
Will promised Jack to answer his questions, but any questions about his powers he will try to avoid answering it. 2 days later...
The same elf woman who stole the arrows from the weapon shop was riding a large six legged beast, it resembles that of a horned sheep, but with six legs, and light and dark grass replacing its fur.
It had been many hours since she had left the village. It was already 12:00 by the time she left the village the sun had yet to rise.
The elf also carried a brown sack in front of her the size of a human.
She arrived at a giant tree that was like the home tree from the movie Avatar. It was just as big as it was in the movies. Many flying beasts flew in and out of the tree, some looked like birds, or dinosaurs, and some were made out of leaves and other types of organic matter.
Most notably, many elves also lived in this area, women, children and men. They wore clothes made completely out of leaves and grass. Each carried a bow or a sword or were riding huge tamed beasts, and even children carried small knives made out of wood. They all seemed happy and chatting with one another.
They noticed the elf in robe and got out of her way.
She stopped as soon as she made it inside the giant tree.
"Stand still, Sten." She patted her beast and dragged the sack into the tree. She saw a beautiful elf woman chatting along with her peers. That same woman saw the robed elf and went to talk to her.
"Grace, you're back. How was your adventure to the human world?" Her voice was sweet and gentle, it also carried a hint of love and care.
"Mom, where's father? I need to speak with him." Grace said hastily.
"He's outside on the training area."
Without saying anything else, Grace ran to a specific area.
"She's gone for 2 years and she doesn't even greet me properly." She shook her head but there was a smile on her face. She went back to talking with the other elves.
Outside the back of the tree was an elf man, he was fighting 10 other elves while blindfolded. He only had a wooden sword, while the others had either bows and arrows or steel weapons.
The blindfolded elf parried and evaded each of their attacks without fail, and even hit them with his wooden sword once he found an opening in their attacks, which is weird because he was blindfolded.
The ten other elves were tired and could barely move at all. While the blindfolded elf was as cool as a cucumber.
"What are the ten of you doing? Can't even touch a blindfolded old man?"
"You're a monster, your highness." A male elf said with praise, everyone was in awe of his skills.
"You all need to work better together. Your sync and rhythm are not only predictable, but also weak."
He took off his blindfold and smiled at the 10 elves in front of him. He was much older looking than the other elfs.
"Now, all of you, 50 laps around the tree."
"But, your highness."
"You know we made a deal. If you fail to touch me then you will run. If you had at least grazed me then I would have given you all the weekend off. Now go!"
"Yes." dejectedly, they started running around the tree.
The elf saw the rest of the elves running, he smiled.
"Even though they are only kids, they were not bad. They're only 80 years old, but they still need a lot of work before they can venture out… I wonder how my Grace is doing."
"Father!"
"Grace? You've returned!"
Hearing his daughter's voice for the first time in two years made him feel happy. But, his mood changed when he noticed that his daughter was feeling afraid.
"What's the matter?" He asked.
Grace looked around to see if any other elf was nearby. After confirming that there was no one, she threw the sack on the ground and opened it.
"Look."
"It… can't be."
It was the zombie that Will killed.
"That's not possible."
"I found him like this. Someone used a long pointed weapon to pierce his head with it."
"Did it bite you or scratch you?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Don't move."
He grabbed Grace's arms, and a green light enveloped her entire body.
"Doesn't look like you've been injured or infected. Thank you, Lea." He heaved a sigh of relief. Should his daughter become infected, then he would have no choice but to make a decision that would kill him from the inside.
"Where did you find it?"
"I found it near a human village right after I stole from them… er I mean."
"Near a human village? Oh no." He realized something horrible.