It's a clear and sunny day and i'm with my parents traveling to a town called Luton to do some light shopping and bringing Eric's longsword to a blacksmith to get it sharpened.

I've never been so far away from our house, let alone the village so i don't really know what to expect.

Because of Eric's mercenary history, he trains and sometimes works as a local guard in our village, while the main guard force is in Luton.

Luton itself is a relatively small town of around 2000 people and is located about 10 kilometers away from our village.

The dirt road in front of our house leads straight to it and is pretty straight forward.

When we finally arrive, we are greeted by a large iron gates.

It's attached to stonewalls which seem to surround the whole town.

"It's a lot bigger than our village."

Eric grins and ruffles my hair.

"Ugh, sure."

"Haha, scared?"

"No!"

I answer annoyed and walk through the open gates.

Eric looks at Anna, shrugs and they both chuckle and follow behind me.

This'll be the first time i'm visiting a town of this size.

Ever since i was reincarnated to this world, seeing so many people in one place feels rather overwhelming compared to our small village, but i try not to show it.

We pass by all kinds of people, young and old, tall and short, men and women.

Even an occasional non-human person like beastfolk like Anna.

They too vary in appearance with different fur colors, the size of their ears and tails which also tell if they have either feline or canine qualities.

The ones with long ears i assume to be elves and they also appear to have slender builds when compared to humans.

"Okay boys, i'll be heading to the market. Have fun!"

Anna waves bye and splits from us.

"See you soon! Come Alex, let's head to the blacksmith."

I nod and begin following Eric.

We go through different streets and i see all kinds of different buildings like bakeries, shops and regular houses or apartments.

"Here we are."

Eric and i arrive to the blacksmith's shop.

The shop itself is made of stone walls and and a tiled roof with the forge next to it.

The smoke coming from the forge causes me to cough and my eyes water slightly.

There is a sign next to the door which reads, "Gondo's Armory" in big bold letters.

Under it is smaller text which says, "Quality steel, customer satisfaction guaranteed".

I guess that's one way to market yourself.

Eric opens the door and we head inside.

I immediately see all kinds of weapons hanging on the walls.

Swords, axes, hammers and anything in between.

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Killing people seems to be a much more common occurrence compared to the old World.

Eric walks up to the counter and rings a bell.

"Coming!"

A deep and rough voice shouts from a room behind the counter.

A short, elderly looking man with a huge beard comes into view, i guess he's a dwarf.

The dwarf climbs up a stool and leans on the counter.

"Well if it isn't Eric! It's been a while!"

The dwarf greets him enthusiastically.

"Hello Gondo."

The dwarf looks down and sees me standing next to Eric.

"Who's this little pipsqueak?"

Pipsqueak!? Who does he think he is!?

"Haha, this is my son, Alex."

I frown at him.

"Is that so? Be careful with this one, he's got an evil eye."

Gondo snarks.

"Heh, he's been a good boy so far, but let's talk about business, i need my sword sharpened."

Eric unsheathes his sword and sets it down on the counter.

Gondo takes out a pair of glasses and puts them on before inspecting the blade.

"A few nicks here and there, nothing i can't handle."

He then takes a hammer from his belt and taps the blade lightly.

"Condition."

Suddenly, for a few seconds, the sword is surrounded by green light.

A second instance i've seen magic.

"Hmm, it's going to take a bit more than a sharpening to get this blade properly fixed."

"Is it bad? How long would it take?"

"A week, give or take a few days."

Eric takes out a coin purse from his pocket.

"Sounds fine by me, how much?"

"50 silver."

Eric rummages through the coin purse and takes out five silver coins, each with the number ten marked on them.

"Here you go, i'll send Alex to come fetch it. Oh, before we leave, are there any news about the situation?"

"Between Mercia and Warmon? Not good to be honest, i think war might be on the horizon and what's worse is that Luton and your village are close to the border."

"I see. We'll just have to hope it doesn't come to that. See you later Gondo."

With business concluded we step outside.

"Come on let's find Anna."

"What was that talk about a war? Are we in danger?"

I ask as we walk through the busy streets again.

"It's nothing, Alex. You don't have to concern yourself with scary things like that."

I roll my eyes at him.

Fine then, keep your secrets.

A sudden scent of food reaches my nostrils and i see we have arrived to a farmers market of some kind.

In the distance we see Anna waving at us and me make our way towards her.

"Hey boys, come check these out!"

Together we walk around the market.

It's full of stalls, each offering different things and putting them on display including vegetables, baked goods or other odds and ends like jewelry.

In the old world, food was mostly just sustenance to me so i didn't pay much attention to the taste.

Here though, the food isn't really on the same level so anything delicious really makes my mouth water.

Anna is carrying two baskets and Eric takes them from her.

"Thank you, dear."

She says to him and winks at him.

She notices me looking at some of the stalls, so she turns to me and squats down to my level.

"Hungry? Do you want anything?"

I look around me and point at something.

It's a large sandwich filled with veggies, cheese and my favorite, meat.

"Eeh, are you sure you can eat all that? I was planning to prepare dinner once we get home."

I nod at her aggressively.

I follow Eric and Anna through the town gates while stuffing my mouth with the sandwich.

As we leave, i decide to look back at the town when suddenly my eyes catch something.

It's an elf girl, who looks to be around my age.

The fact that she's an elf isn't the reason she caught my eye but it was her white shoulder length hair and her shiny amethyst colored eyes.

In the old world people did dye their hair but i doubt those exist here, so her having naturally white hair strike to me as odd.

There are two other elves standing next to her who also have white hair, so i assume them to be her parents, further reinforcing the naturalness of her hair color.

She notices me looking at her and gives me a curious look.

I quickly turn away and pretend nothing happened, resuming to eat the rest of my sandwich.

Evening eventually comes, Eric and Anna are preparing dinner in the kitchen.

I'm sitting at the dinner table reading a book while i wait.

They're whispering and chuckling to each other, making it hard for me to focus on the book.

Without warning, Eric grabs the base of Anna's tail and she lets out a loud and lewd yelp.

Anna slaps Eric's arm playfully.

They turn around and see my disturbed face which makes them laugh.

I couldn't look them in the eyes during dinner.

Sleeping isn't any easier either as it's already midnight and there's noise coming from Eric's and Anna's room.

The walls in our house aren't thin, but i can still hear their bed creaking against the wall and especially Anna's moans reaching my room.

I twist and turn on my bed, trying to catch some sleep but it's not working.

They've been at it for 2 hours how long is it going to take!?

Defeated, i grunt and get up.

I go to my dresser and put some clothes on.

The noises get louder when i open my door.

I have to go past their room to get downstairs.

I mentally prepare myself, take a deep breath and silently walk towards the stairs.

"Nya~! Harder!"

I freeze in my tracks right in front of their door.

"Like this!? You like it when i grab your tail?"

"So rough, nyaah~!"

At this point i run downstairs and through the backyard door.

Once outside i catch my breath.

I listen carefully and sigh in relief.

"At least the noises don't reach here."

Next to the backyard door is a bench and i sit down.

The stars shine brightly as i look up at the night sky.

Without light pollution the sight is, i admit, rather captivating and beautiful.

I never paid much attention to it in the old world.

I see the big tree in the backyard and walk over to it.

The bark has already started to wear off from constant practice.

There is still light coming out of my parents bedroom, which means they aren't done yet.

Turning back to tree, i take a deep breath and assume my fighting stance.

I strike with my right fist first, then bring it back and strike with my left fist.

Right, left, right, left.