Chadwick Boseman, you will forever be remembered in our hearts for many years to come. Rest in peace.
WAKANDA FOREVER!
********
"We're here, Hero Will Connor." Jack pointed at the giant castle.
"I can see that."
Will made Adaline go slowly up to the giant gate, It was so detailed and so guarded. Will took note of the fine structure in case he wants to build his castle.
"Halt!" 2 guards covered in enchanted armor stopped Will in his tracks. One was sort of chubby and short, the other was skinnier than the average person.
"Why do you want to enter the kingdom?" The skinny one asked.
"To get my blacksmith badge." Will said. He was more focused on their enchanted armor. How he wished he knew how to craft it.
"Then we'd like to see some I.D., please."
"I.D.?" Will realized he screwed up. He actually needed some sort of I.D. to enter? He thought he could waltz in there like it was nothing.
"Is this good enough?" Jack got off of Adaline and handed the soldiers his blacksmith badge.
"An apprentice. But I would still need to see his identification. And also some papers for the organic creature." The skinny guard pointed at Will.
"He lost his identification and papers, so he's here to also get a new I.D. and new papers for his organic creature."
"How did he lose his I.D.?"
"Well, duh! Have you been living under a rock? The black sun caught all of us off-guard so we couldn't save his I.D. or other personal belongings. And some damn dragon burned his entire house down, and everything in it, including his I.D. Which is why he's wearing the bones of the dragon who burned down his house."
The guards looked at Will's attire, and it was indeed genuine dragon bone.
Will had to admit, Jack was a pretty good liar.
"That seems like a logical story." The chubby guard said.
"Does it, really?" The skinny guard asked.
"Well, yeah. I mean, many people have lost a lot of stuff last week due to the locusts. Don't you remember how you lost your house as well?"
"Then, I guess you can go inside and get some new I.D. and papers and your blacksmith badge."
The skinny guard waved his hand and the wooden gate behind him started rising.
"Thanks."
Will, Jack and Adaline strolled inside the kingdom.
"You know, I like their clothes. It looks amazing, I didn't even know you could make clothes out of bones." The chubby man said.
"You're right."8
"Should we ask them where they got them as soon as they come back?"
"I don't see why not."
Jack, and Will were observing the entire kingdom. It looked pretty intact despite the fact that the black sun occured not too long ago.
"Hey, Jack, way to go making up a lie like that." Will said.
"It was nothing. I learned from the best, thanks mom." Jack smiled. How he loved helping out his idol.
"I didn't know that you needed I.D. to enter the kingdom."
"Me either. I had always wanted to come here, but mom never let me."
"So this is your first time here as well?"
"Pretty much. I always did want to see the spot where the heroes are summoned."
"What does that mean?"
"If I remember correctly, the Kingdom of Reyes summons all the heroes in the center of the kingdom, where everyone can see and cherish them."
Will got a little curious, and so did Jack. The three of them headed straight to the middle of the kingdom, which was near a giant building that stood out from the rest, it looked like a giant tower made out of obsidian. And beside the tower, was a giant building where the king, his family, his servants, and guards lived.
"Oh, my, goodness!" Jack screeched like a little fangirl.
"What?"
"It's the black tower. This is where the Great Sage lives!" Jack right now was the literal definition of a hardcore fangirl.
It did look like a black tower. Standing at an impressive 50 feet. It had no doors nor windows. It did not look like anyone would live there, but there are people living there.
People around them started to look at Jack and Will even more than before. Their 'weird' clothes were what caught their attention in the first place, and also Adaline caught their attention as well.
"The Great Sage."
Will has heard a lot about him. The first, strongest, oldest, and wisest hero to the ever lived.
"Gasp! And this is the hero summoning circle. It has summoned exactly 303 heroes ever since Kleo discovered it." Jack pointed to a small stone monument, guarded by guards, and metal fences. In the middle, was a black circle with weird engraving in it, the same circle that appeared underneath Will's feet in the first chapter.
"I'm starting to think that you brought me here as an excuse to see these places." Will said. He did not recognize the circle, because he was blinded by the light in his dark room.
"Nah." Jack denied it. But he couldn't stop drooling.
"Maybe, if I stay here long enough, I can catch a glimpse of the Great Sage." Jack looked at the black tower and the summoning circle.
"Okay, I'm gonna go get my blacksmith badge now."
"Take this." Jack threw his blacksmith badge at Will.
"Show my badge to the judge, and he or she will let you take the apprentice exam."
If Jack were a dog, he would have wet himself out of pure happiness.
Will slowly dragged Adaline away and headed straight to the blacksmith exam, which was conveniently placed near the black tower. The blacksmith building had a giant hammer sign sticking out, to tell everybody that the building was a blacksmith building.
He thought he could touch the summoning circle, the same one that possibly dragged him here, but it was well guarded. Any chances to be able to inspect that summoning circle had gone down to zero.
Will also believed he would catch a glimpse of the heroes that were summoned, but it seems that today isn't the day.
"Adaline, stay here, do not move under any circumstances. And also, guard this with your life." Will handed Adaline his iron chest, which grew in size when it left his palm. He cannot bring it inside, as he might fear that they might suspect him of cheating if the judge knew about his chest.
Everything he owned is in that iron chest.
Adaline laid down on the middle of the building, hissing at anyone that came near her.
The inside of the blacksmith building was long, and tidy. There were rows of many types of swords, bows, guns, armor, all lined up neatly. Most of them were enchanted. But none of them were magical.
"What do you want?"
It was a woman at the reception area. He smoked a long, black, skinny pipe. She was also very tall and very skinny, but not beautiful at all. Her eyes were serious, and her hair was long but was tied up in a bun.
Will could smell something horrible coming out of that woman's pipe.
'Is she smoking weed?' He asked himself, but wasn't quite sure, as he has never smoked weed before.
"I am here to take my blacksmith badge."
He looked at her eyes, they were red-ish for whatever reason.
"Do you have your teacher's badge or are you self-taught?"
"Here." Will handed her Jack's blacksmith badge.
"Apprentice... Do you know what to do in order to pass the exam?"
"I have to be able to craft… I mean make steel armor, weapons, tools, bows, crossbows, arrows, guns and ammunition."
Jack told Will beforehand what he needs to do to pass the exam.
"And you will also need to pay a fee of 5 silver."
Will took 5 silver and handed it to her. He and Jack made a little bit of profit when Will helped Jack sell gear illegally.
"Follow me."
They entered another room. In the middle, were several tools lined up neatly. As well as an anvil, fletcher table, furnace, and everything that one needed to make all kinds of things. On the other side of the wall, was a chair and a desk.
"You have 3 hours to finish everything. You are also provided extra ores in case you make a mistake…"
She started to lose her balance and fall asleep while in the middle of talking.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't interrupt me!" She suddenly woke up.
"..." Will.
He's starting to get worried that her current state might affect his exam.
"If you miss making one single item, you fail. If you go over the time limit, you fail. If one of the items you make are broken or of bad quality by the time you are done, you fail. Any questions?"
"Yeah, where is everyone? I was sure that there would be more blacksmiths here."
"They're all helping out the heroes. I had to stay behind because 'I am not that good enough to help the heroes' or 'I am just too addicted to drugs' what do those bastards know! Just because I'm the daughter of the one who owns the building they think I am not good enough. True I might be into drugs, but so what?"
In a blacksmith exam, there are at least 2-3 blacksmith judges. But with the heroes' arrival, they were all very busy. And they are all usually not high when they're judging.
"I don't think I should be taking the exam right now. Maybe I should come back later or..."
Will felt that maybe this so-called 'judge' might not be in her best condition to judge him.
"Start now." She said cross legged on the chair. She flipped upside down a sand timer which lasted 3 hours. Once the last grain of sand falls, it will tell Will that his time is up.
She continued smoking her pipe and acted as if she was in heaven,
Will took a deep breath, how he wished he didn't take the exam, but this is the only time he will do it, who knows how long the other blacksmiths will take to return, and he already paid for it so yeah.
And finally he started crafting everything he could easily. He has gotten used to using the crafting system. And also, all the materials he needed were in front of him. It was going to be a piece of cake.
5 minutes later.
"Done." Will said. He could have finished faster, but smelting the ore and combining it to make steel ore takes too long, but still faster than most blacksmiths take. But while the ore was smelting, he crafted the bows and crossbows to save time.
But, when he looked at the judge, she was out cold due to the weed she smoked. Her face was planted on the desk
"Um, hello?" Will said it louder, but no response.
He looked up at the sky, but it was only the roof of the building.
"God, all I ask is to pass the exam. Is that so much to ask?"
"*snort* did you call me?" The stoned Judge said.
"I guess." Will had no idea how to talk to a drugged woman.
"Let me look. Uh-huh, uh-huh, it's okay, but barely. Pass." She was so stoned, that she didn't even notice that Will took only 5 minutes to complete the whole thing, where most blacksmiths would need more than 3 hours to complete it.
"..." Will would question the woman, because his items were of great quality, not 'okay' but since she was stoned, he didn't care much. As long as he becomes a blacksmith, he doesn't care.
But he expected at least a cliche reaction, like 'oh my god you're so fast' 'how did you do that' 'you're a genius! Like one a million!' maybe he likes it when they praise him a bit.
She went back to her reception area, and took out a new blacksmith badge, as well as Jack's badge, but there was a star in it that wasn't there before.
"Take this, and this. And there is some oath you must take, like, uh, um, ah forget it, nobody cares about the oath. Just go."
"Uh, thanks, I guess-"
"*Snore*"
She fell asleep again in a manner of seconds with her face planted on the desk.
Now that Will came for what he wanted, there was no reason to stay any longer.
"Let's go." Will dragged Adaline out of the store and took his iron chest with him. This is by far the weirdest thing he has ever done, taking an exam with a judge who was high out of her mind.
"Okay, that went… weirder than expected."
Will handed Jack back his blacksmith badge, but Jack was so focused on something else right now, that he didn't notice that Will finished his blacksmith exam in a matter of minutes.
After asking for directions, Will was able to make an I.D. for himself, but that got him thinking, was it a wise idea to use his name?
He cannot use his full name, because only heroes can have 2 names, even though he is technically a hero, he doesn't want anyone to know that. And also this is a new world, so there's no reason why he shouldn't use another name. This is a new world, so he should also have a new name as well.
"My new name is 'Herobrine' hehehe!" Will laughed mischievously.
"Hah! Just kidding. I'm more original than that."
If he did use the name 'Herobrine' then it would be easy for the heroes to realize that he's also a hero, because Herobrine was such a popular name in the Minecraft community in their world, and still is.
And also, there's also a dumb law that states that one cannot have the name 'hero' in his name, so there goes that idea.
"I'll just stick to my old name."
In the end, he went with his old name, although now it's 'Will' instead of 'Will Connor'.
He also got some papers that he needed to prove that Adaline belongs to him. So they gave him a colour for Adaline to wear to show the kingdom that she is tamed. Otherwise it might cause some panic. It's a wonder why those guards at the entrance let Will in like that. Almost makes him believe that those two were idiots, but nice people overall.
Will sat on a stone bench counting what money he had left.
"Let's see, 5 silver for the blacksmith exam. 10 silver for a new identity. And 7 silver for Adaline's papers. That's 22 silver gone. Now I only have a little more than 25 silver left. Which is good enough."
Will counted himself lucky to make a little bit of profit from the blacksmith store before he left.
"What else can I do?" Will did not want to leave yet. He wanted to keep observing the area, all the buildings, structures, they're all pretty amazing, he wanted to build something like this, especially the palace where the king lived.
His first house was pretty bad, but there was still room for him to grow. And even then, he was proud of that crappy building.
Looking at all the houses might give him some insight into what he could build.
"Let's keep exploring, girl."
While he explored the kingdom, as if he were a tourist in a foriegn world, he came across many shops and buildings and people. What he found strange is that everyone acted normal, despite that just yesterday the locusts attacked everything. That is until he learned that the kingdom used so many light sources to keep the locusts away from the kingdom. It might have come as a surprise, but they were prepared.
Then, he came across another wooden wall that had many papers attached to it, just like how it was back in the village when he took the lumberjack job, even though he never got paid for it.
Reading it, he discovered many more jobs.
{Miners required: 10 coppers an hour + meals: Requires men who are strong physically and can work for more than 8 hours minimum. Meet in fountain park on sunrise}
{Maids required: 3 coppers an hour + meals: Requires young women who can cook, clean, and organize stuff, we don't need a lot of maids, just 4 will do. You have to come everyday and work for at least 5 hours. Meet at the red house at noon}
There were also jewelcrafters, people who can work on jewellery. As well as chef's, musicians, herb gatherers, and so on.
Not one of these jobs caught his eye. But this gave him a great idea.
In the future, he is going to need a lot of resources in order to craft stuff, but if he were to do it all by himself, then it will take a long time to accomplish anything.
But now, his idea is to hire people to do it for him. Now that he is an apprentice blacksmith, he can sell tools and make a good amount of profit from it.
Out of all these labour jobs, not one of them pays anyone over 30 copper coins. There are indeed some jobs that pay with silver coins, but those jobs are for people who have a lot of skills, like an expert blacksmith, experienced potion-maker, and a monster hunter.
But the miner and lumberjack jobs pay people less than 10 copper coins. Mostly because it requires strength rather than skill.
He kept walking with Adaline and exploring the kingdom. And a single basic building caught his eye.
The building had a sign that read 'potion' not a very crafty name.
He entered the building leaving Adaline outside.
The inside of the building was also basic. It was made out of wood, the floors, walls, shelves, counter, everything was made out of wood. But the shelves contained many 'potions' but the potions looked very different from what Will was used to.
In many games, potions are described as a small glass with a colored liquid inside. For example, red liquid means health, blue means mana or something like that, and so on.
But the potions in this world did not look like the ones he was used to. They looked more like pills, small, tiny, round sized pills, inside of a glass bottle. But each of them were different in color as well.
Each of these 'potions' had a label in front of it, just the name and the cost.
Will covered his nose, as a weird, strong stench entered his nostrils. It did not smell bad, but it was so strong that it made him feel like he was suffocating.
"Whoop. Sorry. I did not hear you come in."
It was the voice of a young woman. As she came closer, the stench that suffocated Will got stronger.
She was very short, her hair was grey short and messy, freckles went from her cheek bones across her nose as if it were connecting. She also wore a lab coat, but it was covered in many types of stains, even her hair and face were no exception.
"Here. Eat this."
Without warning, she shoved a small, white pill in Will's mouth.
Will felt the pill dissolve in his mouth in a sec.
Then the strong stench suddenly didn't bother him anymore, as if it was never there before.
He looked up to check his stats as to what she had just shoved in his mouth.
{HP 55/50}
{Anosmia: 59:58 remaining}
'What the heck does that mean?' Will was never one who liked to use fancy words, so he didn't know what 'anosmia' meant. It meant not being able to smell anything.
"That should be good for now. Now how can I help you."
She stood tall, as if she could match his height. Will was normal height, about 5 feet 8 inches.
But the girl in front of him, she didn't even reach 5 feet.
"I want to buy your finest pills, please."
Ignoring his status, which was only temporary, he came here to learn how to craft potions. He has no clue at all, but with his system he could learn.
"Pills? I think you mean potions. Here, this is something I've been working on. Try it out."
She handed him a pill that so happened to be in her front pocket.
"..."
Will inspected the pill that she handed him.
{Hallucinogenic potion}
{This potion will make you high out of your mind for the next hour}
"What is it with this kingdom and their drugs? Aren't these illegal?" Will said. He didn't come here to buy drugs, and probably never will. This is because of how tragic his friend was because his parents were drug addicts.
"Illegal? These potions have been in the market for 50 years. There's nothing illegal about them." She seemed confused, as if Will came from another world.
Now Will understood, This world did not have any laws that prohibited them from smoking weed in public without fear of getting arrested, which explained why the judge smoked as if nobody was looking.
"And why do you call these 'potions' they're clearly pills."
"What does a 'pill' mean?"
Will was shocked. Was she serious? She had no idea what pills are, or does this world not simply have them?
"I thought that these potions were supposed to be liquid, that's all."
"Liquid? We stopped using that method years ago. But this new solid method allows us to make more, make faster and cheaper, more affordable, and easier to use and carry. Pretty cool, huh?"
Will rubbed his eyelids. He's going to have to get used to this world, whom he thought he knew already, but it seemed that it wasn't the case.