The not-immortal Blacksmith - Interlude - The Adventurers 1

Kai, a young man of 15 years, and his companions, Yuri (14, female), and Shiro (15, Male), had just made it to level 8! As they cleaned their weapons and equipment from slaughtering the marauding Orc band near the town of Greens Willow, the Goddess spoke to them in her sweet and melodic voice, "Go to Greens Willow, and search out the odd blacksmith. He will help you on your quest."

"Well that's it then. She hasn't steered us wrong before. Lets go find this guy and get our first NPC party member!" Shiro said with a smile.

"Do you think its that old immortal blacksmith who served with the great hero Tristan?" Yuri asked.

"Naw. The rumors said he disappeared years ago, and anyway, those are just rumors. Humans don't live past 50 around here." Kai replied.

They traveled to the village of Greens Willow.

*-*-*

A day in town saw the adventurers ensconced at one of the inns and looking for the "odd smith". There were three smithies in town, a general blacksmith, a weapons smith, and an armor smith. They spent several hours checking out the weapons and armor, but found nothing of note that would suggest any great skill that would help on their adventurers.

"Should we bother with the other guy?" Yuri asked.

"May as well. What do we have to loose?" Says Shiro.

"Okay. Lets go." Kai replied.

*-*-*

A short while later the party arrives at the outskirts of the village, and see an old fashioned outdoor smithy with a small dwelling/shop behind it. Above the smithy a sign proclaims "The Naked Eagle Blacksmith Shop". Hanging from the forge itself is another smaller sign, in runes the locals can't decipher.

"You see that little sign hanging on the forge?" Kai asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what it says, it's in English." Shiro responds.

"It says 'Naked Eagle Blacksmith Shop'. Why?" Yuri responds a heartbeat later.

The three adventurers look at each other for a moment before, in unison saying, "ENGLISH???"

"Kai, check him out using your Sight power." Shiro says.

"You got it." Kai replies, then "Power of Sight show me all." His eyes narrow as he stares at the young smith. "Okay. Here goes," and he reads aloud,

" 'SLINGER; LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

BLACK SMITH; LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

WEAPON SMITH; LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

ARMOR SMITH; LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

TINKER; LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

ADVENTURER SUPPORT; LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

MAGIC ITEMS: UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN.

GENERIC CRAFTSMANS CLOTHING."

Kai takes a deep breath. "Alright. so he is at least 10 levels above us, or I would be able to reads his levels. I have seen several people around here that have job titles, but no readable levels. But six jobs? I've never seen that many. Even the great sage only had 2."

"Well, lets go talk to him." Says Shiro.

Yuri nods.

The party approaches the smith. "Good afternoon, blacksmith! Could you perhaps help us?" Asks Shiro.

"I'm always willing to help out the good people of the village. You, are not from the village." the smith responds, without looking up.

"Um, yeah, so anyway, what do you have for sale?" Shiro continues, only slightly put off by the smith's manner.

Still not looking up from where he is pounding out nails on the anvil, the smith points to the display of pots and pans hanging form a rack nearby. "That's what I currently have on hand. Got some commissions I'm waiting on handles for. Otherwise not much. If I dig around in the shop, I might find a couple of old daggers I could sell you."

Kai raises an eyebrow, "I could use a new pair of daggers, mine aren't doing so well after that Ooze last week."

The smith looks up for a moment. "Show me."

Kai obliges, as the smith puts down his hammer and iron, taking a step over.

"Inferior steel. Bad grip. Should have twisted wire over leather, not heavy cloth." the smith mumbles, mostly to himself, then louder, "You got ripped off. Joshua has a new set that is much better, and at a decent price. You know where his shop is?"

Yuri pipes up, "Yes. We were there earlier, but nothing caught our eye."

"Alright. I'll be back in just a tick." The smith says and walks to his abode.

Quietly, Kai asks, "A tick? Isn't that a clock reference? How would he know that word? We haven't even seen a clock in this world."

A few minutes later, and with many curse words, the smith returns with an old, but well built chest. "I haven't looked in here for a few, but the daggers should be inside." He unlocks it with a key from his belt and opens it. "Ah, here you go lad." He withdraws a matching pair of plain daggers the just seem to ooze malice. "250 for the pair."

"Silver or gold?" Kai asks.

"Gold. Magic items ain't cheap. Even if you make them yourself." The smith responds.

The three adventurers huddle together for a few moments.

"That's a good chunk of money, but..." Shiro says.

"Kai, use your power and check them out?" Yuri asks.

"Will do. Power of Sight identify item," Kai says, and narrows his eyes at the daggers. "Okay...

DAGGERS OF DEATH; LEVEL 50; MATCHED PAIR; WHEN USED SINGLY THE DAGGERS DO +100% DAMAGE AND INFLICT 'BLEEDING'. WHEN USED AS A PAIR THE DAGGERS DO +300% DAMAGE AND INFLICT 'MASSIVE BLEED OUT'."

The party looks at each other for a time before the smith interrupts them, "Doing that without asking permission is kinda rude, you know."

"Um, I'm sorry?" Kai says.

"Good enough. So, 250 golds. Yes, or no?" The smith asks.

Shiro quickly responds, "Yes. We'll take them." and hands over the money.

"A pleasure doing business with you. Now skedaddle. I have work to do." The smith tosses the gold, without counting it, into the chest, then closes and locks it before he heads back to his anvil. "Stupid metal went cold. Oh well."

"Um, sir smith? Could we take a bit more of your time?" Yuri asks.

Placing the metal bar into the forge and turning the blower handle a few times to heat it up again, the smith turns back, "What now?"

"The Goddess told us to search you out. She said you would help us on our quest to slay the Demon King." Says Yuri.

"No." The smith says in a flat voice. "Not happening. Your 'goddess' is an idiot."

Thunder booms across the village.

Stepping out from the forge, the smith looks up at the sky. "Oh, didn't like that, you little trollop?" He places his right hand under his shirt, in the small of his back. "You want to come down here and make something of it?"

Kai hears a quiet, but audible to his ears Ka-Klick sound from behind the smith's back. The sound makes him shudder, but he is unsure why.

A quieter boom of thunder growls across the sky.

"I didn't think so. Now tell your 'chosen ones' to get lost. I have work to do, you idiot!" The smith yells at the sky.

The party of adventurers look at the smith, then at the sky, then back at the smith. Thunder quietly booms in the distance as a bolt of lightning strikes a tall unassuming tree.

Behind his anvil, the blacksmith looks at the party, "Scat, before I become your Huckleberry."

The party runs.

*-*-*

Back at the inn, the party has gathered at one of the tables in the common room.

After taking a swig of what passed for ale, Shiro asks, "Does anyone know what that was about?"

"I think, that may have been the legendary immortal smith arguing with the goddess." Yuri says.

"Did anyone else hear that Ka-Klick sound from behind the smiths back?" Asks Kai, still shaking a bit.

The other two look at him. "Was it a metallic 'ka-klick'?" Shiro asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Definitely." Kai answers.

"Like the sound of a revolver in the old American 'western' movies my dad used to always watch?" Shiro prods.

"Yes. Exactly like that." Kai nods his head. "What could he possibly have that would make that sound?"

Shiro shakes his head, mildly twitching in fear. "In the words of Sherlock Holmes 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'. I think the Goddess almost got shot..."