This is a collaboration between me, FumeKnight, and LunaHalo43. Enjoy.
Outside of Orario - Toll's home
Another morning came, and with it came hammering. Every morning for the past two weeks, Toll has dedicated his attention towards restoring his beloved home, that now belonged solely to him.
It had been a good while, but he was able to buy it off the debt and claimed ownership of the land. Though, they warned him that they wouldn't help him restore the home, due to it's current state.
Either he bought the services of workers on the city, or he would do it alone to save 5000 Valis, and with his current funds with the debt paid, the food he bought and the bills, his current funds were around 20000 Valis. Enough for him to buy decent armor, but not enough if he hired the workers.
Stopping his hammering, he wiggled the balcony fence and confirmed that it didn't budged anymore. He then smacked the top to see if it toppled over, no such luck, hence he was proud of his work.
He made decent progress repairing the house. The roof was patched up nicely, the holes on the side were almost done, balcony was fixed, kitchen floor and table were all around good. Now, he just needed to patch up inside the house and to check if the fields were good to plant again.
And also, to fix any broken up furniture. He cleaned all of the trash and broken wood before to make it easier to move around.
"Maybe a few days, or maybe another week? I've done most of the heavy stuff, though it took a while to move it." Thinking to himself while eyeing the straw doll that he made next to the field, it was tattered with slashes and holes.
"That's not gonna last long and I don't feel different when using that sword." He looked towards the weapon, resting on top of the table, waiting for it's owner to use him again to practice.
"I'm getting less and less training, this isn't good. A rested body is good, but a rusty one will just give penalties. Gotta find a way to speed things up." He continued to think, while not seeing the approaching figures calling out to him.
"Hey, Toll! Hey!" They called once more, but he was lost in his thinking.
"He's not listening again." One commented to the other.
"I know how he'll notice." He smirked as he silently got closer to him.
"He'll get mad, you know."
"That's okay, he'll just have to learn to keep his ears clean!" He whispered to the girl while getting ready.
Still in his thinking, Toll felt a pair of arms envelop him while squeezing him hard. He struggled as he elbowed his aggressor in the stomach before getting some space. Only then did he noticed who they were.
"Don't sneak up on others, Lester." He stated to the boy that was clutching his chest.
"Is that what you do to when someone is getting your attention? Holy ground!" He gasped his words while trying to catch his air back.
"You reap what you sow, Lester." The girl said while approaching them.
"Elisa? What are you both doing here?" He questioned them, as he saw Lester get back to his feet.
"We came to see who the heck was hammering for two straight weeks! We barely got any shut eye because of it..." He said tiredly.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Didn't think it would reach the other side." He apologized back to his fellow farmer.
"Sorry? Sorry!? Give me back my two weeks of sleep!" He shook him while trying to bring some false tears.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm mostly done with my work. No more hammering during the night." He reassured his old friend, while stopping him from shaking him anymore.
"Yes! Thank you!" Lester fist pumped the air, glad to know that tonight he could sleep soundly.
"You've been getting this place back on his feet?" Elisa asked while looking at his work. "This is just above sloppy, you know." She pointed out.
"I wasn't born from a carpenter you know." He spoke back.
"Now now, no need to fight. I mean, we haven't met each other in a long time! We don't wanna start with the wrong foot." Lester talked his way towards them.
Though as he said that, Toll was the first to speak.
"If you two just came here to complain of the hammering, then get out of here. I've still got work to do inside and outside." He grabbed the training dummy, put it into position and headed back inside to resume his work.
"Come on now! Is that what you say to old friends?" Lester asked feeling a little disappointed in Toll to put them apart.
He stopped for a bit, thought about it and heaved a small frustrated grunt.
"Fine. I get it. Come in, I'll prepare something for you." He then guided them towards the kitchen.
As they moved, they noticed the holes that the place had, not to mention how much more spacious it was. The lack of furniture and paintings gave the place a empty feeling.
"What happened here?" Lester asked with concern in his voice.
"It's been a year and you still ask that?" Elisa's tone sounded disappointed on Lester. "From before to now, it looks much better. Not as many holes or trash and debris."
"I know, but... Where were you Toll? And where's your parents?" He asked as the both of them were curious.
"The tea will be done soon." He warned them, disregarding their questions.
Looking around for a bit, Elisa noticed the short sword, resting inside it's scabbard next to a wall.
"Is that a sword!?" Her eyes immediately lighten up as she rushed towards it.
"Whoa! Hold up there, Elisa! You don't touch other peoples stuff!" Lester stopped her as she wanted to touch it.
"Let her go. She's always been a weapons fanatic since we were younger. Just mind the sharpness." He warned while making sure that the leaves were boiling well.
"Hmm. Hmm! HMM! The grip fits well in the hand and the cross guard is just long and balanced for easy sure! Not to mention the length! It's just a little longer than a dagger and just shorter than a regular sword. The edge is sharp, while the fuller is stronger than usual and the central ridge just a tab bit more enduring for pressure. And don't get me started with the point! It's just perfect! A balanced, easy to use blade!" She put the sword back into the scabbard while waving it around carefully, getting a feeling for the blade.
"Where did you got this sword, Toll?" Lester asked, still feeling a little weird knowing that Elisa still had that obsession.
"From an ally." He responded back while setting the tea in the cups and turning off the fire.
"Ally? You sound like one of those adventurers!" Lester joked while sitting down. Grabbing the cup, he blew it for a few times before taking a sip. "Still the same, I see. You never put sugar in this." He commented.
"Old habits die hard." He joked while putting the sugar cup in between them. The two guests took a few spoon fulls of sugar and mixed in their drinks, it tasted better in their opinion. "What have you guys been doing? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"You know me, same old same old. Farming and tending the herd." Lester responded while taking another sip from his tea.
"I've had the privilege of visiting a blacksmith! She lets me have a look around of her work and sometimes lets me help her." She said while having a look of bliss, if it involved weapons and a blacksmith, you know she was happy.
"You still haven't answered my question, Toll. What have you been doing all this time?" Lester asked again, he thought that Toll hadn't heard him before.
"...I've been going to the dungeon." He replied back while taking a sip himself. The two guests gawked there for a moment before laughing out loud.
"That's a good one, Toll! You nearly fooled me there!" He pointed out while looking at Toll, he wasn't smirking or smiling or even cracking a smile.
"What are you gonna say next? That you got that sword from another adventurer?" Elisa asked jokingly, he was still not laughing. "Don't tell me..."
"For real? You've actually been into the dungeon?" Lester asked incredulous at the statement.
"For nearly two months." He casually informed back.
"Two months? But you've been gone for more than a year now." She said while being a little confused.
"Not quite." He responded back to her while finishing his drink. "I've been here the whole time. Nobody bothered to visit, nobody bothered to question if anybody was here and nobody took the time to search the place. Just vandalized and let this place to rot for no reason."
"A whole year...? Then where are your parents, Toll?" Lester asked. No answer. "Toll, where are they?"
"Look below the tree near the fence, you'll find them." He gave him directions while standing up. "Thank you for the visit, Lester, Elisa. I'm sorry to ask, but can you please leave? I still have work to do." He informed them while grabbing the nearby hammer.
"Wait! Toll, you aren't making any sense! What do you mean they're below the tree?" Lester couldn't understand or simply put didn't want to understand in that situation.
"I need to side with Lester on this one! Toll, what do you mean you've been here for a whole year!? How come we never saw you?" She asked as he forced to leave.
"I've got work to do. Visit me when I'm not busy." He responded with that before closing the door on them.
"Toll! What do you mean? Answer me!" Lester yelled at the door, but then his attention was taken from the small tug from his sleeve.
"Lester, I think he means that." She pointed towards the graves below the tree.
"You're kidding... Right?" He asked while being taken off guard. How come he never noticed them? And the most important question was. "Why didn't our parents told us?"
They got closer to the graves and saw fresh flowers at the base. The crosses were made mediocre, but still signified the departure of a soul. Not too long, the hammering continued.
Both friends looked at each other and left having the small feeling of shame fall on their heads. All because, none cared of what happened to the family that were their neighbors for so long.
During the night, the hammering stop as promised, but even after Lester was granted his wish, he couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that he had. For days, Toll's work continued during the day and at night he was quiet.
One day, when Elisa visited Lester, he gathered his doubts and asked his parents.
"Mom, Dad. What happened at Crow's place?" He questioned and as if he said so, they briefly stopped their work before continuing it. "Dad?"
"Don't ask that question, son. It's better if you don't know." He replied while continuing his woodcarving, an activity that he enjoyed greatly.
"Not to be rude, mister Wull, but we've been at Toll's home and we saw the... crosses." Elisa butted in, since she asked her folks as well, but they didn't give her nothing.
"You've been to that wreck? I'm surprised that it still stands." He commented while putting more details of his latest sculpture. "A shame on what happened to it. Thugs just waltzed in and did what they wanted there from time to time." He mumbled to himself, making his voice low so that they heard it as a whisper.
"We saw Toll there." Lester called out, surprising the man. "He's been putting everything back in place and he's also become an adventurer."
"...So the boy lives. That only settles little for the weight." He responded cryptically to them. "You said he's become an adventurer?"
"Yeah! He's been going to the dungeon for the last month or so, that's how he got enough money to fix his place." Elisa pointed out while the man blew at the piece. A beautiful mature woman with a kind smile towards anyone that looked at her. No doubt it was the goddess of agriculture and harvest, Demeter.
Settling the piece down, he looked at them with a concerned look.
"How's the boy doing?" He asked while trying to feign ignorance. It worked for him.
"He's... different. He doesn't look like the cheerful guy that I knew." Lester commented while looking a bit sad.
"But in a way, he looks, I don't know, more mature?" That was all she could think. Even though Toll was just a year older than her, he already looked and sounded like an adult.
"So, it changed him that much..." Wull mumbled for himself while getting up. "Why don't you two give him some time? From what you've told me, he's been through a lot. I bet he missed you two while he was away, it's just a little hard for him nowadays to say it." He reassured them while grabbing his hoe to tend the field.
Still, the two children were still preoccupied about their friend and nobody in their families were telling them anything about it.
Orario - City
The time to go back into the dungeon is coming closer than he thought. He was able to patch his home until the shortest touch, he felt very proud of his accomplishment.
Today would be probably the last day that he would rest, hence he took his savings and entered the city. As usual, it was bursting with activity, same as any day. The market was buzzing for anyone's attention, trying to make a profit for another days worth.
People went around, some enjoying the company of others, some trying to do business and others making shady deals without others knowing. This was the city of Orario after all, everything can happen in a blink of an eye and things still stood the same.
Toll walked with a bored expression, some merchants tried to call him for some easy bargaining, but he wasn't interested. He already bought all of his groceries two days ago, making his pantry and storage room decently good, food shortage wasn't on the list for now.
Clothes? He may need some, but as long as his closet had a few decent clothes he would be alright for a while.
Tools were good as well. Buying a good scythe from his old rusty one was a good call, the blade was sharpened and the wood was easier to grab. It'll be easy to cut the weeds now.
While he was walking around, he had learned from starting adventurers that the Babel Tower was were the blacksmiths are. This was no news for him, Boris once told him that he should go to the lower levels of the blacksmith levels.
After all, the highest blacksmith price range was beyond what his current funds held. The most expensive, luxurious and strongest man made equipment. No, not man made, they were made by the master smith of the floors, Hephaestus.
Gale gave him some advice before buying anything from the lower levels, which housed lower quality items, that is to evaluate the armor by how it felt. Actually it takes more than just how it feels, how much durability it has, how much defense it gives, how much recoil can it take, how flexibility it provides in combat, how much weight does it additionally give towards his own.
But for Toll, if the armor was durable, flexible and not too heavy, it was fine. All he had to do, was find the way to the lower levels...
He bumped against a person in the middle of his thinking.
"Sorry about that." He apologized quickly before trying to find the... Uh...
"Toll?" That was a familiar voice, and it was behind him?
"Boris?" Looking back, the dwarf looked half surprised on seeing his supposed party member. "What are you doing here?" He ask curiously.
"I came here to visit one of my friends. What about you?" He asked in turn curious.
"I came to buy some armor at the lower levels, but this is the first time of me coming here..." He explained his plight and the leader gave him a small smile while gesturing him to follow him.
As he walked, he saw a spiral stairwell that either went down or up. He continued to follow the man bellow and as he went a floor below, he could see various blacksmiths working in almost unison fashion. The hammering against steel, the process of ore turning into ingots, the coal being loaded into the furnace making it roar it's flames towards the elements. It was truly a sight to be held with impression.
The lower they got, the less the hammering was heard until they reached the lower shop, where the prices were manageable.
"Knowing you, you'll probably go for the cheapest armor that is available. But that sack of Valis that you're carrying means that you'll be doing more than buying armor, so I brought us towards the floor where you can ask a blacksmith to make a weapon of your choice, for a small fee." Boris explained as they continued through the cobblestone path below them.
Shelves filled with armor pieces and weapons were stacked in various containers. From light armor to heavy, from dagger to heavy mace, this place had it all at a short price.
"Go on, have a look. I'll be next to the cleric having a small talk." Boris informed while starting to talk with the man that was bored since business was slow today.
Toll did as he was told and started to look around. He looked inside boxes, wore some armor to test it and even looked at a few swords.
"Too heavy... Not enough protection... This has holes in certain parts. This one literally broken all over." He became more disappointed as he progressed his search. The armor simply didn't felt right with him, but that was okay. He still had a lot to look around, it would just take a little longer.
Continuing to look, he searched and searched, having interested in a few pieces, but they didn't fit together which saddened him a little. A few weapons took a small shine on him as well. Some axes, some spears, heck even a bastard sword looked manageable to wield.
He jerked his head suddenly when he noticed a particular box, this one had a set of armor that was alright for once. It wasn't broken to pieces nor looked like it seen combat yet.
The armor consisted of tough, black metal while being concealed by drab, tattered cloth. Along the armor, there were blue lines around it, connecting the pieces together. The trousers are held beneath the leather boots and a rope that secures his waist, making it easier to walk quietly. Wearing the armor, he felt that it was a little big for him, but putting a squeeze here and there, the armor fit even if it looked a little bit funny.
It was okay, he just needed to grow that little and then he could use it effectively. The helmet was also part of the armor, a hood that covered the black metal helmet, protecting it from any light that came.
Honestly, the head was too big for him to wear, which means he needed to hold on to it for now. Satisfied with the armor, he went towards the cleric happy to have found something.
"Excuse me, I'd like to buy this armor. How much is it?" He asked while taking his earned dough out.
"Hmm... I see. Yes, the sum total of this armor is 8635 Valis. Due to the ragged drabs I can't really give you a high price, maybe if the armor was pristine things would be different." He informed while waiting patiently for the money.
Counting the money, he dumped the rest of his earned cash into another sack and gave the cleric his due.
"Thank you very much! If you wish to talk with the blacksmith, she's over there. Just be mindful of her rookie, she's a bit of an oddball." He warned to him and Toll nodded while heading that way anyways.
Boris was a little surprised for the kid to willingly go to a blacksmith. Their commission usually makes young adventurers avoid them, due to shortage in Valis.
Hearing the hammering, he approached towards the glowing blade that was being smacked on the anvil. Quick succession hits turned into slow strong ones and every now and then she would turn the burning blade before smacking some more. As she grabbed the hot piece of metal with big pliers, she dipped it into water to cool it down.
Then she put the blade in front of her to see if any anomalies were present that needed tending.
"Pardon me, can I have a word with you?" He called out, taking her focus for a moment to look at him. The same could be said about him staring at her.
She was a young woman, probably on her early twenties, maybe less, having a ponytail to hang her black hair back. She had a headband wrapped around her forehead, probably to make sure sweat didn't screw her work. She had brown eye color and a tanned skin, most likely due to being against the furnace all day. She wore a band around her rather small chest, a large belt that covered her stomach and shorts, letting her tanned legs which are drenched with sweat gleam the light of the fire.
"Uh... Can I help you?" She asked while continue her work. She had an order and the deadline was in four days.
"I'd like to make a request for a weapon." He went straight to the point, not trying to waste anymore of her time.
"Really? Two orders in one go, that's a new record." She stated while continuing her work. "So what do you want? A sword? A battle axe? A mace?"
"What I want, is a scythe." He ordered while noticing that the woman was staring at him with a confused look.
"A scythe? You can buy those around town! Stop wasting my time." She said begrudgingly while continuing spot an imperfection there and a cut there.
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear, what I want is a scythe for combat, a battle scythe." He clarified to her and that seemed to turn her demeanor around.
"A battle scythe! That's something that many don't ask! Oh man, gotta think of the design, the minerals, the wood, the leather. Oh ho ho! Now that's a challenge I haven't gotten in a while!" She pointed out as she started to note his order down in a small notebook. "Come back her in a week or so! I'll make you that battle scythe that you need!"
"Thank you, how much will I own you?" He asked while getting his sack of Valis.
"7000 Valis. Scythes are easy to make, but if you make it for combat, I'm gonna need a few more materials." She said while hammering again the sword piece, correcting the imperfection and taking care of the scratch.
"Alright... 7000 Valis. Here you are." He put the cash onto her workbench, she looked at it and then back at him.
"Y-you sure? Paying upfront means no take backs!" She warned him, while heading to the grindstone.
"I'm sure. I can make my money back by the time I come around here." He responded while grabbing his box. "Until one week, I'll met you again." He then proceeded to head the staircase, which Boris was waiting for him.
"Done?" He asked.
"Yes. Thank you for today Boris." He responded towards the man that gave a weak smile back.
"Don't get soft now, rookie. Tomorrow you'll be putting more strength into that dungeon." With that they left the premises.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Boris." He bid his farewell to the leader and backtracked towards his home. While walking the dirt road back to his home, Lester and Elisa waved at him. He shuffled his possession around and waved them back before entering his abode, waiting for the next day to come.