Her footsteps finally stopped in front of me. After waiting a moment, I cautiously opened my eyes. Her bloodied gauntlet was extended toward me, waiting for me to take hold of it. I looked up only to be met by her staring down at me coldly. I reached out and firmly grasped her hand. In one quick motion, she pulled me up onto my feet.
She spoke in a cold emotionless tone. "Are you hurt."
I took a moment to regain my imposture before I answered her. "Yeah, um, I'm alright." Now that she's up close, I got a better look at her. On her wrist, inlaid into her armor was a Demigod Crest. The crest flashed vividly as it reflected the shine of the sun.
"Get to safety", she said.
"I didn't know wyvern resides here", I commented.
"They don't. " She looked me up and down for a moment before speaking again. "Head to town. Continue East." She pointed her spear behind her.
She stared at me, nor breaking eye contact for even a moment. Her speech wasted no extra words.
And with that, her runes activated once more as she dashed into the sky and away from the freshly killed wyvern. I got closer to check its corpse. It laid there lifeless, blood slowly trickling out of its numerous wounds. I assumed that it was all caused by her. From the way she looked, she must be quite young as well. I can't be sure though, her helmet was covering the majority of her face. Taking a sigh of relief, I decided to run to the village.
Upon arriving at the village, the sight that greeted me was not what I expected. A lot of the homes in the village are completely destroyed. There was not a single house that stood unscathed. Stationed near the front of the village were a tent with the same insignia as that of the girl.
One of the armored guard walked up to me and blocked my path. "What business do you have here?" he asked.
I searched in my pouch as I began to explain my purpose. "Yeah, hi. I'm just here on a mission on behalf of the Wolf village." I took out the scroll before continuing to speak. "I am required to give this to the guild master in this village."
The guard looked me up and down before speaking again. "Very well. Follow me then." He walked ahead of me as I followed him through the town. The people were living in makeshift tents outside their ruined houses. The women were cooking outside and the men were busy trying to rebuild their broken down homes from what little materials was left.
"So what happened here?" I asked.
"Monsters have been attacking the village for some reason." The man replied. "Don't worry though, our captain is on the job. It's pretty safe here as long as we have her."
"A lady with red hair right?"
"Yes. Have you met her?" He asked.
"Yes. She just happened to be fighting a wyvern when we met," I responded.
"A powerful girl isn't she?"
"Can't argue with that at all."
We then walked in silence the remainder of the way.
"Well, here you are. He should be just inside", the guard said as he gestured me inside. "Keep out of trouble."
I nodded as I entered. The guard shut the door behind me. The inside of their guild looked lively, unlike the town itself. Lanterns line the interior walls along with a chandelier in the middle. Even though the place is smaller than the town hall in my village, the number of adventurers gathered around is greater, perhaps 30 or so. I slowly walk towards the front desk, walking past many adventurers.
Behind the front desk were two women. They both looked quite young, somewhere in their 20s or so. One of them looked up and spotted me.
"Hello adventurer, how may I be of service?" She said in a polite tone.
"I'm just here to deliver a message to the guild master regarding the trades with the Wolf village." I responded while holding the scroll in my hand.
She looked behind her at the task board and observe it for a while before returning. "Yes, we have been expecting you. If you walk up those flights of stairs", she said pointing to the stairs to my left, "you should see a large door. The guild master will be waiting in there."
I nodded my head. "Thank you," I said. She bowed her head and went back to her duty.
I turned and headed up the stairs. I turned to look at the crowd, noticing some of the adventurers appeared to be wounded, likely dealing with the wyverns that the girl was dealing with. I don't blame them. The courage to go against those things are nothing to sneeze at. Either way, I have a mission to do.
Straightening myself up, I knocked at the large wooden door. A few seconds passed and the door opened up, revealing a large bearded man. He was standing with his hands propping him up on a table. Around him were soldiers, similar to those patrolling outside. One man stood taller than the rest. He wore armor of black, lined with gold. His crest on his breastplate is also similar to the girl's. On his back, he carried a long sword with numerous runes. His armor was also no exception. Numerous runes were inlaid on his gauntlet, and some on his breastplate.
On the table was a map of the area, much more detailed than the one on the signpost. On the map were numerous "x" marks, perhaps indicating areas that are special in some ways.
"We have cleared out most of the areas. Your men should be able to clear out the rest", the man in black said.
"But our men are in any state to fight!" Said the bearded man in an urgent and slightly angry tone.
The armored man calmly retorted. "That's not our problem. We were tasked to kill any monsters higher than 'dangerous' status, not weak ones. I don't recall us being scrap cleaners," the man looked out the window towards his tents. "We have spent 10 days fighting for your village, and all for little to no cost. The capital stands weakened, and I will not have my men waste anymore of their energy on small fries".
The old man hurriedly retorted "But-"
Before he could say anything else, the man interjected. "Did I not make myself clear before? We will help you wipe out the foreign wyvern and dragons, and then we will take our leave. And as far as I can see, they are all but gone." The man angrily took a dagger and stabbed the map. "We are retrieving our forces out tomorrow, and that is final."
The old man looked defeated. The armored man turned to me before taking a breather. "Looks like you've got company. I will be leaving for now, but don't get the wrong idea. We are still leaving your town tomorrow. Good day to you, Guild Master."
He then turned to his men and ordered them to leave. One by one the soldiers walked out of the room. The armored man was last to leave. Approaching me, he spoke. "I do apologize for the commotion." He then left promptly, shutting the door behind him. The guild master walked to his seat behind his desk and sat down with a thump, leaning back in his chair and squeezing the bridge of his nose.
"What is it," he said, annoyed.
"Hello Guild Master, I come with information about the trade with the wolf town." I put the scroll on the table as I spoke.
The man sighed. "Thanks for delivering it." The man made no attempt to look at me. "Go down to the front desk and tell them request 16 is finished. They will give you your reward."
A moment of silence in the room before I curiously asked the man, "So what's the deal with those knights?"
The man looked at me annoyed. "None of your business. Now leave." His tone is more angry now.
"If it's monsters you need help with, I'm willing to lend a hand", I responded.
The man leaned forward, quickly changing his tone. "How capable are you, kid?"
His quick switch if attitude frighten me a tad bit. "A platinum, sir." I responded.
"A fair high rank." He thought a bit before speaking again. "Well, when can you start?"
"It has to be tomorrow, sir. I have things to tend to in my own town."
"Tomorrow will be fine. I'll be sure to pay you fairly for your work of course." The man slid a gold coin across the table. "How about a payment beforehand. Consider it a courtesy, and a promise that you will come tomorrow."
"Very well, sir. You can expect me here tomorrow. Perhaps at noon." I took the coin and placed it into my pouch for safe keeping. "If you don't mind, I will take my leave for today."
The man looked at me with his eyes squinting. As I turned to leave, the man spoke. "What's your name, kid?"
"Sebas, sir. Sebas Goldwin."
"Ah, the boy who stood up my daughter on her date", he said.
"Excuse me?" I was surprised by what he said. "Who's your daughter?"
"And the nerve to not even remember her name." He added, slightly disappointed. The man looked at me, expecting me to remember who.
"I'm afraid I can't give you a name, sir."
The door bursts open. Me and the Guild Master turned to look at the entrance.
"Father, they don't have the things I need!" A familiar voice said.
Occupying the door is none other but Emerald. My face dropped from embarrassment.
"Oh, hey there, lover boy." She said, petting my head.
"Oh" I blurted out. "Sorry, sir."
The man seemed satisfied from my embarrassment.
"At least you know", the man said amusingly. He turned to Emerald. "Sorry my dear, but the town's been busy trying to rebuild after the recent attacks."
"I know, father, so I'm trying to make you new weapons so you can defend yourself! I'm doing this for you!" Emerald was screaming at this point.
"The materials have already been used up my dear. Is there no other replacement?" The man said submissively.
"No!" She quickly reported. "How could you let those second rate blacksmith use up something so precious?! You knew I was going to come back today too!"
The man slumped down in his chair like a domesticated pup getting yelled at. I decided to distract her with something she might want to hear.
"Hey Em! I wanted to talk to you about something."
She turned towards me and smiled, though slightly annoyed. "What's up Sebas?"
I pulled out the alpha dragon core I kept in my pouch. "I have something you might want to get your hands on."
She quickly snatched the core out of my hand, her brown eyes shining like the sun.
"A DRAGON CORE!!!" She screamed.
"You forgot 'alpha', Alpha Dragon Core." I added.
"What element?" She asked.
"Fire"
The man stood up quickly from his seat, slamming his hand on his table. "Where did you get such an item, boy?" The man asked.
"I killed it sir." I replied.
The man sat back down in his chair, looking defeated. "Why do I always get the short end of the stick?" the man mumbled.
"NO WAY!!" Emerald screamed. "Oh my god, can I use it? I swear, I will make you such a good weapon you wouldn't even want to look at any others!" She leaned down, shoving her face in my face. Her smile from ear to ear and her eyes glitter with the brightness of a thousand suns.
"How can I say no to such a weapon", I finally responded.
"OH MY GOD! THANK YOU!" She hugged me into her chest, my head bouncing from side to side from the softness of her body. "You made my day, Sebas!"
She gave me 17 kisses all over my face as the guild master breathed a sigh of relief. She then held the core up to the sun light. The rock glows brighter the longer it is in the sun.
"This is a dream come true…" she mumbled, almost hypnotized by the item.
Snapping back for a moment, she spoke to her dad once more. "But what about the situation with the village? We still need more materials for weapons and stuff."
I interjected her thoughts. "I will also be helping out with the effort to clear out monsters in this town too. So try not to worry too much, Em."
"Really? That is such a nice coincidence!" She pocketed the dragon core. "Well, I guess this will suffice for now. But dad, I will need you to collect more materials still. Can't hurt to get more weapons."
"Yes ma'am" he replied. "And thank you Sebas", he whispered looking at me.
I gave him a thumbs up before Emerald spoke again. "Either way, I will need to get back to the village. I want to get working on the weapon as soon as possible. The forge here is too broken down for anything this majestic. A core such as this require the utmost respect."
"Leaving so soon?" The man asked.
Emerald looked to her father before speaking. "I thought the plan was for me to leave anyway, even if I did get the materials?" She walked towards the table and put her hands on her father's. "Don't worry father, I will come back. I promise to keep the village safe. And I'm sure with the help of the ArchDragon here, that won't be an issue."
"Alright… But do come back and visit ever so often Emmy" the man said.
"Will do, father."
She then headed out the door. "Come along now, Seb."
I bowed toward the Master, and left along with Emerald.
Emerald held the core in her hand, squeezing it tightly. "So it wasn't a rumor then. You really did defeat an Alpha Dragon", she commented as we walked down the stairs. "And on your first day as a platinum too."
I laughed nearviously. "It was a pretty rough time, don't get it twisted", I clarified.
"Even so, dragons are no joke, even for new Demigod ranks." She looked at the core, still smiling while talking.
I chuckled again, not knowing what to say to her compliment. "I'm aware. Technically I was tricked into fighting them. I thought they were wyrms", I added. "Oh, I need to collect my reward for my mission. You can go on ahead of me if you'd like."
"Nah. It's our date after all. It would be pretty rude of me to leave you all alone." She said sarcastically.
Feeling my guilt, I said timidly, "yeah, sorry about standing you up that day."
She nudged me lightly and laughed. "I'm just pulling your leg. My father and I had a laugh about it." She sighed before continuing to speak. "I'm glad you got better. Rose told me all about your little condition."
I stayed silent, partly out of embarrassment and partly trying to save face.
I stopped by the front desk and got my reward.
Emerald seemed curious about something, staying silent as we walked out the door of the building."Mind telling me how the hell that happened?" She finally asked.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I want you to make me a new weapon", I replied.
"Oh? What's wrong with your current one?" She asked.
"It's hard to explain. It can transform in some weird way, and when it does, I appear to get extremely fatigued. I first noticed it after my first mission. The sword did something twice, and I got so tired that I was knocked out for a few hours I think. After that, I trained with the weapon, and made it transform 3 times in a row. A bit of a delay later, my body lost all strength, to the point I can't even expand my lungs. Hell, even my heart couldn't beat at its normal speed. I thought I was seriously a goner."
She stayed silent for a bit, deep in thought. "A weapon transforming isn't too weird though. I mean, it isn't unheard of." She kept thinking again. "As for the other bit about you getting tired…" She was silent again. "Can't say I heard of it before…"
"Neither can I. This is the first I've ever felt that tired, EVER."
"Either way, I'd love to make you a new weapon… especially with this sweet baby." She said, raising the stone into the air.
She put it back into her pocket. "How about some food?" She suggested.
"Lead the way."
"You'll be paying, yes?" She said with a smug face.
"Of course." I said as I chuckled. "I'll make up for the date I missed."
"You better", she said, hitting my back lightly. She grabbed my hand as we walked. "Don't be a shy lover boy. You were the one brave enough to stare when we first met."
I couldn't help but turn red, remembering the event.
"Yeah, sorry. I really didn't mean to." I said.
"So I'm just so gorgeous that you can't help but stare." She said, propping up her breast, making them bounce.
"That's…." I stumble for a thought.
"That's right? Yeah, I know I'm right." She seemed proud of herself.
I can't deny it though. She has dark tanned skin, likely gotten from her constant adventuring for materials. Her red hair looks scruffy, yet there is a certain appeal to it. Her body is large, with muscular arms from her work. I can almost guarantee any man would fall head over heels for her just from a glance… though no guarantee they can "handle" her.
We walked toward one of the remaining food stalls in the town.
She looked at a stall before speaking. "I'm very glad this place made it through the attack rather unscaved. In my opinion, this is one of the best places to eat. The food is to die for."
The food stall had some seats and tables settled around the main kitchen. Umbrellas were in a hole, poked through the middle of the table for shades.
Just as Emerald said, 4 of the 5 tables were taken. We sat down at the only table that wasn't occupied. Emerald's size made the chair look tiny. She looked giddy to taste the foods
"I haven't visited the town in quite a bit. I have to say, this place right here is one of my top 3 favorite things in town." She commented.
"Were you born here?" I asked.
"Yeah", she replied. "I lived here for around 14 years. I would run around town eating absolutely everything. They call me ravenous, which I took great pride in." She laughed while talking about her childhood. "The adults would adore me. Oftentimes, at this place, the owner would let me eat for free. I would often make things for her, so it was a fair trade. Her cutleries and kitchen knife were mostly crafted by me."
"My dear Emerald! It's so good to see you." A women walked over to our table. She was old, and wearing a worn down apron.
"Granny Topk!" Emerald said. The lady walked to emerald and gave her a lengthy hug as she rub Emerald's back.
"It's so good to see you visiting us. The town missed your pretty little smile", the lady commented.
"Sorry granny! I really did want to come back sooner, but I guess I was too caught up in my work to notice the time passing by."
The lady stood back a bit. "My, you've grown into such a big girl."
Emerald laughed at the compliment. "I guess I eat well and exercised well is all."
"Whatever you did my dear, it worked very nicely. You look stunning." The lady couldn't help but smile when talking to Emerald. She then turned to me and greeted me. "And hello there, young man."
"Good day to you as well ma'am." I politely said.
"Oh what a polite young man. Tell me, dear boy," she leaned toward me and whispered. "Are you her boyfriend perhaps?"
My face turned red once again. "Well, I'm jus-"
Emerald interrupted me before I could explain. "How did you know granny? Do we look that good together?"
"Ohh goody. You two look very fitting my dear. He's quite good looking as well." The lady squeezed my arm a bit. "And muscular. That's a plus."
Emerald laughed before speaking. "He is quite the looker isn't he." She calmed down and held her laugh. "Anyways granny, me and my 'boyfriend' here would like to have a taste of your fine stew."
"Of course my dear. The usual? The lady asked.
"Yes please." Emerald said enthusiastically before turning to me.
I took a moment and remembered that I have no idea what they serve. "I'll just have what she's having. I trust her taste in food", I said, satisfied I saved face in front of Emerald.
Emerald looked at me with her smug look once again. She likely realized what I did. I smiled back at her and winked. She chuckled a bit.
The lady looked at us giggling before speaking. "Oh, young love. Anyways, give me a few moments and the food will be ready. You two enjoy yourself alright?" She walked toward her kitchen to prepare the food.
"Take your time granny!" Said emerald.
Emerald looked around the village a bit. Then stoped and stare at a spot in town.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked.
She pointed over to an empty area near the edge of the village, close to the fence. "That place right there was where I set up my first ever forge. When I was 7, I had nothing but an old spare anvil, a campfire, and a trust hammer I found in my father's workshop." She looked at me and whispered, "I was little so they didn't allow for an actual furnace."
Her eyes glowed just as bright speaking about her profession, even when she was little. "Don't be mistaken though, the fire was plenty enough. It took me a long time to heat up the blade, and I would smash it with my hammer, BAM BAM BAM until it slowly took shape."
She turned around again, now pointing to another empty location in town. "I would then run my tiny legs to an actual blacksmith and request him to use his sharpening stone." She turned back around and gestured on the table. "I would rake the blade over and over on the worn down stone until my blade was sharp."
She stopped in her tracks for a moment before looking up at me. "Don't get me wrong, most of the time, I hold it down too hard and the blade would just snap in half and I would cry." She laughed at her silly childhood. Her laugh really is infectious and beautiful.
"So why the move? You seemed pretty happy here." I asked.
Her laugh died down. "Touchy subject I would say." She replied.
Realizing what I just did, I quickly take back my question. "Oh… I didn't mean to upset you."
She looked back at the area before speaking. "It's alright. I'm not really offended or anything."
The silence at the table was self-evident.
The clanking of metal boots broke the silence.
"Hey you! Blacksmith!" A female voice said coldly, yet a bit angry.
We both looked toward the voice. The first thing I saw was white armor. Looking up more, I saw a gauntlet covered in dried blood. Next came the insignia on the Breastplate. And finally, I saw the girl with red hair, with malice in her eyes.
Emerald was first to speak. "Well… this is bad." she blurted out.
"No more running… Emerald."