《My boring fantasy adventure》


 1. Another world (Part 1)

    What is happening to me? it¡äs all dark, I can''t see a thing, I think I can hear some voices, but they''re far away, I can''t understand what they''re saying, for some reason I fell like those voices are trying to reach me. This place is a little cold, I wonder where am I, aside from the cold I don''t fell anything else, this is really weird, but weirdly comforting, I''m a guy that can appreciate the beauty of tranquility, I have no issue in staying here a little longer, the voices are getting farther now, I can barely hear them, What would happen when i¡äm not capable of hearing them anymore? I don''t understand, I''m lost here.


    ..............


    The voices stopped, it¡äs total silence now, still nothing happening, this is getting weird again, ¨ª¡äm getting a little worried now, maybe I should try moving...apparently not, I don''t even feel my arms, now it''s getting uncomfortable, I don''t know what I''m supposed to do...I can see something, I THINK i can see something, a white dot, is it getting bigger? what is that dot? yeah, it''s getting bigger, now it¡äs a circle, now I''m not sure if it''s getting bigger or closer, oh wow, there''s something in that white circle, I wonder what it is, this is all so weird, this white circle is getting bigger and bigger.


    All the black got dyed in white and is all I can see now, the thing in the center is visible now, still hard to understand what i''m seeing right now, in the center of the white circle was a white shiny ball, a shiny fluffy ball, it''s getting even closer, I can see two black dots in that white ball, I''m guessing those are the eyes.


    "Hello human" - Oh my god! the fluffy ball talked, the fluffy ball has a surprisingly deep voice, this is cool, I don''t know why but this is cool, am I hallucinating?


    "This is the first time someone reacts in that manner after seeing me, what a peculiar man," - Is that white ball hearing me? that''s interesting, I¡äm pretty sure that was an intern monologue, I guess if it¡äs all a mind trick it¡äs not that weird.


    "I can clearly hear your thoughts, and I can assure you, you''re not hallucinating, right now just go with the flow and listen with an open mind" - I see, the white ball can read minds, this is a little bizarre but I guess I understand, so, Where am i and what am i doing here? maybe you can respond to at least one of the two questions, I¡äm a little lost here.


    "First of all this is not a "place", you''re just here, I know I''m not answering but you''re not staying long here, see it as a temporary time out" - I understand, I think so, about what I''m doing here...


    "You''re here because I brought you, I know this is hard to process, but you died a few moments ago, a real shame, nonetheless, I firmly believe that this can be the beginning of a new story" - oh I got you, I¡äm going to reincarnate in a new world right? one of those fantasy worlds, I¡äve seen a couple of stories like that, I can see what you meant with going with the flow, ok I¡äm in.


    "Before you accept you should understand that the world you''re going is not a pacific world, right now there''s an evil desolating this world and right now the hope of defeating this evil is vanishing, that is the reason I would like to ask a peculiar human like you" - i know and I understand...I will be the hero that will save the world, I''m actually a fan of fantasy myself, I would like to be in a magical world, I promise I will do my best.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "This evil I¡äm talking about is not a specific enemy, I¡äm talking about something darker and deeper, and the reasons I want to send you is not because i want you to be a hero, since anyone can become a hero, but people like you, I want people that go beyond a title that is so commonly used and given" - SEND ME! thats a nice premise, I won''t disappoint you my fluffy friend...why are you laughing?


    "Nothing, you surprised me a little there, you will be undoubtedly helpful, but once i send you I won''t be able to help, so a little advice on my part, as I said before I''m not looking for a hero, so don''t force yourself on becoming one, just be yourself, I want you to focus on keeping the mentality that catched my attention" - I don''t know what you mean by that, but if I just need to be myself I don''t see a problem with that....ok, wish me luck.


    "Good luck my friend, I expect big things from you, things that will eventually surpass any man" - It¡äs all black again, did I resurrected? maybe the world is loading or something like that, still, I wonder if my fluffy friend was some kind of divinity, if it¡äs able to reincarnate people in other worlds I won''t be surprised if it turns to be GOD...what a cute god would that be.


    I''m slowly regaining my vision, it''s all blurry but I can see blue and white, definitely the sky, I instinctively move my head to the sides, looks like I''m lying in a ground with no grass, I try to stand up but I¡äm a little dizzy, it¡äs not very green around here, I don''t see a road either, right now i just look to the ground trying to regain my vision, a few seconds pass and I''m not dizzy anymore, I¡äm also a little numb but still manage to get on my feet.


    Now that my head is not in the floor and i can see more clearly, my eye is able to catch something in the distance, looks like little houses, should be a few minutes away from here, those houses seem to be surrounded by a small fence, I guess It¡äs some kind of defense against small animals, still a little too small, I don''t know what is the measure against things that can jump that, while thinking this I keep approaching to the houses, on the way there I can see some weeds a and couple of small threes, looks pretty desolated, this place has an uncomfortable vibe.


    Took me around fifteen minutes to arrive at the place, not sure if i should jump this fence, I¡äll walk around it until I find the entrance, if I jump it I may look like some kind of thief, while I''m walking I take a look at the houses on the other side, those are in a bad shape but still shouldn''t go down easily, I keep walking around but I can''t seem to find the entrance, I think this is taking me more time than arriving at the place, fortunately I encounter someone while walking around that looks at me in confusion.


    "Hey you, what the hell are you doing?" - nice, looks like we speak the same language, that a big relief, still, that man doesn''t seem happy to see me though, I wonder if the people around is not that friendly, maybe in my effort in not looking shady I ended looking shady by walking in circle around the town.


    "What¡äs up, I wanted to get in but I can''t seem to find the entrance" - I try my best to show myself calm and friendly so I can dissipate some suspicion, but rather than calming the man he now looks even more confused.


    "Of course not, if we make an entrance the monsters would use it to enter and attack us, don''t be stupid" - is the hinge not invented yet? if that''s the case I don''t see much trouble, but is still a little uncomfortable to have a closed space with no door, especially for the visitant, I wonder if i can make some hinges since I know how they work, still I gotta be careful while making things that doesn''t exist.


    "I understand, you are very right, but I would like to get in, I hope you don''t mind me jumping the fence" - right now I have to talk as much as possible with the people in this world, knowledge is power, and if there is monsters like this man said it would be best to have a roof to protect me when the night comes.

 Another world (part 2)

    The man at the other side agrees to let me in and I put both hands in the fence, with a little jump I¡äm able to get both feets above it, my body feels somewhat lighter, I wonder if I got a body enhancement in this world, I land in the other side and almost stumbled in the process, I regain my balance and start walking to the man, he¡äs still wary of me so I keep a safe distance between the two of us, now that I see him more carefully his face is pretty emaciated and thin, there¡äs bags under his eyes and he doesn''t seem very focused.


    This man is undoubtedly being cautious with me, I must choose carefully my words so things won''t get even more complicated, I shouldn''t start the conversation with questions, the thing here is that I came at this place with no idea of what I¡äm supposed to do, not just that, I doubt I have anything of value with me right now, even if i convince this guy I''m inoffensive I¡äll just go from being a possible thief to a possible hobo, maybe I should use the fear of monsters to stay temporarily here.


    ¡°I¡äm glad I could find a town in here, I got robbed in the road and I¡äm too far from my city to get there by walking, would you know by chance of a place where I can spend the night in exchange of a day of work?¡± - wow, that came better than I expected,, I''m pretty good at improvising, the man seems calmer now, he takes a closer look at me and sees that I have no luggage with me, I can see his shoulders loose a little while he looks away.


    ¡°This town isn''t much better than sleeping outside, if you''re looking for a comfy bed and warm food you''re not going to find them here, but if there''s someone here who has a somewhat warm night that would be the smith, go ask him¡± - a smith! if I can work as his disciple it would be very beneficial, being able to create my own weapons will definitely be a big advantage in the future, the knowledge of smithing should be the first i obtain, mostly because first of all I¡äm going to need a weapon, and right now I don¡ät have the means of obtaining one.


    While passing by the houses I can see that the town that I¡äm in is pretty gaunt, I haven¡ät see it all but I''m guessing there¡äs 15 houses around, between all these houses I can see smoke coming out of one, I guess that''s the place, as I get closer I can see with more clarity, outside the place are some brown and thin things hanging out near the door.


    Looks like the smokeis coming from the back side of the place, making a gesture with his hand the man makes me the signal to go to the back and says goodbye, that was unexpected, should I introduce myself? by myself? I¡äm not very confident in that plan, but I suppose that''s the route I have to take, confidence, I must show confidence.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Once I get to the back side I see a slim man of third age hammering a piece of metal that is slightly red, the man looks pretty tired, it looks like his arms are shaking and he''s all covered in ashes, It looks like his skin is attached at his thin muscles, even though he seems in better condition than the man that brought me here I can''t say he is in a good shape, the man looks very concentrated in what he is doing so I should just let him finish before I start a conversation, I must stay silent while this man gives shape to the metal, maybe I can learn something.


    The smoke that comes out of his little oven seems a little weak and the piece of metal that he''s hitting is getting thinner and thinner, it¡äs a shame that from where i''m standing I can''t see properly the shape of the metal, the process doesn¡ät appear to be complicated but I guess I won¡ät be sure until I try, a few minutes later the man stops hammering and turns to me, I can see that he has a large and partially gray beard, he looks a little annoyed at me, that being said, I doubt he will kick me out just like that.


    ¡°Young man, I understand that you don''t want to interrupt a work in progress so you don''t speak, but having someone looking at you with such intensity can also interrupt a work in progress¡± - ¡°I¡äm sorry, it wasn''t my intention to trouble you, I got robbed when I was near this place and now I don''t have any belongings or enough daylight to go back home, I was hoping I could get a roof in my head in exchange of some work, I said the same thing to a man and he guided me here.¡±


    After he heard my story the man sighs and turns to the metal he was working on, he gazes at me with a troubled look, making me think that I¡äm asking too much, but since this is the place I got I suppose this man is my best option right now, he doesn¡ät look away, it¡äs as if he is analysing me, his troubled look vanishes as he starts talking to me.


    ¡°Fine by me, as long as you''re here you will work to pay your food and housing, however, don''t expect anything fancy because we have none of that here, you will eat what is given to you and you will sleep where you''re told to, no complains¡±


    I¡äm not sure what was this man thinking while looking at me in silence but the important thing is that he agreed to give me a job, sadly I will work for food and not for money, but I guess that¡äs a decent start for someone who doesn''t even know the value for money in this world, I just hope I don¡ät starve before I start my adventure as the hero who will save the world.

 2. My first job (part 1)

    After I accept the offer of the smith he hands me some knives that appear to be kitchen knives, after that he grabs a brown and thin object, it reminds me at the stuff hanging at the entrance.


    ¡°Use this thing to sharpen those knives¡± - I can''t help but to look at him in confusion, he sighs and explains that is a wolf pelt that he uses to sharpen objects, it seems that I have to drag the knife around the wolf pelt, I have to do it while I keep the knife inclined like I¡äm trying to peel the pelt, I follow the instructions and try to sharpen my first knife, but it looks like I''m doing it wrong, the man sighs again and takes one of the knives, I hand over the pelt and he starts sharpening it in quick moves, that makes a very peculiar sound I must say.


    ¡°Put a little more strength to it and be quicker, don¡ät tense your hand, stop moving your arm so much and use your wrist¡± - After he finishes sharpening the knife he hands over the wolf pelt and tells me to do the rest, grabbing the pelt I move the knife around trying to imitate the movements of the smith, while I''m doing that I notice the man is looking at me with a smirk in his face, I don''t know if I''m doing it right this time or he¡äs holding his laughter because of my weird moves.


    While I¡äm working with the knife and pelt the smith goes inside the little wooden house, a few seconds later he goes out with two pieces of wood and throws them in the little stone oven, then using some pincers he grabs the piece of metal he was hammering before and puts it inside the oven, I suppose he hasn''t finished working with that.


    After sharpening the knife for a few minutes I touch the edge with my thumb to check if it¡äs ready, clearly this way of sharpening the tools is efficient, I put down the knife and extend my hand to grab another one, it looks like I have six more to go, and I''m feeling a little tired already, I hope I¡äm able to do all of them, holding the next knife I sharp it in the same way as the first one, but this time I change a little my posture trying to reduce my energy consumption, I do feel more comfortable this way but I''m not sure if is properly working since I had to be sharpening it more time this way.


    Around half hour later I grab the only knife left having both arms already destroyed, it''s hard even to lift them, still trying to think in a positive way, pain is a sign of progress, the tiredness of today will become the muscles of tomorrow, muscles that will get rid of the monsters, everything goes to being a better hero, I begin sharpening the knife, my movements are really strained and being honest I don''t know how I¡äm capable of keep doing this, I guess I will finish this last one by sheer willpower, after all i¡äm doing this one very slowly, the smith had already finished with the piece of metal a few moments ago, I didn''t pay much attention but it looks like the blade of a sword, it seems to be half meter long, but it¡äs just the blade, the grip seems to be missing but he stopped working on it, he is instead very entertained watching me suffer.


    I finally finished my assignment and put the last knife in the pile beside me, the moment I do this i see a loaf of bread approaching to my face, it''s the smith, I guess it''s time to take a break, I take the bread and the jar that he was holding in the other hand, there is only water inside it and the bread doesn''t seem very fresh, I¡äm eating like a slave, a little of my joy of being in another world just vanished, being this tired I can''t even complain, taking the first bite I notice this bread is a little salty, I think I¡äm going to need more water, while I''m eating the smith starts talking, breaking the long silence that lasted the thirty minutes we were working.


    ¡°We were going to take a break to eat after you finished half of the knives, but when I turned around there was only two left¡± - the smith takes a pause to laugh and then continues - ¡°that being said, the last one was a fierce battle, very interesting to see¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡äm actually very tired, but do not worry I just need a little rest and I''m ready to keep going, just...let me have some air first¡± - the moment I say this the smith looks at me like I''m some kind of creep, I can understand being a surprise to see an energetic guy in this dark place, but it''s still a little painful being the weird one since to me the whole town is the ones that act weirdly.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°For sharpening one of those knives I get 2 Gil, you sharpened 7 of them, having a total of 14 Gil, that bread on your hand costs 5 Gil and a bucket of water that gives enough water to fill 20 jars costs 50 Gil, as it is, you have already paid for the food and drink you have, but if you want to keep working I won''t deny you the pleasure¡±


    That is interesting, let¡äs say I sustain myself with the barely minimum, 3 breads and 6 jars (those should be around 3 liters of water) cost in total 30 Gil, that is just so I don¡ät starve, although I¡äm pretty sure that with just bread and water I would starve anyway, besides I will be working all day in a hot place like this doing physical labor, it will be better to eat and drink something with a little more quality.


    ¡°I appreciate your kindness but I won''t eat charity food, I have yet to pay for half of my food today, there¡äs still 16 Gil more to go and enough time before sunset¡± - it seems my answer moved something inside the smith, he starts to quickly eat the bread and stands up from the ground, he goes inside the little wooden house while I keep eating, whatever he is doing he can do it, I just want to rest, sadly it doesn''t take long before he goes out with a weird thing on his hand and looks at me like he is about to do a little mischief.


    ¡°Hey young man, have you ever forged a sword?¡± - that was quick, my arms haven''t rested yet, I can¡ät hammer a thing right now but I''m still curious about how to make a sword, I propose I watch how he finishes making the sword while I eat, luckily he accepts, I don''t know how this man can still have energy left but I applaud his resilience.


    it was pretty interesting to see him mold the handgrip of the sword and lastly attach it to the sword with something that looked like thick nails, I guess this thing works even though it looks very rustic, after that he slices a piece of the wolf pelt that I used to sharpen the knives and ties it up to the same handgrip, I guess it goes there to ease the grip on it, though I¡äm not sure since I¡äm not an expert in the topic, after that he rubs the blade of the sword in a rock for a while and finally he uses the pelt to sharpen the sword, after doing all that he takes the sword and looks at it for a brief moment and then gives it to me.


    ¡°These swords will be bought by the kingdom, we will sell each one for 100 Gil and the production cost using the cheapest materials is around 80 Gil, right now it is only possible for me to make two of these per day and this is the first one, if you help me do two more I will take the second one as your creation and you will be 4 Gil above your food fee¡±


    The kingdom buys these swords? that¡äs intriguing, not just that, it buys low quality swords, I wonder if they give these swords to the rookie adventurers or something like that, I personally believe that the best choice for a rookie is a lance but I''m not the kind of guy that is constantly telling the people how to spend their money, if they want swords then give them swords, right now I need to focus on what''s in front of me, this man is giving me a good deal, but I¡äm not a conformist, I should rise the bet.


    ¡°You say you can only do 2 of these per day, IF I manage to increase the daily production to 6 swords, will you give me a salary?¡± - The smith is just frozen in place, he obviously doesn''t believe me, a normal reaction since a freshman that comes out of nowhere says he will help triple the production, though I have the confidence that I can do it, I could be totally lost if we''re talking about smithing but I still have confidence in my ability to adapt.


    ¡°If you help me make 6 swords every day then I will give you a 200 Gil weekly salary, that is with food and housing, though if you really can do something like that you would do better working somewhere else, in a place you''re not feed with trash food¡±


    What he is saying is true, if I can replicate the process I have in mind then I should do it with a more expensive weapon and it will be easy money, but in this dark and small town there¡äs something that caught my attention, in the way here we went by some houses but in that time I saw no one, not a single person got out even if they had curiosity, the people here wants to stay away from a stranger like me, the perfect place to conduct experiments, a place where people keeps their distance and nobody asks questions.

 My first job (part 2)

    After the smith asks me why I want to be in this place I stand still not sure how should I respond, it is true that speeding up the process of a more expensive sword would be better, but a more expensive sword would only be made in a bigger town, a more crowded town, right now I just play the gratitude card.


    ¡°Money abounds in this world, it is something that is always moving and growing, going from one hand to another, kindness in the other side is something you hardly come across, this is why I want to increase your production, because I want to repay your kindness good sir, and I want to pay with work, not money¡±


    Nice, I''m a pretty good poet, I hope this is the last time I have to lie about me, I would hate if this becomes something I keep doing, in any case the smith look confused with this, his eyebrows pucker while he scratch his head, I guess he didn¡ät believed that much what I said, he still accepts my reasoning and understands that I want to be here.


    ¡°Being like this I guess we have a deal, although I must say you are a pretty clever man even for a merchant, when I saw you I saw a guy that came to sharpen knives for food and water, I didn¡ät thought you would easily play with a stubborn man like myself¡± - I wouldn''t say ¡°play¡±, I just don''t have a place to stay and offered myself as an employee, if I''m guilty of something is getting a job even though he wasn''t looking for pupils, guess is time to break the ice.


    ¡°Alright, since we''re going to be working together, for a while at least, I guess I should introduce myself, I know it¡äs a little late to do since we met an hour ago, in any case my name is Robert, a pleasure¡± - I extend my hand but I don¡ät get a good answer, the smith looks a little sad after my introduction, maybe a name is something you shouldn''t give to anybody, I hope I didn''t troubled him, I need to change the subject, but this is so sudden, I don''t know what else I can talk about.


    ¡°The people of this  town does not have a name, you better remember that to avoid bad impressions, people don¡ät last much around here so we don¡ät bother remembering the name of someone who will die anyway, the people that manages to somehow survive are called by their jobs, so if you want to call me something you can call me Smith¡±


    That''s an obscure reality right here, I will keep it at mind to future references, I guess it should be better to ask if someone has a name than asking what it is, this ¡°no name¡± thing can become troublesome later, but I guess Smith is a good name if he''s the only smith.


    ¡°An apology, I will be more careful in the future, getting back to the topic, even when I say 6 swords per day as you can see I¡äm a total novice, so right now I will help you make those two words to fulfill my daily fee, more than that I hope you could help me with something before we can make those 6 swords I mentioned¡±


    He assents with his head and goes back to the small wood house, to take some metal out, that makes me wonder how much metal he has in there, he takes one of the pieces of metal and puts the other one aside, then grabbing it with some pincers puts the metal in the oven, that makes me wonder, the man says he makes two swords every day at max, that''s 40 Gil, even if he has side jobs like sharpening tools, paying for his food and materials must be complicated.


    ¡°Listen carefully, while I hammer this I want you to hold it, when I''m finished hammering you put it again in the oven until it becomes a little red, then I will hammer it a little more, we will do that for the blade and the handle, after I put the wood I want you to take some pelt and tie it up,then you use that rock to file the corners, sharpen using the pelt and then give it to me¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Too many instructions of my first task, doesn''t sound very complicated so I hope I can make this right, I guess for any doubts I have Smith to answer, after all I doubt he will let me ruin his sword just to teach me a lesson.


    After hammering for a few minutes I notice that Smith takes a step behind, that must be the signal, still holding the piece of metal with the pincers I put it again in the oven, it¡äs starting to see a little more flat, after that I wait for Smith¡äs signal to take it out, I try to mentally take notes on how much it was in the oven, must¡äve been around 8 minutes, the pincers feel a little hot, I would like it to have a leather grip or something I take it quickly to the anvil and Smith starts hammering it again.


    He''s still focusing in flatten the metal, I can see the corners slowly being shaped in this thing, although the tip is completely rectangular right now, this is a pretty interesting process but it looks like it''s going to take a while, he takes a step back, time to put it in the oven.


    ¡°We need to make the handle, put the end you were grabbing in the oven¡± - Looks like i was heating the wrong side, I drop the metal in the oven and use the pincer to move it to where it needs to be heated, now I just wait for Smit¡äs signal, I see him ascent and take the metal back, I think this time it was 10 minutes, after this he starts to hit the handle part to give it shape, this one starts to flatten like the blade but in the third hit thing change.


    ¡°Rotate, a quarter¡± - that was unexpected, I slowly turn the thing and without losing a moment he keeps hitting the metal, this hits are a lot stronger, it,s a little hard to not move -  ¡°Again¡± - I turn the metal again as he keeps hitting it, this time I can grasp how much I have to turn it but still, he doesn''t wait for anybody


    ¡°Again¡± - I turn the metal again, rather than small hits like the blade he gives strong hits to the handle to make it thin and then flattens it, I see him take a step back and put the metal in the oven, he doesn''t have to tell me, I focus the heat in the handle, we are not done with it yet he keeps hammering the handle , then I go back to the blade, then the blade again, and again, and again,then it tells me to heat the handle a little while he grabs a nail, I pray this is the last step, .after I''m done he uses the nail to make two holes in the metal while being very careful.


    ¡°Now use the rock to file the corners, after you''re finished wrap some in the handle, that¡äs the thin part, also use some to sharpen the blade¡± - I''m not sure how should I use the rock, I guess I was too submerged in the knives when he did that, I just rub it in the stone like I was cutting wood to make a statue, when i do this I occasionally see some sparks fly, I don¡ät see Smith being bothered in the way I¡äm doing it so I keep doing it for a while until I see a stop signal, I¡äm tired again, I take a piece of pelt and try to tie it up but I get stopped.


    ¡°Wait, I need to put the handgrip, see this piece of wood? It¡äs one half, I already cut it down, you put both pieces on each side and then secure it with some nails...there, now tie it¡± - I tie the handgrip with the wolf pelt and use another one to sharpen it, after a few minutes I give the sword to Smith, he looks at it for a moment and puts it next to the one he made, it¡äs a relief to see that, I guess my first sword was a success even though the complicated part was made by Smith.


    ¡°Still, I feel the thing pretty rustic¡± - Did I say that out loud? oh no, I made the things awkward again - ¡°it''s not rustic, it¡äs garbage, and that garbage will put bread in your mouth, it¡äs a shame I have to make this things but I do need to eat¡± - Smith looks sad again, I understand that he keeps the work and materials to a minimum so he can survive, but with time, I will change that.

 3. A bad spot (part 1)

    ¡°We just made our first sword, I hope you have some spirit left to make the second one, we must make it before sunset, it¡äs hard to work in the night¡± - Looking at the sky I search for the sun to give myself an idea of what time is it, before we started forging the sun was in the highest point but now it should be a little lower, I can¡ät read time like this, it is a little lower but I don''t know how much is a little, I can only guess the position and use my biological clock, I suppose 3 hours have passed, If 3 hours have really passed I can''t see us making 6 of these in a single day, even if it was me who proposed it.


    To make my plan work I need a way to halve the time to make one of these or double the amount of swords made, but I''m thinking too forward, I need to focus, I¡äm tired after sharpening the blade but I should be capable of making the second sword...I think...I must be.


    Not wasting a second I take another chunk of metal and put it in the oven, but while I''m doing this Smith takes some wood and gives it to me, I will take that as a note, don''t let the fire die or i won''t eat that day, putting the wood in the oven carefully so the fire doesn''t suffocate I wait for a while so they start catching fire, after this point is the same process, still, my arms started hurting when I finished using the rock to somewhat polish it, using some willpower I was capable of sharpen the sword, I must say this job is pretty draining, I¡äm sweating a lot and I''m pretty sure my arms will be dead when I wake up, but if I can get used to this I would have made my first step in becoming the hero of the story.


    Smith gives me another loaf of bread and some water after we finish the second sword, the bread is dry and salty, I hope I can change my diet before I get sick of the food, even after I force myself to eat the bread I don''t feel full, I''m not sure I''m even satisfied, it¡äs been awhile since I had to ignore my appetite, I guess playing in a high difficulty will just be a setback that makes victory even more delicious, I just need to stay creative and positive, see what I have and what can I do, avoid to become stagnate


    Seeing that is almost sunset I take a look on the town that I¡äm in, while we were working the town was in complete silence, I wonder what type of people is living here, maybe it''s the hunger, the dark atmosphere is here all day long, a silent town, from the 15 houses of this town I have only seen 4 people going out, I guess these are the people that have some kind of job outside their home, but what about the rest? are the rest of the houses empty? I want to ask but I should refrain myself, I don''t want to talk about delicate subjects, I just had a weird conversation about the names, though I''m curious about the jobs here besides the smithing job.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The night falls, I feel exhausted even though I didn''t do much, I''m not very satisfied about my performance but I guess I shouldn''t¡äexpect much from a level 1 body, but I have noticed that even with my tiredness and poor performance I have a resilient body that I can push to the limit with no problem, I¡äm not sure if I really had an enhancement for being in a magical world, in which I haven''t seen anything magical at all, maybe I¡äm in a younger body and that gives me the illusion of a better endurance, both of these options seem pretty benefic for me, I immediately go inside wondering where exactly I¡äm sleeping tonight.


    ¡°I think I have some sheets over there, look for a corner that looks comfy and try your best to sleep, we will keep working in the morning¡± - I saw that coming, I guess one of my top priorities will be a place to sleep, I will put it just below eating decent meals, having those basic needs covered I should be capable of focus in progressing, it would be stupid to try and run when the terrain that I¡äm in is not allowing me to even stand up, I need a firm base to support myself, I guess next thing on my priority list would be to upgrade this place since this is my only job, at least for now, and as that it is my only sustent, I would love to have something like a foundry here.


    I lean in one of the corners of the place and cover myself with the sheet that was given to me, this thing smells a little at moisture and is a little worn out, being like that the protection to cold that it gives me is not that great, this is a hard way to live but I must endure it and try to adapt myself the best I can to my circumstances, it''s not like I have many options right now, luckily I¡äm so tired right now that it doesn''t matter much where I''m lying.


    I do my best to ignore the cold while I think on everything; a way to get out to what it seems like a bottomless hole, how to keep going, about the things that I have yet to see, the things I don''t understand, if I¡äm in this world I need to know how does magic works, if I can use that magic it would be very benefic for me, magic is incredible useful, sadly in video games you don''t often use it outside of combat, there is a lot of ways to use something that can manipulate the nature itself.


    Before I realize it''s already morning, the sunlight that comes through the window hurts my eyes a little and my back hurts, I try to stand up and stretch but my arms are not responding, they hurt more than my back, what a way to start my morning, while I''m sitting in this place I take a look to where I am.


    Yesterday this place was very dark so I couldn''t see much, in the center of the room I can see a pile of metal, I guess Smith takes the metal to forge the swords from that pile, this place is very empty if we talk about furniture, a small table, and next to it there¡äs a chair, on the opposite side of the room I can see a small cabinet, I suppose that is the cupboard, but I don''t see something that can resemble to a refrigerator, or a stove, or a counter, not even a bed in this room, I wonder where does the blacksmith sleeps.

 A bad spot (part 2)

    I start moving my arms, it hurts a lot but not as much as i thought it would, since I worked to my limit...twice, I thank fluffyball-god for being able to move my arms again, after a while of painful stretching I bend my sheet that kept me warm yesterday and put it in the table of the room, after that I go out and see Smith pouring water in the jars, I guess it¡äs time for breakfast, he looks way more energetic than I am.


    ¡°You look like someone that slept in a needle bed¡± - I don¡ät get the joke, I don¡ät get his energy, and I don''t know if I want to see him smile right now, I just take the bread and jar and limit myself to eat, this lifestyle isn''t something that I have to get used to, it looks like it wan¡ät long since the sunrise, must be around 7 o''clock, if we take around 3 hours to make a sword and we have to do 4 daily swords, that¡äs 12 hours, right now I have reduce that time to 8 hours so can fill the quote and have free time, while I''m thinking a woman arrives at the place, unlike Smith this woman doesn''t seem to have a weak body, I need to know her job.


    ¡°I see my knives are ready¡± - She says that while pointing at the pile of knives, I wonder how many of them are hers, if it turns out to be all of them I will be astonished, I turn to Smith full of questions, he notices right away.


    ¡°She¡äs the cook, while the normal thing for her is making bread she can also cook a variety of things, six of the knives you sharpened belong to her, as someone that works making dishes it''s only normal for her to make sure the utensils she uses are in proper shape, I¡äm pretty sure that you noticed while working on them that most of those have a different shape¡±


    While he¡äs explaining to me, Smith takes 6 knives and wraps them on some cloth, then he hands them over and she gives him some coins, I guess that is the world''s currency, since she came I get the feeling that the cook keeps looking at me in a way that I can only describe as playful.


    ¡°You say he sharpened my knives, is he your pupil? maybe an illegitimate son?¡± - it¡äs pretty obvious she¡äs mocking me, and I don''t blame her, if I was on her place I would laugh at this weird situation, more than that I''m happy to see a joyful person in this place.


    ¡°Stop joking, this guy is a merchant that was robbed yesterday, he helped me sharpen those things and forge two swords in exchange for food and a place to sleep¡± - the cook looks at me in surprise, that look confuses me a little, what could be so surprising about an arrangement of food/work?This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Pretty skilled for a merchant, from the ones that I know I¡äm not sure there is any capable of sharpen a knife, even less forging a sword¡± - now I get it, i think, I guess people focus on their jobs and only their jobs, and also forging is a big word, I merely helped.


    ¡°A pleasure little boy, I''m the cook, my job is in the kitchen as you can guess, I cook three times a week, if you ever want something outside of bread you''ll need to ask me ahead of time so I can get the ingredients, as you may know by now anything that costs more than 5 Gil doesn''t sell very well around here.


    Cook? not the best name, I wonder if having a nickname would bother her, I guess it shouldn''t since ¡°Cook¡± is a nickname in itself, if "Cook" is indeed her name or a title is above me but being the chef of this place it would be a good idea to know exactly what does she do for a living.


    ¡°Don¡ät even think about it little boy, I don¡ät want men in my kitchen¡± - She¡äs good, I haven''t said a single word and I got rejected already, I will keep that in mind, she specifically said men so she''s not rejecting the idea of an assistant as long as the assistant is a she.


    ¡°What a weird reaction, I just said no so why are you smiling?¡± - I''m smiling? I should be careful not to be read that easily.


    ¡°I don''t understand what are you two doing right now but we still have stuff to do so if you don''t have another order to make we should get back to work¡± - Are you kidding me? my arms hurt, I know we have to make 4 swords today but I don''t know how are we supposed to make that amount since it took us around 3 hours to make a single sword, I also don''t like the idea of guiding myself in approximates, I wish I had a clock, my biggest issue with time is not the hammering time but the time the sword takes to heated, since it takes a while to do that and lasts only a few moments before it¡äs cold again and has to be heated again.


    ¡°Smith, how much will the cost of the swords would go up if we put more wood in the oven?¡± - ¡°Not much really, but as you can see my oven is small, if we put too much wood the fire could suffocate and extinguish¡± - Yeah it''s small, I suppose getting a bigger one costs money that we don¡ät have.


    ¡°I understand Smith, right now let''s focus on getting to the six daily swords¡± - After a little stretching, which was painful, I took a piece of metal and get to work, I feel like it took us less time to make these ones, but it''s just a feeling since I don''t have a proper way right now to measure time.

 4. Ghost town (part 1)

    ¡°Alright let''s stop here, I¡äll go get some bread and water, you should rest, your hands are shaking¡± - I feel exhausted, yesterday it didn¡ät took me long to fell asleep but i don''t feel rested, I don''t know how much has passed but two swords are completed.


    ¡°Here you go, try to relax a little, when you feel ready to keep going we make the remaining two swords¡± - What a nice man, I know he doesn''t have much choice but to wait for me since I can''t work a thing right now but I appreciate that it doesn¡ät bother him.


    This town is pretty quiet, that makes sitting down and relaxing quite easy but it¡äs also a little annoying, this place looks pretty deserted, I don''t want to start my new life in a lifeless place.


    ¡°Hey Smith, besides you and the cook is there any other people with an occupation? ¡° - I wait for Smith to finish his meal, which he does rather quickly, after that he stays quiet for a moment, I suppose that¡äs because he is thinking before answering my question.


    ¡°Besides us two there¡äs the farmer and the mayor, even though the farmer was focused in raising livestock, after an attack most of his animals were eaten by beasts¡± - That sounds tough, now I¡äm certain I revived in a place that is not friendly at all.


    ¡°After the attack the farmer sold the rest of the animals and used that money to buy seeds, if you ask me, trying to grow something in this arid place is not the best move¡± - compared to the farmer at least Smith has enough to eat.


    ¡°And the mayor, even though he has a title like that he is not powerful nor influential, he was actually the first person you met when you came here¡± - So that¡äs the mayor, undoubtedly a person with little presence, the role of a mayor consists in helping out the citizens but I guess there¡äs not much of that to do here.


    ¡°His job is to look out for beasts in exchange of some bread, also once a week he goes out to a town near the capital to sell these swords for a little commision, enough money to buy water¡± - so he barely makes enough money, as it is the only two options at the beginning to look for shelter were the cook and smith.


    ¡°How about the others? I mean there¡äs more houses¡± - awkward question it seems, Smith¡äs face gets grim and he hesitates a little before answering my question, I notice his voice cracks while he speaks.


    ¡°The rest have no work or name, at first they asked the cook to give them the bread leftovers¡± - obviously a hard thing to remember, I put my hand on his shoulder so he knows he can stop, but he just gives me a bitter smile and continues.


    ¡°Some of them out of hunger stole the bread from her, those were hard times for that poor woman, the brave ones decided to steal equipment from me and try their luck away from the town¡± - must¡äve been a hard time for Smith too, I wonder how many years of work he lost because of that.


    ¡°The ones that stayed because of fear, little by little started making less noise, as the time passed the entire town stayed in silence, maybe the hunger gave them the courage they needed to go out and look for food, maybe they just starved to death in their holes.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The place that I''m in seems to be a town of 4 people, being like that is not surprising it¡äs so quiet here, looking at the situation in a cold way it means there''s around 10 empty houses right now, I don''t like this but it also means that if I need a house I can stay in one of these, though I don''t know if I have to pay to stay in one.


    ¡°How about the water? you told me we get charged for the water we use, but who is charging us?¡± - ¡°that would be the farmer, the well is his property so it''s only fair, even though he built it for his animals right now that well is his only source of income¡±.


    Once I finish eating and feeling a little depressed for my current situation I get up, I take some wood and put it in the oven to start working again, gladly we manage to finish the swords before sunset, I must say, my arms are aching all over, if I wasn''t doing this to survive I wouldn''t push myself to this extent.


    ¡°Good work young man, I know it must be complicated for a merchant to get used to physical labor but you haven¡ät complain even once, I applaud your determination¡± - You have no idea how much I want to complain, I¡äm slowly dying by overexertion, that being said, even though I''m exhausted there''s still a few hours of sunlight left, I feel like I have to use my day to the fullest, but I have no idea of what can I do with my time.


    ¡°Hey Smith, what do you do in your free time?¡± - confused by my question Smith gives me some bread and just sits looking at the sky while he eats, I guess he rests on his free time.


    ¡°If you have some energy left you can go see the farmer, it¡äs around this time that he goes out to water his plants, you can also go take a look around, but don¡ät go too far away or you could bump into something dangerous¡± - the second option sounds like a chance of dying so I¡äll go see the farmer, once i finish eating I ask Smith for directions and stand up feeling a little minced.


    The farmer works pretty much in the other side of the town so I have to pass by some empty houses, something that I''m not very happy to do, who tought that this one as a starter town was a good idea? I need some kind of map so I get to know my surroundings and see if there''s another way to make money besides forging weapons.


    Walking around the town is baffling now that I know the reason behind the previously relaxing silence of the place, I ask to myself if some of these houses still have people inside, but my fear of a horrifying sight is more than my curiosity.


    I arrive at the other side after some oppressive minutes of walking, but upon arriving I cannot see the farmer, not even his crops, I jump over the fence and start looking at my surroundings, this land is with no doubt arid, I can''t imagine crops growing here.


    ¡°Careful with my plants, don''t you dare stepping on them!¡± - That must be the farmer, just like the other guys this man is in a bad shape, but this one has a special characteristic, the bags under his eyes are very notorious, I guess not knowing if you will be able to eat makes harder going to sleep.


    ¡°I''m sorry, could you tell me where did you plant your seeds?¡± - ¡°dont move I¡äll just get closer¡± - The man starts walking to me looking pretty tired, didn''t he arrive not too long go? I guess he doesn''t have much energy to begin with,


    ¡°Did you get lost in your way home or something like that?¡± - An usual question at this point, I explain that I got robbed and I¡äm staying with smith in exchange of helping him make swords, I¡äve said this story a couple times already so it now comes naturally.


    ¡°So you¡äre bored and came to see me work, well I''m just here to water the lifeless ground so you must be really bored to come and see that¡± - He has a point, but knowing how to take care of the land is something that would prove beneficial to me if I want to plant something myself later, also¡­.


    ¡°More than your work I''m more interested in asking a couple questions if you don''t mind¡± - that man looks confused but accepts to answer my question anyway, I have the feeling that since I came here I say weird things to the people I talk to.

 Ghost town (part 2)

    ¡°So about your current occupation, I wanted to know what measurements did you take before planting anything here, also Smith told me you previously had livestock, if is not rude for me to ask I wanted to know, what type of animal were you breeding?¡±


    ¡°Only two questions but both kind of hard to answer, first of all my plants, I removed all he earth from the surface and fertilized the one below that, I waited a week for the land to absorb the nutrients and then I planted the seeds, it¡äs been two weeks since then and I think half of the seeds didn''t make it, the rest is struggling to grow.


    So you remove the upper layer and fertilize the under layer, the process sounds expensive if you want to have a big green field, right now i''ll just put it as future thing to do if I¡äm still here when I have the resources to do something like that.


    ¡°And regarding my livestock, I had 8 buffamoos, I got milk from them and sold most of it, I gave a part to the ones that didn''t have a job, the rest went to the cook so she could make me some cheese or some kind of dish with it.


    I can make myself an idea of the skills this person has, but not being able to use them properly he has to get through hard times, I guess that applies to everyone here, they¡äre skilled and adaptable but there¡äs a limit of what can that skill and adaptability do for them.


    ¡°One last question, have you ever gathered fruits or something?¡± - ¡°at some point I was a gatherer but the forest is a dangerous place, recently even more than ever, i might be hanging from a fine thread but as long as I''m not starving to dead I won''t go near that place.


    Recently...I suppose something happened and the amount of monsters suddenly rose, I don''t know what¡äs the level of the monsters there so I won¡ät go near as well, even so I ask the farmer for directions to the forest to have it as a reference.


    Satisfied now that I know a few more things I go back to Smith, there¡äs not much sunlight left and I¡äm pretty tired, I know the place where I will sleep won''t be comfy but a mediocre rest is better than no rest, Smith receives me with some breath and water, after I eat I grab my sheet and go to sleep.


    Once again I wake up having my arms numb, the pain is less compared to yesterday, I stand up and stretch, then I go out and i catch a glimpse of Smith, looks like he''s starting the fire for the oven, this takes a while so we eat and talk a little as we wait for the oven to be ready, though I must say that looking at him holding the bread with his hand covered in ashes is a little uncomfortable, I guess it can''t be helped, using the water to something that is not drinking it is a luxury.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    After a few hours we finished forging 2 swords and took a break to eat, I decide to use this opportunity so to ask a few more questions to Smith, this time i will focus on smithing to avoid a weird situation like yesterday.


    ¡°Aside from swords what have you forged here?¡± - ¡°Axes, hammers, armors, you name it, I was never a great smith but I wasn¡ät useless either¡± - I have the feeling he just called me useless


    ¡°Have you made bolts? how about cap screws?¡± - ¡°What are you playing at boy?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to know if you  recognised some words¡± - did he just call me boy?


    ¡°That¡äs right, I forgot you were a merchant, it¡äs normal for you to know weird terms¡± - I''ll take it as a compliment, if Smith doesn''t know how to make those things I guess I will need a little imagination and a lot of experimentation to make them, since I don''t know how to make them either, if there¡äs not basic compression technology I guess my plan A to make more swords can¡ät be used.


    After we finished eating we got to work again, those hours passed very slowly, I¡äm asking too much to my arms, I think they might fall off at some point, having some daylight left I decide to go talk to the mayor, I tell Smith that I will go talk to him and he sees me confused, being confused because of a commentary made by me is becoming a habit of him.


    I start walking through the place while I focus on looking for the mayor to keep my mind busy, I guess it will take some time to get used to this place, on the bright side, finding a person on an empty town shouldn''t be that hard, just as expected it doesn''t take long before I find him, I get close and greet him but he¡äs not greeting back in a very friendly way.


    ¡°Good day, i was looking for you, I had a couple questions and I was hoping you could answer them¡± - it¡äs pretty obvious he doesn''t want to talk to me, but it doesn''t matter, because there''s a special kind of smile someone can do, a smile that in the moment the other person sees it that person knows there''s no running away, the man might not be friendly but he¡äs rational, he accepts to answer even if it¡äs a nuisance to him.


    ¡°Smith commented that you were the mayor, I was wondering what did you do before...you know, the beasts¡± - the man seems bothered by my question, I¡äm sure I asked something complicated again, I pretend not to notice his discomfort and try to fix my error.


    ¡°Smith told me he used to make all kinds of weapons and armors, the farmer used to take care of buffamoos and I''m pretty sure the cook used to make more than just bread¡± - that went pretty well, he seems more relaxed now, the best way to talk about a complicated subject is to give some examples on how easy can be the answer.


    ¡°Well, before this place became hellish I was in charge of managing the workers; gatherers, miners, farmers, lumberjacks, but there''s not many people now so I just walk around this dead place¡±


    He said farmers, plural, looks like there''s more story here than just ¡°the beasts attacked my buffamoos¡±, I''m curious but is pretty obvious by the state of this place and the time the farmers has been attending his field that the wounds are deep and haven''t got the time to heal.

 5. Encounter (part 1)

    ¡°I see, thanks for answering my first question mayor, my second question is a more simple one, since you go out of town to sell the swords made by Smith I guess in the same way you can go out to buy stuff that the townspeople may need¡± - He doesn¡ät seem to be troubled by this question, but I notice that he doesn''t speak much, being bother or tiredness, if it is too much of any of those the conversation can¡ät progress.


    ¡°If in any given moment you need something, you can tell me and I will buy it, I only need you to pay me in advance so I can buy the thing, after I buy it, a few days later, a merchant should be coming to deliver the stuff¡± - I suppose that should be enough, I thank the mayor and say goodbye to him, it looks like more than selling the swords the mayor is pretty much our only contact with the exterior, that being the case this man will be a good source of information in the future.


    I go back to Smith a little exhausted, he waves at me and points to the house, it''s time to sleep, I grab my sheet and lie down in the floor, I''ve been here for three days but I¡§m still not used to the cold floor nor the little food, I wonder if it IS even possible to get used to that stuff


    I wake up again in this empty place, I stand up and stretch, my arms hurt a little but it¡äs a lot more manageable than the first day, but I don''t know if I can keep working like this, even if my body can adapt to this amount of work I don''t know how much longer it can keep going without a day off, because you do need to rest even for a day, but that day you¡äre not working to pay for our food.


    I pick my sheet and put it on the table, but the moment I lean to the table I feel a little stitch in my neck, I guess sleeping in the floor is already giving me trouble, there must be something I can use as a pillow while I''m here, I go out to have breakfast and make the first two swords of the day.


    The forging process feels quicker this time, maybe the practice is making me faster in this stuff even if it is only by mere seconds, maybe it''s just easier to work without having to deal with pain muscle, in any way making the bare minimum of 4 swords a day is no longer a concern to me, we manage to make the first 2 swords and take a break to eat, while Smith is pouring water in the jar he suddenly throws a question to me.


    ¡°Very well, looks like you''re getting used to working here, even if it''s just a little, although I¡äm surprised by your quick improvement, our objective isn''t making these 4 swords is it?¡± - so that¡äs what it is, being curious is only normal, I did say that the objective was to make 6 swords per day, and it¡äs good for me that he¡äs interested.


    ¡°Even though in the moment I said that lightly, it is indeed a complicated thing to do, in these last 2 days I have been thinking in ways to make it work, right now I have the bases to work on a plan B and C¡± - ¡°what about plan A?¡±


    ¡°It died rather quickly, don''t worry about it¡± - Smith gives me a jar filled with water and sits down close to me, he¡äs full of curiosity, that''s perfect since I do need the help of Smith to make any of my plans possible since I own nothing in this world.


    ¡°Starting from plan B, this one is pretty simple, I want fire magic, if I could get a book or scroll that could teach me that kind of magic it would be a huge advantage in forging swords, applying the fire magic I can keep the swords heated, meaning that we don''t need to use the oven that much, in the best case scenario we won''t be using the oven at all, it would make the production faster AND lower the cost of it¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    This is one of the practical uses that I can see in using magic, just keeping the sword on a heated red takes a lot of the forging time, if we keep the heat going while the sword is away from the oven and just change the spot where the heat is to keep up with the hammering the forging time will go down by a lot, my only concern is that being always heated may damage the sword but it¡äs in general a nice plan if I say so myself.


    ¡°I understand, it is a clever way to use magic, though I must ask, do you know how to read? are you compatible with fire magic?"


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    That is an excellent question, I don''t know if I can read this world¡äs lenguaje even if I can talk to the people.


    ¡°So this is plan C, molds, a mold works in a very simple way, you melt some metal and pour it in an object with a sword-shaped cavity, after the metal gets cold it will take the shape of the cavity, this molds can be made with sand since it is resistant to high temperatures and it¡äs easy to give it a shape, the downside of this plan is that you have to wet the sand so it stays in the given shape, meaning that the production cost will go up, but in this instance you can just let the mold cool down while making a second sword, we may be even able to make 8 swords a day.¡±


    ¡°I¡äm not sure how this mold thing works, but you said melt, we have a small oven that gives us a small flame, how exactly are you going to melt the metal?¡± - ¡°With...fire magic? don¡ät worry, these are just some ideas that came to mind, just give me some time to think of a plan D.


    That was depressing, the cruel reality is just too cruel to be overcomed with just cleverness, I have been thinking on ways to use my knowledge and the rules of this world on my advantage but it looks that I can¡ät bend reality on my favor, maybe my only option is to make those swords with something else than wits, but I don''t know what could that be.


    After I ate and rested a little we put ourselves to forge again, once again we finish the 4 swords before sunset, I still have some energy left so I ask Smith if I can borrow one of the swords, he easily accepts and I take one of them and go out to looking for an open space.


    Even though I don''t have someone to teach me how to fight, right now it should be enough to familiarize myself with the weapons first, at least for now, holding it from the handgrip I start moving the sword around, first I move it like I use to do when I sharp it, the grip feels a little loose, I guess it can''t be helped.


    After moving it for a while I start swinging the sword, I do my best to keep the swing always in direction of the edge of the sword, I don''t know how much this will do for practice purposes but it''s the only thing that I can think of, I would love to practice in some wood or tree since I know it would be better, but the sword itself is pretty low quality and I don''t want to dent it. or worse, break it.


    After a few hours swinging the sword around I come back to my senses, looks like I was in some kind of trance or something, the sky¡äs orange right now, it won''t be long before it goes dark so I get back to Smith, even if it didn''t do much as a practice thing it did helped me to relax and leave my mind blank, so at the end it was time well spent.


    I get back to eat and sleep, this routine is getting boring but there¡äs nothing I can do about it right now, at least my neck isn''t hurting, but I''m pretty sure the sore will come back tomorrow, again, nothing I can do about it right now, even though the muscle pain becomes smaller as the days come by, I''m afraid that it may also apply to my energy since I''m not eating well, I need to hurry and think of a plan D.


    I wake up again laying in the cold floor, the pain in my arms is barely there, also moving my head it looks like the neck is okay today, but there¡äs something that gets me worried, the sun hasn''t come up yet but I''m awake, the reason is my stomach, I feel really hungry, I guess there''s a limit on how much can you ignore the hunger with just bread and water, if I don¡ät do anything about it it might get really bad.

 Enconter (part 2)

    I stretch again and go out hoping I can see Smith in this darkness, luckily I can hear some noise outside, looks like Smith is getting the wood in the oven, he hasn¡ät started the fire yet so I''m sure I woke up really early, there''s not much to do so I just sit down close to the door and watch him, I''m pretty sure Smith knows that I''m here but he doesn¡ät bother talking, I guess he¡äs too focused in making the fire.


    Looks like the first thing he does is light up some straw on top of a piece of wood and then puts it inside a litle house made of sticks inside the oven, in the moment he does that, the little stick house lights up rather quickly, I wonder if this is some kind of special wood or he added some fuel to it, in any case the now lighted wood faintly enlightens the place, Smith is now perfectly visible since he¡äs directly in front of that fire, he seems troubled¡­almost like he''s  depressed.


    ¡°Looks like someone woke up early today¡± - His voice feels a little rough, I wonder if he''s concerned about our little talk yesterday, that would make two of us, but being concerned about that is not good, I just smile and tell him that I woke up hungry, even though it¡äs a little too early I help Smith to pour the water in the jars and we have breakfast on this penumbra, the bread is stiff and salty, the town is cold and silent, I need to change this but I don''t know how, I just silently eat and wait for the oven to be ready.


    Around half hour after breakfast Smith asks me to go inside to take some wood and metal so we can start working, this day starts pretty much like the others from here, heat up the metal, hit it, heat up the metal, hit it, a monotone activity that goes on for about 1 hour, smithing is undoubtedly an interesting activity but making the same sword over and over again, it is not.


    We finish the first sword and quietly start working in the second one, the sound of the hammer hitting in the metal, since I came here it''s the only sound I can hear in the morning, but something is different now, I can hear something else, those are steps.


    A moment later I can see the mayor, though it''s not surprising to see him it IS surprising to see he¡äs accompanied by someone, I can see a person peeking from behind, looks like a woman, she has a really slim body, that physique doesn¡ät seem like a healthy one, she also has a long light-brown hair and pointy ears, I guess she''s some kind of elf, but I''m not so sure, as far as I know the elves are blonde.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The woman looks at me and the smith in silence, not moving from her place, I notice she¡äs wearing a white dress that goes below her knees, but that dress is pretty dirty and damaged, her skin is pretty white but her face looks specially pale, might be a sign of anemia.


    ¡°I found her walking half dead near to the farmer¡äs field, I don''t know her story but she''s obviously having a bad time¡± - I can see that she is, her seemingly frail body has a big amount of scratches and bruises on it, I wonder what happened to her before coming here.


    ¡°Looks like we have a half elf here, I was thinking to have a deal with her like the one we had with Robert, but it¡äs a little complicated with her¡± - I can see it being complicated, we''re two here, even if someone else wants to work here, that is far from possible right now, but we still have the cook, she can even show her how to make some bread in case this girl doesn''t know how to, but I don''t know how possible it is to cook for her.


    I turn to Smith who looks uncomfortable with this elf¡äs presence, he looks at the mayor and shakes his head, I¡äm not sure what they''re thinking right now, he said she''s a half-elf, maybe she being a half breed is some kind of taboo, I¡äve seen it happen in a couple stories, taboo or not she¡äs not in condition to go out and try her luck in another town, maybe I should break the ice here.


    ¡°How are you? as you can see we don''t have a work to offer you here, maybe it would be a better idea to go ask the cook, have you ever prepared a meal before?


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    I¡äm sure I said something weird again, maybe it was bad on my part to recommend the cook? I can see that being the case, but even if it¡äs that, these two being troubled  by her means that at least they don''t feel comfortable throwing her out, I should wait a little more for them to process what I said.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡°Young man, you can speak in the elf tongue?¡± - The what?


    ¡­...Elf tongue, did I just talked in another language? that must be the case, how curious, maybe that¡äs the reason I can talk to the people in this town, I thought they could understand me but it''s not the case, I''m the one that talks in their language.


    ¡°Well, when you¡äre a merchant like me, you have to make sure to always have the most amount of information possible, and most of the time that information is something you won¡ät get in the same place¡± - I hope that¡äs enough of an explanation, I spoke to her not knowing I was using another languaje and now I''m the center of attention, at least the elf seems relieved, and very, very surprised, though I''m not sure, it also looks like she''s smiling, maybe, I don''t know, she''s not moving.

 6. A New Neighbor (part 1)

    Now that I spoke in the ¡°elf tongue¡± without thinking it is kind of complicated to come up with a reason as of why do I know the languaje, I do my best to explain that I learned some words as part of my job as a merchant but looking at them I''m pretty sure that didn''t work out pretty well, they''re not very convinced, i''ll just put it as something that I don''t want to talk about until I can come up with something decent.


    ¡°Leaving aside that I can speak the language, you guys seemed worried about this girl, I want to know if you were worried because of her race or because you couldn''t speak to her¡± -I do my best to give notice that the current makes me uncomfortable, luckily the smith takes notice and helps me focus on the elf girl.


    ¡°It worried us that we couldn''t talk to her, but it''s not just that, taking a look at her it doesn''t look like she can move properly, we would like to help, but as you know we don''t have the luxury to feed people in exchange for nothing.¡± -That is indeed concerning, I find it hard to see her as capable of working at anything, maybe we can give her some food in advance and she can pay back for that as soon as she feels better, but that''s just an idea, it''s not like i can ask someone to agree to that.


    ¡°Being like that, why don''t we check on her state with her own words? the communication problem can come later, though I''m pretty sure I can cover for that¡± -I''ll try to talk to her as calmly as possible, since not knowing what we¡äre talking about will worry her.


    ¡°It looks like you''ve had your share of trouble to come here, though I have to ask, are you in condition to work? as you can imagine we are not capable of giving you food for free¡± -She shrinks a little, looks like I still worried her with my words, at least she''s not averting her eyes from me, that''s a good thing, though pretty insecure she gives the expected answer.


    ¡°I don''t know how useful I can be, but i will give my best effort to repay for the kindness you''re offering me, I''m not asking for much either, I just want something to fill my stomach, I haven''t eaten anything in two days¡± -Her voice is weak but at least I can hear it at this distance, though she looks frail we can''t do much about it, I guess we''ll just go with the flow and see where it leaves.


    ¡°She says she accepts de food-work deal, but since we can''t hire her here I was thinking of leaving her with the cook, if thats ok to you¡± -The smith and the mayor look at each other for a moment and then the smith sighs, seems it''s a little difficult to follow the pace, the smith turns to me and nods, I guess we''ll go with my idea, I turn back to the girl and give a brief explanation.


    ¡°The cook is that way, the mayor will head us there, after we arrive we will introduce you and try to come to an agreement about how you will be working¡± -She seems a little shocked, but still accepts without much thinking, I ask the mayor to come with us as as a mediator between me and the cook, since I''m still new to the place so I shouldn''t just try to manage the people of the town and expect they don''t have a problem with that.


    We start walking towards the cook, the elf girls looks weak but her steps are steady and she looks focused, I applaud her willpower, a mental clap, let''s hope it all works out between her and the cook, being like that the amount of food that can be produced will increase, as long as long as there''s no shortage on ingredients that should help the town in general, and by consequence help me.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Once we arrive at the place we can see the cook scattering flour around a big wooden table, the mayor knocks on the door frame since there''s no actual door to knock, the cook turns to us and the moment she sees the elf she just freezes, looks like she wants to say something tough I just hear a little muttering, meyne she wants to ask something, I better just star this conversation.


    ¡°Good morning, the mayor saw this girl outside of town, as you can see she hasn''t been eating well this days and¡­¡± -Come on, keep the flow going, food and work, god I¡äm tired.


    ¡°We were thinking about giving her some bread, of course nothing is free, and she said she has no problem working to earn that bread, sadly we don''t have any job to offer on our side, so we were thinking, if it''s alright with you, maybe she can work as your assistant¡± -Though the cook is still surprised, I noticed that she time to time glanced at the elf during my explanation, doesn''t seem very comfortable around her, bad luck I dont have word in this matter, its her kitchen after all.


    ¡°I...guess its ok, not a big fan of the idea, but at least you brought a woman, though I warn you I can''t speak the elf tongue, if this doesn''t work my complaint will go to YOU, that''s fine right? -Me? I guess that''s fine, I won''t deny its pretty much my business now, right now everything is going well, I hope it keeps being that way, even though communication is a big problem since I have to work so I can''t just stay as a translator, since they''re just making bread it should be fine...right?


    ¡°Alright, looks like you will be working here at the moment, help the cook make bread, if you don''t know how to, just look at what she does and try copy her, and listen, this is the only available job so do your best to do it right¡± -Did i scare her? maybe that came out a little aggressive, well, can''t be helped, we really are in a bad spot if something goes wrong, better scare her that having her not work hard enough.


    ¡°I see, you know elf tongue, what a misteriuos kid you are, I think oyu are the first person I know capable of doing that¡± -Oh right, the cook doesn''t know I can speak to her, I try to not give much attention to the commentary, if I try to explain again I''ll just end up tires and looking even more suspicious, I say goodbye to both of them and go back to the smith to keep with the swords.


    The moment I go back I notice the smith is looking at me full of curiosity, I explain briefly what happened and he listens with a smile though he seems kind of annoyed, Luckily he doesn''t ask anything and we just go back to work, but that luck doesn''t last much, while I start sharpening a sword the smith takes the chance to satiate his curiosity.


    ¡°So the elf girl is with the cook, I would like to see that, maybe later we can go check on them, see how its going, but I think you''re the biggest question, even if you say you''re a merchant, I doubt you could go inside a forest full of beasts, even if you do it''s not like you can trade something with the elves, after all they are very reserved when it comes to humans, the most you will get would be some arrows¡± -Of course it doesn''t have sense, but I still haven''t got enough time to think on a better lie my dear friend, just put another race in front of me and I''m pretty sure I would be able to talk to them, no problem, because god made that possible, I didn''t even had to ask for that, but Im grateful, and since we¡äre on the subject I have knowledge on personnel management, psychology, programming, and electromagnetism.


    ¡°I would like to go check on them too, more than curiosity Im worried since they cant talk to each other, I don''t want to get in trouble with the person that cooks my food¡± -The smith scratches his head and a little disappointed goes back to working, to keep him busy I propose going to the bakery as soon as we finish the swords, he accepts kind of annoyed, I really need to think on a good reason to know the languaje before it starts affecting our work relationship.

 A New Neighbor (part 2)

    A few hours later and having one sword left to finish the daily quote I can hear someone saying my name, it''s the cook, she doesn''t look happy, while it doesn''t surprise me, I was thinking on how good it would be if she didn''t have any trouble dealing with the elf girl, who by the way is a little steps behind looking at me with sad eyes, I can get an idea of what happened.


    ¡°This girl doesn''t know how to cook, doesn''t understand what I''m saying, I have ruined some breads trying to teach her, making bread is not that difficult so I thought it would be fine, but she doesn''t know how to knead or use an oven, I don''t know how she got to this age not knowing this things¡± - This is troublesome, no doubt, it''s not just the language, this girl doesnt know what she''s doing, what she has to do, right now I just have to manage this as best as I can


    ¡°The cook says you have no idea of how to cook, I''m sorry I pressured you in trying to learn something from cero, I''ll try to fix things with her, just try to relax, we can still handle this, but tell me so I can get an idea, what did you do before coming here? I want to know in what kind of stuff you perform better¡± - She seems pretty agitated but she''s doing a good job on keeping his composure, I can''t blame her if she thought we were going to kick her out of town, her head must be a mess right now, I''ll give her some space to breath.


    ¡°Well...before I came here, I was with the rest of the elves, I used to practice my archery and hunt down beasts that caused havoc in the forest...but...I never hunted alone, we were always hunting strong beast so we always had to be hunting in groups, so when...now that I''m by myself I''ve done my best to avoid fighting, after all, even if I hunt down something I don''t know how to cook it¡± - A hunter, having someone that can bring meat to the table might be pretty good, but back to the important question, having a starving body, can she actually go to the forest to hunt? damn, why does this has to be so complicated, whatever, I guess I''ll throw a coin in the air with this woman, but first lets ask the smith what kind of creatures can be found in the outskirts.


    ¡°Creatures? Why? Ah forget it...let''s see...in the mine you will find bats and goblins, if you go towards the dessert you came from its rare but you can find stone scorpions, harehorns and some snakes¡± - Really? oh god, sounds like I could''ve died before reaching the town, maybe I was lucky because my adventure was just getting started, I got saved by the plot.


    ¡°When it comes to the forest, on that side you can pretty much find anything; goblins, small groups of orcs, snakes, a lot of insects, some boars and packs of wolves, there''s more stuff but that''s the first things that come to mind¡± - I''m not sure what merit there is in hunting goblins and orcs, but from the list Im the most interested in wolves and boars, I still have the favor the smith gave me in exchange for more swords.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Hey smith, I think I now how to make more swords, and this girl here will help us, but right now I need to make some questions to you and the cook, please just answer quick and simple, I will give you context in a moment¡± - Aside form the cook, who seems rather confused, the smith agrees without thinking, I guess up to a certain point he''s got used to my weirdness, that''s good, thanks to his thoughtless agreement the cook also agrees.


    ¡°Very well, the day is almost over so we will have to do everything tomorrow, but it will be best to confirm right now, first of all, smith, when will the mayor take the sword to sell them and when will he come back¡±


    ¡°In two more days, he will take around a day and a half¡±


    ¡°Understood, cook, since you''re making bread, and correct me if I''m wrong, but you should have some salt stored in your kitchen¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I have salt¡±


    ¡°Perfect, I might need all of it, I want you to keep as much as possible, and smith, I need a favor, I need you to help me make a spear, but first of all I want to know if we can make a spear¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have everything¡±


    ¡°That''s enough, 12 seconds, not bad, now I have to ask the elf girl and we should be good to go tomorrow morning¡±


    ¡°Ok, this is what we¡äll do, I want you to bring me a catch from the forest, I will pay you 100 gol for a wolf and 200 gol for a boar, this is just to start, if everything goes well I can pay you more for every chatched prey, right now we are just testing, I will trust you can make this work¡± - The elf girl nods pretty confident, looks like we have a deal, that''s a relief.


    ¡°Looks like everything is in order, smith, I need you to help me make the spear, we will give it to the elf girl, It sounds pretty crazy, and believe me, I know it does, but that spear might be and I trust it will be the best paid inversion you could make, obviously, if something goes wrong I will take full responsibility of that failure¡±


    ¡°I doubt you can actually take responsibility if you barely manage to earn enough to eat, but it''s pretty obvious something interesting came to your mind, and if a merchant knows something is how to make more money, right?¡± - A perfect answer, I didn''t expect to make such a big bet for someone I don''t know, but I guess risky bets must be done if I want to get out of this dreadful lifestyle that I currently have

 All in bet (part 1)

    ¡°Since you don''t seem to have a weapon the smith and I will let you borrow one, but first we first have to make it, we will get it finished by tomorrow, since we can''t make you a bow we¡äll go with a spear, the basic hunting weapon¡±


    ¡°Well...I don''t want to be rude, I''m grateful you''re helping me, you''re my savior right now, but I would like to opt for something light and small, so I can move more freely and I don''t have to worry about my weapon hitting a branch¡±


    ¡°I understand what you''re saying, but the spear is the basic weapon by excellency, it is long enough so you can have that extra reaching advantage against your enemy, and even if you''re not a weapon expert, everyone can trust using a spear, rather than slicing and parrying using a sword¡±


    ¡°It is true, not everyone can use a sword, and I find using one to hunt as a bad idea, I was thinking in using something more focused in hunting like a knife, besides, we are not used to using spears since our main hunting weapon is the bow, in case of needing to fight in close distance a knife is something you can unsheathe rather quickly and gives maneuverability. - Using fancy words eh? that''s fine by me, fist of all I turn no the smith so he doesn¡ät get anxious waiting for us


    ¡°I''m having a little trouble in the arrangement smith, but dont worry, its all good¡±


    ¡°You see my elf friend, a knife is no used as a main hunting weapon, it is used as a secondary weapon, since you need to be dangerously close to the target in order to use that said knife, in case of something easy to carry I would recommend a hand axe which can do a lot of damage and a shield to block the incoming damage¡±


    ¡°An axe requires strength to deliver a fatal blow, if you dont land the hit correctly you''re not just vulnerable, there is a chance the axe would get stuck, not to mention the shield doesn''t work if you don''t know where the hit is coming from, if you''re fighting a group of beasts it can only protect you from one or two at a time, it may only slow me down in that scenario.


    ¡°And you think a knife would be better in that scenario? I want to see you fight three wolves at the same time with such a small thing, and the shield was just an example, I suggested the spear in the first place because of that, since making a weapon AND a shield would take more time and resources¡±


    ¡°I never used a spear, that would put me in disadvantage, a knife¡äs strength comes from speed, not strength, if outnumbered I can use it while retreating without a problem¡±


    ¡°Fine! we¡äll make you a short sword and a knife, you can use the sword as your weapon and the knife as backup, but you''ll pay for both of them¡±


    ¡°I DON''T NEED A SWORD¡±


    ¡°DO YOU WANNA DIE WOMAN?!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Thanks for waiting, we decided that rather than a spear a knife would be a better option, I hope theres no problem with that change¡±


    ¡°Not at all...but you guys started yelling at each other in the second half, is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just a little friction¡±


    Very well, now that everything is on its place I just need to do a brief explanation about what we''ll be doing tomorrow and see if they both agree to help me with that, but man, I haven''t even started and I feel tired already, nothing to do about it, let''s start.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Alright listen, this will be a pretty hasty thing, but the situation requires it to be like this, first of all, as I said before the weapon will go to the elf girl, she will use it to hunt down wolves and bears in the forest, once she brings them to the town it would be our turn to process the resources, cook, I need you to use the salt you have to dry the meat, this meat will last long so it is possible to transport and sell, the smith and I will do the tanning of the leather so it can be used as material or be also sold¡±


    They are both silent, there is no more to that, being honest, after all I just improvised this, not to mention there is a lot of ways this plan might not work out, nonetheless, if it does work out it would bring extra income to the town, I say it is worth the shot but that''s just my point of view, the question is how much are they willing to risk, to my surprise the cook is the first one to talk.


    ¡°You''re telling me to use the salt to make dry meat, that process would take the whole day, if not a couple days, and I can''t just stop making bread to dry meat that won''t immediately sell, that''s bad for the business, I''ll start making dry meat only after I give the bread to the mayor in two days to sell¡±


    ¡°I understand, just try to save some salt for the later process please, and use as much as you can without affecting the business, of course, the salt will be used to make both bread and meat and the meat will definitely be sold at a higher price so keep that in mind and do your best to distribute the amount you have¡±


    I can see the eyes of the cook shining in the thought of money, looks like I managed to put her on my side, but it gets complicated with the smith, still hasn''t said a word, understandable, the bigger risk goes for him, to star the plan we first need the knife, if something goes wrong thar knife will become a loss, not just the materials but the working hours that are supposed to be used to make swords, he roll his eyes and lets out a sigh.


    ¡°This is a bad idea, but at least is an idea, I guess I can take this chance to leave aside the junk and go for a real weapon, the process will be somewhat different and we¡äll do extra steps to make sure it works properly, if this doesn''t work i''ll definitely make you assume the responsibility¡± -That''s fair, as long as he accepts, though this was more luck than negotiation, if one of them would''ve said no our elf friend would become unemployed, though I ended up so involved that I feel uncomfortable, I this doesn''t go well I''ll lose my head, I would like to accompany her to the forest tomorrow to make sure she doesn''t die trying, but I might die trying to accompanying her.


    ¡°There''s still some daylight left young man, how about we forget about the sword and start making the knife¡±


    ¡°That''s perfect for me, cook, Im counting on you, and elf girl...hey do you have a name?¡±


    ¡°I don''t, my mom gave me one, but it was taken from me when I left.¡± -Your name can be taken? what for? well, there''s still a lot of things I don''t understand, not important right now, but if in the almost zero chance another alf girl comes to town I will have trouble telling them apart, I should check on the names matter later.


    ¡°Ok, leaving names aside, cook, can you give her something to eat? she''s the central piece of the plan so she better stays in a decent condition, even if she doesn''t have money right now, you can put it in my tab if you want¡±


    ¡°Tab?¡±


    ¡°You don''t know what it is? well...a tab is an amount of money Im going to pay in the future, even if I don''t have the money at the moment, if it is sure that Im going yo have the moneythen we can make a deal right now having in account a future payment that I''m going to receive as a base, it works pretty well to make constant trades.¡±


    ¡°That is a weird thing, but I guess you know about this stuff, so I give her the food and you pay me later, but you better pay¡±


    ¡°I will definitely pay, after all a tab is not something you should use if you can''t pay, that would just bring trouble¡±


    ¡°Alright elf girl, the cook will give you the food you need, dont worry about paying right now, focus on succeeding tomorrow and if everything goes well you won''t have to worry about food for at least a couple days¡± -I''ve been changing between human and elf language a couple times now and I can notice that different sounds come out of my mouth when I do even if Im saying the same things, though, it is hard for me to notice the difference, but it will be good to know this in the future, knowing extinct or almost extinct languages might have a negative effect later, I need to notice when I''m talking in a different way.