10 Chapter Ten - A Simple Day

"Here you go.", the shopkeeper smiled while putting some equipment on the counter, "All the custom equipment you asked for, ready to go. Give it a try and tell me how it fits."

"Thank you, sir, will do."

"I heard you two took down a huge crab. Must have been quite the fight, huh?"

"It wasn't too hard, but it wasn't too easy either.", the girl answered, "At the end of the day, they rewarded us with a bit more for taking it down."

"Even though they didn't really believe us at first."

"They are supposed to doubt the word of fledgeling adventurers. There have been cases where rookie adventurers have claimed to slay this and that to try and get rich quick, only to flee in the face of danger."

"It was a pretty dangerous fight. That thing's carapace was way too hard, even for her sword."

"Think I can see that sword of yours?", the man asked and the girl handed her sword over, closely inspecting it, "I see, I see. Excellent quality and amazing craftsmanship, but you haven't been taking care of it, have you?"

"I usually let the royal blacksmith take a look at it when I return from my trips, but… things have changed a bit."

"Don't worry about it, young lady. By the way, you two didn't bring any piece of shell from the crab, did you?"

"We didn't, no. The man at the adventurer's establishment said they'd collect all of it, so you'll have to talk it out with them."

"I see. You should try and get your adventurer's rank higher, then. They allow adventurers to store some materials from hunting jobs and we shopkeepers will gladly buy them off of you. It's a win-win relationship we shopkeepers have with you adventurers."

"So we get the money from the jobs and the money from selling the parts?"

"Not only that, but since more adventurers have custom made equipment, selling those parts may help us develop upgrades for them. Creatures can give food to sustain you during long adventures and jobs, as well as the chance to grow stronger and better protect yourselves, so never forget to take some things from the dead creatures whenever you feel they may be useful, alright?"

"The water.", Cyrus said and the girl nodded.

"I gathered some water from that cave. It may be very dirty, but I was wondering if it could be useful for something."

"Arduk may know something about it. You two should go see him. Come back later, I'll tune up your sword in the meantime. It'll be better than ever, you have my word as the owner of "The Golden Blacksmith", that much I can guarantee."

The duo left the shop and began making their way towards the inn. They had decided to take this day off and relax a bit, especially after the previous day's fight. The two of them wanted to rest and enjoy that beautiful village they were at. While walking back to the inn, the boy noticed that the girl had slowed down to a halt in front of a store. On display were various dresses, skirts, coats and shoes. Her eyes were fixated on a pair of boots with a floral pattern. It took a few seconds for the boy to remember that, despite her current appearance and her way of fighting, she was still a girl. He tapped her shoulder and she gasped before facing the boy.

"Something caught your eye?"

"N… Not really, no."

"You don't lie, right?"

"These boots. They look nice. I never got to use clothes I wanted, everyone always picked them for me."

"You have your own money, don't you? Go buy them."

The girl nodded with a determined look on her face and walked into the shop while the boy sat at a bench and watched from the outside. Some time later, the girl walked out of the shop with a defeated look to her. While she had a bit over five hundred gold coins to her name, the boots cost nearly five times what she had. She decided the two of them should go take more jobs to try and earn as much money as they could so she could buy those boots, but the boy told her that they needed to rest. When she tried to refute the boy, he reminded her that she didn't have her sword with her at the moment and that it'd be dangerous for them to take on the hunting jobs, the ones that rewarded them with more money, and risk hurting themselves seriously. With a loud sigh mixed with a groan, she conceded and the two made their way to their room at the inn. The girl jumped onto her bed, covered herself with her sheets and faced the opposite side to him while the boy tried his best not to burst into laughter from her rather childish behavior. He sat at the end of his bed and removed the few large stones they had, inspecting them. A bright red stone, a bright yellow stone and a deep blue stone. The first had a nice warmth to it, the second made his hairs stand up and the third felt refreshing, so he assumed these stones were something special and that intrigued him quite a bit.

"Emalia.", he called, but she didn't budge, "I'm going to go see Arduk. I want to ask him some things about these stones. I won't be long, hopefully."

No response. He shrugged and left the room while the girl remained there, unmoving. She was trying to think about what she could do to get those boots, but nothing came to mind, so she decided to give up. Just her luck, finding something she liked and not having her parents to help her out. Once that thought crossed her mind, she shook her head quickly and curled up. She had decided not to count on her castle's help like that. It was her own idea, her own decision, to start living by herself. To find out what the world truly is like on her own. Going back for a pair of boots would not only shame her pride, but shame her family as well. No matter what, she was going to see her decision through to the end, come what may.

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"You say these were within my storage, right?", the elf asked.

"Indeed. Do you know what they are?"

"As you know, magic flows through the whole world. Usually, it's intangible to a person and very hard for even the most focused man to spot, but as with everything, it concentrates strongly in some spots. The Great Volcano of Solaria.", the elf said while pointing at the bright red stone, "The Deep Sea of Levia.", he pointed at the deep blue stone, "The Thundering Fields of Thor.", he pointed at the bright yellow stone, "Those three are spots where magic of specific elements concentrates the strongest and, in turn, creates these beauties. They are widely known as Elemental Crystals."

"What are they for?"

"My village's elder told me that many hundreds of years ago, everyone could use all elements, regardless of which elemental magic they were born with, but that stopped happening for some reason. Those crystals started being sought after in high demand as it allows a person to use a different magic element other than their own."

"So as someone whose magic is of the element of fire, I could use the water and thunder stone to use different magics?"

"Exactly. And if you use the fire stone with your fire magic, it powers up."

"Dangerous."

"Indeed.", the elf laughed, "In any case, treasure those three stones. They are very valuable, you know?"

"How much would I fetch by selling one of these?"

"You can't really sell them, unless you go to the black market. Since they can be pretty powerful, adventurers usually keep them and shops are forbidden from buying them."

"But you can sell them, right?"

"Usually only to adventurers ranked seven or higher."

"I see. Thank you for the explanation, Arduk."

"Always here to help, young man."

The boy left the elf's store and began making his way over to the blacksmith's shop, instead of the inn. He talked and talked with the large man and the two of them came to an agreement, which led the boy to the adventurer's establishment.

"We haven't started collecting them yet, so there should be plenty of pieces in there. If I may, Cyrus, why the sudden interest?

"The blacksmith asked me for some in exchange for gear."

"That's a wonderful idea. I hope you find enough for what you have in mind, Cyrus."

"Thank you."

"Don't forget to get a torch from Arduk."

"I forgot!", he gasped, "But I don't want to walk back there again for a torch… I'll make do."

The boy left the adventurer's establishment and made his way out of the village, catching a certain someone's attention as she grew worried about him. Closely following behind him, the boy eventually reached the cave they had gone to the day before. While it was closed off to most people, adventures could still go inside, and that's what he did. Knowing she'd be found out if she followed him, she decided to sit near a tree and wait while Cyrus walked inside that damp cave once more. He raised his right hand and ignited it, feeling a soft sizzle covering it for a few seconds before stopping. A bit more control over his magic was allowing him to not hurt himself with it. The sounds of his footsteps as he traversed the cave alerted the smaller lizards and insects to scurry away and eventually he reached the wide clearing with the large body of the crab. Many pieces of the creature's shell were spread around the room and he decided to take as many as his backpack could handle. Outside, the girl was tapping her foot on the ground while under the shade of the same tree as before.

"He's taking too long… Did he go there on a job without saying anything to me?", the girl asked herself while rubbing her chin, "No, we can't yet take jobs on our own… Then why?"

"All done?", one of the guards at the cave's entrance asked.

"Yes, sir. Thank you for letting me in."

"No need to thank us, you and your friend took down that thing."

The boy waved at the guard and began making his way towards the city while Emalia followed him. She saw him entering the blacksmith's store and sighed while going back to the inn room. Inside the store, Cyrus handed over the bag to the man and he inspected the plates of armor that he had brought.

"A Giant Stone Crab's shell, huh? These things are tough to break."

"Indeed. My punches barely did anything against it. So, do you think you can work with it?"

"Of course, who do you take me for, kid?", the man laughed, "I'll buy these off your shoulders, alright?"

"Suit yourself, sir."

"Let's see… These are good, this one's pretty sturdy, this here is a bit cracked, though thinner than the others, these few ones are thicker than they seem… I'll give you seven hundred gold coins for this, what do you say?"

"Sounds good to me.", the boy said and the man began filling a pouch with the coins.

"I'll start working on the pieces you asked right away. You're a fine kid, you know?"

"Quite the opposite, sir, I think of myself as a bad person."

"Why would you think like that?"

"The reason why I'm adventuring is a bad one. I feel like I can trust you, so I'll tell you why. I'm on this journey to find a specific General… and kill him."

"Kid.", the man said while dropping the bag of coins on the counter, "That's something you shouldn't say so nonchalantly to anyone."

"I know."

"I don't know why you have some problems with the Generals, but I'd advise you to stay clear of their path."

"I watched my village burn, you know?"

"What?"

"One General came to my village when I was younger and… he burned my entire village. I was the only one that survived and frankly, I hate myself for that."

"I'm… sorry to hear that, kid."

"It's okay. There was nothing an infant could have done against a powerful being."

"Even so, they are seriously dangerous. The Generals are known for being immortal for a reason."

"I've heard that many times, but they're not invincible."

"You talk as if you've defeated one!", the man laughed, but his laughter stopped as he saw the boy's serious smile, "No way…"

"Granted, he was drunk off of his mind, but even so."

"I can't really believe you, you know? If you had defeated a General, news would travel really fast about his defeat."

"Which is fairly strange, unless the Generals are trying to keep the knowledge that they can be defeated as hidden as possible."

"If you really did defeat a General, then…"

"Yes?"

"Drop by tomorrow, kid. I'll get your things ready and we can talk better then. Here, take the girl's sword."

"I'll let her come pick it up tomorrow, alright?"

"Suit yourself, kid."

"And… thank you for letting me ramble."

The man nodded at the boy and he left, going back to his room at the inn where the girl was still under her bed sheets, but her shoes were now on the ground, tumbled over. He sat on his bed and poked the mound that was the girl, yet he got no response. He poked it again and again, but not even a shrug or a noise.

"Anyone home?"

"Piss off…", the girl whispered.

"I do have to go, yes, but I'm not that rude."

"What do you want?"

"We should go eat something."

"I'm not hungry, leave me alone."

"One of the few times I want to do something with you and this is what I get, huh?", the boy sighed while standing up, "Suit yourself, you royal pain-in-the-ass."

She heard him put something on the desk and the door opening and closing. She waited a few seconds and peeked from her hideout, not spotting anyone. She looked over at the desk and noticed a bag with coins and a napkin with something on top of it. Taking a better look at it, she saw it was a large piece of steaming crab meat and her body moved on its own. Unlike what she had previously said, she was quite hungry. The day kept moving along and soon, the boy had returned to sleep.

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"You're here early, huh?", the blacksmith smiled.

"It's you two.", Arduk waved, "Happy to see you again."

"Hello, you two.", the boy said and the grumpy girl remained quiet.

"Just in time, kid, I'm all done with your request."

"What's this about a request?", the girl asked while glaring at the boy.

"You'll see."

The large man walked into the backroom of the store and the girl kept glaring at the smiling boy. After a while, he returned with the girl's sword and an upgrade for Cyrus' gauntlets.

"I've polished the sword and sharpened it a bit, so it should be more effective when slashing things. And here's the little upgrade you asked for. These gauntlets should be able to take more hits and deal stronger attacks now, as well as resist your fire."

"That's amazing, Clark, splendid work as always.", Adruk said.

"When you love your work, it always comes out great, no?"

"Good for you, Cyrus, good for you.", the girl whispered.

The boy nodded at the man and he nodded back before checking underneath his counter. After a while, he brought out a pair of kneehigh boots with a floral pattern more intricate than the one she had seen, as well as a beautiful deep blue color to it, matching the girl's outfit.

"Here you go, young lady.", the man smiled, but the girl didn't react, "Young lady? Are you there?"

It took her quite a while to realize what was on top of that counter. She looked at Cyrus and he nodded at her. She walked up to the boots and looked at them as if evaluating them, which got the large man somewhat nervous.

"I love them."

"They're for you, you idiot."

"They are?!"

"Yes."

The girl's happy, uncontrolled giggling and hopping was bettering the mood of everyone in there and, much to everyone's surprise, she turned towards the boy and jumped at him, giving him a tight hug.

"Emalia, what're you doing?!"

"Payback for being rude to you yesterday. But where did you get them?! They're beautiful!"

"You seemed to really like the boots you saw yesterday and I remembered that Clark said we could get custom gear, so I went back to the cave and collected some of the crab's shells."

"Did you, now? And why not invite me to go with you?"

"Because you had no weapon and it could be dangerous. Also you'd ask me questions."

"Fair is fair."

"Can you let go of me now?", the boy asked and the girl pondered for a few more seconds before releasing him, "Thank you."

"But will they fit?"

"Try them out and see for yourself, young lady."

She removed her shoes and carefully slid in the boots one at a time before standing up and walking around the store for a bit.

"They fit perfectly! But how?"

"I saw your old boots yesterday and noticed their size. I also remembered you saying your feet hurt while we were at and coming back from the cave two days ago and I thought maybe they were too small for you."

"That makes sense. I liked those old boots so much that I never really bothered changing them."

"You're an idiot, you know?"

"I'll be heading back to my shop. You two, if you need anything, be sure to drop by."

"We will, Arduk."

The tall, slender man left the blacksmith's shop while the owner of the store waited a few more seconds before motioning the two of them to enter the backroom. Inside, there were a few extra rooms, mainly a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom and a small living room. This whole store was the man's house. The duo sat at the table in the living room and the man brought a few cups of water.

"Why are we here?"

"Your friend told me why you two are traveling and I have something to ask of you."

"Did he, now?"

"A nearby settlement with beastfolk has been the target of harassment from the General of Wind."

"Mutants…"

"Almost, Cyrus.", the man said.

"I've heard about beastfolk back at the castle, but I've never really understood what they are."

"Nearly a thousand years ago, when the General of Nature started experimenting with our kind, some mutants managed to escape and regain their consciousness. They hid themselves and, thanks to what the General of Nature did, they were evolving rapidly. Nowadays, beastfolk are the result of the many mutants that evolved to adapt to their changes. There are many different types of beastfolk around the world."

"I see. I always thought beastfolk were mutants that were stronger than others."

"Everyone makes that mistake, kid, even I did at first."

"Sir Clark, why do you want us to go there?"

"An old friend of mine would be worried sick about his granddaughter and I can't do anything against a General, can I? So I wanted to ask you two, if at all possible, could you get rid of that damned General?"

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