Walking into his apartment, Jake tossed himself onto the couch, its springs squeaking in protest. Taking out the bone knife from its sheath, he watched as light seemed to bounce off of it. He had to admit, it was pretty good. Light as a feather, while able to punch through leather and meat like paper. If he made a couple more and sold them, it'd bring in a decent chunk of Macre.

'Need a workshop for that, though,' he thought, putting the knife away. A place with the tools needed to make proper weapons of his own design, from a basic knife to more enchanted weapons. As he mulled the idea over, he found that it had a decent way to get certain equipment.

Might as well check out any places that are free.

Pulling out his phone, he quickly found himself scrolling through listings of various prices. However, he paused as his eyes landed on a post in particular. It looked like a rather small place, the photos posted not really showing much. However, what caught his eye was that there wasn’t any pricing and interview listed. Instead, a simple sentence was listed, short and simple.

{Answer my one question.}

Odd, but to each their own. Sending a generic message that showed his interest, he made sure it went through before turning his gaze and grabbing the remote with the free hand. Turning on the TV, he suddenly felt his phone buzz in his hand, grabbing his attention.

'Barely even a minute,' he thought, turning his gaze towards more important matters.

| Blacksmithing. Murder. Fire.

| What do these have in common?

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Reading the text, he let out a small hum as he pieced together the answer. As he looked for the commonality, something quickly stuck out to him. Quickly typing up his answer. It was just two words, but one that was common throughout all of them.

| Merciless change.

After a beat of nothing, a single text came back, giving him all the information needed.

That's the place sorted out. All he needed was materials.

Going over to the map, he quickly found a place. It was nearby, just a couple minutes away.

Grabbing the remote, he quickly shut off the TV before getting to his feet. Stepping out of his apartment, he quickly made his way out of the complex and onto the street. As he made his way down the path, he watched as residential buildings slowly bleed into factories and workshops.

‘Here it is,’ he thought as he found himself in front of the location. It was a small warehouse, around the size of a house. However, it probably had enough materials to maintain a small town. Opening the door, he walked through the shelves, taking what he viewed as needed.

'This is enough,' he thought, shoving the last roll of leather in his pouch.

Now all he's got to do is wait for tomorrow.

----------------------------------------

'So, this is the place,' Jake thought, looking around. The place was small, tucked away in the shadows of massive workshops and factories. It was practically invisible, where the only way to know where it was was to know it existed.

Still doesn't fully explain the questioning, but eh, not really his place to ask questions.

Opening the door, he was met with a rather small room. Pieces of equipment stood next to each other, worn down from time and use. Going over to the grindstone, he quickly found the switch. Flicking it on, he watched it come alive, the wheel spinning becoming a blur.

‘That still works,’ he thought before turning it off. Stepping back, he watched the grindstone come to a stop.

Alright, time to get to work.