I walked around the village aimlessly, no particular plan in mind apart from just seeing where everything is. From what I'm seeing so far Berk is primitive in many aspects relating to their livelihood. Although they were advanced in dragon slaying apparatuses, aside from that everything here was quite simple.
"Ah, Protector Mal!" I heard a man call out to me. It was a viking with brown hair and a beard that braided down to the middle. "I reckon you can help me with something."
"What's up?" I asked the man, "I've got nothing going on anyway."
"Thank you," The man sighed in relief, "The names Hoark, I just need another hand to help me bring some stuff down at the docks. Our trader's coming today, so I want to exchange a few things of mine."
"No problem, where to?" I followed him towards his place, where there were two carts filled with items. "That's quite a bit."
"It is, I've saved up a bit to buy myself some goods." Hoark said excitedly, "There's this axe that they brought up from the south that apparently never breaks. It's strong enough to cut even a boulder in half."
"That's quite the weapon." I was intrigued. "Do you know who forged it?"
"It was found in some ruins in the far south, in the lands where no mortal dare to venture too. Trader Johann told me that a family owns the lands there, they were taught to have dealt with some sort of black magic, since they all lived long. Several accounts have said that one person dealt with trading for more than 2 generations, and they never looked any older." He paused to a whisper, "It seemed as though they had angered the gods, as they were never to be seen just last year. Some brave adventures infiltrated the area and found ruins."
"I see," I sighed, there wasn't anything I could do about that. After the ritual I packed what I could and left right away. It seems that some of the equipment has begun distribution around the world. "Truly unfortunate."
"That's true, but you can see why I want this axe, before anyone else can get it." He whispered, "Johann promised not to mention it to anyone else."
"So how come you're telling me this?" I was perplexed.
"I trust you'll play fair," Hoark said, "You're a great man."
"How would you know?" I was speechless, "We've probably spent a few hours drinking, but that's it."
"It's enough for a viking to know the character of a person." Hoark said proudly, "And you are a man of honour."
As we talked more we finally arrived at the docks, I saw that there was indeed a new ship docked right beside mine. A man with a long stash was talking to Valkyr, judging from her posture whatever was being mentioned peaked her interest. Rolling our carts down, the two noticed our presence.
"Johann, Valkyr," Hoark greeted, "How are the two of you?"
"Ah, Hoark!" Johann happily greeted, "These are the items you wish to trade for it?"
"Yes, Yes," Hoark said. "So, do you have it with you?" He whispered to Johann.
"I do, I do," Johann went onto his ship.
"What are you planning on buying?" I looked over to Valkyr.
"Nothing much, Johann's brought some spices from the east this time. Although I'm not so sure which one I should get." She pondered deeply.
"I never took you for the cooking type." I was slightly shocked. "Then again I can't always assume people's likes and dislikes. "
Another ship then appeared from around the corner, it was Bucket and Mulch. It seems that the two had a decent yield, although not as much as yesterday. Unfortunately that was the last of my bait, otherwise maybe I would've just given it to them.
"Ah, looks like the docks are popular today, eh?" Mulch said. "The charismatic warrior and the enchanted princess are here."
"What?" I cringed at the name, "What on earth are the two of you talking about?"
"Oh, we-" Bucket was about to explain when he was shot a glare by Valkyr. "Ah, it's best if you don't know."
"You all, gotta spit something out," I sighed, "I know I could get a little weird when I'm drunk, but I didn't do anything too weird did I?"
"It's nothing too serious." Valkyr dismissed it, "Just pretend nothing happened."
"Valkyr, we got those crabs that you asked from last time," Mulch quickly cut in. "Thanks to Mal yesterday we didn't need to fish that much today. So we had a lot of time to go crabbing," He took out a bunch of crabs tied up on a rope. "They're a feisty bunch, although I'm not sure why you would want to eat these, they've barely got meat on them."
"They taste good," Valkyr said, "You should try them."
"We did once after getting curious," Mulch mentioned, "We don't got your skill, we're better off sticking to cod."
As we talked a little bit more, Hoark finally received what he wanted to trade for. The axe was what I just had expected to see, although it was a lower quality one. Compared to everything though it may be seen as a top tier weapon.
"You bought a new axe?" Valkyr looked at Hoark strangely, "Don't tell me you traded off all of those just for an axe."
"It's not just an axe, Valkyr, it's a very, very good axe." Hoark wagged his index finger towards her. "This belongs to an ancient family, it's sharper and stronger than any axe that could be made in my lifetime!" He was quite passionate.
"If you say so," Valkyr ignored him after hearing what he had to say. Johann also brought out a few small bags that contained a few spices that I recognised. Black pepper, cloves, saffron, and a few other things.
"So what will it be this month miss Valkyr?" Johann displayed the spices to her.
"Do you know what they're used for in the east?" She asked.
"No, I only trade, so I can't give you that much information." Johann recalled something, "I will say that this one right here, Saffron, is beneficial for the body. It also improves the mood of those who add it to their meals. Although it is a little bit more expensive than the rest.
"How much would they be?" I piqued in.
"Two silver's worth for the Saffron, and a silver for each of these other ones," Johann detailed, "However, if you can provide it in coins I could knock it down to half. Bartering hasn't brought me enough in resale."
"You are running a business," I nodded in agreement, "I can understand that." Reaching into my handy pouch, I reached in and threw 2 gold pieces to him. "How much would that buy from you?"
Johann looked at the two gold coins in confusion, it took him a couple moments to recover before happily addressing me. "Young master, this is too much. Two gold coins is enough to buy my entire stock of spices 5 times over!"
"Keep the coins then, we'll get more from you in the future." I told him, "It's the only coins I have, I can't give you any cheaper ones."
"Well, thank you, you can take as much as you wish?" He offered.
"So are you going to take some or not?" I looked over to Valkyr, who stared at me in confusion. "What? You've helped me out a lot, it's the least I could do." I explained.
"This is still too much," Valkyr rejected, "I can't possibly repay you for all of this."
"Well, you said you were going to help me train right? Take that as a token of my appreciation, as well as an apology for whatever I did last night. Whatever I did had something to do with you, how about it?"
"Alright, I'll accept it." Valkyr finally receded, "Just this once, never again. I don't like to owe anyone." She hesitantly grabbed the spices, which she held onto tightly after realising that she had all of them on hand.
"Alright," I chuckled when I saw her. She definitely appreciates the art of cooking. Thinking about cooking, I suddenly recalled something. "Well, there is something. How good would you say you are at cooking?"
"Why do you ask?" She looked at me curiously.
"It's just that I had a friend back in the south. When we went on our adventure together his mother had given him a large recipe book. I don't know how to cook very well, so I was hoping you might be able to teach me?"
"Recipe book?" Her eyes glowed from the name, "deal, as long as you let me use the recipes too. Every 6th day, starting from now, deal?"
"For sure, I have no issue with that." The two of us shook hands to seal the deal. "I'll look forward to it."
Since her business was done, she scampered off with the spices and seasonings along with the crabs that the two fishermen had brought for her. I smiled slightly at her leaving figure, she was like a little rabbit.
"Look Bucket, if we ever had a fraction of his ability to seduce women, we would be married by now." Mulch commented.
"What are you on about?" I looked at him, "I'm not trying to seduce anyone."
"That's the issue, no one's gotten that close with Valkyr, she usually keeps to herself. Leave it to you to break her defences," He grumbled as he took out some oysters, "This is for you. The stories you told last night were quite entertaining, especially the last one, hehehe."
"I suppose you aren't going to tell me anything about it?" I guessed.
"Nope."