It’s been a week since the couple found Isak on their daily walk outside of Aaron’s Split, and despite the sudden move-in decided by the couple, Isak enjoyed his stay and the hospitality offered to him. Since he didn’t know much about the town, Freya put him to work in the marketplace. The townsfolk were eager to see a new face, both the young and old. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if every citizen in town were out and bought stuff today; it was rush hour. The attention to Isak grew more and more aggressive as a result of the offbeat rumor circulating around Isak. Everyone wanted to talk with the “ground raccoon”, the mysterious raccoon found buried under the the dirt.

“How much is it for the chicken, young raccoon?” The old lady asked him as she coughed.

“That’ll be... 20 silver per chicken.”

“20 silver? Isn’t that a bit too much?”

“Alright granny I can throw in a piece of wolf pelt for let’s say... 20 silver? The other stands would have been going ape-shit for an offer like this! It’s a one-in-a-lifetime offer, granny!”

The old lady grows hesitant for a second but quickly submits to his irresistible charisma. She reaches down in her coin pouch and hands him 40 silver coins, he then puts a cage with a chicken on the table and a piece of wolf pelt on top of it, waving as she takes the stuff, telling her to come back soon. The queue quickly decreased in length as the day went on, much of the stuff he had in his stand was already sold, he was earning quite a sum of money because of his charisma, but also the use of beginner manipulation.

It was time for lunch and everyone took a break, including the townsfolk and the stand-owners, as a form of tradition that has been running through the town for decades. Isak walked back to the house, meeting up with Dante as he opened up the door.

“I was just gonna look after you, Isak! I got us some food, ready to eat!” Dante rushed back to the kitchen, waiting eagerly for Isak to sit down and eat the food he brought with him.

“So, where’s Freya?”

Dante already with his face down in the food, munching the meat that was served, looked up at Isak with a messy face and said “She’ll be back in an hour or so, she’s a Crow, y’know?”, his head fell down on the plate again, munching the savory piece of meat.

Isak sighs and picks up the cutlery from the sides of the plate and began piecing out the meat, he did this on autopilot as he thought to himself “A Crow? I’ve seen notes with information about Crows needed outside of Aaron’s Split all around the marketplace. I guess it’s a normal job around here. I guess I don't need to know anything about it since neither Dante or Freya has talked about it.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Dante interrupts Isak's inner monologue with yelling “You’re not eating the meat! Is it really that bad?” Dante cries, putting up an act.

“I just got a lot going on in my head right now so I forgot about the food.” Isak takes a piece of it and chews it. You could see it in Isak’s eyes that he enjoyed it as he said “It’s really good.”

“I knew it! Papa Dante is the supreme chef in all of Aldimir!” Dante performed a victory dance, flipping the chair as he rose up from it, dancing in a hilarious matter.

Isak left the house as soon as Dante started dancing and went for a stroll in town, viewing the spectacular, quiant town. He soon saw where the name of the town derives from. There was a bridge, crossing a lake that splits the town in two halves, splitting the poor half from the wealthy half. Isak's eyes were then caught by a sign hanging from the façade of a sturdy house made of stone, differenciating itself from the other houses around it; it was a sign of an anvil. It was a blacksmith in town he didn't know about. His curiousity piqued and thus entered the stone building. The old man behind the glass counter greeted Isak with a smile. The inside of the building was decorated with a wide range of weapons and a big collection of armor and shields.

“What brings you here, young raccoon?”

“Uhh, I went for a stroll and I was caught off-guard by your building and I just… entered it for no reason.”

“I see.” The old man had his eyes travelling around the room before he left the counter, closing in on Isak and asked “You've never used a weapon before, am I correct?”

Isak looked at him before he exhaled “Yeah.”

The old man put his hand above his mouth, thinking. He jolts up as he comes up with something and runs back to the counter, reaching his hand for a knife beneath the glass. He runs back to Isak and shows him the knife, with slight panting that could be heard in his voice as he said “Then this is perfect for you!”

“A knife?”

“It's not just any knife, it's a knife that is made out of Mythril!”

“Mythril?” Isak’s laidback attention was suddenly caught again by the moss knife.

“Yes. Mythril has a perfect balance of hard and soft, not being too soft so that it bends and not too hard where it gets brittle. Also, feel the weight of it!”

The old man flips the knife so that the handle was pointed to Isak. He picks it and firmly grasps it, circling it around with his wrist before he softly brushes the edge of the blade with his thumb. The blade was double-edged with a delicate design, the handle was just the continuation of the moss blade with the only exception that the handle had a smooth area. The guard that separated the blade and the handle was made so that the hands wouldn't slide off the knife when used with force or at point of impact. He is generally intriguide by this mysterious material and the knife and so he asks “How much for it?”

“I'll give you a one-time offer– two gold! I'll also throw in a sheath for your knife for free!”

“Deal.”