This chapter is a short one, only 1200 words or so. I'll try to make up for the length by releasing another chapter this week but i can't make any promises on that.
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After cleaning up from breakfast Jason brought out more materials and continued the lecture from the day before, occasionally quizzing Krono on what they talked about and having him search for defects in some of the pieces material Jason brought out. The information covered ranged from what the material was, to what were some common defects, to what it was best used for, at least in Jason’s opinion. This went on until lunch with only a few interruptions from customers entering the shop. During lunch, for which Jason brought out some bread, cheese, and pieces of cured meat, the quizzing continued. At first Krono got a majority of the questions wrong, but as the day progressed the number of right answers he gave started increasing, though not by a large amount.
“What are some of the more common flaws in a piece of woven fabric?” Jason asked.
“Broken or Loose threads, a loose weave, and unraveling ends.” Krono answered.
“Good. How about in leather?”
“Holes and scratches caused by injury, abrasions caused by improper storage or transport, and partial rotting caused by improper storage, transport, tanning, or tanning preparation.”
“Good,” Jason said, “I think you’re ready for the first trial.”
“Really?” Krono said, a little surprised. He didn’t feel ready at all. He could barely remember a third of what Jason had told him and that was being generous with his estimate.
“Yes.” Jason said, “You have the most of what you need to know to pass the first trial already. The rest you’ll get with practice and time. Why don’t you go up stairs or walk around the village for a few hours while I get the trial ready.”
Krono nodded and stood up from his stool. He made his way out of the shop and out into the bustling noise and bright sunlight of the village. Krono stretched as he stood in front shop, watching the people moving around the village. Krono stepped into the road and walked towards the villages south gate. He had nothing to do for a few hours and decided to explore the surrounding area.
It took Krono a few minutes but he reached the south gate without issue and nodded to the guards as he walked through. Unlike the northern side of the village that lead into the woods, the southern side lead to a small grassland that held all of the village’s farms. Dozens of people were in the fields tending to their crops or watching over their animals. Some would wave to him as he passed and he would wave back. Children would rush past him occasionally, and sometimes one of the adults would take a break and play with the children by chasing them or picking them up and swinging them around. Overall this part of the village gave Krono a feeling of peace and contentment but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something not quite as warm underneath, like a cold breeze suddenly blew through the area, raising goosebumps on his skin.
The feeling was almost non existent and he wasn’t sure whether he was actually feeling something or if it was just his imagination. As he continued to walk the feeling gradually got stronger until, while it was still faint, Krono could definitely feel it and it unsettled him. Despite searching around him, nothing seemed to be out of place. His unease deepened. Krono continued to walk while looking around, both taking in the sights and looking for the source of the disquiet.
After close to an hour of walking, a group of kids playing caught his eye. When he looked over at them he saw one of the adults, an elderly gentleman, had stopped working to watch them with a smile on his face. Krono was about to resume his walk when he noticed something odd about the elderly man’s smile. It wasn’t the usual smile of joy people had when watching children; the elderly man’s smile almost seemed sad to Krono.
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Maybe lost a child of his own Krono thought, though he didn’t dwell on it much. The real world was dangerous enough without the added threat of monsters and powerful warriors that this fantasy world had.
Krono turned around and started walking back to the village, Jason would be finished setting up the trial within the next hour or two and Krono didn’t want to keep him waiting for too long. The weird feeling Krono had hadn’t gone away, it had actually grown slightly stronger. As Krono was walking back to the village proper more people seemed to begin showing traces of sadness. While he saw it primarily in the adults many of the teenages and even a few of the older kids also a trace of sadness around them.
After about an hour and a half Krono returned to the village and walked back into Jason’s shop, still thinking about what he saw on his walk. Walking back into the workshop Krono saw Jason at one of the workbenches scattered around the room working on one of his own projects. He looked up as Krono entered.
“Good, you’re back,” Jason said, “We can begin when you’re ready.”
Krono took a few minutes to quickly review what he remembered from Jason’s lectures and to calm his now rapidly beating heart.
“Alright,” Krono said to Jason, “I’m ready to start.”
“Follow me then.” Jason replied
Jason lead Krono over to a one of the larger worktables. This one was covered by a large black cloth which Jason pulled back to reveal different types of fabrics, furs, and leather. He handed Krono a small box of pins.
“Your first trial is to find and mark as many flaws and defects as you can. You’ll have until sunset to complete it.” Jason said before leaving the room and head back to the front of the building.
Krono took a deep breath and began examining the first piece, a length of plain linen, marking any defect and flaw he found before moving onto the next piece. First one hour passed then two as Krono slowly worked his way through piece after piece, using both his sight and sense of touch to locate the flaws. Finally the sun started to set and Jason returned to the workshop to gauge how Krono did. Jason picked up each piece Krono completed and examined them closely, occasionally removing a pin and setting it aside in its own pile. The workshop was silent for a little of half and hour before Jason finished examining the final piece Krono did. Jason turned to a very nervous Krono.
“You didn’t get quite many as i had hoped and had missed some fairly obvious flaws and marks one that weren’t even there.” Jason said, making Krono fear that he had failed, “But you did mark many of the more hidden ones and even found a few that i had missed so overall i’d give you a passing grade. While you didn’t do a stellar job you definitely did more then just scrape by. We’ll continue tomorrow with some more hands-on skills.”
Krono made his way up to the guest room and lay down on the bed, his hands beneath his head as he stared at the bare ceiling. The strange feeling he had gotten from his walk earlier and the tinge of melancholy present in the many people he had seen had definitely changed his view of both the world and the NPCs that inhabited it.
Before, the world had seemed a bit... sterile to Krono. While it wasn't a place filled with sunshine and rainbows, it had felt too peaceful, like nothing ever happened. Sure, there was that story Eric told him, but it felt like it was just that, only a story.
It made him feel a bit more at home in this world and it intrigued him to see how this world would change as time progressed.