12 Returning Home

It has been a full year since Tunir left Renevault with Mary. In this time, he has worked at the smithy and began a family. Tunir married Mary and has had a daughter with her named Cloe. Their life was happy.

Tunir was working at the forge as usual. He was currently crafting a sword that had been commissioned by a rather rich player. The metals in this sword are some of the hardest to get in the world, so working on this was taking all of the concentration that Tunir could muster.

The constant hammering of metal on metal at the forge made a prominent echoing noise that reverberated loud enough to be heard out on the streets of Niris. This had become a daily occurrence for the people of this city, so nobody turned their heads to investigate what the noise was.

"Foo…" Tunir exhaled. The constant work had made him exhausted so he was taking a little break.

While he was taking his break, the player that had commissioned him came into the smithy. Their armor was incredible. Countless valuable metals, magic amulets, and other indescribable treasures adorned this person.

"Hi Mr. Smith! Is my sword ready?" They asked with a spring in their step.

"Just about! Give me a moment and it will be finished." Tunir declared.

The player sat down on the floor to wait. Tunir had become completely used to the odd actions that players would take, so he didn't even raise an eyebrow at this. Tunir approached the forge once more and raised his hammer to begin working on the sword once more.

It took 3 minutes for the finishing touches to be done. At the end of it, a sword that would cost a king's ransom had been forged.

"Here you go." Tunir handed the sword to the player that had commissioned it.

"Thanks. You know, it's odd that you're still here." The player shrugged their shoulders.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Tunir asked.

"Well, it's just that I remember you used to work at Renevault. Why are you in Niris now?"

"Oh, Renevault is under siege! I can't work there. I have a family now. That would be too dangerous!" Tunir scoffed at the player's question.

"Under siege…? That was a 3 day event." The player looked at Tunir dumbly.

"Wait… what?"

"Yeah. The city is safe. It has been for a while."

Tunir dropped his hammer in shock.

"Are you… okay?" The player backed away a few steps as they asked this.

"I NEED TO GO HOME!" Tunir shouted as he ran out of the smithy.

"So do I need to pay?" The player asked. Tunir didn't pay attention though as he had already left earshot at this point.

Tunir burst through the front door of his home. Mary was looking after Cloe and looked at Tunir in shock.

"W-What's happening dear? Did something happen?"

"Mary! We can move back to Renevault!"

"Wait, really?" Mary stood up as she asked this. She was smiling in excitement.

"Yes! The siege ended a long time ago!"

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's pack up and go!"

"Emergency quest!" Tunir shouted out. This had become a common event for whenever his family needed any help with a menial task. Players would always show up and help them do whatever they wanted to.

As always, players showed up to inquire about the quest.

"I'll give you 700 experience. Help move all my furniture into the covered wagon."

The brown screen appeared in front of the players. They all accepted the quest for its high experience value and then the moving began.

It took less than 10 minutes for everything to be moved out. The family was all smiles as Tunir whipped the horse to begin pulling.

The travel from Niris to Renevault was uneventful. The player guard that accompanied them made some small talk with the family. Apparently more NPC's like Tunir had been giving high experience emergency quests so players have been leveling up incredibly fast.

After a few hours of travel, the family finally arrived at Renevault. The familiar city walls were a welcome sight to Tunir.

The family went into the gate of the town. The city streets were filled with a jovial atmosphere. This was home.

"First stop is my place." Mary declared. They needed to drop off their furniture after all. After dropping off their furniture, Tunir would re-acquire his smithy.

The day went by without a hitch. A few emergency quests later and everything was in place.

Tunir stepped in front of his former smithy. The building had remained unoccupied.

A woman approached Tunir from the side.

"Tunir? Is that you?" A familiar voice asked.

"Jeresa! It's good to see you!"

"Where did you go? What happened?"

"Well, I went to Niris for a while. Wanted to avoid the siege from a while ago. Nobody told me that the siege ended so I just now found out."

"Hah! Well, what have you been up to with your life?"

"Well, I have a family now. I have a daughter named Cloe. She's feisty."

"That's wonderful. We should go somewhere and have a chat!" Jeresa suggested.

"Sorry. I need to do something first." Tunir declined.

Jeresa simply shrugged her shoulders. "Alright then. We'll talk some other time. It was good to see you again!"

"Likewise!"

With that, Jeresa left and Tunir was left to himself once more.

Tunir stepped into the old smithy and went to the forge. He relit the flames and grabbed a nearby hammer.

"Open for business!" He shouted. Soon after, players began to siphon into his smithy."

"Quest?" They would ask and Tunir would explain to them.

The players would come and go. Some would buy items, others would ask about quests or ask to learn how to smith. Eventually, Tunir received a commission from a fairly well armored adventurer so he needed to spend some time forging the item.

Tunir raised his hammer as he had thousands of times before. He reflected on how his life changed ever since players had started interacting with him.

"Haah…" Tunir exhaled as he brought down the hammer with his strength.

Slam… Slam… Slam...