I leant back, resting against the wall, the afternoon had passed, we’d sold nearly every article within our selection. My arms were sore from carrying everything, replenishing the stall when necessary and stacking the crates properly back into the cart. I sighed, folding my arms across myself.

In the interim some of us had run around to the other stalls, buying a list of things for those back home like clothing, medicine, trinkets and delicacies. Kaiyo had been ecstatic when Yinea had went over. I however stayed with the stall.

It had been an eye-opening experience helping to man it, the customers were varied, though more biased to be human. The dwarf had been a surprise even to the others, he’d given a laugh as we watched him browse our goods. There was even an elf that tried to pay in song, Baer had given him a flat look as he asked for the money.

“Alright, you have until the sun’s up there.” Baer said, pointing toward a distant point in the sky. “And your allowance, do whatever you need until then, then get back here, we’re having dinner back home.”

Everyone wandered off, I briefly wondered where they’d all gone, but shrugged and decided to get a proper weapon. The sword I was using was nice, but it was a loaner and the balance wasn’t what I was used to.

[The directions to the blacksmith were very confusing.] Page noted, as we wound through narrow passages and haphazardly aligned buildings.

Quite. I thought. But the smell of smoke is a pretty good indicator I would think.

I walked in through the door, the forge was on the far side of the room, though the heat was palpable even from this distance. What appeared to be the blacksmith stood at the counter, watching me come in. “What’cha you looking for?” She asked, before stopping to peer at what I wore.

“Forgive my asking, but that’s an interesting choice of armour. Some kind of custom job? Looks like leather armour, the patterns are right but that’s cloth innit?” She said, cocking her head. “The way it’s designed though, what material is that?”

I cocked an eyebrow, but realized she couldn’t see my face. I undid the helmet, collapsing it into a hood and pushing it back. “It’s not important, I’m looking for a sword.” I pulled my hands apart, specifying a length of roughly a hundred and six centimetres. “I need the sword to be about this length.”

She brought out a number of swords, some with heftier, thicker blades and some thin and light. I tried out a few, carefully moving them to gather their weight and balance. I quickly put away the ones too heavy to easily move, removing also the blades too light for me to take advantage of. Narrowed down to three, I tapped at the blade, finally choosing one whose sweet spot matched the movements I commonly used.

Throughout this, the blacksmith watched with interest, saying nothing as I worked my way through the swords she had presented. I handed the blade hilt first to her, asking, “How much is this exactly?” She named a price, somewhat lower than I had expected. I turned to her quizzically.

She smiled. “I’m curious, your armour is meant to blend into leather armoured groups, though it designed to hide that it’s better, though the material...” She trailed off for a moment. “Aside, you seem to know your way around a blade, rare enough. So I’ll forgo on the extra charge.” She winked.

I raised an eyebrow, but paid her price. A young man walked in just then. “Ma, we’ve got the bars in, I’ll bring it to the back.” Same russet brown hair, he seemed independent. I left, having bought a wooden scabbard from her as well.

As we moved I pulled a strip of my armour that I’d detached while modifying it, wrapping it tight around the scabbard as I walked, hardening it into a beige coloured outer cover. That takes care of that. I thought, my fingers brushing over the pommel.

I didn’t really need clothing when the material for my armour could be absorbent and completely water resistant anytime I wanted, I commonly washed it daily with a simple dip in the river. Though I had been experimenting with making everyday clothing from the leftover, it appeared the original form of the armour had a lot of material to it, compressed and packed together, likely to give the softer sections protection.

I wandered for a bit more, committing some of the layout to memory. I wouldn’t need it, but I’d always liked to wander, it was fun to just detach and explore, never knowing where I would be. I sighed. There’s no GPS though, so I’d better not get lost.

I saw Yinea leaving one of the houses nearby, I nodded to her when she saw me, receiving one in turn. She paused for a moment, before walking back in the direction of the market. I headed off, finding a lumbermill to get some spare pieces of wood, after which I returned to the market.

The journey home was uneventful, the goblins likely staying back to lick their wounds and heal. Baer said that the military would have a squad take care of the goblins within the week. It was prompt of them. I lay the sword to my right, I’d have to sharpen and maintain it before I returned it to Rivain.

We returned bearing gifts, greeted by the others who weren’t currently patrolling. It felt like some kind of celebration really, passing out items to everyone, though they were still paying for the stuff they wanted. Dinner was prepared, and now at sundown we all ate together.

“Kayio’s all grown up now isn’t she?” The farmer’s wife, Elli asked. “Ahh I remember when Gen used to talk about her every time at the market. It’s rather nostalgic.”

“How was Taven? He always sets up shop close to us doesn’t he?” Teb, the farmer asked. “Too bad I’m really feeling the years now.” He sighed.

A soft murmur of conversations descended upon the table. It’s something I’ve come to appreciate, even though I hadn’t been used to it before I started these travels. When I was with my family… I smiled a small bitter smile, bowing my head a few degrees.

After dinner I went out to a spot overlooking the fields. I pulled out one of the pieces of wood, and began carving it. In the dark, I couldn’t see with my eyes, instead relying on Sense to guide my hands. I slowly shaped it, imagining the image of my father, standing as he did at the door once he came in. I wasn’t good at details yet, so creases and tiny details like cufflinks were far beyond me.

I put down the faceless carving, pulling out another of the strips of armour to use in sanding it. It was useful to have these, I only ever really needed one or two for a variety of situations, and it was simple enough to clean as well. I stared at the smooth surface of its face, none of the details came to me, it annoyed me.

I set it to my side, laying it with care an arm’s length away, before pulling out another small block of wood. I sat there for a while, wondering what I ought to try carving. Nothing came, I’d done carvings of all of my family, in between bouts of frustration I’d done carvings of animals, furniture, even my impression of the armour that Oroc had worn.

Caio passed me, waving as he passed. I’d sat here every other night, when I wasn’t working on weapon drills or other things like the armour.

I guess the connections themselves may well be completely severed. I thought.

I got up, walking to the dormitories. I hung the armour to the side, putting on a set of more casual clothing made from the armour, and inspecting it. I’d been worried about theft of the material, but it seemed that the community was both tight knit and generally austere, seeing no need for whatever they may have used it for. I had of course explained that none other than me could use it, and in a world where magic and enchanted weapons and armour could exist, they believed me.

I stopped when the others came in, knowing that they meant to sleep. The modifications were slight, I’d made the material at the articulation points denser, and refined the design to take more advantage of the rigid plates for immovable portions. It still looked like leather armour, though the lamellar design was somewhat thinner than normal, unnoticeable to anyone but myself.

I lay down, the bedding was better than the army, and the floor, though that time I was far too tired to care. The ceiling stared at me, a fireplace had been built in the centre, the chimney leading upwards made of stone. Unlike with Raque, they didn’t often go to a hub like a village. They visited Hrothan in only rare situations, instead meals were prepared here, and drink was distilled by the residents themselves, it was beer, like always.

A few days later a group of soldiers arrived at the farm. Their armour was metal, as befitted proper soldiery, and fully covering them from head to toe. Their leader nodded to Teb, lifting the faceplate to reveal a male face with a goatee.

“The goblins have been taken care of.” He said. “Thank you for the prompt report.”

“Thank you for always coming to aid us.” Teb said, a smile shared between them as they spoke. “Would you like some vegetables to take home?” He shook his head, thanking him for the gesture.

They shook hands warmly, and the squad left, heading into the woods once again. I watched as they went, they’d worn simpler, less decorated armour compared to the gate guards. I suppose that was to be expected, armour that stood out too much would be worthless in a fight. Even more so when what they faced were opponents who looked as drastically different as goblins did.

Some of them had seemed injured, a few dents in their armour, I wondered what had caused them, goblins alone did not seem like a likely source. Mayhap they had some kind of troll or perhaps simple bears, I had to admit I was very unknowledgeable regarding them.

[I wonder if there are people who collect information on them and other creatures.] Page wondered aloud. [A bestiary is likely to be expensive, maybe just one of the guards instead. Also, you really oughtn’t use mayhap, lest I begin speaking old modern English to ye.]

I rolled my eyes within my helm. Alright. I thought. I won’t. The armour comforted me, though I hated to admit it. The Annihilator from before had rattled me, hiding the shakes from my near-death experience had been difficult, stopping them was harder.

The days passed quickly from then, winter arrived. We acknowledged it with the slaughter of a few cows, reducing the need for feed. The meat would be stored with the snow, which fell just a few days later. The slimes were less active, though a few new types seemed to rise in prominence, still necessitating the need for patrols, though not to the same range.

The days grew shorter as well, and the solstice passed us by. I could only tell after two days, the way the sun had moved across the sky. More tales were shared, of demons and ugly rituals meant to clear the way for their conquest. Some claimed that once every hundred of years, the veil broke, and a horde of ravenous demons would gorge themselves on the blood of mortal races.

It was curious how the last tale that I heard would be the one I was first to confirm.