He returned to his house, quickly running over with the small box tucked into his armpit.

As he slowed on the path leading up to his front door, he turned his head and spotted a small mounted contingent with the recognisable sun and mountain banner.

This was the banner of the city lord of the nearby city, but it would be more apt to call the man a governor since his reach extended far beyond the city.

He quickly jogged up the stairs, across the porch, and into his house, finding both his parents' backs to him. They were sitting across from Cleon, the guard captain for the city lord. A boy dressed in fine clothing, two or three years older than himself, sat beside him with a disinterested look.

They all turned at his entrance, three sending a smile his way while the boys' eyes roamed over him with a disdainful gaze.

"Ah, here he is. Didn't I say there will be children here around your age to make friends with?" Cleon said with a bright smile as he turned to look at the sulking boy beside him.

"I don't need to make friends with any of these backwater villagers." The boy said with a huff as he leaned back and folded his arms before himself, looking straight ahead.

He stared at the boy and found he seemed two or three years older than himself. He was tall and thin, with high cheekbones framing a hawk-like nose. Pale blue eyes sat at either side, and they were so pale that they reminded him of ice. Long, well-styled dark hair sat on his head, combed back and held to the rear by some kind of clip.

The boy was wearing a black and gold tunic, much like the fancy clothes his mother bought for him in the city, but of a much better quality. Overall, he seemed like a haughty, spoiled child from an affluent family.

"The young master might do well to remember this village isn't like a typical village. It's made up of members from the bloody legion who retired here. The man across from you is also a descendant of a powerful cultivator clan." Cleon said, the easygoing smile slipping as he turned and spoke to the boy with an unmistakable tone of displeasure.

Cleon's words seemed to have an effect as the boy looked slightly startled at the captain's biting words and sat up a little straighter as he stared at Marcus.

"Tantalus, your father sent you here to learn humility and strip you of arrogance. If you try half the things here that you did in the city, I expect to see your corpse being sent home before long." Cleon said his voice stern as he let the threat linger.

"They wouldn't dare kill me," Tantalus said in a petulant tone, but he did sink into his seat a little and didn't look totally convinced by his words.

"I watched General Ajax nearly decapitate the brother of the king. What is the fourth son of a minor governor compared to that?" Marcus cut in to punctuate the threat.

He knew his parents and the villagers well enough by now to know they weren't the type of people to kill a youth, even an arrogant young master.

It was apparent now that this child had been sent here to knock him down a peg or two by his family, and this was just a tactic to start that process.

It seemed to work as the boy looked a little rattled at his father's words and didn't dare look up after that as he suddenly found the floor more interesting.

"Don't worry. There's a lot to be learned here if you want it. Just leave your arrogance behind, and you will do fine." His mother sweetly said to the boy in a lighter tone.

It seemed like his parents were doing good cop, bad cop, and he tried not to laugh at the sulking young noble who suddenly looked like a dear caught in the headlights.

"Will I be living here?" Tantalus asked as he looked around. It was far less now, but the look of disdain was still there.

"No, there's no room for you here. You will stay in the main manor with the General, and he will be responsible for your tutelage. It's already agreed." Marcus answered the boy's question, who just meekly nodded.

"There's a trading group here. Can we go and take a look at their goods?" He asked his parents before any conversation started up again. Everyone turned to look at him as he stood near the head of the table.

"That sounds like a good idea. I can take Tantalus to the manor on the way over, and your father and uncle can have a catch-up." Valeria said as she rose from the table, getting words of approval from his father.

He placed the box on the table and walked outside with his mother, the young noble rising to follow behind them at Cleon's say-so.

As they gathered outside, he couldn't help but notice the fine sword the boy had attached to his waist. It gave off a chilly feeling similar to water essence when cold. Tantalus just sneered when he caught him inspecting it.

"Come on, let's head to the manor first." His mother said as she began walking off.

He couldn't help but find the idea of a manor in the village amusing, as it was apparent the boy would be disappointed. The 'manor' was considered such compared to the other houses in the village as it was slightly larger, but it was nothing compared to what he had seen in the city.

He was proven right after their short walk into the village, and he had to hold himself back from smiling.

"This is the manor?" Tantalus incredulously asked as they stared up at the house in the centre of the village, surrounded by a small garden wall with disgust.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Yep, it's impressive, right?" He replied, and he couldn't help but struggle to maintain a neutral expression as their eyes met.

It seemed Tantalus wasn't sure if he was being serious or not and just snorted before looking away. He saw his mother raise an eyebrow at him, and he just shrugged slightly.

He wasn't entirely sure why he felt the need to try and wind the boy up, and he suspected part of it was due to his odd personality quirk this body had at times. Mysthaven was his home, and he had come to love this secluded little village, so anyone looking down on it made his hackles rise.

"Wait here. I'll be out in a moment," Valeria said to him and gestured for Tantalus to follow him.

His mother was right, and she was walking back out on her own a short time later. It seemed the youth was the village head's problem now.

"The trading stalls are being set up by the lakeside, and many are probably already out. Let's go." His mother said as she directed them around the house and towards the body of water at the heart of their village.

As they rounded a corner, he could see out across the clear lake and over to the waterfall in the distance. At the bottom of it was a wooden platform that provided a path to the rear of the falling water, and he knew that was the village mine.

"What ores do we mine there?" He asked, and his mother looked down and followed his gaze to the waterfall.

"Silver mostly and some gold. There are precious stones found at times, too. There's also a vein of crystal that we process into Lightstones, but it wasn't a large amount."

"Is that why we have so many around the village?"

"Yes, we trade most of them to inscription masters in the city, but we accepted many finished products back as payment."

The pair kept walking to the gathering of villagers and stalls. Some merchandise was set up inside carts, and he noticed other goods placed on blankets sitting on the ground in front of them. The trading caravan of wayfarers seemed extensive as he counted dozens of stalls and more arriving as others set up.

"Was there something particular you wanted?" Valeria asked him as they neared the first stall that seemed to be selling colourful pottery.

"That depends on how much you will let me spend." He replied with a crafty smile.

"Cheeky brat, I blame your father," Valeria said, giving him a gentle clip around the back of his head, and he knew she just playing around.

"In any case, I'm certainly not interested in pottery." He said as he dismissed the first stall and went to stride to the next one before he was yanked back by his collar.

"Well, your mother is, and she has the coin," Valeria said as she dragged him over to the stall, and he couldn't help but grumble internally.

Going shopping with his mother was great as, like many women back on Earth, she enjoyed buying things and finding great deals. The only issue was that it took forever.

He much preferred the male way of doing it and treating it like a special forces operation. Get in, quickly get your target and get back out again.

It wasn't quite like that now, as he didn't know exactly what he wanted, but he could still dismiss items at a glance. Unfortunately, he had little say in where they went or what they looked at, so he found himself dragged along, juggling pottery and items of clothing for most of the day.

It seemed that there was some order to the stalls as, after a while, his mother wasn't as interested in their wares as he was. The stalls around them held a vast assortment of various weapons on display, and he couldn't help but reevaluate these wayfarers. Some of these items would be rare or expensive even in the city.

"What are you looking for, young man? Perhaps a sword for the mighty warrior?" A grizzled-looking older man with one eye missing said as he passed by the front of the stall and eyed the goods.

"Do you have any blade-heavy throwing knives or daggers?" He asked, not spotting any amongst the long swords and spears lined up.

"Check with Magda two stalls up. She sells those trinkets. If you want a real man's weapon, come back here, I'll do you a good deal." The man said in a gruff voice as he turned away.

"Probably lost his eye to a woman throwing daggers." His mother muttered to him, and he smiled at her words as they walked.

It didn't matter to him as long as a weapon did the job. Besides, he wasn't just training in throwing weapons but wasn't looking for a twinblade today. Marcus had already made it clear he would have one made for him once he was old enough.

They arrived in front of a stall as another villager was just leaving, putting them at the front of the queue.

"Hello, I'm looking for blade-heavy throwing knives to practise with and then blade-heavy daggers after I get good with those. Can you suggest any?" He said as he stood before the cart and talked to the attractive blonde-haired young woman wearing a light blue dress. She stared down at him with hazel eyes and a friendly smile.

"Sure, I have a few sets that I can bring out, but many of my wares are for grown-ups. My collection of smaller ones for training is much more limited." She explained as she went behind the cart and rooted through some boxes, fishing out leather bandoliers that held various sets.

She brought the bundle over, opened them up, and displayed them on an empty table for him to see. There were five sets in total: three held knives and two daggers. He noted not all the sets were numbered as ten, with a couple having eight and a set of daggers holding only four.

Knives were ideal for training or if you weren't very good, as even a glancing blow might cause a slicing wound, compared to a dagger that only cared about stabbing with the pointy end.

That's why he had been training with them for now, but his mother had always intended for him to move on to throwing daggers eventually. They had more penetrating power, but that came at the cost of having to perfectly land them.

As for blade-heavy or handle-heavy, Valeria had him test using each to find what worked for him, and he found blade-heavy to be the ideal weight distribution for him. A balanced knife was only for training; whilst you could use it as a weapon, it wasn't as efficient.

"What ones do you suggest?" He asked after he had looked over the ones she presented.

His mother had just silently stood behind him, guarding her collection of baubles as she wanted him to learn to haggle himself.

"I would suggest these two. This set of knives isn't as well crafted as the others, but they come in a set of ten, and you wouldn't have to walk to collect them as often." The woman said as she reached over and moved that set forward towards him. He couldn't help but inadvertently stare at her ample chest, poking out as she did so before he looked away.

"For the daggers, this set of four is the superior craftsmanship. In fact, they are better than many of my wares. The only issue is they are incomplete. You may want to pick the larger number again if they are just for training. It will cost less that way. These four crystalised obsidian daggers are pricey." The woman said, looking over at his mother as she said this.

"Can I inspect them?" He asked, gesturing to the black-pointed daggers. She slid one out of the roll and held it to him to handle first.

He was surprised to see an open hoop at the bottom of the handle, and that's when his inner ninja screamed at him.

It's a Kunai!