Cam, Winston, Leo, Twig and Pollie, three days after leaving the Magic school, finally arrive at a village. The village is built near a riverside with flowers throughout. "Finally, now we don't have to rely on rations for food." Twig says. Cam asks "By the way, do any of us have money?", only to be met with an awkward silence. Cam sighs, but Twig quickly runs off to a food stand and steals a bunch of food and runs away. "Everybody run!" she screams and the rest of them follow suit.
Cam, while running, sees a local blacksmith and stops to get a closer look. He walks in to see a massive range of weapons on display. "Whoa!" He says in awe. He sees the blacksmith working on a blade and says "Hey, nice place you got here.". The grizzly blacksmith simply shrugs him off and continues working. Cam pulls out his wooden sword and asks "Do you think you can fix my sword here?". The blacksmith simply says "That ain't a sword, boy." Cam, offended, says "Hey, I'll have you know that I can slay a dragon with this sword!". The blacksmith says sarcastically "Well, if you can do that, then you don't need me." Cam pleads " Come on! How much do you want?". However, the blacksmith says "I don't work with money.". Cam, confused, asks "What? Then how do you work!?". But the blacksmith keeps quiet. Cam sits down next to him and declares "Fine, then I'll never leave you alone, not until you make me a sword!". Cam lets Leo out of his bag, telling him to go find the others.
Hours pass, and Winston, Leo, Twig and Pollie find the blacksmith working, while Cam pesters him. "Um, what's happening?" asks Winston. Cam explains the situation and Twig simply asks the blacksmith "Can you just make him a sword so he can leave?", when the blacksmith refuses, Twig and the others leave.
The blacksmith asks " How long are you gonna stay here?". Cam adamantly says "As long as it takes!".
As the sun sets, the two moons ascending into the sky, the blacksmith closes his shop, and Cam still doesn't stop following him. However, as they walk in the empty nighttime streets, they are stopped by a group of thieves. "Hand over all your cash!" They shout, wielding crowbars and other blunt weapons. Cam steps in front of the blacksmith, surprising him. "Not a chance!" Cam exclaims as he draws his wooden sword. The thieves simply laugh at him and knock him away with a stick, knocking him down. The blacksmith, despite his big frame, refuses to fight and lets them mug him. Cam gets up, still wielding his sword and strikes one of the thieves' head, but is slammed to the ground by a crowbar. Cam, ignoring his injuries, stands up and taunts them, "Is that all you got!?" He taunts as one of the thieves picks him up. He looks to the blacksmith and he throws him an iron sword, which Cam catches. He slashes the thief's shoulder, which causes him to drop him. "Oh yeah! Lets go!" Cam continues, slashing the other thieves' legs and arms, immobilizing them. The blacksmith, fully expecting Cam to finish them off, is instead escorted away from the scene by Cam.
After they leave the scene, Cam washes the blade of the thieves' blood and hands him back the sword. The blacksmith asks him "You could've killed them, but you didn't.. but why?". Cam says, with a serious expression "I don't want a blade just so I can kill, I want one so I can protect people who can't protect themselves." The blacksmith walks into his shop and starts working.
Cam watches him and starts walking away, however, he is stopped by a grizzled voice "I'm not done with your blade. ". Cam turns around in shock and smiles excitedly. The next morning, Cam wakes up to find his new blade sheathed and ready to be used. Cam, before unsheathing the blade, asks the blacksmith for him to bestow a prayer onto it. "Really? But that's only an honor belonging to noble blacksmiths." says the blacksmith. Cam says "Well, I'm already looking at one.". The blacksmith's eyes widen and he kneels down to Cam and places his hand on the blade to bestow a prayer.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"May this blade bless its wielder,
Striking swiftly and true.
In the name of justice,
may it only spill the blood of the evil.
May it be as noble as its wielder.
And be put down once its job is done."
Cam smiles brightly and waves to the blacksmith as he leaves. He meets up with his friends and they ask what he was up to. Cam shows them the blade and it shines with an azure glow in the sun. "Whoa!", they collectively gasp. "It's so cool!", Winston remarks. Twig asks "So, did you finally get him to make it for you?". Cam looks back at the blacksmith's shop and says "Well, kinda.".
They look to the horizon and Winston says "Hey, I've gotten my hands on a few maps and they say that we're in a valley of mountains right now, so if we want to make more progress in our journey, we have to get past the mountain range surrounding the country."
They leave the village, and enter the Arid Fieldlands.
The gang treks across the Arid Fieldlands, which is teaming with Birdraptors, rapter like flightless birds which run across the lands at incredible speeds. "Hey, we should catch one of them and ride it across the fields.". Cam seeks out a birdraptor for them to ride, but Twig says "We have to set up a trap for it with food.". Pollie asks where they they'll get food to use as bait, but Cam asks "But didn't Twig steal a bunch of food yesterday?", only to be met with silence. "We, um..ate it all..", Winston says nervously. Cam's mouth opens in shock "What!? I was only gone for a day, how did you eat it all!?". Winston sarcastically looks at Twig and Pollie, as they smile nervously. Pollie draws their attention to the fields as she sees a strange structure ahead. "What is that?", asks Twig. Cam heads forward yelling "Only one way to find out!". They start their trek across the Arid Fieldlands.
When they arrive at the strange structure, it appears to be ancient. Winston, fascinated, examines the ruins. "This place looks like it dates back over a thousand years!", Winston says. As they try to open the door, the door seems to tighten. Cam spots a lone birdraptor and slowly inches closer to it, "Almost..almost..", he whispers, however, he is carried off by the birdraptor. The rest of the gang chases after Cam as he is carried off by the birdraptor.
The sun sets once again, and they have finally figured out how to subdue the creature. Twig reveals a tent she hid in Winston's backpack. "Where did get that?", asks Cam, but Winston responds nervously "Definitely didn't steal it..". Cam face palms and they set up a campsite.
In the middle of the night, Twig wakes up to see Cam, training with his new sword. She smiles softly at him before going to sleep.
The next morning, the gang sets off on their birdraptor and continue traveling through the Arid Fieldlands. "Hey, Winston, how much further do we gotta go?", asks Cam. Winston looks at his map and says "We're making great time, at this speed, we'll be at the nearby city in a few hours.". Pollie asks "City? I thought the valley didn't have any cities.".
Winston explains "You see, Three times a year, a city residing in the ocean resurfaces in a really large lake in the middle of the field.". Cam asks "Really? Why is it from the ocean?". Twig says "There are many types of demi humans, so naturally there are aquatic civilizations that mainly live in water.". Winston adds "Though I wonder why they resurface despite being an aquatic city."
Their journey across the Arid Fieldlands continues and they see a massive lake in the distance. "Guys look, that lake is crazy big.". They get closer to the lake and Winston says "I don't get it, Oceanica city should be right here.". Twig shrugs and says "Since we're here, I'm gonna take a bath, it's been weeks since we left home.". Cam says "Okay, though Leo doesn't like water.". Cam, Twig and Pollie start taking off their clothes and enter the lake, all except for Winston who says, while covering his eyes "How could you guys be so casual about this!?". Cam, confused, says "We've known each other for our whole lives, so it's pretty normal for us.". Winston sniffs his armpits and says "Fine, I'm coming in.", as he embarrassingly takes off his clothes and enters the lake. They start bathing, and eventually finish, when suddenly, the lake expands and a massive shadowy figure emerges. They gasp in awe as the underwater city emerges from the lake.
They run away from the lake to get a better view, and they see the city surrounded by a mass of water.
"So this is it, Oceanica City.", says Cam, as the gang gets ready to venture into the city. Another step in their grand adventure.