Zolton paced a path that he had so many times before. But now, cobblestone had taken the place of dirt that had always endured his steps. Although the marketing area of Auxuth was not vibrant, it had come far from its decrepit and hazardous past. No one was seen freely helping themselves to the goods of others without giving the market owners their proper due. In fact, anyone caught would be subject to beration and potentially a beating by those embracing a strict mind(many Auxuthians at the time.)

The path eventually ended at a wooden dock where the ocean’s waves crashed against the stone beneath. A fresh shipwright’s store was built along the docks, but it was not very popular with the people. “Help Wanted!” was written on a sign hanging on the front of the store. Zolton ducked as he squeezed through the entry, assuring he didn’t break anything as went in. As his heavy steps caused cold echoes on the wooden floor, a bald man yelped, “Oh geez!” from behind the front desk. The man hid behind the desk, just peeking over it.

“Ca-can I help you, sir?” the man stammered.

“I saw your sign at the front. I’m trying to get out of here,” Zolton replied with a neutral grin on his face, “and at the same time, I’m wanting to get some galleons.”

The man rose slowly and unstable from his cowering position onto his feet. His face was rich in wrinkles and himself as a whole was clearly aged. “Oh, yes… yes, I-I am. How long have you been shipwrighting?”

“None. Never even been on a ship other than when I was an infant. I’ve worked on houses before, is it that much different?”

The shipwright gazed for a moment. “Yes,” he disclosed, “but you can be taught, you can be taught. Gotta start somewhere, so I’ll hire you. You’re part of Jack’s Shipwrighting now. Welcome aboard mister… mister, uh… what’s your name, big man?”

“Zolton Katastrof.”

“Zolovon Kristoff? That’s a tongue twister. Imma just call you Big Man. You can find the other employee in the western part of this Oxuth place.”

“This is Auxuth...”

“Oh, my mistake… I’m not from around here. Anyways, on with you, on with you.”

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A big contraption sat near a familiar woods. Two people were loading logs into the machine, a lady in a white tank top with brown hair and a guy also in a tank top. The two looked very similar. The logs were placed at the front and spat out the other end, free of their bark. Zolton inspected the odd thing with awed eyes, similar to how the two workers were staring at him.

“What the blazing sea dog is that?” the guy muttered.

“Do you think about what you’re saying before you say it, Valin? He’s right there.”

“Oh, that’s a person? I thought it was something from the woods. Why you bring him here, Justean?”

She gazed at Valin for a moment with annoyance in her eyes. “I didn’t.”

“Hey!” Zolton shouted, “Y’all work with the shipwright?”

“Yeah, that’s us. Hello, mister, I am Justean and that’s Valin. He’s kind of a tool. I assume you’re working with us? Got a name?”

“Zolton. Here to learn some things about ship making, or get some money to buy one in the future.”

“You wanting to go somewhere else?” Valin questioned, tossing a log into the machine as groaned.”

“I’ve been here most of my life. I have things I need to do, which can’t be done here. Can you help me with enabling that?”

Justean scratched her short brown hair and shrugged, “ Well, yeah, you probably should know how to build a ship in the shipwrighting industry. You must be really wanting to sail if you’re willing to jump right into the job itself. Anyways, someone of your size should have a much easier time doing so! Speaking of which, what did they feed you growing up?”

“Well my mother was part of a sparse race of giants. Not sure how that works seeing the size difference between the two races… then again, there’s my dad and he found a way to make it work out.”

“Oh, your mom is part giant?” Valin jumped, “The Valcrest, right? Or was it Vastus? I always wanted to see one, but everyone said they were a myth! Is she bigger than you? Can we meet her?!”

“Well, I’m not sure how you’ll be able to do that. If you ever do find out how, mind telling me? I never really got a good look at her before she died.”

Valin shrunk into his skin and dipped behind Justean, pointlessly utilizing her as a ward against embarrassment. Justean rolled her eyes. “As I said before, he is a tool, but he tries. We’re glad to have you on board, Zolton. You’ll get to those seas soon.”