Shawn

I begin following the elf into the building while the others recover from their surprise.

The first thing I notice upon entering is the receptionist's desk at the far end of the entrance hall.

Despite its small size, there is a rather large line of people crowded in front of the desk.

Are they all here for their gear?

The elf glances back at me from near a door located behind the receptionist's desk and asks, "Are you coming or not?"

His words startle the receptionist stationed at the desk, as well as a few of the customers, who all turn to stare at him upon hearing them.

The elf just snorts again at the stares before continuing on towards the door.

I hurry to catch up with him before they can shift their focus towards me.

Just as the elf and I reach the door, the other members of my party, along with the dwarf, finally make their way inside of the building.

It doesn't take long for them to spot us before they begin heading over here as well.

"I don't think I have said this yet, but my name is Katar," the elf suddenly says out of nowhere as we wait for the others to catch up with us.

This startles me for a second, but I nod my head anyways before saying, "It's nice to meet you, Katar."

A couple of seconds pass by without either of us saying anything before I break the silence, "What does this forge focus on? If you don't mind me asking."

Katar sends me a strange glance before answering, "We focus on enchanted weapons here, but we can work on unenchanted ones just as easily."

Wait, seriously?

I glance towards my swords.

Well, that works out pretty well then.

Katar opens the door next to us as the others finally arrive, revealing a relatively long corridor with several doors throughout it.

Nevik begins explaining the doors as we enter the corridor, "Each of these doors lead to a forge belonging to one of the smiths of our White Furnace."

That's a lot of forges.

We continue on down the corridor before arriving at a door located at the end. This door looks different from the others as it has a sort of crest on it showcasing a sword coming out of a furnace while coated in white flames.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I feel as if I have seen this crest before...

"This is the crest of the White Furnace," Katar says before opening the door without another word.

"It's also above the front entrance," Aldred whispers to me as Nevik reaches over and opens the door.

Well, that would explain why I have seen it before then.

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A few hours later

"Shall we start heading towards the Ash Plains?" Aldred asks as we step outside of the White Furnace.

Katar and Nevik showed us around for a little bit, but they had to go back to work before long, leaving us to look around the place on our own for a time.

They seem to trust Aldred's party quite a bit.

I wonder how that came about?

"I'm down," Josh says in response to Aldred's question.

I nod my head in agreement as well.

"Then lets head out," Aldred says.

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In a certain office within the Adventurer's Guild.

A voice suddenly rings out in the silence of the Guildmaster's office, startling the Guildmaster in the process.

"To believe that the missing prince was on a small island like this one."

Luke calms down after finding the source of the voice.

"I was surprised as well, but he wasn't found on this island. He was on a deserted island called the Isle of Fallen Snow," Luke replies to the voice.

"Really? Now that's interesting," the voice replies with a chuckle.

A dryad suddenly steps into the middle of the room, appearing as if from nothing.

"I was wondering when you would come to talk to me about him," Luke says with a smirk.

The dryad walks over to one of the office chairs and takes a seat.

She then conjures a wooden cup and motions for him to pour her a drink.

"Well, the boy seems interesting. I wanted to learn more about him before bringing it up to you," she says before taking a sip of her drink.

"I was just one of the dozens of people told about the missing prince on the off chance that I might find him, but I wasn't expecting him to be so interesting. Not what you would expect from a prince in most cases," she continues while surveying the monster heads across the walls.

Luke nods his head with a smile before saying, "That's true."

The dryad furrows her brows in disgust at one head in particular before looking back at Luke and asking, "Is that why you aren't telling the royal family about him?"

Luke nods his head again without saying anything.

A faint smile appears on the dryad's face as she says, "Alright, I will play along as well and not tell them either. This prince seems pretty interesting. Besides, from what I have heard, his father is perfectly fine with him living out on his own and even helped him get out of Niflheim."

"That's true. Although most of the other royals don't like the idea of an undead prince just wandering around at random throughout Aurora. Especially without any protection," Luke says before chuckling.

"What's so funny?" The dryad asks with a smirk.

Luke looks up at the ceiling before saying, "Oh, just that this is sounding pretty fun. A runaway prince working as an adventurer."

He then looks down at the dryad and asks, "Don't you find it interesting as well, Rosa?"

Rosa doesn't say anything for a few seconds while staring up at the monster heads again.

"Yes, it does seem very interesting to me," she eventually says with a smile before vanishing from the room again.

Luke stares at the spot she had been sitting.

"Does she not know how to use a door?" He mutters before grabbing a pencil and starting on some paperwork.