“I’ve sent word to the Mercenary Guild,” Terry said, sipping his tea. “They should send us a message if a group is free to escort the pair of you.”

Jack squirmed, thinking about how this was going to be the second time on the road. He had already travelled quite some way to Riverhill, and now he was going to another city for some ore.

‘Maybe no one wants me around…’

He didn’t need to think about it too hard, instead focusing on the work at hand. They had a few weapons which needed to be repaired, and Jack was given the task whilst Merri and Terry focused on the design.

In the evening, during their dinner, Terry received news. “Looks like you’ll be leaving tomorrow in the morning.”

“So soon?” Merri smiled.

“The pair of you will pack your things. I’ll order a few rations for you and settle the coins for the task.” Terry wondered if it was a good idea to give the pair so much money, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t join them, so he would have to trust them.

Jack went to bed that night deep in thought. Technically, this was his first quest. He smiled to himself, closing his eyes as he thought about the journey. Would it be fraught with danger? Would it be as easy as pie? He wondered if perhaps he’d have a fortunate encounter. The possibilities were endless.

“Next time I see Sir Anthony I need to surprise him somehow…”

It was only in the morning when Jack realised that he had something to speak with Smith Terry about. He grabbed his broken sword and brought it to the Smith in the early hours, skipping his morning training to bathe and equip himself for the journey ahead.

He stumbled into the smithy wearing a heavy cloak, a backpack, his breastplate and a sword at his side. His eyes were beaming, ready to adventure out, no longer quite as apprehensive as he was when he first heard he was going to be leaving.

“You’re a little too bright this morning,” Terry said, letting the boy inside to eat breakfast with him and his daughter.

“Smith Terry! It slipped my mind, but I had something to show you. I have a sword which seems very strange to me and I can’t quite figure it out.”

“A strange sword?” Terry asked as Jack revealed it. He took the broken sword into his hands and then his eyebrows jolted upwards. He stared at the hilt and it was like his soul was being drawn into the blade. He snapped back to attention after a few moments and then examined the metal. “Where did you get this?”

“I bought it from a woman from the market a few weeks ago.”

“This sword is strange, that’s for certain. It feels almost…”

“Alive?” Jack asked, staring up at the smith.

Terry looked at the young man and nodded. “It’s made of something I’ve never seen before. I’m not sure a metal like this exists in our land. Perhaps it’s from far away?”

“Far away? Like from the east?”

“Perhaps.” Terry felt something coming from the sword, as though it’s depths were infinite.

“I don’t want to carry it around with me when we’re on our journey. Could you look after it, please?” Jack asked.

“I’ll put it away until you ask for it again.” Terry nodded. He wanted to study the blade more. It seemed like a fairly ordinary blade, but there was something more to it, he just couldn’t figure it out at the moment.

They ate breakfast and then someone knocked on the door. Terry opened it to reveal the mercenary group which had accepted the request. The Smith allowed them to enter and Jack stared up at them in surprise.

The mercenary had tan skin and curly hair, and he smiled at Jack. “Morning everyone,” he said, nodding his head. Behind him were two women, each with similar tan skin, and then another man, one who did not like to talk.

“It’s you!” Jack said, as though he was accusing them of some grave crime.

“It is,” Alba replied, nodding his head to Merri.

“I called for them specifically,” Terri said, sitting down and going back to his breakfast.

“An opportunity to fix our misunderstanding.” Alba chuckled nervously.

Terry nodded. “I won’t waste your time. You’ve read the task, I assume, so let’s get right to business. Assist my Apprentices with their journey, keeping them safe and sound. You’ll be paid ten gold upfront, and once you’ve returned with the minimum amount of cobalt ore with my Apprentices intact, you’ll receive an additional forty gold pieces.” It was a pittance considering what they were going to be doing, but Terry wasn’t done. “I will also forge you a single weapon made of one part cobalt once we finish with the Lord’s request and competition.”

Alba rubbed his chin as he listened. He was going to accept the request anyway, since it was a way to right the wrong they had committed, but to hear that he’d also get a one part cobalt weapon, that pushed it over the edge. The weapon alone would be worth the journey, since he didn’t expect it to be too dangerous. “Since you’re being so generous, we will happily accept!” Alba grinned wide.

Roha and Sita both smiled at one another when they heard about the weapon. Toka stepped forward, and the two glanced back at him, frowning. Alba exchanged a look with Toka, and there seemed to be a tense moment between all four of them.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Alba said to his companions.

“It’s my turn,” Sita said.

“No way! You were fortunate last time, I should have this.” Roha frowned.

“…” Toka’s presence stated his discontent.

“I said later!” Alba waved a hand to dismiss them and then returned to face the Smith.

“Is everything alright?” Terry asked.

“Just some squabbling between party members, nothing that you need to worry about.”

“Are you sure?” Terry asked, staring up at Alba. “This girl is my daughter, and it wouldn’t bode well for you if something were to happen to her. More importantly, the boy is a Bloodwall.”

“You don’t have to threaten us,” Alba said, chuckling. “I’m pretty strong, High Iron First Core, and my party members are on the cusp of reaching the same. Who knows, we might even have a part of four High Iron First Cores by the time we return. Then you’ll have quite the bargain on your hands.”

“A bargain indeed,” Terry replied sarcastically. “We still have some business to attend to, so wait for the pair a the gates.”

“Alright boss,” Alba said, saluting the Smith casually as his group left.

“I didn’t realise it was going to be them,” Jack said.

“I specifically asked for them since I knew we wouldn’t have to pay them much coin. Since we’re aiming to win, what’s a one part cobalt weapon in the grand scheme of things?” Terry smiled.

They finished eating breakfast and then Merri went to grab her things. Terry handed Jack the dagger he had revealed to the Merchants’ Guild clerk. “Here, take it.”

Jack took the dagger, smiling up at Terry. With this at his hip, everyone would be able to see that he was an Apprentice. He strapped it to his side quickly. “An Apprentice,” he whispered to himself excitedly.

“I’ll be leaving each of you with a fair amount of coins. Merri will be able to buy enough cobalt with her coins, but in case anything happens it’s best for you to have some money too. There should be enough to buy the ore, the stays at a decent enough inn, and maybe a few more in case you find anything interesting. This isn’t for you to shop with, but I won’t mind a few coins going missing. If you find any special ores or gems, go ahead and spend freely.”

Jack nodded. Merri returned moments later wearing a breastplate, a shortsword at her side, as wall as a mace, and a dagger strapped at her thigh. She also wore a heavy cloak, which covered her two backpacks, each half sized compared to Jack’s.

“Take ten days worth of rations, the pair of you,” Terry said, like a fussy mother. “Once you have half, make sure you replenish your stores. If you get into trouble, don’t be afraid to use your status as a Smith to get out of it.” He looked to Merri and raised his brows at her especially, her eyes growing dark as she nodded, tapping the dagger at her thigh.

Jack didn’t understand what the look was, not understanding that the treatment to Merri would be different than to himself.

“I’ll start smithing the swords, and then all three of us will work on the sword together once you’re back. It’s best to get the emergency request out of the way.” Terry led them out to the mercenary group, making sure they double checked their items, and then made them triple check once they were at the gates.

“Don’t kick the bucket while I’m gone.” Merri hugged her father.

“Don’t kick my corpse if I do.”

“Hah! No promises.”