Zalan stared at Nold, trying to think of something to say to make him disinterested in the Island of Remains. He had assured Rep that Nold wouldn’t be coming with them, but now the instructor looked like he was fully committed to inviting himself. There was a fire in his eyes. He shifted his feet urgently, pointing himself to the port.

“Is there anything else you need to collect, or shall we be off?” Nold asked Zalan expectantly.

“Maybe you don’t need to come with us to the Island of Remains? It could be a big waste of your time,” Zalan offered.

“Nonsense,” Nold waved a hand, smiling. “I promised to assist you! In addition, it would achieve both of our goals.”

“What’s your goal, again?”

“I need your assistance with your Elemental Lightning.”

“In what way?”

“It is easier to show than to explain. But it will not take much of your time, I assure you.,” Nold replied confidently.

Zalan sighed uncomfortably. He couldn’t think of anything to change Nold’s mind. Already he was frustrated at his half answers to questions. He was ready to have that behind him, but it brought itself along.

Zalan shrugged reluctantly and closed the guild door behind him, making his way toward Junill’s forge. Nold walked at his side excitedly. Zalan wondered how he was going to break the news to Rep.

“What is it that Hikma has tasked you with on the island?” Nold asked, curious.

“Madam Hikma has me on a quest to defeat a Monster of the Mindscape.”

“A Monster of the Minscape?” Nold rubbed his chin in thought. “I have never heard of such a term. Did she describe it?”

“Not exactly. I just know we need to find and fight some guy named Morloch the Manipulator.”

“What? Morloch the Manipulator?” Nold laughed aloud, an uncommon sound from Zalan’s instructor. Zalan stared at him. Nold took a moment to settle down.

“Yeah. What’s so funny?” Zalan sounded upset. Nold was laughing at the quest that he was taking very seriously.

“She called him ‘Morloch the Manipulator?’ That was the title Morloch was given?” Nold asked.

“Yeah, that’s what she said. Why is that so funny, do you know him?” Zalan asked.

“Well, certainly. You said you need to find him? I know exactly where his home is on the island,” Nold said.

Zalan looked at him, even further confused.

“Seriously? Since when? How do you even know something like that? You’ve been to the island?”

“When you have traveled the realm as long as I have, you are bound to find everything there is to find, even Morloch’s hideout,” Nold said, sounding proud of himself.

“You know exactly where he is? You could lead us there?”

“Of course! Except, what do you mean by ‘us?’” Nold asked, confused.

“Me and Rep are both going,” Zalan replied.

“Oh,” Nold sounded mildly disappointed. “Very well, then.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, no problems. I just…” Nold thought for a second. “I think that my boat may be a little small for three people.”

“You have a boat?” Zalan asked, feeling like he wasted his time negotiating with people at the docks.

“My own rowboat, fit for the both of us.” Nold nodded.

Zalan stared at him for an extended period of silence. His negotiations no longer felt like they’d gone to waste.

“A two-person rowboat. You’re serious?” Zalan asked.

“I assure you we would arrive safely,” Nold nodded.

“I’m not going on open waters with you in a rowboat,” Zalan said, trying to make Nold see how crazy the idea sounded.

“We would be safe,” Nold said, undeterred.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyways. We already have one. We have a captain and a crew with ours. We got one of the ships from the port,” Zalan replied.

“Which one? I know the large ones are out of the question. And I thought the rest were all owned by the woman who goes by ‘Ma,’” Nold replied.

Zalan didn’t even consider that “Ma” wasn’t her real name. He had no idea who she actually was. The mystery added to her intimidation.

“Yeah, Ma gave us one of her boats. And a crew,” Zalan said, excited to share the news.

Nold stopped in his tracks.

“You convinced Ma to give you a boat? What kind of loyalty did you grant her in return?” Nold asked.

Zalan didn’t stop walking and Nold was forced to catch up.

“We didn’t give her any loyalty. We just did her a favor.”

“Who did you kill?”

“What? No, we didn’t kill anyone. I got her a Nightbloom flower,” Zalan said.

It was Nold’s turn to stare quietly. Narrowing eyes focused on Zalan in confusion.

“And?” Nold asked.

“That was it. She just wanted a Nightbloom,” Zalan said.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“For the love of God… A flower? I never understand how you manage to do things so easily,” Nold shook his head.

“Hey, this wasn’t easy. First off, it was on the Cliffs of Shadow. Then we took a lot of beatings and fought a ton of monsters to get the flower. Rep and I almost died,” Zalan pointed out.

“Yes, everyone ‘almost dies’ when they fight monsters,” Nold said sarcastically.

Zalan didn’t want to start an argument and continued silently until arriving at the forge. He opened the door and Oshrad reacted immediately, pulling a blade from the wall and pointing it at Nold. Nold reacted by imbuing himself in flame and raising his fists.

“Hey! Hey!” Zalan yelled, stepping between them and holding out his arms. “We all know each other! Back off! No fighting!”

Nold and Oshrad eyed each other, then slowly returned to casual stances. After eyeing the newcomer for several more seconds, Oshrad returned the blade to the wall.

“Instructor Nold?” Rep said, sounding both surprised and unsettled.

“Good to see you too, Rep,” Nold said, forcing a smile.

“What are you doing here?” Rep asked.

“I promised Ziyard that I would assist him in getting to the Island of Remains,” Nold said.

“Ziyard?” Oshrad repeated, confused.

“He means me,” Zalan sighed, disappointed.

“You told him about the Island of Remains?” Rep asked Zalan.

“Why would he withhold that information from me?” Nold asked.

“No reason,” Rep grumbled.

Junill rolled over on the floor, the first sign of movement from her in minutes.

Everyone looked over at her, hopeful in their own ways. Nold and Oshrad optimistic that they could leave soon. Zalan and Rep wanted Junill to be okay. Junill opened her eyes slowly and looked at the men standing in her forge. At first she was angry, looking like she was ready to jump up and fight. Then, when she saw Rep, she grew less agitated. She relaxed her body and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“What happened? What are you doing here?” Junill asked.

“You left the forge running when you took off the Artifact,” Rep explained, holding up the Indefatigable Iron.

“Took it off…” Junill trailed as she looked at the broken necklace attached to the Indefatigable Iron. “Ah, I see,” Junill reached out to grab it and Rep moved out of reach.

“You can not keep using this so recklessly. You could have been made destitute or worse! What if you fell into a fire or were robbed?” Rep asked.

“I did not and I was not,” Junill replied quickly, holding out her hand for Rep to return her Artifact.

“Junill, did you even intend to take this off?” Rep held up the broken part of the necklace, a strong judgment in his voice.

“No, I picked up a sword too quickly and sliced through the string. Happy now? Give me the iron, Rep.”

“I do not want you to kill yourself over nothing. You need to stop using this,” Rep insisted.

“Why do you care?”

“Why do you not?”

They stared at one another in silence, both looking flustered and annoyed with one another.

“Can we get a sword and go, now?” Oshrad asked, not caring for the conversation.

“After Rep gives me what is mine,” Junill said.

The room looked to Rep who sighed and placed the Artifact in Junill’s hand. She looked over the Artifact for a second, then tucked it away in a pocket to Rep’s relief. She didn’t go straight back to using it like she normally did.

“Which of you needs a sword?” Junill asked.

Zalan stepped forward and raised a hand.

“Again? What were you fighting this time?”

“Well, uhh… Not exactly fighting,” Zalan admitted sheepishly.

“You misplaced a sword of my making?” Junill asked venomously.

“No! I used it to… deal with monsters,” Zalan said, hoping the double meaning would be enough of an answer.

“How does one deal with monsters without fighting them? Did you throw the sword as a distraction in order to flee from something more powerful than you?” Junill asked. This time she sounded like she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

“No, I… I traded it to some Boznoks,” Zalan said, his voice growing small.

Junill, Oshrad and Nold stared at Zalan. There was a mix of horror and rage in Junill’s eyes where Oshrad and Nold looked disturbed.

“Traded?” Nold asked, making sure he hadn’t misheard.

“It was for Ma,” Zalan said.

“Ah, well done,” Oshrad said with an understanding tone, all his questions answered in those four words.

“You willingly gave a weapon of mine to a monster!?” Junill demanded. “And now you want another? What, was one not enough for them? They need more arms for their next raid?”

“No, I’m not going to trade this one,” Zalan said, but even he knew his promise sounded lame.

“Then what? You want to toss this one in a ravine? Maybe feed it to a hungry monster?” Junill said. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry. I thought I could do what I wanted with my sword. I bought it! It was mine,” Zalan said.

“But to deliberately give it to a monster,” Nold said, sounding curious. “That worked?”

“It was how we were allowed to get Nightbloom without a fight between us and a Boznok tribe,” Zalan said.

“I thought you were Level 4 by now! Boznoks should not pose that much of a threat to you!” Junill snapped.

“Junill, please,” Rep said as sympathetically as he could. “We intend to travel to the Island of Remains. Can we please get a sword from you?”

Junill looked at Rep closely, her rage abated by his cordial attitude. She took a few moments to think about it. Oshrad rolled his eyes at what he considered all melodramatic issues.

“I do not need to waste so much of my time,” Oshrad said. “Let us go to another swordsmith.”

“No, stop,” Junill said, calming herself down. “I will sell you a sword. But no more giving my blades away. To anything, monster or human!”

“Fine, yeah,” Zalan agreed.

Junill looked skeptical.

“Are you still Level 4?”

“Level 5, now.”

“And yet you still did not fight the Boznoks,” Junill murmured only loud enough for Rep to hear.

She walked slowly to examine her swords on display. She tapped her chin lightly as she looked over them. Zalan was almost amazed to see her walking. She usually zipped around her forge, sprinting at full speed. She had always been full of so much speed and energy when she wore the Artifact that it now looked like she was moving in slow motion. She picked up one sword and looked it over. Then she looked back at Zalan and raised an eyebrow. She held the sword up and sized it up next to his body.

“This will do,” Junill said, walking back over and allowing Zalan to take it.

“Thank you,” Zalan said, looking it over and feeling its weight in his hand.

As usual, Junill was perfect when it came to selecting his swords. Zalan didn’t even have a good idea of what a well balanced sword was, except that he never felt awkward while swinging a sword hand-picked by Junill. He thrust it a few times in front of him and pretended to parry an invisible enemy. He nodded slowly and sheathed the blade. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin, but Oshrad placed a hand over it, blocking the payment.

“Would you grant this as a gift to Ma? Zalan walks with her authority.”

“He does!?” Nold screamed, astounded at every new revelation. “How!?”

The room ignored him.

“No, a gift will not do. I would much rather take coins. Loyalty does not put food on the table,” Junill said, holding out a hand for payment.

“Loyalty can do much more than that in your time of need,” Oshrad insisted.

“I doubt that.”

“You would be surprised how far Ma’s generosity spreads throughout Oriton.”

“Oshrad, let us pay her,” Rep said firmly.

Oshrad frowned, the negotiation only having gotten started on his end. He reluctantly lowered his hand, allowing Zalan to pay with the gold coin. Junill looked under the counter for the appropriate change.

“Keep it all. Consider it an apology for giving away your other sword,” Zalan said.

“Do not think that clears you of shame,” Junill said, storing the gold coin. “But I will admit it helps.”

“I am glad that is sorted out, let us be on our way,” Nold said, heading out first.

Rep and Zalan exchanged an uncomfortable glance. It was one thing for Nold to invite himself along. Now he was leading the way.