Chapter 3 – Friendly Folk

I was pretty startled when I was pointed out first which caused six pairs of eyes to suddenly stare at me. Regaining my composure, I answered. “My name is Lorn, Faith core, Inquisitor type.”

Cathelyn raised an eyebrow. “Faith? That’s rare, coming from Earthlings.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Most associate it with theology, so they don't choose it. When in fact, it doesn’t have anything to do with theology.”

While my core brought an unexpected small exchange, all the others didn’t. The middle-aged bearded man was named Erik Harris, and he had a Nature core, type Ranger. The male and female teenagers were Harry Lind and Sia Read; they had a Nature core type summoner and a Fire core type archer, respectively. Finally, remained the last two, the well-built dark-skinned man and the mid-20s lady in a running suit. The buff dude said his name is Zeus and had a Fire core type conjurer, while the lady told us her name was Sasha Roux, and she had a beast core type hunter.

Even though the atmosphere in the inn became a bit better after the introductions, I still held a bit of scepticism about whether they all told the truth. I didn’t expect all of the people here to come forward with honesty.

After some silence since the announcements, Cathelyn finally spoke, “You’re all free to rest until I put together a plan.” Cathelyn announced.

I wished to voice out my sarcasm about how she was supposedly the guide, and her great plan now was just to leave her alone, but I really didn’t have the time. I checked outside earlier, and the sun was about to set down. There was nothing on my mind that I wanted to do, but it wouldn't hurt to get a feeling on this town's circumstances.

When I walked towards the door to leave, a sound came out from my left. “Where do you think you’re going?”

It was Cathelyn, I don’t know when, but she was rocking a chair near the side of the door.

“I don’t recall needing your consent to leave,” I answered.

“You don’t; I am just asking where you’re going.”

“Next time, ask more nicely.” I didn’t wait for her to respond and went out of the inn. Now, I felt I knew why the original guide cut me off and sent me away; it felt good just ignoring what annoyed you.

Going out of the inn was mainly for a breath of air and a few trades for protection since there were monsters in town. I still didn’t decide whether I should hunt the monsters as the questline stated or not. I mean, rewards were good and all, and the powers seemed interesting which I needed to test, but keeping my life was also important. I didn’t know if I could kill the monster or not.

A sound suddenly came from my back. “Hey, do you mind if I join you?”

Turning around, I saw the tracksuit girl, Sasha, tilting her head slightly, waiting for my answer.

“Sure,” I answered. “I am going to take a stroll; you're free to join; I just hope you didn’t annoy boss woman on your way out.”

She smiled and said, “Don’t worry, she didn’t ask me anything more when I said I was going after you.”

“Great. Now we know who will take the blame if something happens to you.”

She chuckled in response and didn’t comment.

We strolled through the empty near-deserted town. We met a few people as we walked, a couple, an elderly man, a few guards, but when coupled with the town's size, the place appeared abandoned. Attributing to that feeling was the amount of dust covering the buildings and the trash scattered around them. There was also this lack of noise all around, no chattering, no baby wailings, no laughter of children, just disturbing silence. The more we walked through the town, the more spooked we got.

To shake away the current town’s atmosphere, I began talking. “So, what brought you here, you know, beyond the portal, miss Sasha?“

“You can call me Sasha, it’s fine.”

“Alright, so what made you go through the portal, Sasha?”

She gave off a sheepish smile and said, “You might laugh at me, but I really thought there was a paradise here. I was trekking through my neighborhood when a portal suddenly appeared, it occurred really naturally for me to just jump in. It was a moronic and stupid decision now that I think about it. What about you? Did you also think this was paradise?”

“Well, I knew there was no paradise here. So that might make me stupider than you since I came in while knowing I am putting myself in danger. As for why I came, let’s say I was lost.”

She seemed to have caught my cue and asked no further. While we walked, I abruptly stopped as a building caught my eye, more specifically, a plaque on the building, Adrian’s Smithy.

“Is there something?” Sasha asked, bewildered at my sudden stop.

“Yeah, I need to check something. Do you mind waiting here?” I asked.

She shook her head.

I headed towards the building and entered what appeared to be a forge. Inside, a well-built man with wrinkles covering his face was striking a hot sword on the anvil. He didn’t raise his head to even greet me until he had finished his hammering and set aside the sword. “Welcome,” he greeted. “I apologize If I took some time to get back to you, but at my age, you find it hard to split your attention.”

“It’s all fine,” I said. “In fact, I enjoyed watching a master at his craft.”

He let out a hearty laughter. “So what can I do for a honey-tongued man like you?”

“I was thinking that you could maybe give me a weapon to work with since there seem to be monsters around.”

“Of course, I can offer you a sword for a good price. The thing is, do you have coin? From your attire, you look like an Otherworlder. I don’t think you have any money. Of course, barter is available; I just hope you won’t waste my time with useless stuff.”

“Don’t worry, old man. First, tell me the units you calculate time with, and we can move there.”

He seemed confused for a moment but answered. “60 seconds for one minute, 60 minutes for one hour, and 24 hours for one day.”

“Great,” I said as I took off my watch. I approach and gave him a close look at the watch. “This here is a time-keeping tool, one hand for the seconds, another for the minutes, and lastly one for hours.”

“Can I take a closer look?” He asked.

I gave him the watch. “Be my guest.”

He began to closely scrutinize the watch, flipping it up and down, left and right. It wasn’t after a few minutes of him inspecting the watch that he talked. “This could make do for a good exchange. How long does it work for? I know that a lot of Otherworlders stuff doesn’t work for more than two days.”

I smiled and said, “This could work for four years. And I want a Sword and an armor.”

“Not possible, your device is helpful, but nothing a good Hourglass can’t solve.”

“Alright, give me back my watch.”

The wrinkles on the man’s face moved and wriggled. “You win." He admitted. "I will get you a weapon. I don’t sell armors here, but Devadas does, five buildings away. I will give you a letter that you can hand to him, so he gears you up.”

The old man went to a wrack at the side from which he took out a sword, then he headed towards a table and fetched a scabbard. He inserted the blade inside the sheath then tossed it towards me.

After catching the sword a screen popped up.

Item

Name: Undetermined

Rank: Iron

Type: Sword

Description: A sword designed for novices, proven to be very durable and can be used roughly without fear of damage

Traits: [Sharp Edge]

– A well-kept and ground sword always gives an edge in battle.

– Makes it easier to cut through flesh.

This was neat, I didn't expect I could get some info from those screens.

I was given a good sword, but, “You are not going to let me pick?” I asked.

“If you can find a better sword with your fledging eyes and convince me it’s at the same price as this one, go ahead.”

“Alright, but how do I know you’re not cheating me?”

“If you’re going to doubt my honesty, then take your device and go.”

I raised my hands. “Fine. Fine. I understand. You’re good; I just wanted to make sure.”

Snorting, the old man gave me a piece of paper and asked, “Anything else?”

I wanted to head out, but not before asking, “Hey, old man, I didn’t get your name. I am Lorn, by the way.”

“You can call me Adrian if you want,” he answered

Before stepping out, I asked my last question. “Tell me, Adrian, why are you working alone? I don’t see any helpers, not even an apprentice.”

He turned to stare right into my eyes and said coldly, “You’re a smart and curious man; why don’t you get your stuff and get the hell out of this town before you get yourself killed.”

Smiling, I nodded towards him and went out. This conversation took a wild turn. I joined Sacha outside, and she asked a few curious questions on how I got a sword as we walked away. We found Devadas, who seemed to run an armorer shop. When I showed him the letter, he grunted and cursed Adrian under his breath, but he did give me a good brown leather armor which consisted of body armor, pants, and a pair of bracers.

Item

Name: Undetermined

Rank: Iron

Type: Armor

Description: A well-crafted leather armor, made with the armor's durability and the well-keeping of the wearer as first priority.

Traits: [None]