Distant chatter could be heard from further down the road. Many people had started to set up their tents and mats, ready to peddle goods as the sorrowful sun touched the tip of Lord Holgata's mansion far behind me.
It sat on the cliffs nestled within the nearby forest on this side of the riverbank like a dragon overlooking its hoard. No doubt the Lord saw this town as such with the way he taxed us.
He was the one responsible for driving away my mentor, whose burned down workshop I stood in front of now for the seven hundredth time. The single chance I truly had at adoption, I lost in the worst way possible.
Why else would she have left?
For nearly three years I trained as a blacksmith, and for two of those years I studied a scroll tied to a promise of apprenticeship and adoption. I had a breakthrough after years of practice and grew my mana pool large enough that I was finally able to cast Calegriss.
The day she left was the day I woke up to the smell of smoke and shouting of Guardsmen. What I stood in front of was the end result.
Two stories of shattered glass, ashen beams and cracked clay tiles, all connected to the workshop where a High-Drake taught me more than I had ever hoped for.
Half Drake, half Human, she would always sit right here on her tail, waiting for me to walk up at the crack of dawn and get to work. Repairs, metalwork, forging new equipment and tools, she did it all and taught me while practicing her craft.
All for barely any pay, half of which went to the Lord and his private group of ruthless mercenaries. Maybe that's why they stood in front of her place two years ago watching it crumble with a smile on his face?
It was no wonder our real Guards hate them.
One day, I'll find you again Rider
She often stood out like a sore thumb. Just over seven feet tall on a 'good day' thanks to the combination of limbs and characteristics of a lesser dragon. Her physique was rather unique.
Tail, horns, eyes, hands, feet and ears, all that of a monster.
Not that anybody even cared about her appearance in this town. Half of the population wasn't human, not for a good ten years. Nevertheless, we were all in the same boat and quickly learned to trust each other.
We are all just trying to survive.
When I closed my eyes I could still picture it. The roar of the furnace, the clanging of nori bars being shaped into various pieces. If I got lucky, we might have been able to craft using mana infused steel, known as leet.
With her oversized draconic hand, she would wield her trusty hammer that housed a deep dark red gem that matched her scales and force the hardened earth into its dutiful form.
Her eyes would glow like the orange sparks that flew with every hit, her black slits catching every detail.
And yet, as hardworking as she seemed, it was the days spent with rudimentary maintenance that I really got to know her. In truth, she was charismatic and a joy to be around as long as the conversation wasn't serious.
If it was, then she'd turn into a different beast altogether. One of focus and willpower. She would get whatever job done, whatever issue sorted in the best way possible. Including the times that meant standing up to a shitty customer.
Her hairstyle matched how wild she could get. A perfect Mohawk combined with a side sweep and short horizontal braids on her left side reflected her personality perfectly. She even had the same hair color as me, although hers got progressively darker at its roots.
I wish you at least told me your real name
"Wow, what a dump!"
Out of nowhere, a snow white Wulf-girl raised her voice in disappointment. Her intentionally exaggerated manner of speech and somewhat high tone startled me.
An Adventurer to be sure, or at least, she would have played the perfect eccentric role if she had a weapon by her side instead of nothing. She couldn't have been much older than me. I'd guess either eighteen or nineteen.
Oddly enough, for a Beast-kin of her race, she was beautiful. Fair smooth skin, glistening white hair and eyes that could have been mistaken for fields of snow. Not an imperfection in sight, as pure as the word itself.
She wore a white robe serving as an outer layer for expensive-looking black armor slightly hidden underneath that left her fingers exposed. Everything else
Although only slightly taller than me, I felt an air of confidence and power emanate from her.
Maybe she has a dagger hidden in her sleeves...
Strangely enough, she was missing her tail. Instead, it was replaced by some sort of black circular clip. Normally you would see an attachment like that on a horn that had been cut off and capped.
"Ya gonna say something or what?"
"Uh…"
It was unusual. I could see nothing, yet my gut was telling me there was something there, waiting to be touched.
"Is there something on my butt?"
She spun around while twisting her waist to catch a glimpse of what had piqued my interest only to find nothing herself.
"Sorry…"
"Kinda rude to stare at a woman's ass you know. Well, I guess you are at that age… Anyway, you know who lives here?"
"Huh? No, uh, nobody does, but I was looking at your… you know… It's not there…"
Last thing I wanted to do was leave a bad impression on someone who seemed wealthy. If I want to survive, money would be a priority.
The white Wulf looked disappointed. Not in the lack of someone living in a destroyed home, instead, it was my answer that made her pout.
"Oh, there ah, used to be someone though! If you got any spare money or food I can tell you!"
"Not great at first impressions are you?"
"..."
Dammit…
"Allow me to apologize on her behalf. My companion forgets how to use her brain the longer she is awake"
"Ah!?"
Another woman had snuck up behind me, this time to my left, or perhaps she had been waiting patiently to speak up. Regardless, she also surprised me, however she was far more intimidating than the Wulf.
Her name was Enda, the Phoenix Witch.
Everybody around here knew her. As part of the party of heroes that slew a cataclysmic Dragon, her name and appearance were engraved into everyone's mind. All the more so thanks to her own appearance.
Standing at six foot five inches thanks to the small heels on her boots, she was a giant amongst humans. Combined with erie bright red hair with streaks of white and a carmine red left eye, there was nobody else you could mistake this woman as.
Unlike the Wulf who had tied back her long white hair into a single tail that complemented her sidelocks, Enda simply didn't bother styling her hair. Instead, it was a complete mess and covered the right side of her face.
The Witch carried her weapons proudly.
A strange broken tree branch as tall as her, with white and rainbow bark that gave off the feeling of a powerful magical artifact, the way light seemed to bend around it like heat off a hot sword ready to be tempered.
Attached to the belt around her pants on her left side was a sheathed bastard sword. Surprisingly, it had a completely metal grip, shinier than any fancy silverware with a matching hilt and very little detail.
It had to be a Relic, an alluring one at that.
Powerful weapons that refused to be wielded by anyone unsuited to draw out their full capabilities. Plenty of stories existed about Enda, most of them nonsense, so it was hard to tell what that weapon could do.
One story called it the 'Sword of Light', irresistible to anyone that saw it, yet nobody around us seemed all that interested in snatching it. Not that there was any sort of public market of Relics anyway.
Although, Enda herself put in a sizable finders fee for any Relic turned into the Adventurers Guild. It was enough to get out of this town and start a new life.
The Witches oversized hat drew my attention away from her weapons. At least she was consistent in her choice of clothing.
That was, of course, in the way it had zero sense of fashion or cohesion. Why would a legend like her need to care about that anyway?
From her feet, she wore thigh high brown leather boots with laces between her legs and well worn plate greaves covering her feet, shins and knees, all topped off with what I could only describe as crossbow quivers attached to either side of her thighs.
Clipped from her boots, the containtes connected to the belt that looped through her short black hotpants that would show off her backside more if she didn't wear a cloak.
Black and blue, it had a two tone design that appeared to hold faint stars against the darkness on the inside.
The absurdity didn't end there, she also wore a thin white loose shirt with puffy open cuffs and an under-bust corset to tie it all together. Enda wasn't nearly as young as the girl in white, yet she still looked both beautiful and mature, slender yet strong.
If any part of her clothing served a purpose beyond raising eyebrows, I had no idea.
"Says you! The kid is more confused at what you're wearing over my tail!"
"And yet you choose to tease him despite knowing what caught his eye?"
Enda appeared far more deadpan than her expressive companion who was practically bouncing around as she talked.
"Well yeah. I'd rather be casual with him, you know, chill and all that"
"Insinuating he is lustful because he's going through puberty is unbecoming of someone who wishes- Where are you going?"
Yeah I'm done, these people aren't worth it