In a small peaceful village known as Glenfort Village, the people were busy going about their daily lives. The farmers were harvesting crops for sell and for the winter, the kids were playing with each other by the green pasture near the well, and the adventurers were hunting in the forests. Life in this village was very routine. There was practically little to no change. Amidst the quiet life, sounds of laughter could be heard, particularly in one of the buildings. This building was known as the Mucky Duck Inn, owned by the beautiful innkeeper - Miss Colette. If a person was to enter the inn, they would be immediately overwhelmed with the mellow sight of happiness. Everyone in the inn enjoyed the drinks...the food...and the social interactions between the villagers and the adventurers. The second thing one would take notice would be the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. Complementing with the sounds of frying and cooking, one could just imagine how tasty the food that's being prepared would be.

"A plate of lamb roast and fried vegetables, done!" A deep voice called out from within the kitchen followed by the ding of a bell.

"Coming!" A middle-aged woman replied as she walked towards the counter where a hot, steaming plate of food was placed just recently by the cook.

The woman had long faded purple hair with light purple eyes and a black eyepatch covering her left eye. She wore a slim, purple dress with a black pearl necklace wrapped around her neck. The woman scooped up the plate and headed towards one of the tables.

"Here's your food sir."

"Thanks Miss Colette." The patron responded as he took a sniff. "Mmm, smells delicious as always."

"Naturally! The food created by our two chefs is the best in this village." Colette smiled.

"Miss Colette! When will our plate be done?" Another table of patrons asked as they stared at the food.

"In a minute! Please be patient, dear customers." Colette replied as she walked towards the kitchen counter once more. "John! You finished with the next plate?"

In the kitchen, there were two men toiling away. One was a gray bearded old man with long hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had a jolly face and a healthy expression. Next to him was a young man, roughly in his late twenties. This man had short black hair with broad shoulders. He had a long stern face with silvery eyes. His powerful built made him look more like a blacksmith apprentice than a cook. The man had on an apron strapped around his brown shirt and gray pants. This young man was John.

"Done!" John replied as he lifted the frying pan over a plate and poured the contents onto the plate. His boots made a shuffling sound as he walked towards the counter and handed the plate of food to Colette.

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"Thanks!" Colette grabbed the plate and hurried over to the table.

John stared at the merry customers enjoying the food that he and the head chef had made. A rare smile surfaced before quickly disappearing into the depths of mysteriousness. Although he lived in this village for over two decades, he did not feel at home. He was thankful to the village chief for taking him, an orphan of unknown origins, in and feeding him. He was thankful for Miss Colette for providing him a roof over his head. However, he felt that his destiny was somewhere else...somewhere out there. So, he began working as a part-time cook at the Mucky Duck Inn and for ten years, he was able to save up five gold coins. Just a little bit more and he would be able to begin his journey.

When the head chef shook him back to reality, they continued to cook. Finally, their shift was over and the kitchen closed for the night. The head chef went home to his family while John stayed at the inn. Like every night, he had to clean the inn's dining room and kitchen before he could go home. Suddenly, as John was throwing away the garbage outside, an angry shout came from inside and heavy stomps could be heard. John opened the door and peered inside. The noise was coming from the kitchen! Could it be those goddamn thieves again? John grabbed the broom by the doorstep and hurried inside. He walked towards the kitchen and cautiously peeked inside through the cracks of the open doorway. There was Miss Colette. She was angry at something and in her hand, there was a frying pan.

John pushed open the door, notifying Colette of his presence. He asked. "What's wrong Miss Colette?"

"Ah! Can you believe this John?" First we get thieves in the larders stealing our food, and now they've made off with my silver flask! If there's one thing I don't like, it's thievery in my inn." Colette raged, her eyes blazing with anger. Miss Colette's silver flask was something very important to her. It was the only thing that she had from her father to remember him by.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Hmm, glad you ask. Here, take this frying pan and go down into the cellars. Make sure to put a stop to them bastards!"

"Alright."

John took the frying pan from Miss Colette and headed towards the cellars. He slowly ventured down. The Mucky Duck cellar was a dank and musty place filled with vermin of all sorts. There had been sightings of bugs and rodents, but the thought of a human down here...now that was frightening. John held the frying pan close and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim room. As he edged deeper into the cellars, he suddenly noticed a scurrying figure rush past him. John frowned at the sight. The figure was small...almost the size of a little child. Could that child be the thief?

"Hello? Anyone there?" John called out. "Come out wherever you are. I won't hurt you."

HISS!

John turned around towards the sound and saw something that almost made him drop his frying pan. It was a rat-like creature. This...monster was standing on both feet at a height of somewhere between two to three feet. It wore tattered clothes and its beady red eyes glowed in the darkness. A silver flask was dangling on its belt. So this little bastard was the thief! When their eyes met, the rat-like creature assumed an offensive stance. It clearly did not have kind intentions. Knowing that a battle was inevitable, John raised up the frying pan in his hand and charged at the rat monster.

SMACK!

John was able to land a swift and powerful hit, battering the creature and severely injuring it. As blood gushed out from its head, it howled in anger before darting to his left and taking a huge bite off of his left leg. Pain surged through his body. As he grit through the agony, he raised his frying pan once more and brought it down hard on the rat-like creature's head, smashing it in and killing the monster once and for all. John checked his wound and found that there was no foam. Thank goodness this damned monster wasn't rabid. Nevertheless, he was bleeding and would require some medical assistance soon. John bent down and yanked at the silver flask from the corpse. A few coins fell out as he did so. John reached over and picked up the coins...it was forty-four silver coins! Nice!

As John prepared to leave, he took one last glance at the creature he had killed. Though he won the battle, deep down, he knew that this victory was likely to be short-lived. What was this creature? Was there more of them? What do they want? Would they attack the village? These questions popped into his head, but there were no answers to be found. John shook his head as he hoped that such things won't come again. However, little did he know, the answers to his question would arrive sooner than anyone in Glenfort would have liked.