Chapter 1

I awoke to a sunny day in the nice and bright town of Sturluson. By that, I mean a bone chilling sunny day, which in my uninsulated room translated to frozen blankets, and a pillow with the softness of a rock. Stretching, I got up and did my usual exercises, 12 sets of 25 pushups, 4 sets of 10 pullups, 5 sets of 50 situps, and 200 squats. (A.N. Don’t skip leg day people!) I stretched feeling rather refreshed. I had changed when compared to my eight year old self, growing up to 6 feet, and weighing 130 pounds - all lean muscle. Although I was going on 13, I had entered into puberty early. If one would were to observe me from across a room, they would just see an overgrown kid. Drowsily I walked to breakfast, eating an entire 3 bowls of oatmeal. When I was 10 I discovered I had an aptitude towards working with my hands, so I picked up on all of the carpentry and smithing in my free time. Today was different, however. Today I was to be chosen a trade. All of us of the age 13 lined up in front of the crystal orb, while the captain of the guard, the blacksmith, and the carpenter waited expectantly. On their right was another man, one in hooded garbs. Eventually it was my turn, and I could feel myself palpitate in expectation. ‘Shit, what happens if this turns out for me to be a failure’, I thought, as I again reached to touch the orb. In what seemed like it took forever, I looked up at those overseeing my fate. Steadily, the knight captain shook his head.

“Seems like he isn’t suited to be a knight, although we would have loved to take him on.”

The carpenter also shook his head, along with the blacksmith. They repeated what the captain said. Finally the man in hooded robes nodded. The captain turned to him, whispering, “Are you sure Azazel?” In a glib response, Azazel simply nodded his head again. “He seems suited,” he said. I turned to my now master, and expectantly looked at him.

“Pack now,” he said, “We leave in an hour, wait outside the gate, and I repeat, do not be late.” In record time I packed, leaving myself 15 minutes to say goodbye to Elsa. I slowly walked to the main hall, and told myself softly, “See Vince, I’ve grown up. I can take care of myself now.” Clenching my fists I walked over to Elsa. In a hug, I said “Goodbye Elsa, thank you for raising me.”

“This isn’t forever, Nidd, maybe you can visit after learning your trade?” She said softly, her eyes starting to tear up. Seeing this, I also began to cry.

“Hush child, don’t cry. Just remember to always be moral, no matter what strikes you.”

“Yes Elsa,” I said, my tears already beginning to dry up. After, I took my bags, containing clothes to last five days, and various trinkets I had carved. I walked to the entrance, not looking back once. Outside, Azazel waited for me.

“Ok, Nidd, we are about to engage in Arcana travel, which you may think of teleporting. Just hang on to me.”

“Yes?” I questioned. I was confused to what this te-le-port thing was, but under the pretext of being a good student, I simply grabbed his arm. After doing so, light began to gather around his eyes, and the area surrounding us shifted into a quaint cottage in the woods.

“Go put your bags over there, Nidd,” Azazel said, gesturing to the front of the cottage, covered by a thatch awning. “We will go over what you do in this apprenticeship.”

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After moving my bags over to the area he selected, I turned back over to him.

“So, Master, what do I do? And why me?” I asked.

“Firstly, don’t call me master, call me Azazel. That is only something pretentious mages and warriors do. Secondly, you shall learn how to craft Arcana items- runic items. Thirdly, it seemed like you could do my chores,” He said, sighing.

“Yes Azazel,” I said, discontent. Who knew my apprenticeship was based around grunt work?.

“Oh, don’t worry these aren’t your typical chores Nidd! These are fun ones!” He exclaimed, sensing my depression.

“Define fun,” I said, still not convinced.

“Oh, gathering ores, refining metal, doing some inscriptions for me. What more fun can you get?” He said, unaffected by my state. Stars and flowers seemed to blossom over his head, shutting out any other emotion I released.

“Ok, Azazel,” I said, finally giving in.

“Ok Nidd, our first activity is making you making you a house. If you fail to make one satisfactory, then I’m afraid I will need to turn you away. It cannot be based off of mine,” He said excitedly, his cowl still down. While his voice seemed young, I was still confused of his appearance. Seeing my frowning, he said,

“Don’t worry, I already chopped all the materials I thought you would need. Now get to it!”

He pointed me to a clearing 40 feet away from his cottage. Next to it was a veritable mountain of building materials - stone bricks, wooden logs and flooring, along with 5 feet by 5 feet tubs of cement. Along with it was thatch and ceramic shingles. Working quickly, I took a shovel laid out next to other tools and began marking out a foundation. Based on the houses I saw being made in Sturluson, I knew that every house needed something solid supported it. First, I took a measuring stick and outlined an area 20 feet long and 30 feet wide. Starting to dig in one area, I measured as I went along. I stopped at the 2 feet mark, shocked by the progress. It seemed as if the shovel was enchanted with something that allowed to ignore any small rocks and hard dirt that was met with the shovel. I looked back over to the pile, and next to was a pair of nondescript leather gloves. I put those on, and the shovel weighed nothing. ‘Hmm, it seems like this could take little to no time at all,’ I thought. turning the gloves over on my hand, the number 700 was marked on each one. Working quickly, I cleared out the foundation for my house, and then took the shovel and started to move gravel onto the bottom, filling it up to the 1 foot mark. This all took as little as 2 hours!

I hefted the logs, which were already trimmed to about 5 feet, and placed 4 along the front and back of the foundation, and 6 on either side. After doing so, I slathered the center with cement and placed stone bricks until the center was level with the logs. Soon afterwards, it got dark, so I pitched a tarp and slept on the foundation. That night I dreamt of a beautiful woman holding me in her arms, saying,

“You have found yourself little one, this Azazel will be good to you.” I felt myself smile, and rolled awake.