My name is Ruira Aoi, from the 3rd district of the city if Deva. Despite living in the poorest district, my life's pretty fine. This is probably due to the fact that my dad's a hunter, and people in this city really like to eat, so business is good as usual.
Sometimes I have to run errands, which usually have to do with delivering meat. Today, though, I have to pick up a new spear for my dad from the city's blacksmith, since my dad's old spear is almost broken.
I approach the blacksmith. He's a tall man with black hair and brown eyes and a scar cutting across his face. Despite his rough looks, he is actually really friendly.
"Hello there, Ruira. What brings you here today?"
"I'm supposed to pick up a spear for my dad."
"Hunting, right?"
"Yup."
He leaves for a few minutes, leaving me to look at what else he has made over the past week. There are a bunch of beautifully crafted swords leaning against a wall, while some awesome looking daggers gleam brightly in the harsh sunlight. I wonder why there are so many weapons here… maybe the army needed new weapons.
The blacksmith comes back, carrying rather sharp spear and a bulky package.
"Thanks, Mr. Blacksmith." I say, accepting the two objects and handing over 2000 gold, the cost of the sword . "What's the package for?"
"Go and see for yourself." He states after looking around. "And make it quick… I don't want anyone else to see it…"
I push away the packaging, and discovered… a stick. Okay, not really a wooden stick, but it was like nothing I ever saw before. At one end of the stick… there was a spherical skeleton with a red sphere FLOATING inside the skeleton with two pairs of wings sticking out of the sides of the sketeton, and a long, pointy, spike-like object attached to the top of the skeleton with two small wings, one sticking out of each side of the spike. There were also two curved poles, also attached to the skeleton, that spiraled around the stick and joined together and ended near the center. Oh yeah, and the entire thing, save for the red sphere, was GOLDEN.
"Oh my gosh…" I could barely contain my surprise. "What is it, and how much more do I have to pay you?"
"Consider it a little gift from me." The blacksmith said with a little grin. "And to answer your question, it's a staff. It's a weapon that was used by mages, shamans, and druids to help harness their magical power and even make them stronger."
"How… how did you know…"
"Observation's a powerful thing, Ruira." I could barely believe it. Out of all of the people, I would have never guessed that the city's blacksmith would guess… my… my… curse… "Don't worry, you secret's safe with me. I've never been fond of the executions, and I… I wouldn't want you to kill you."
I let out a breath I had no idea I was holding "Thanks for everything, Mr. Blacksmith." I say to him, re-packaging my newly-acquired staff.
"You're welcome, Miss Ruira Aoi. And you can call me Lu." Lu… What an interesting name… I felt that I have heard that name before…
"Well then, thank you, Mr. Lu…"
"Lu's just fine." He looks at the sky for a few minutes, probably judging the time. "You should be leaving soon, the army's emissary is supposed to arrive soon… and I believe you wouldn't want to meet him…"
"Then I guess I'll leave right now. Bye Mr. Lu!" I rearrange the two weapons and head home.
"Au revoir, Miss Ruira." I try to contain my laugh… his attempt at a French accent is simply… hilarious.
The walk home was rather uneventful, with everyone already at their home for their meals. I decided to take the other way, though the forest.
After trudging past trees, jumping on logs, and avoiding wild predators for around 10 minutes, I finally stop at a small shack in a field destitute of trees. I pushed open the heavy yet rather worn wooden door to find a rather nice surprise…
Or so I first thought.