There I was on the phone with my friend Mike on my way to the store.
“Imagine never having corned beef, SMH my head.” said Mike jokingly
I put the phone up to my ear to reply, “listen man, just because you’ve had it doesn't mean that everyone else has.”
“Oh really, cause I asked Jim and Mike, and they've had it. In fact you’re the only person I know that hasn't even tried it!” Mike said
“Whatever man, I'll grab some when I get there.” I said
“You better, damn fool, never had corned beef. I didn't even know that was possible.” mike said in mock exasperation
“That's it, I'm sick of you. Always acting like you're better than me cause you've had corn beef. When I get back I’ll tell you just how shit it tastes.” I said in mock anger
“Sounds like you're pretty biased there bud.” Mike said teasingly
“Whatever man I'm here, see you later.” I said
“Yeah, see ya.” Mike said
I pulled off the road and into the parking lot of the local grocery store. Stepping out of my car I start making my way towards the entrance when I’m confronted by a group of adolescents corrupted by capitalistic greed. Brainwashed by those that are supposed to guide them, so that they will perform these heinous deeds without any second thoughts. Conditioned by society to think their casual exploitation is acceptable, or even something to be praised, disgusting.
“Hello! My name is Emma and I am a Girl Scout in Troop number 8. Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies? They cost $4.00 per package. I am participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program which is teaching me how to run my own business.”
Naturally, I have to make sure these corrupted youth know they are being exploited to perform child labor just outside of America's labor laws.
“No thanks.” I said
With that, the girl scouts turned their attention towards another passerby, so I made my way into the store for this so-called “corn beef”. As I started looking for it, I realized that I had no idea where it would be. Would it be in the canned foods aisle? I know that most corn is canned, and I've seen canned meat before so it's not that far fetched. So I went to the canned foods aisle, but I couldn't find any Corn beef. After looking down the aisle two more times I started trying to think of where else it could be.
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I made my way to the bread aisle, at this point I'm almost sure that Mike was just screwing with me. I've been through every aisle in this store and I have yet to see any “corn beef” then out of the corner of my eye I spotted it. The fabled corn beef was in the frozen meats section. I walked over and grabbed the cheapest one I could find then made my way to the self checkout. On my way out of the store I heard some people gasp, just as I started turning around my vision went white.
___________
“Ah, shit. I'm gonna be so screwed when he sees this, consider that apprenticeship good as gone.” I say to myself as I look upon my new,pristine dagger, now bent beyond anything I could fix on such short notice. “This'll take the better part of the day to fix, I don't have that kind of time!I have to be there in half an hour. Knowing him, it'll hurt my image in his mind more to show up late than with this piece of crap.”
I speak out loud to myself, looking at what was going to be my submission to the competition, grand smith Grad was holding to decide his new apprentice. After the last one died of tetanus from stepping on a rusty nail, he's been much more selective with his new ones.
From what I've heard, he didn't even put on this competition willingly, the mayor forced his hand as the village’s shipment quota has been running tighter and tighter each time. The traveling bards always talk about the wonders of teaching those bastards over in Inshtil who’s the true vassal of light’s grace, but they never mention the drag it has on us peasants.
I rush downstairs, placing my dagger in its sheath, struggling to fit it in with its new shape. As I pass through the dining room and make my way to the front door, I trip over the corner of the rug that I've been meaning to fix. Standing up, I feel my knee ache and wince, trying to ignore it, I push open the front door and stumble down the main street. After a couple minutes of pained hobbling, I see a large gathering of people, most large burly men, but a few notable outliers. Approaching the two people I knew that didn't tower over me I gave a wave and they wave back.
“Hey, man! What took you so long, the submissions are almost being taken up for presentation later, hurry!”
Listening to my longtime friend's advice, I rushed up to the table where you would place your work along with a form of identification. Placing my family's crest I made for my first true smithing project into the loop along the top of the sheath, I step away from the table. Mere minutes later a couple men grabbed all the items, taking them to Grad for appraisal.
Making my way back to my friends, I let out a huge breath of relief.
“Thanks man, my dagger got sabotaged at the last minute, so I don't think I'm gonna win. My father would rather me lose than not even submit my work, so you saved m y ass in that regard.”
Looking at him, I notice he’s standing a bit straighter than usual, his usual slouch being how most recognize him. Looking to the left of him, I finally notice the shorter woman standing next to him. She still was taller than me, not a surprise since i was the shortest teenager in the village, not to downplay my friends height, he stood taller than most men here, six foot two last time anyone cared to check.
“Hey man, I see you met someone new, mind introducing me?”
Right as my friend, his name is Richter by the way, starts to open his mouth, a large thunder crack is heard, drawing away everyone's attention. Far up in the sky, a large rift was torn open, leaving nothing in its wake. The inside of the rift was impossible to comprehend, it wasn't black, it wasn't clear, it wasn't white. All that lies beyond its border is nothing, pure absence. My brain instinctively led my eyes away from the insanity inducing rift, instead focusing on the dot of purple falling from it. The dot grew and grew, the rift slowly closing as the form of what lay in the dot slowly revealed itself. Mere moments from its appearance, the rift was gone, the only trace of its presence being the rapidly descending form of what looks like a man, the shell of purple around him making it incredibly difficult if not impossible to know what it truly was.
After a few seconds pass, it slams into the center of town, the purple energy forming a shell made up of tiny triangles, each connecting to make a sphere-like shape around him. The crowd approached, no one daring to say a word, shock filling everyone's mind as the day's events took a sudden shift. I abandon my friend and the woman next to him as they stand, not moving an inch. I approach the sphere prism thing, placing my hand on it.
[Do you wish to unleash an independent variable upon this realm?
Y/N ]
What the fuck?
[Answer accepted]