Huh, I look pretty cool, don't I?
I was looking at myself in the mirror.
The clothes were grey and black and consisted of brown pants, and whites and black combat boots, a black shirt , and a white and gray coat.
As I stared in the mirror, everything felt oddly normal. Everything except how I was 17 again.
I was five nine with black hair, but when sunlight hit it, it looked as if it were a tint of blue. My hair was fairly long with a small ponytail holding it up just above my neck. My bangs stopped just above my eyebrows and I had bright yellow eyes.
This is…kinda scary….
I looked just as I had when he was 17 in the real world.
I handed him the clothes he wanted from me and we bid each other goodbye.
As I walked through the town, I began thinking. I knew that to be an adventurer, you'd need a weapon. Although I hadn't the bluntest idea where to find those.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a weaponsmith caught my eye, and I immediately sighed at my own stupidity.
Where else would they have weapons? It was so obvious...
I walked into the shop and right before my very eyes were swords, axes, spears, and shields of all kinds and varieties.
"Howdy! How can I help ya?" A girl with an accent asked as I entered.
"Oh, I'm new here, and I haven't ever really trained with a weapon... So, I need something that would be suited for someone like me." I scratched the back of my head, a habit I did when uncomfortable.
"Oh? Well I do balieve I got somethin' just fer ya!" She disappeared behind the counter as she ducked down. I could hear her digging around through stuff and when she came back up, she had a wooden sword, ax, spear, bow, and shield.
"So, ya said ye ain't ever used a weapon before? Well I'm sorry ta say, but I'mma have to take ya to the back and test yer skills, is that okie?" She smiled at me.
I hadn't realized it till she smiled, mostly because she was covered in black soot, but she was cute. She looked young too, around my age.
She had short black hair that swept down to her neck. Her eyes were blue which matched the choker she had around her neck. She wore a white blacksmithing shirt and a brown skirt with black skin tight shorts underneath and brown long boots that went up past her knees. Her breasts were fairly large, and she was about the same height as me.
"Why are ya lookin' at me like that?" She asked as she covered her chest with one hand and put the other between her thighs. "Are ya thinkin' perverted thoughts about me?!"
"....No!" Her sudden response caused me to freeze for a second.
"Yer liein'."
"I don't lie."
I rebelled against her, though it was too late to try and prove my innocence.
She kept calling me a pervert, and we argued about it for a good five minutes before a man the size of a bear walked in from the back.
He wore the same attire as the girl, a short sleeved white shirt and brown pants and boots. His arms were covered in scars that looked like they could come from a tiger or bear, and he had a single scar on his left cheek.
"What's all this arguing about?!" He asked as he grabbed the girl's hair and pulled it.
"OWIE! OWIE! OWIE! Pa! It was him, not me! He's a pervert, Pa!" My heart started racing.
She's gonna get me killed!
That thought raced through my mind as the man slowly approached me. A bead of sweat appeared on my check.
"Uhhh…." Was all I could muster to say as the man towered above me like a grizzly bear on its hind feet.
"I'm sorry about her." His deep voice made my chest rumble. "She's stupid and always thinks people look at her and mentally undress her."
"They do Pa! I can see it in their eyes! 'specially his." She looked at me. "Yer eyes did vulgar things ta me," she looked down as she blushed. "They took mah fir—"
The man, who was obviously the girl's father, karate chopped her head. "Shut up, girl!" He yelled as she grabbed her injury. "Again, I'm sorry. I heard from the back; you never used a weapon before? Well that's actually pretty normal, believe it or not. We got just what you need to get started. I'm assuming you're also gonna need armor. If you want, we can modify what you're already wearing." The man looked me up and down.
"Really? Huh, I guess you're good for business."
"...Yeah..." The man went silent.
"...You okay?" I asked, my voice was rather distant. Mostly because I didn't care, but I felt I owed him if he was gonna hook me up with armor and a weapon.
"Yeah, it's nothing for me to push on to a cust—"
"We're almost out'a business," The girl interrupted her father.
"How? Y'all seem pretty cool in my book."
The man sighed. "Well, first off. I can't just tell my business to a STRANGER!" He yelled the last word at his daughter.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry Pa," she looked down, but only for a second before looking back up and speaking to me. Her eyes sparkled as she introduced herself. "Hi, mah name's Ellie. Ellie Vanduzer, and that's mah Pa." she looked at her dad. "Go on 'head, tell em yer name."
The man sighed before he spoke. "The name's Caz. Caz Vanduzer. I'm the owner of Vanduzer Smithing. My daughter, as you see, works here with me. Sadly, our smithing shop isn't as famous as I'd like it to be. We aren't getting many customers, so we aren't getting a lot of money."
"I see. Why?"
"Well, we're are a newer shop in this area. We just built here not long ago, and since there were other smithing shops here before us that people have gained trust with, we haven't had many customers come in." He sounded disappointed but he also had that look in his eyes that said he wasn't surprised.
"Well, it ain't over yet, Pa!" Ellie chirped. "Mom wouldn' give up so easily, now would she?"
"Yeah, you're right. We have to keep our spirits high."
Ah, I see. These two lost their mother and wife, and I'm assuming they're pushing on the work in memory of her, not wanting to give up. Even if that was the answer.