As Blake walked about the village towards the leatherworks house and workshop, he was spotted by Jade and Granite, shifting his walk a bit to have a chat with them.

“Good morning, Blake.” Jade says as he gets just shy of arm's reach, she is carrying a basket with both hands.

“Morning Blake, you ok, I heard you passed out as soon as you got back.” Granite said softly, as her eyes wondered about him, trying to see any signs of injuries.

Blake gave them both a warm smile, “Good morning to you both, and yes i am fine Granite, nothing my healing magic can’t handle. Do you want help with your baskets?” He said back as he noticed they had to lift the large baskets with both hands.

The two exchanged a look before smiling back with a shake of their heads.

“We will be fine. this is just some of the clothes of the woodworkers.” Granite said while hiding her face behind the rim of the basket.

“Yeah, just their work clothes, mostly from the unmarried men, we get paid for it though” Jade added, before looking carefully at Blake. “I am happy you are back. you plan to leave tomorrow, do you plan to come back to our village when you are done adventuring?” she asked after a second.

Her question made her sister lock her eyes on him too, both curious about his plans for his life. Blake subconsciously rubbed the back of his head as he thought up an answer. “I don’t know but I will try to pass through here when I leave Wynberg. I like the people from this village, and I would like to spend more time here, but not much a fighter like me can do here.” he said, lying a bit as he did, he knew if he stayed, he could easily protect the town while doing anything he wanted, but he still didn’t feel comfortable with watching them all grow old while he stayed the same.

They both took his answer well and smiled, happy ones at his word that he would return at some point soon, unaware of how long he can live for.

“Then we will see you tonight, and I will wait for your return too.” Jade said as her smile grew a bit wider.

“So will I.” Granite added after a second of mustering her resolve, an effort that added to the endearment Blake felt for her.

“Great, let’s have fun tonight so I can head out with a smile.” Blake said back smiling wide to them too. Before stepping out of their way “I’ll see you tonight then, have a great day” he gave them a wave as he kept walking.

[Well, it looks like those two are settling back in just fine.] He thought to himself as he kept walking his mind calling up the directions, he got from one old lady he asked when he left Jackie’s house. The low morning sun cut long shadows where buildings stood, the patches of light a bit warmer than the rest of the path. [I have to talk with Hilda and Phanna but their work is outside the village, I am better off waiting until they get back, I also said to Miann that I would help her too] he glanced around and locked eyes with a brunette beauty of he had just thought of, she was watching him at the step of her door, the small cottage she was in front of felt rustic to him, but he knew that here it was not out of place at all. [well, I guess now is a good time as any if she wants to…] he mused as he redirected his walk over to her.

As he approached he couldn’t help but admire her radiance in the morning light, her skirt held up by a girdle that hugged to her lower abdomen, while the shirt she wore was loose but a well-made shade of red added to her stunning appearance, accented by a leather apron she wore, her pale gold eyes showed him joy at his walk towards her, while her hand gripped a bit tighter on the bundle of herbs she was holding.

“Good morning Miann” he said as he walked up the path in front of her home, its course cutting a line through the herb garden she had clearly spent time cultivating, his eyes not shifting away from her as he got close. “I did make you a promise and am happy to for fill it if you want.”

She shifted a bit at the boldness of the affirmation, then her eyes went a bit distant as though she thought about something still fresh in her mind before she came back to the moment, “You will have to wait, come back after lunch, I have work to do, the village's reserves of poultices and medicine is low.” She said as she reached up a hand and gave him a knowing smile, as she caressed his cheek. “Besides, after the morning you had, I think you need a bit more rest.”

[what… shit, did she see me and Jackie] Blake thought but didn’t get a chance to question her as she walked back inside and closed the door behind her. The scent of drying herbs and fragrances filled his nose for a second before the passage was closed on him. [yeah, she definitely did, or maybe she heard us. Well too late now, and she didn’t seem upset, so all good for now i guess]

Blake turned around and kept walking, his tasks for the day easy to complete, his new boots were made like his old ones and the leatherworker even gifted him with a pouch he could tie around his thigh to act like a pocket, along with a new belt. His time with the seamstress was a bit uncomfortable as the old lady measured him a bit more than he thought was needed, mumbling something about if someone he didn’t know would like him or not, giving him the idea that the woman played matchmaker in the village too. But his visit to the blacksmith was the stone that crushed him a bit too much.

“So, there it is lad, if you keep them then they will rust by tomorrow and crumble to nothing the day after” the burly man said as he pointed at the once iron halberd now pitch black.

“So, there is no way to save it?” Blake asked half-heartedly.

“Not unless it's magic, no. I was surprised when Hilda asked me to try, she knows about the cursed blood of goblins, gods know she had to replace a few axe heads.” the blacksmith said with a chuckle, then looked at Blake out the corner of his eye, “I am more confused that you are an adventurer, and you didn’t use their weapons and stuck with your own. I heard from some of the foresters that went to check out your battle site say you killed maybe four hundred or so goblins.”

“Yeah, I am but that was my first battle with goblins, I didn't know about their blood.” Blake said back not shifting his eyes off the weapon that he had been using until now. “And the brigandine?”

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The blacksmith sighed, “Same thing, unfortunately, the blood stained the canvas and iron plate underneath, nasty stuff that dark blessing the goblins got from the dark lord.” The man said as he scratched at his sideburn, “I remember my grandfather telling a tale about his grandfather, a tale of him begging knights to use the goblin’s weapons in battle, and then had to retreat a day or two later as those dumb nobles lost their armor and weapons.”

“Can’t you reforge them?” Blake asked a bit dismayed.

The smith shook his head, “Nah, once the blood stains the processed material then it's over, even if you reforge it the stain will stay, my father and I tried close to the end of my apprenticeship, we spent six hours hammering and working the metal, but nothing worked.” the smith crossed his arms and sighed. “Now, I can either make you a new armor or weapon, I can’t do both before tomorrow without my wife’s help but she is due soon, so I am not having her be in here with all the ash.”

“Do you have weapons. I am assuming that you mainly make tools and maybe spears.” Blake said as his eyes lingered on the halberd.

“I do have some swords too, but they aren’t that good, crude and simple for a villager to use but not for the swordplay of knights.” the smith said back, “the carpenter can give you a shield if you want too.”

“And no armor yeah…” Blake said and finally looked at the smith.

“Well aside from my grandfather’s, no, and I am not giving you that, family heirloom and all.” The smith said and thought it over “Not a lot of need for metal armor around these parts, but you can ask the leatherworker if they have something.”

[I can make do with a sword but that will force me closer to my enemy, plus if I understand skills right, I can still use all my attack skills even with a sword.] Blake thought it over as he looked at his halberd again, his decision here will be a determining factor to his trip to Wynberg. [I have about five gold left, so if I go with armor, I could just replace it all at Wynberg, but I also need to keep enough for food and stay there.]

“If you can make me some armor it would be better, I have a feeling that even with my capabilities I’ll still need it more than the reach of a halberd.” Blake said with a frown at the loss of a weapon he enjoyed using. “I can use a sword and shield easily, but if I have to get that close to an opponent, I would like to have something more than leather keeping me from dying.”

“Right, oh, wait here a second,” the smith said and went over to a workbench before walking back over with a bundle of cloth, unraveling and presenting the handle of a sword, a well-made hilt with a solid-looking counterweight in the pommel shaped to look like a set of roots that curled in and around themselves. “Here, I made it for my child, but I’ll have a whole fifteen years to make them a new one.”

Blake reached over and pulled the weapon free of its scabbard, and tested it with a flourish, the weight was perfect, the blade was like a Nordic sword coming to a point about twenty-seven inches long, it was a bit on the shorter side, but was well made. Blake ran his hand along the grove of the weapon, before looking back to the smith. “I can’t take this, it's a gift for your child.” Blake said after a second realizing the importance of the weapon. “You should give it to them” he slid the sword back to the housing of the scabbard.

The old smith sucked his teeth with a bit of annoyance, “I will have time to make a proper weapon for them, besides, I made this when my wife and I started trying, I will be happier if you use it, slay a second troll with it, I want to make something that is right for them, not something that will gather dust.” the Smith said as he shoves the weapon into Blake’s chest, the glint in his eye told Blake that he wouldn’t back down, so he reluctantly accepted.

“Fine, but I’ll take care of it, and return it if I have it replaced.” Blake said after a second.

“Nah, keep it as a backup weapon, that way if you get stupid again you will have something.” the smith said as he walked off and started gathering tools. “Now, I can’t make you a new brigandine in a day, so I’ll see to making a coat of scales for you, it will be more than enough until Wynberg, you can get new armor there, I can guarantee the quality, but I will say this.” He turned a bit and smiled wide at Blake. “I'll make sure that it can handle you and the crazy way you fight for a few days.”

“Thank you, I'll be back tonight then.” Blake said as he unwrapped the sword completely, and secured it to his belt, before heading out again, his direction back to Jackie’s house was clear and his feet found the path with ease. The mid-morning sun imparted some heat on him and his surroundings, the few villagers he passed waved at him and gave calls of thanks for his handling of both the goblins and the troll. He then realized that he still needs a shield and asked for directions.

his acquisition of a shield was a bit harder as the woman that worked the shop didn't want to waste wood on things not related to the reconstruction effort, insisting to show him the work she had, however, he finally broke her down by pointing out that by killing both the goblins and troll he had saved her a lot of work and the small amount of wood for the shield was on the smaller end of the wood that she would need.

About halfway there he spotted a group of sheep along with what Blake assessed were shepherds blocking his path as they carefully guided the sheep into a communal pen close to the south gate, the four shepherds were talking amongst themselves as they closed the gate, one pointing Blake's way, making him wonder what the man said, but saw the surprise face of Phanna turn his way followed by her blushing smile and sudden turn back and, the group laughed at whatever she said.

Before Blake could get in earshot, she waved at them and broke away running up to him, her smile growing wider as she did. Her work dress was cut just below her knees and her shins were covered by her boots that had bits of grass still on them and a thin layer of dust. She was carrying a crooked staff in hand, and he could see a simple sling and pouch on her belt that loosely hung around her. She had a cord around her neck that held a simple whistle on it, which came to rest just over her breasts, inadvertently drawing Blake's eye. Her vibrant blue eyes locked on him and as she noticed his gaze, she let loose a snicker and pulled her blonde hair forward making it fall and cover her up.

Blake snapped out of his haze, "sorry was thinking of why you would need a whistle" he said with a smile trying desperately to hide the truth of where his eyes were looking, "I am guessing it's for safety or something."

She smiled a knowing smile and took his arm, "Sure you were, but just to soothe your mind, there are two reasons, one is that if I see something dangerous, I can alert others, and the second is we train our sheep to run away from the sound, so it works as a way to direct them without having to guide them." She said as they started to walk, their path to her home was known by them both.

"And your flock is kept with everyone’s?" Blake asked as they passed the pen, his eyes watching the collection of sheep that was about fifty, but Blake couldn't see any form of identification on any.

"Well, none of us have a personal flock, but we do lay claims on sheep we like." She said before pointing across him to one sheep with a black coat of wool on its head, "That one is mine, her name is Wendy."

"Wendy, hm." Blake said then looked over to her, "I bet she will be some tasty mutton" getting a playful smack for his joke.

"Shut it, Wendy will get eaten by my children's children when I die, damn it" she said quickly, then drew a bit inward, some thoughts bubbling to the foreground.

"You miss him, don’t you?" Blake asked, his guess that the thoughts she was having were correct when she looked back up at him.

She let an apologetic smile out "Yeah, he was the one that delivered her. He was a kind man and didn't make fun of me when I grew taller than him when we were kids and was always helping me even when he had his own work to do." She said softly while pulling Blake in a bit tighter. “I miss my walks with him, he was a bit shorter than you but more handsome.”

Blake gave her a bewildered look, “More handsome than I, I never, and here in this village of all places.” he said with sarcasm, making them both laugh for a few seconds, as the air about them settled down a bit he looked back to her with a gentle smile. “He sounds like a great man. I only regret not having had the chance to meet him.”

“It's funny to me, because he would always say that I would meet someone like him soon after he die, and he was right, I met you not too long after the attack,” she said as she pulled them both onto a separate path, moving to come round to the back side of the house. “And while I will always miss him, I know I can’t slow down, so follow me for now.” she guided them to a back door and opened it, leading him to what was likely her room in the large house, closing the door behind her, and nudging him away from the door.

Blake looked around a bit as he noted the mess but guess she didn’t really think about it or didn’t care about it right now before he heard the sounds of footsteps on the other side of the door, followed by Jackie calling through the wood.

“Phanna, was that you? Have you seen Blake, the chief wants to talk with him.” Jackie called out.

“The chief will have to wait, I have him for now, and I am not letting him go, now go away unless you want in.” Phanna responded candidly “I don’t mind you warming him up as long as I get him at the end.”

Jackie let out a laugh through the door, likely at the fact she knew what Blake was about to do, “have fun, I’ll get you two some water, you’ll need it.” she said and walked away.

Phanna looked back to Blake with a hint of confusion that vanished as he gazed back at her, his own visage showing confidence at his morning performance with Jackie.