Liam and Leo stopped in front of a shop with a sign hanging from its roof. The sign showed a blacksmith iron so Leo could rest assuredly enter the shop, knowing it was the place they were looking for.
As Leo pushed open the door, a warm friendly voice greeted him.
"Welcome!Welcome!"A man with black and grey mixed hair greeted them as he stood up from his chair.
He was standing behind a wooden counter as he smiled, joyfully at him.
"What do you need? Ah..you're a sword user, I see. I have plenty of selections you can choose from. Fire sword, Ice sword, a sword made from dragon skin and-"
"This is not for me," Leo replied with a smile on his face and gestured to his back."It's for a friend."
The blacksmith looked behind him and saw Liam, looking back at him, then quickly glanced away from his gaze.
"Hey, kid!"The blacksmith suddenly yelled in an unfriendly tone."What are you doing here? Don't you dare ruin my reputation!"
"Hey! Clam down!"Leo said while blocking the man's sight of Liam with his body."My partner over here won't cause any trouble for you, all right? We're just here to pick out a weapon that's all."
"Go see what you want, Liam."He said as he turned to look at Liam.
Suddenly, he heard tapping sounds from the man's counter. He looked at him while the man gestured to him to lean in.
"Are you sure, you want this kid to be your partner?"The man whispered.
"Why not?"
"He's been mad ever since his mother's death. Whenever we talked about the dragon, he would come and say it was a 'nice and good' dragon as if he knew this dragon."
"But why would he say that? Even after the village was cursed by it."
"His mother always told him the tale of the dragon and it was always about how nice it was, isn't that insane? I don't even know why his mother made up this kind of story, maybe she was crazy too."
"Please do not go around and call people crazy just because they think differently from you. It's alright for people to have their own beliefs."
"You!... Suit yourself."The blacksmith sighed as he sat back in his chair while ignoring Leo's existence.
Leo was kind of pissed by their conversation, he turned around and headed straight to the door. But he stopped when he saw Liam staring at a wooden bow with beautiful curves on it.
"You want this bow?"Leo asked, still a little pissed with the conversation but trying to contain it in front of him.
He nodded but he was still unsure about it.
"I like it but...I'm not sure if it is suitable for me...And won't it cost a lot with this kind of pattern?"
"How much can it cost? It is just made out of wood. The only difference is the pattern and that's all."
"All right..."
"Then, that settles it!"He said, joyfully and looked to the counter."Hey!Old man! How much is this?"
"10 gold coins." The blacksmith replied in a rough tone.
"What?! This is just a wooden bow!"
"If you don't want it, you can leave."He said while pointing his hand to the door.
"You..."
As he was about to turn to leave, he saw the disappointed and sad look in Liam's eyes, which made him feel extremely guilty for not buying it. He sighed.
"Fine..."
He approached the counter and placed his golden coins on the table. The blacksmith smugged and Leo felt his blood boil, making him just want to beat that smile off his face but he couldn't.
They exited the shop while Liam held his bow in his arms.
"Thank you...And I'm sorry for making you waste so much..." Liam looked at him with a face of sadness but Leo could still see his excitement in his eyes.
"Huh? You don't have to apologize!"He said, shocked by what he said "I offered!"
"But...still that sick old man!"He spoke in a mad voice."How can he just say that to other people?!"
"I'm kind of used to it...The way people treat me..."
"How can you even get used to that?! That is just pure rude! They shouldn't treat you like that!"
Liam looked at him with shock but then he gave a small gentle smile.
"Thank you for standing up for me."
"That's what partners are supposed to do! Now, let's test your skill. Do you have a training ground?"
Liam shook his head.
"No...this is a small land after all..."
"Ah...I should have known. But that still won't stop us! Let's head in the forest!"
"But...that's dangerous."
"And you need to train somehow! So? We're just doing it near the village...those trees, alright?"
Liam nodded.
They walked toward the trees next to some houses. Leo drew some targets on the trees and that's where their lesson began.
"So? How do you use this thing?"Liam asked while examining the bow.
"Umm...I'm not sure..."Leo replied, awkwardly as Liam stared at him, dumbfounded ."I'm a sword user as you can see."
He pulled out his iron sword and slid it back.
"So...I don't know but-"
"Then, why did you agree to buy the bow for me if you don't know?!"
"Can you stop cutting me off?... But like I was saying I do know a few tips on how to use them from my former guild members, who used bows."
He approached Liam from behind and took Liam's hand, which was holding the bow. He grabbed his hand and pulled it up to their eye level.
"What are you doing?!"Liam yelled while his whole face blushed."Don't stand so close without warning!"
"Sorry...But please focus on your target."Leo said while his friendly smile switched into a serious expression.
As they balanced the arrow onto the red dot that was in the center of the target.
"Now!"Leo yelled and both of them let go of their hands."Bullseye!"
Liam heard him yell when the arrow hit the red dot.
"Now, try it by yourself."Leo smiled while confidentially back away from him.
"Huh? How am I going to do that?!"Liam yelled in shock. "I'm still new to this!"
"Well...you got to learn somehow."
Liam sighed while looking away from him and at another target. He breathed in and out heavily, trying to calm his nervous heart.
It's all right, it's just a small training nothing more. Just a small trial.
As his beating heart calmed down a little, he trailed his eyes and aimed them directly at the target with the bow holding at his eye level. He took in a deep breath and then released his bowstring. The arrow flew and surprisingly hit the target.
Liam heard clapping sounds from behind and turned around.
"You sure have talent!"Leo said in amazed."Have anyone taught you before?"
"Nope...It's actually my first time..."
"Wow! This must be your hidden talent then!"
"I guess so..."
They continued to train for some time until the sky became dark and rain began to fall down on them. Both of them ran to the nearest shelter but soon both of them moved places when Liam noticed they were close to his house.