At the western side of the town inside an old bar, two men sitted at the corner were chatting and drinking. One of them was a muscular bearded man while the other one was wearing an iron plate armour.
"You're treating me right?", Caim asked the knight beside him.
"Heh, still the same as always.", said Cruz.
"Hey, it's different. I have an apprentice to take care of you know! So I have to save money!", Caim said defensively.
"Well I guess your right. So how is he doing?", Cruz was a bit interested in the apprentice his friend took in.
"He's doing great actually. He mastered the basics in just a week and has been helping me forge daggers, swords, and various weapons for the succeeding months. He may become a master blacksmith soon. He's also helping me sell the weapons. My only complaint is that he can't cook!", Caim said frustratingly.
"Well, there's no such thing as the perfect apprentice.", Cruz said as he watched his friend mutter something.
"Enough about that so what did you want to talk to me about?", Caim said dismissively as he grabbed his drink.
"It's about the neighboring kingdom, Galeon. Since a few months ago, we have spotted a few divisions of their knights marching near our border. Just last month, their king, King Frey, requested an alliance with us. In the message they sent, they said that the demons from the north and the orcs from the west have begun attacking them. The elves on the east have always stayed on a neutral side so they won't be expecting any attacks or help from them.", Cruz paused and took a sip from his drink.
"Our king has already decided on helping them and is holding a competition this Saturday to gather all capable warriors and announce his plans of letting them join the army to aid Galeon.", said Cruz.
"And why are you telling me this?", Caim said cautiously as he watched the knight beside him.
"That is because you are one of the few master blacksmiths in the whole continent. You're also my friend. You wouldn't abandon me would you?", Cruz said pleadingly as he looked at the blacksmith.
Sighing, Caim said "Fine. I get it. I'll help so stop looking at me like that!"
"Yes! Also why don't you let your apprentice help you?", Cruz asked Caim.
"Helping you is one thing, but my apprentice going along with me is something I cannot agree. For starters, he's not that strong yet and he may end up getting killed!", said Caim.
"You don't have to worry. He doesn't need to fight and can just help with repairing the weapons. You can also ask him to join the competition to find out whether he is strong enough to go with you.", Cruz suggested to Caim.
"Hmm...I'll think about it", Caim said as they continued drinking in the bar.
It was around noon time when they finally left the bar.
"I have to go back and meet with my apprentice. It's already noon and he should already be waiting for me by now.", Caim said as he started walking toward the southern gate of the city.
"Wait, I'll go with you", Cruz said while running to catch up with with Caim.
Caim couldn't help but sigh. After living in his small house in the forest alone, he had grown fond of the quiet atmosphere there where he could work peacefully without any disturbance. With the oncoming war, he would have to say goodbye to his peaceful life.
'I definitely shouldn't have come!', Caim sighed again.
"Hey, what's wrong?", Cruz asked the blacksmith.
"It's nothing", Caim said. He had no problem with helping his friend and joining the war. Aside from leaving his home, his main problem was that he wouldn't be earning much with the measly pay that they would probably be receiving!
As they walked through the street on the western side of the town, they suddenly saw a young woman appear out of a dark alley. Chasing after her were two large burly men. Seeing the knight, the young woman ran towards him and screamed for help. Behind her, the burly men noticing the knight grabbed the axes from their back and prepared to attack. As they approached, Cruz took out the sword on his waist while Caim took out an iron hammer from his bag.
"You take the one on the right, I'll take care of the one on the left.", Caim said while preparing for his opponent to attack.
"Got it", Cruz also readied himself as they approached.
The one on the left was the first to attack. He swung his axe in a forward slash that created a crack on the street as Caim evaded the attack by sidestepping to the left. He then swung the iron hammer aiming at the right side of his opponent's body. The burly man seeing that he couldnt block it in time with his axe instinctively used his right arm to guard against the attack. However it was futile. The speed of the attack and the weight of the hammer swept the opponent of his feet and crash against the floor. He clutched his right hand as he lay on the floor.
Seeing his companion be taken down so easily, the burly man in front of Cruz made a desperate attack against the knight. Cruz parried the attack easily and slashed the hand of his opponent. In desperation, the burly man attacked again, which Cruz evaded. Even with his heavy armor, Cruz's strength allowed him to move easily. After evading the attack, Cruz sliced off the handle of the axe causing his opponent to fall backwards. With no weapon, the burly man grabbed his accomplice to escape in one of the alleys.
"Thank you, thank you so much for saving me", the young woman cried in relief for it was finally over.
"It's nothing. Are you alright? You're not hurt?", Cruz said softly as he looked at her.
"I'm fine, but a young girl tried to save me. I was only able to escape because of her. Please help her. She was with three of them when I escaped and two of them chased me.", the young woman said while trying to fight back her tears.
"Don't worry, we will help her", Cruz said assuringly to the young woman with a smile.
"Let's go!", Caim said as he started dashing toward the dark alley.
As they headed toward the next alley, they saw the silhouette of three figures. Caim and Cruz readied their weapons and slowly approached the figures. But as they got closer, they saw that they had already been knocked out. A red haired woman was lying on her front. A tall man was sitted leaning against the wall. A burly man lying on his back was holding an axe with one of it's blades sliced through.
"Do you see any signs of the girl?", Caim said as he inspected the three of them and saw that they were indeed only knocked out.
"No, but that sure is one strong girl. Being able to take three people by herself. I would certainly like to meet her. Maybe I'll be able to meet her when she joins the competition.", Cruz said as he continued to observe the surroundings.
"Hmm...I better go. There's not much left we can do here anyway and you're going to stay here to detain them, right?", Caim asked.
"Yes, and if you meet other knights in town, could you tell them to come here?", Cruz said as he started searching for something to tie them with.
"Yeah...", Caim said nonchalantly as he headed towards the southern gate. He was wondering how the girl was able to break the axe.
'To be able to break it, you would need strength, dexterity, and most of all, a stronger weapon!', Caim thought as he got out of the alley and back on the street. Luckily, he spotted four knights walking headed to his direction.
"There's a buch of thieves back there in the dark alley. Sir Knight Cruz is currently handling them and would like your support.", Caim said politely as he stood in front of the knights.
"General Cruz? Here? It's his day off and he usually stays in the castle during this time. Hmm...what you just said is suspicious. Who and what are you planning?", one of the knights asked Caim as he stared at him.
"Wait, t-that's Master Blacksmith Caim. I have seen him fight in one of the competitions a long time ago. He won the competition easily and was already one of the handful master blacksmiths in the continent!", said one of the older looking knights.
"Please forgive me, I didn't know.", the knight earlier apologized to Caim.
"We'll go immediately and support General Cruz", the older looking knight said as he saluted. The four knights then immediately rushed to the dark alley.
'Hmm...So Cruz has already been promoted as a general.', Caim thought as he proceeded to walk back toward the southern gate of the city.
Note: Next chapter will be posted next week. I've been busy with school work, but hopefully I'll be able to finish the volume before the year ends..
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