Chapter 2: How I tried to avoid another Ending

I woke up early that morning. I had to prepare for the advance party’s arrival. I know I won’t be able to save the whole village, but I should be able to save “Dawn”s mother. Maybe I’m trying to make up for the fact that I lost my parents in my last life. Maybe I’m just living out my Fantasy of changing this story. Or maybe this is just my way of fighting against fate. Regardless I need to do what I can.

I get to work quickly, trying not to wake Sarah. In the story this world is based on, the hero finds a seed at the bottom of the well at the center of town. Maybe I can “find” it a little early. If I can just do that  maybe I can put a stop to the massacre of the whole village. The hero only fought a goblin or two after getting his powers, but if I can get some practice in it should be doable.

The advance party if I remember correctly was just a squad of 8 goblins, 3 dire wolves and a hobgoblin beast master leading them. The villagers managed to kill 2 of the goblins and 1 of the wolves. 

The village is small, about 80 people at most. Even though the enemy’s number isn’t that great, the villagers aren’t fighters. Goblins are weak creatures, but they make up for their weakness with savagery. Not to mention they’re being lead by a competent commander. The villagers aren’t weak. They’re tough from working every day; they don’t have the luxury of being weak. They could handle a wild boar. I’m sure there’s a hunter in the village who could handle a bear. But they’re no match for monsters who are organized and trained to fight. 

 The most notable are myself “Dawn”, and Sarah. The villagers were only made to serve the purpose of making the destruction of the village more tragic, so I guess it’s not surprising that there aren’t that many named characters. One of those characters though is Darren the blacksmith. He has some weapons, but mostly makes tools for the village. Pots, pans, farm tools and the like. In the story Dawn first used a pitchfork that he found nearby to fight off the invaders, but if I can manage to get a sword from Darren’s smithy I can hopefully start off from a better position than in the story. 

I might also be able to get some wood to fortify the house from the village carpenter, Cecil. With a hammer and some nails I should be able to secure the windows and doorway. I could even make a simple wooden shield if need be. Maybe hinting to the few hunters we have that I saw a goblin in the forest might be enough to put them on alert.

Most importantly however, I need to sneak into the well where Dawn first awoke to his powers, if I can get them early I can practice with them, and hopefully get strong enough to save the whole village. I’ll go tonight. If I go in the daytime, I’m sure the people would be none too happy that someone was contaminating the water to look around for a seed that would grant them superpowers. Yeah, they’d think I went mad.

I get started, walking through the village, almost excited to get begin this adventure, as people are beginning to wake. I’m skipping my chores, but I’m sure Sarah won’t mind once I protect the village. First I should start by getting the sword, I have about 14 bronze pieces in my pocket, Praying I have enough, I head down to the blacksmith and see Darren begginning to set up shop.

I begin the conversation hopeful, “Hey Darren, how’s your morning going?”

I don’t really know much about Darren, he never really showed up in the story except in the beginning. If I remember, all he said was, “Dawn! How are ya? You been helpin’ yer mom on the farm?

“Uhhh yeah. All in a day’s work, I guess.” I say trying to pretend like I’ve ever actually worked on a farm.

Darren visibly pauses, and takes a moment to calculate his response, “Riiiight. So anyway Dawn what brings you in today? Something break on the farm?”

“Umm, no not really. I just came to browse.” I absentmindedly touch some of the farm tools sticking out of a barrel. 

“Alright then, just make sure to let me know if what you need, the church pays me well to keep my smith stocked.” 

“The church pays you? We don’t buy things from you?”

Darren looks back at me, with a look on his face that questions my state of mind, “Dawn in all the time yuh’ve been alive have ya ever once paid for a farm tool?”

I answer as well as somebody who has lived here for all of a day and a half could, “I guess not… But then how to you stay in business?” 

“Well Dawn, ya pay yer tax to the lord every few months, right? Most of yer harvest save what you use to feed yerself, right? The lord takes that tax from all the serfs in his lands and sells it to the King at a more than reasonable price. The King does this with every noble in the Kingdom, and uses that to trade with the neighboring lands, selling these goods at a much higher price than he bought them from the lords for, and makes a good amount of money on the back of it. With that money he can then fund the Church of the Allfarmer, who prays for good harvest, sure, but they also as part of their services fund the blacksmiths of lands who supply tools to the farmers.” 

“Huh” I didn’t know this world had a system like that, I guess it makes sense for a Kingdom where the religion is based on farming. “I guess that makes sense, so does that mean your blacksmith is part of the church?”

“Sure is.” He points over his shoulder to the workbench of his shop, directly over which is a wooden crest, painted red with the symbol of a seed with a tree sprouting from a seed, the symbol of the Allfarmer. “Every month or so the church will come down to offer prayer and bring my payment, it isn’t much but it’s enough for material… and get a good drink at the tavern until they come back!”

“I see. I guess they treat you well. Does that make you part of the church?”

“No thankfully. I’m happy to offer my prayer, but I couldn’t give up a good drink. Hahaha!” He laughs heartily as he slaps his knee. “I could probably make more if I were an actual shop, but with the church I get stability and protection from competition. Ya can’t just open up a smith when there’s a church sanctioned smith already at work.”

“I guess that makes sense.” I see a good opportunity to shift the conversation and I take it. “So if they pay you to make farm tools, what’s the point of making things like that?” I point to the sword mounted at the center of his wall of tools. 

“I can’t see the church asking you to make that for the farmers.”

He turns his head to see what I’m pointing at, and gives a chuckle, “Haha, true enough. A blacksmith in a kingdom has to be able to make weapons as well. In case of war. I get practice making arrowheads for the hunters, but nobody ‘round here needs a sword. So every now and then I make one to make sure my skills ain’t getting rusty.”

“I see, so does that mean I can have that if I ask for it, just like the farm tools?”

“Haha, anything that’s not specifically for farming is for sale. The arrowheads I make for the village hunters makes for a pretty little extra on the side, but they rarely need, and they use such small material it isn’t worth much. This sword though for the material and effort, I’d say at least 5 silver.”

“Oh…” I say, feeling deflated, “Um, any chance that I could get it for 14 bronze?”

“14 bronze?” He laughs, “That doesn’t even cover the material cost.”

Feeling slightly embarrassed by his reaction to my offer, I stammer, “Fine, I get it. I just thought that maybe I could get a discount or something. I don’t know.”

“What would a boy like you even need a sword for anyway? We’re not at war, and we’re deep enough in the kingdom’s boundary that there’s no chance that the demon king’s army would reach us.” 

I grimace, knowing that his statement will soon be proven wrong. “Fine, I just wanted to ask. Forget it.”

Seeing my face Darren relents, “Alright alright, just havin a little fun with ya, no need to take it so personal.” He goes over to a chest in the corner of his workshop, and pulls what looks like a long knife. “Here, a hunting dagger I made. I was trying to sell it to the hunters at the edge of town. I thought they might buy it off of me, and I could make a bit more from them. But they seem to have their own.” He says poorly hiding his annoyance, as he adds, “That they apparently take really good care of.” 

He hands it to me, and I look it over. It has a nice wooden handle with an asymmetrical guard, that fits nicely in the hand, and a clip point blade that has an exceptionally sharp point. “This is nice, but how much do you want for it?” 

“It’s just been sitting around my shop, all this time taking up space. How about this I’ll sharpen it up for ya, and you can have it for 1 silver?”

I look at the dull edge thinking, It’s got a good length, just longer than my hand. I guess I can use it as a backup. Dawn used a pitchfork, but it wasn’t too good in close combat. “Sure, that sounds like a good deal to me.”

“It is. Maybe yuh’ll remember this when I’m looking for an apprentice? You’re a good hard working kid. I’d be happy to teach ya what I know.” He says as he starts up his grinding wheel.

Apprentice to a blacksmith huh? Could be fun, but I’ll have to think about that after I save the village. “I’ll need some time to think about it!” I say, but I’m not sure he hears me over the sound of water and the grindstone.