It's late in the morning, and Lisa's room was still locked. Jay had just begun walking with Harry to the kingdom, and as they both headed to Y'vette, he began to learn more about Harry as they went through a conversation during their travels.
"So, how have you been liking your stay with us at our shabby cabin?" Harry asked Jay as they continued walking.
"It's been good so far. I've been having a nice time spending it with you and Lisa. This was a worthwhile stay." Jay said.
Harry chuckled. "Well, I'm glad to hear that! I must say, though, I wasn't too happy bringing a completely random person to the cabin. I might've seemed pretty unfriendly to you at first, but now that I've got to know more about you, and from the things that my daughter said, you don't seem all that bad!"
He then moved closer to Jay's ear and laid his arms around his shoulder, whispering, "More importantly, have you started gaining feelings for her yet? Hey, I'll give you permission to marry my daughter!"
"I'm nothing more than her friend." Jay said.
"Seriously? How fast do these people move in this world...?" He thought.
"D'aww, well that's unfortunate. Guess you just gotta give it more time, eh?" Harry responded, while Jay looked slightly irritated.
"What made you decide to live far away in a forest?" Jay questioned.
"Well, I've always had a liking for nature. Seeing nothing but the sun's shine on the grass and trees as I look from my window is very meditating. The peacefulness away from town is always nice, too." Harry answered.
"What made you decide to work as a blacksmith?" He then asked.
"Well, it's only natural for a big guy like myself to work as something like a blacksmith. Besides, other than doing it for the payment, it's pretty fun banging on molten metal. It also makes me proud, making weapons and all. They're all prized creations to me."
"So what d'ya know about blacksmithing?" Harry asked.
"I know the concept. Never done it."
"Maybe I can give you a hands-on experience, then! With 10 hours, you'd master it in no time." Harry suggested.
"You know what, I'm feeling a bit tired. I'll just go back home." Jay said, hastily turning back.
Having hold of his shoulder in an instant as he glared at Jay, Harry insisted, "Not so fast there, bud. Whether you like it or not, its too late to turn back now."
Paralyzed from the ominous aura behind him, Jay slowly turned his head with eyes of instant regret.
"10 ... hours..." He thought.
***
After having entered Y'vette, they advanced deep into the kingdom, eventually reaching a populated commercial aisle which consisted of many large structures with big signs. They walked up to a small stone building with a small, shabby wooden sign that said, "Harry's Smithery". On one side of the building was a furnace and an anvil, along with a few workbenches.
"Here we are. This is where I work for a living. Come follow me inside." Harry suggested, walking up to the building's wooden door which had a large glass window on it, and flipping a sign that went from saying "Closed" to "Open". Harry pushes the door, walks inside, and turns on the lights. Jay had then begun walking in.
As soon as he took his first step in the shop, all he could smell was cold metal. He looked around, observing all the full body sets of armour that were displayed. On the walls were also a variety of weapons, which were swords, daggers, shields, and etc. On the other end of the room as a counter and a couple other items that hung up on the wall behind it.
"There's so much stuff here." Jay said with slightly widened eyes while holding up a sword. The blade's handle had an intricate pattern to it. It was almost as tall as him as it reached up to his shoulders.
"You like it? That's a greatsword that I made. I put extra hard work into making sure my blades are top-tier. How good are you with these kind of weapons?"
"I've never held any of these before. Does that answer your question?" Jay replied.
With the blade he held almost stumbling out of his hands, "I'll just put it back down before I hurt myself..." He thought, then placing it back on the wall as Harry chuckled from the sight.
"Don't worry about it. A sword is very easy to handle, even with the slightest of training." Harry stated as he opened the door behind the counter. "Come and follow me outside."
As the both went outside the shop, Jay followed Harry to the side of the building, where the furnace and anvil were located.
"This is where I make whatever's inside the shop." Harry said, dumping wood logs into the furnace and lighting them on fire, then adding coal and iron ore.
"Well then, let's get on with this, shall we? Press your feet on that bellow over there. It'll heat up the fire." Harry said. Jay placed his foot on what looked like a fan, which was directly connected to the furnace. After having pressed down on the bellow, the fire inside the furnace became brighter and more intense.
After hearing the door open, Harry looked over and said, "Good work, Jay. Now keep it up for a little while longer. I'll head back in the store to handle the customers."
After he blew air into the furnace for an hour, Harry came back shortly after, adding more iron ores into the furnace. A few hours later, he had begun pouring molten lava from the furnace into a rectangular mold, eventually creating a bar.
Using tongs, Harry pulled the bar out and placed it on the anvil after waiting for it to cool down. He then grabbed a hammer and began shaping the bar with each bang, eventually flattening it into a blade later on.
"There we go! Now I just need to sharpen it." Harry said, placing the blade on a stone wheel.
"Come and pull the handle!" Harry insisted. Jay, already exhausted from repeatedly blowing air into the furnace, began rotating the grindstone. After finishing the sharpening process, Harry placed the blade on a counter.
"All done! Now all it needs is a fine hilt. Now it's your turn to make something. Go on!" Harry says, looking exhausted and sitting down on a chair.
"I'd rather not... I don't think wasting resources is worth it." Jay said with a worried expression.
"Aright then!" Harry responded. Upon hearing the building's door open, Harry got off his seat and began walking into the store to sell to another customer.
As he went inside, he said, "Follow me, Jay. Behind the counter." He went behind Harry around the back of the building and entered through a door, which then led them behind the store's counter.
The customer appeared to be a young adventurer wearing light armour and holding a sword previously displayed in the shop. "Welcome, traveller! Are you looking to buy that sword? That's 20 silver pieces." Harry said, smiling at the customer.
"Alright, sir." The traveler said, taking out a pouch and dumping silver coins into his hand, then placing them on the counter. As Harry took the money, the customer replied with a thank you.
Harry responded, "Safe travels, young adventurer." Later on, the shop continued to get more customers as Jay and Harry continued working the store. Eventually, hours later, it was very late in the evening, and the store had finally been coming to a close. Harry and Jay then walked outside the store as he once again flipped the sign and let out a sigh of relief.
"Finished another long day of work." Harry said as he stretched. Although they had both looked tired, Jay had appeared much worse off than Harry.
"Despite work being usually as tiring as it is, today was a lot more fun with a coworker!" Harry said, laughing.
Scratching his head, Jay said, "I guess...."
Harry, having started walking away, said, "Now then, it's time to head back home, it's gotten real late." Jay then followed after him.
After arriving home, they both proceeded to walk inside the house. As he took his first steps inside the house and closed the door, Lisa, looking rather vexed, ran up to Jay and hugged him. His eyes widened a bit in surprise.
Man, today was really boring without you guys. I didn't have anyone to talk to for the whole day." She said, pouting.
"Sorry, Lisa." Jay replied. "I was just hanging around with Harry."
"So you worked with my dad?" Lisa questioned.
"I went out to town with him and worked on a furnace in his shop. I don't ever want to do it again." Jay responded.
"That's funny." Lisa said, giggling.
"Lisa, why don't you ever help me work?" Harry asked, with a ridiculous frown on his face.
"Never liked blacksmithing, and never will. That's not a girl's thing." Lisa said, shrugging.
"Jay, I almost forgot to tell you." Harry told Jay, with a more serious tone in his voice and holding a stern face.
"What is it?" Jay responded. Harry walked up to Jay. "Unfortunately, since we only kept you here because you're homeless, we can't let you stay here forever. You're only a visitor." Lisa began to frown.
Harry then said with a slightly more ecstatic tone, "However, I'll allow you one more day here, and I'll even give you the money to buy your own home! Make the best out of your last remaining day here. Even though you'll be gone eventually, you can still always come by and visit anytime!"
"Fair enough." Jay said with a modest smile.
"Thank you, dad." Lisa exclaimed with an elated grin.
Smiling, Harry said, "I'm going to bed now. Later you two."
***
As the next day had arrived, Lisa stood by the table in the living room as Jay walked out of his bedroom. Lisa, noticing Jay, quickly walked up to him.
"I know this is your last day, so I want to make the best of it." Lisa stated. "This may also be your last interaction with me, so I want to do as much as I can with you before you go! Come on, follow me!" Lisa then grabbed a hold of Jay's hands and ran outside the cabin deep into the forest.
They started off their last remaining interactions together as they both looked for herbs in the forest and collected them. Moving back into the house, they started making the elixirs. Jay was a bit uneasy, but noticing that Lisa was having so much fun, he was fine with it. A while later, they both went back out into the forest.
***
The dark suited man stood by a group of men in hooded cloaks who were chanting a summoning ritual as they surrounded a large magic circle. The longer they chanted, the more the runic array began to glow a bright red. Then, in the middle of the array rose a dense blob of darkness which collected the energy emitted from the chanting men. It soon quickly grew, taking more of a very large, humanoid form.
The summoning was now complete, and the shadow that was created had evolved the form of a large, muscular troll with crimson skin and sharp horns. Proud of the rituals success, the man began to smirk. Then lifting its chest and spreading out its arms, the beast let out an earth-shaking roar, and the surrounding men had swiftly vanished into veils of darkness.
As if it had noticed something, the red troll began to sniff the air as it soon detected the faint scent of angels and began chasing after it. As that happened, the dark-suited man stood there a while longer in a muse.
"Run free, my pet. You shall reign terror over the angels and rip them apart piece by piece." He said, chuckling.
Soon after, he then sighed. "I'm such a terrible person. Hopefully the angel can die a quick and painless death. There's no room for kindness in this world."
***
"Alright, let's play tag! This time, I'm it, okay?" Lisa exclaimed. "I'll count down from three and I start chasing!" Jay nodded in agreement. Then, she began to count down.
"Three."
"Two."
"One!"
Looking slightly anxious, Jay began running away from Lisa before she said one. Soon after, she started chasing for him. He moved fast, once again maneuvering past trees, bushes, and other incoming obstacles. He began listening to the sounds of Lisa running after him slowly grow further and further. Jay continued running away.
Suddenly, he heard a loud roar echoing from behind him in the distance which shook the leaves.
Jay, with a slightly frightened expression, immediately came to a full stop. He thought to himself.
"What the hell was that noise..?" A short moment later, Lisa sprinted after him, then grabbing his hand and running. He quickly noticed the terror in her face.
"Lisa? What happened?" Jay said. Ignoring him, she continued running, not letting go of Jay's hand. Then feeling the ground starting to shake, he heard heavy footsteps slowly growing near from the distance.
"What the hell is that?" He thought to himself, starting to feel heavily worried. Then remembering that he was an angel, he let out his wings, carrying Lisa in his arms as they quickly ascended past the trees, flying at high speeds.
Lisa, letting out a deep sigh, said, "Thank you, Jay. If I was there alone, I would've died for sure. Anyways, it probably lost track of us already, but we should still go far out."
***
"No matter where you go, even if it loses sight of you, it will always know where you are. It will track your scent." The man said as he walked casually, looking through the beast's perspective as he closed one of his eyes.
He sighed, whispering to himself, "Just give it up, little angel. I want this done as quickly as possible. Don't delay your fate."
***
The moment they landed back into the forest, they both dropped to the ground, feeling heavily relieved.
"What was that chasing us?" Jay asked.
"I… Don't know." Lisa replied. "I mean, it looked like a forest troll-- but it had red skin, and horns…"
"Was that a demon?"
"It probably was, but what is that doing here? I know it's starting to get dark, but the sun just began to set!" She said, feeling anxious and confused.
"We went pretty far, but we should still keep an eye out. That thing was very aggressive." Jay said.
"I'm sure it won't reach here any time soon."
"But in the scenario that it does, I'll protect you with all I can. That's what you said a friend does."
Lisa, blushing slightly, said, "Thanks, Jay. I'm glad I met you."
Looking back at her, Jay replied, "Now's not the time for feelings." He looked around to try and find somewhere to stay for the time being. After a short moment, he finally noticed something. It was an almost well hidden door on the side of a hill that led deeper underground.
"I found a place we can stay for now. Come with me." He said, walking towards it as Lisa followed. Reaching the trapdoor, Jay opens it, and they climb down the roughly-made stone stairs. After they descended the stairs, they noticed an empty room with a few wooden chairs and desks. On the desks were tall, lit candles.
"Looks like someone was here not long ago." Jay said, scanning the room in curiosity.
"Not only that, but other than the chairs and desks, this place is empty. They must've cleaned everything out." Lisa said.
"Then we can assume whoever it was is never coming back."
Attempting to open all the desk's drawers, he eventually discovered something, finding a book and other items.
"I guess they didn't leave with everything." Jay said, slightly squinting his eyes as he observed the book. After having heard him, Lisa walked up to him, looking at what he was holding.
"What's that?" She asked.
As Jay read the title of the book, it said, "Elite-class beast summoning."
"Beast summoning…" Lisa said, gently taking the book from his hands. "Maybe it has something to do with that troll? I've never seen anything like that in the forest before."
Looking into the drawer, Jay grabbed another item. It was a small talisman. On the talisman was a symbol, which consisted of three sixes that connected to form a triangular shape. The symbol was bordered by a circle, which intercepted the near-ends of the symbol.
"Jay, come here!" Lisa exclaimed as she stared into the opened book.
"What is it?" He asked as he walked towards her, still holding the talisman. Reaching her, he also looked into one of the pages of the book. On the page was an illustration of the monster Lisa had once described.
"So I was right… someone had summoned that beast!" She said in shock.
"But why would they do that..?" Jay asked.
"I… have no clue."
She continued reading the book, and a moment later, Jay looked back at the talisman, then holding it up.
"Lisa, look." He said, turning around to show her the talisman. He then quickly noticed the anguish unfold upon her as her eyes widened, staring at the talisman. She dropped the book in terror.
"It's them…" She said with fear in her voice, beginning to tremble slightly.
"...Who?" He said, looking back at the talisman.
"It's the same symbol I saw on the man who took my mother away from me..." After having said that, Jay widened his eyes in shock. A few seconds later, he then stared back at the talisman in anger, having a cold, stern expression.
"That means they're here somewhere nearby." He said, then turning his head to the door.
"Lisa, I'm going to find your mother. When I find the ones who did this, I will make sure she gets her revenge." He said, then walking out the room.
As Jay walked outside, he was met with the troll that sat outside, as if it had been waiting for them, knowing they were here. There were no hints of Jay being scared as he was full of anger. They both stared at each other, and soon the troll slowly rose up.
***
"Found you, little angel." The man said to himself, smirking.