"What the hell! Boy, how am I supposed to pay you for this?! You tell me you collected 90 Carbocara mushrooms?" Gerd said with a bitter face and surprise at seeing so many mushrooms gathered.
Seeing Thorin's complacent face, Gerd smiled and nodded.
"You've done well boy, I'll pay you properly, 90 mushrooms is 180 large copper coins, I don't have that amount of large copper coins on me so I'll pay you with this..." Gerd said as he got in again the hand in the pants.
Thorin's smile disappeared and her face turned into one of disgust while Michonne was horrified and covered her eyes.
"This! is the equivalent of 720 chivels, a gold coin, haha now you owe me 20 small copper coins, that or 10 carbocara mushrooms for the next time" Gerd said with a wide smile and was about to start cutting the mushrooms but Thorin stopped him.
"Leave that job to me and Michonne, you don't have at least silver coins? How am I supposed to change a gold coin? Before I show it to someone they're going to ask me where I got it from, it's not something I can carry with me and use" Thorin reproached as he carefully sliced the mushrooms.
"tch, what a finicky kid, then I'll pay you... how much was it?" Gerd began to do calculations with his hand but before he said anything Michonne interrupted him.
"11 silver coins and 7 large copper coins!" Michonne said in a quick mental calculation.
"hehe, what do you say? if it's 10 silver coins and 12 large copper coins, don't forget that the exchange rate is 16:1 copper to silver, hey, I won't eat the loss in the exchange, girl, the golden rule is, that the lowest stone of the pyramid has to deal with all the weight." Gerd smiled showing his yellow teeth, Michonne pouted her nose at him and didn't answer anything again to Gerd.
"Thorin, accept the gold coin, my father is a hunter, he usually handles coins of that size" Michonne suggested in a low voice to Thorin who still didn't have much of an idea about the monetary system of this world.
It was a loss of almost 10 large copper coins, Michonne looked at him with a worried face, he had his own ideas, and this time he agreed with Michonne's idea.
"Okay, I'll accept the gold coin, otherwise what would you pay for the beer mugs and your other expenses? If the other drunks see you with gold coins, it would be the end of you" Thorin smiled.
After a while, Thorin and Michonne finished cutting the mushrooms and disinfecting the root that was left in the bark.
They both left Thorin's hut and Gerd got ready to leave but not before throwing the gold coin in the air.
Thorin made a disgusted face remembering where this coin had been before it was his, so he dropped it on the floor and rubbed it on the ground before picking it up.
"haha, just like last time, use it well, when you have your first children they will be able to wear comfortable and fragrant clothes, I'm going to prepare these beauties for the really needy in this world" Gerd patted the mushrooms and headed off in an unknown direction, he didn't usually last more than an hour in the village, at least not if he wasn't drunk.
"What does he use the mushrooms for, he doesn't want them to make some poison right?" Michonne asked concerned but without taking her eyes off the gold coin.
"Nah, he never told me, but when he was drunk, I got some information out of him, he said it was for rich elderly people with inheritance problems" Thorin said no more and went to set up the shack, Michonne accompanied him so they would finish faster and could go to Michonne's father to explain about the coin exchange.
but both did not realize that someone else was watching them, this one was more than 6 feet tall and looked at them with resentment and hatred, not only that but with greed for that gold coin, it was an amount of money that he had never seen.
"How is it possible that the scrawny bastard can have so much money? he doesn't deserve it!" Etred ground his teeth and with an evil look came out of the forest.
Grabbing a log the size of a club, he attempted to surprise Thorin, so he approached them as they made their way to the village.
Etred tried not to make a sound, but he was a heavy guy and quite clumsy, his feet were rough when it came to walking, just before he dropped the log on Thorin's head, Thorin turned around sensing danger.
"Get away" Thorin managed to say as he pushed Michonne forward and he moved aside, he only felt the hum of the trunk falling with great force in front of him.
"ugh" Thorin did not come off completely well, the trunk came to graze his chest, making him feel a burning sensation almost immediately.
"I told you to stay away from my future wife, you son of a bitch" Etred said as he positioned to swing at Thorin's face.
"Son of a bitch?..." At the worst moment, the memories in Thorin's head shot up.
the words echoed in his head, it was a word that the original Thorin had heard thousands of times since he had use of reason, because his mother worked as a prostitute to be able to feed him and her.
but this was not the time to get lost in his memories, he only managed to throw himself to the ground on his back and see the club pass in front of his nose, while he fell to the ground.
"Thorin! Leave him alone Etred!, you stupid Etred! My father won't forgive you!" Michonne screamed in panic, but neither of them paid her any more attention.
"Go to the village, and take this"after escaping several swings Thorin managed to say as he got up and threw a handful of dirt on Etred's face and with the other hand the gold coin towards Michonne.
"Damn slippery worm, I don't understand what they look in a bastard like you!" Etred screamed furiously swinging the club several times while rubbing his eyes.
Michonne hesitated for a bit but seeing that the skinny Thorin did not seem startled, she bit her lip and ran to the village.
going back and forth to the village would take more than 1 minute, she only prayed to the gods that Etred didn't hurt Thorin.
"Here you damn pig" Thorin let out an insult and seeing the club pass over his head he crouched down as he advanced and picked up a stone the size of both of his palms.
taking 2 steps, he came in front of Etred and with a cold look in his eyes gave him an upward blow to the crotch with the stone, hit his feet, then jumped back lying on the floor scrabbling like a snake.
It wasn't an elegant method of fighting, but if Etred landed a single hit on him, he would end up with serious injuries, and not only that but the damned Etred wouldn't stop with just one hit.
Thorin had only been training for 2 weeks and his food hadn't improved compared to before, so his physique was even somewhat inferior to that of an average malnourished peasant adult not too bad for 11 years old, but not enough to fight directly with Etred.
on the other hand, Etred was screaming, his layers of fat didn't cover his groin and his weight advantage didn't play much of a role in protecting him.
"I curse you fuckin bastard!" Etred's scream was even more wrathful with several pitches higher and he kept swinging the club with all his might as he fell to his knees.
"The curse of someone as vulgar and stupid as you doesn't matter to me, Etred, we could have lived together but you didn't want it to be that way, you have to keep pestering me and the ones I care!" Thorin's voice was cold and his eyes looked for opportunities to leave a good memory to Etred
he couldn't handle killing him here, but if he could make him dare not offend him again, this would already be a win.
"Do you think I don't know who you are Thorin? Or should I call you Thor son of the wealthiest prostitute in Pontec!? Haha, the son of a prostitute can only resort to tricks, stop getting in the way of the villagers and die for a fucking good time!" Etred rushed to where he had heard Thorin speak but it was useless as Thorin was more agile than him.
Even Etred was not entirely stupid and opening his eyes with difficulty he managed to see the figure of Thorin to the right of him and then he sent the club flying towards this.
Thorin, seeing the actions of Etred's arms and legs, already knew what he was trying to do, but he had no way to completely avoid it being so close to him, what he managed to do was calculate the time, and throw himself on the ground with his back towards the club that was coming towards him and try to get up with a twist.
thump
A hollow sound resounded and Thorin gave a cold breath as the club had struck him in the back with one of the ends, it wasn't a direct hit, he was lucky that Etred did not know how to throw objects and that the center of gravity of the club was not concentrated, so it did not break any rib.
"hehe, I already have you, worm" Etred smiled and got up with difficulty because his crotch still hurt.
but he did not expect that his club throw had not caused much damage to Thorin.
when Etred approached him and thought to take him by the clothes and then beat him up, Thorin rejoined and turn around avoiding Etred's outstretched hand, and went to his back to apply a neck lock.
"damn...son...of...." Etred tried to swear but the more he spoke his neck received more pressure.
"You offended the wrong son of a bitch, you bloody pig" Thorin said through clenched teeth, all his strength focused on squeezing Etred's neck really hard.
Etred's face turned red and his eyes bulged, with the pain in his groin and the pressure on his head, he managed to go to the side of a tree and hit Thorin while he was holding him.
but even so, Thorin would not let go of him, feeling the burning pain of the blows on his back Thorin knew that he could not let him go, if he gave him even a breath, he would not be able to fight again and Etred would hit him with all his fury without being careful for not killing him.
'I can only thank the company's self-defense classes' Thorin thought this as he smiled and felt the muscles in his back paralyze and adrenaline rush through his blood, making him not let go of Etred for any reason.
as time passes in just dozens of seconds.
"You... w... will... pa.." Etred said this as he fell to his knees and his face began to turn purple as he released his body, the key on his neck tightened even more, marking Thorin's victory.
"The only way I feel safe is…" Thorin muttered and a cold gleam crossed his gaze, feeling Etred's neck relax and he couldn't help but contemplate letting go of it.
"You better stop Etred, I'm going to break your balls in four if you do something to Thorin!" a familiar voice was heard not far from the road to the village, it was Farine.
"What are you doing? you, damn useless thing!" Toms's voice could also be heard reprimanding his son Etred, Toms was someone with bad intentions but he always put appearances first in front of everything else.
"Forget it, it's not worth it and less when I'm not part of the village" Thorin shook his head and released Etred who fell to the ground with a weak breath.
it was an opportunity to get rid of Etred, but in the village, no one would be on his side, Etred could be as rampant as he wanted since his family had lived for generations in the village and the connection between the villagers was almost marked in their customs and of course in their blood ties.
"So my original name is Thor…" Thorin was lost in memories of him again as he lay on the ground and stared at the unconscious Etred, memories of when he was a child flooding back into his brain.
when the villagers arrived they were stunned, as Etred was lying with his legs to the side in a puddle of his own urine and gasping for breath, while the skinny boy panted slightly looking at Etred, even Farine was surprised to see this.
"Well done Thorin! You saved me from having to break his balls in 4 petals flowers" Farine smirked at Toms.