Kane was strolling with his father in a village nearby called Deven. He hoped to find the things he needed.
No other races lived in this village besides oni. Not too many visitors or traders stopped by because most of Deven’s citizens had no coins. Only a handful of traders accepted barter. Additionally, the nearest neighboring city would take four days with a horse carriage from Deven. That was the main reason most of the people who lived here chose not to travel to other cities.
Kane looked at his surroundings. Crude wooden fences and a prairie surrounded Deven. No source of water was nearby other than the river from the forest. It had plenty of wooden huts with similar constructions. They had severed animal or monster heads on the roof. The story behind this was from a traditional oni folklore that said that the Lord of the Hunt would bring fortune for those who decorated the house with it. Not only as house decorations, but some people even wore them as accessories.
Seeing such a backwater village, Kane could not help pitying them, although almost every oni village was in this condition.
While walking, many adults greeted Kane and his father. It surprised him since demi-humans shouldn’t have to treat a mixed-race nicely. He wondered at the reason.
“Here we are, The Bokar’s Workshop! The one and only blacksmith and weapon shop in this village.” Ezar stared at the small building constructed with gray stones. A hanging wooden plaque had the logo and name of the building that said, “Open” in oni language.
“Why is there no other blacksmith in the village?” asked Kane.
“Because there’s only a single person who is capable of smithing. He is like me, an outsider who chose to live in this village. You’ve met him once before,” Ezar explained.
Kane had spent all his years in this village, yet he still didn’t know what was going on because he despised visiting Deven. The previous Kane had yearned for friends, so he had tried to play with children around his age. However, his friends bullied him instead for his mixed race. Ezar knew this so he advised Kane to stay at home.
He could not sense any ranked weapon nearby, but perhaps for a workshop in the middle of a tribal village, that was not strange. People like Kane who were familiar with ranked weapons could tell the rank and even the shape based on its rank aura. Only ranked weapons could emit an aura; therefore he couldn’t guess the shape of an unranked weapon.
But he still considered other possibilities. Were the weapons in that shop hidden by magic? Or their aura was sealed by some kind of sealing item? Kane had no definite answer, so he put the questions in the back of his head.
After Ezar finished his explanation, the father and son entered the shop. The door creaked when Ezar pushed it.
The shop was rather small. Many kinds of weapons and armor hung on the north side of the wall. In a wooden display case, small weapons and accessories were shown. All of them were unranked. With just a glance, Kane knew the age of the equipment, which were quite aged. Despite that, he spotted no signs of degradation.
Kane smiled upon noticing how well the equipment were being treated. However, it was difficult to look at them for more than a second without judging them quietly due to their inferior quality.
In the backroom, a burly male oni was cleaning a sword with a cloth. His hair was black, coupled with a beard and minor wrinkles on his face. He was shorter than Ezar and a bit fatter.
“Good morning, Ezar. It’s rare to see that you’re visiting me with your son. Do you need any tool or something to be repaired?” The man stopped his activity and served them.
“Not this time, Bokar. My son is the one who has business with you.”
Kane knew this man from the previous owner’s memory. He was Bokar, a friend of Ezar. They had met 5 years ago. He was one of the most tolerant oni in the village other than his father. Ever since Kane had been shunned, he had never met him again.
“Kane, go ahead.” Ezar stepped back.
"Do you sell daggers? I want the one with a sharp edge on both sides,” asked Kane as he looked around.
“Yeah. There are only two left, though,” said Bokar.
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“Alright then, show me what you got.”
“Here.” He took out two daggers from the display case, and then he put them on the desk.
There were two different daggers.
The first was a long thin blade. The round handles made of animal bone were fitted nicely against the steel. Judging by its appearance, the quality of the steel was superior to the other one. The spine, the middle section of the dagger, was quite thick. No guard whatsoever, only two small gaps between the hilt and the blade. Overall, it was a nice dagger to have.
The second was almost the opposite. It had a wide short blade. Black straps were wrapped around the oval handle. The steel was inferior, but it was still quite strong. The spine was less thick. A copper guard was embedded onto the dagger, improving the appearance. Based on the quality, the first one was better. Definitely cheaper, though.
Putting a smug expression, Bokar explained, “This one was made of high-quality steel, the handle—”
“I choose this one,” Kane interrupted. His finger pointed at the second dagger.
“Nice choice!” Ezar whispered.
“That one is 30 gold coins,” Bokar said with a flat tone. His smile was slowly fading.
“What? That’s too expensive! We’re friends, right? How about 15 gold coins?” Ezar haggled, trying to persuade Bokar.
“Nope. Even if it’s for you, I can only lower the price to 20 gold coins, including the fact it had been sitting in my store for about 2 years.”
“Deal.” Ezar gave 20 gold coins to Bokar.
“Hmph. Like father, like son, eh?” Bokar grumbled. He cleaned and grounded the dagger before handing it to Kane. He also gave them a free sheath — a nice and useful addition. Kane inspected it one more time and nodded as he was satisfied with the purchase.
The father and son thanked Bokar before they left the shop.
“Kane, you don’t have to care about the money I have. I do hope you pick cheaper items often, though,” praised Ezar.
“What do you mean?” Kane tilted his head.
“You decided to pick the cheap dagger for that reason, right?”
Kane smiled at his father without uttering a word. His father had misunderstood the reason for his choice of the dagger. He had chosen this one because it was more durable than the other one. He could tell with a glance. Also, the hilt on the dagger would prevent his hand from sliding to the blade when using it. The steel quality wasn’t great, but it didn’t matter for him because both of them were unranked anyway.
While walking, Kane thought about his impression of Bokar. He had a good temperament and was friendly. His blacksmithing skill was far, far lower than Kane’s in his previous life. It didn’t matter for him as long as there was a blacksmith nearby for his cover.
He also asked his father if a potion shop existed in Deven. Ezar told him that the village had no such shop because there was no alchemist in here. Hearing this answer, Kane had to switch to other plans.
Later, they arrived home and started training after having lunch. Before they began, Ezar had a word with Kane.
“My son, I had planned to train you after the aptitude evaluation next year. But I changed my mind. I want this training to build your foundation, so that you will be strong whichever your talent is. What do you say?”
Kane had almost forgotten about the evaluation. It had been too long since he took one in his previous life, but he still remembered the gist of it.
The aptitude evaluation was an annual event to determine someone’s talent once in his lifetime. Strength, agility, and magic were the three types of attributes. However, if you didn’t have any of them, you had almost no chance of becoming strong. The only requirement of taking the evaluation was being thirteen years old.
Warrior, hunter, and mage were not classes, those are just talents. Only after joining an official institution could one could have class, such as Knight, Thief, etc. An ordinary person could have class but not have talent. In other words, talents were gifted whereas classes were earned or self-declared.
“Of course, Dad. I want to be strong just like you,” Kane answered. He actually wished to be just like his previous self.
Ezar nodded, smiling at him. “Good choice. Now, let’s get started. I won’t be easy on you.”
Kane did some physical training first before learning the weapon’s skill. Ezar taught Kane how to use the dagger properly and how to take care of them. He also taught his child the ax skills. Despite Kane already knowing the stuff his father tried to teach, he played along and pretended he had never used a weapon.
---
The next day, they both sat facing each other, eating the food in the dining room. Ezar was holding a sheet of paper and reading it.
“Kane, I must tell you something,” said Ezar.
“Sure. What is it, Dad?”
“I have to meet someone in another village, for business reasons. Do you want to come with me? I’ll be gone for two days, and I’m afraid you’re going to be lonely.”
Kane pondered for a moment before answering, “I think I’d rather stay here to guard the house. Besides, I’m not a little kid anymore.”
“Haha, of course. You’re already 12 years old, almost a teenager,” said Ezar. He stood up and retrieved his backpack. “Well, then. I take my leave. Just stay at home, ok? And don’t forget to train!” He patted Kane’s head and stepped outside. They bid farewell. When Ezar had finally gone, Kane prepared to leave the house.
He decided to execute his plan earlier due to his father’s unexpected departure. He must use this golden opportunity! He went to Deven again to visit the workshop.
Kane saw Bokar kneeling and twisting the wet cloth. He then wiped the floor with it. It was not long until Bokar looked at him and said, “Welcome! Ah, you again. Where’s your father?” He returned to wipe the floor after asking the question.
“He’s on a business trip,” replied Kane.
Bokar ceased cleaning the floor and looked at him. “I see. What do you need?”
“Can I be your apprentice? I’m interested in blacksmithing,” replied Kane.
“Hmm,” Bokar hummed. His eyes moved up and down several times while staring at Kane. He stood up and said,
“No.”