The Struggle of Being in a City - Mary
1260 Words
Mary was sweating as she made her way into the inner part of the city. “Whew!” she exclaimed, “there is so much to do and see here! What do you think we should do Brutus?”
Brutus looked at her and shrugged his massive shoulders.
They actually didn’t have that much money; she had five silvers in her bag, and five coppers from the farmer. She still had her tools and some food, but she wasn’t sure what that would do for her. She figured she would try to get some kind of skilled labor job. There were so many options, jeweler, tanner, baker, blacksmith. She suddenly got excited.
“Blacksmith!” She shouted. Brutus was slightly startled and looked down at her curiously, “Being a blacksmith would be perfect for me. It is a skilled job, and there aren’t very many women blacksmiths, so I can make my name famous!”
She was getting excited about this idea and began walking around looking for a place to work. People tended to avoid the pair as they walked around due to Brutus’s massive figure and less than appealing features.
Mary went to two shops and both of them refused to take her on as an apprentice. “Well, maybe third time’s the charm” she mumbled to herself as she approached another blacksmith shop.
She walked in and heard, “Ooooowww! Pulchra! I accidentally hit my thumb again!”
“Again Risus? You are the best blacksmith within one hundred cities, and yet you keep hitting your thumb with the hammer?”
“I can be clumsy sometimes, thanks for the bandage sweetheart.”
“Sure thing dear.”
Suddenly a beautiful woman with brown hair and deep brown eyes appeared around the corner, “Hello there dear, how can I help you and the good sir behind you today?”
Mary was shocked at the woman’s mild response to Brutus. “You aren’t freaked out by Brutus at all?”
The woman named Pulchra looked back at her. “No dear, my husband and I have seen all manners of strange folk in here. Brutus would be quite normal by our standards. What can we do for you today?”
Mary shook herself out of her shock and said, “sorry, I was wondering if I would be able to work as a blacksmith’s apprentice. I am very good at using tools and handling fine materials, so I was wondering if I would be able to study and work for you.”
Pulchra smiled, “You wouldn’t be working for me, though. You would be working for my husband, Risus. Do you have the confidence to reach the same level of skill or higher as him?”
“Yes! I will work very hard!” Mary responded.
Suddenly, Risus appeared from around the corner with a blue glowing sword, “Finished! This actually went a lot quicker than I thought, I guess that guy could’ve come back sooner.”
He saw his wife and Mary talking with Brutus behind them. Risus whistled. “Wow! You are a big guy aren’t ya? What can I do for you guys?”
Pulchra answered, “This young lady here would like to work for you as a blacksmith. Are you willing to take her as an apprentice?”
Risus looked at Mary intently, and she looked back with an intense look of focus and determination on her face.
“I guess I can! But are you up for it?” Risus suddenly appeared much more serious, “Being a blacksmith is a simple job, but apprenticing under me is anything but simple.”
Mary gave a determined answer, “YES!”
Risus smiled and said, “Perfect! We will get started right away, then. There are a couple of rooms upstairs for you and the big guy...Brutus was it? Anyway, come with me in back to the forge. We have a project we can get started on right away!” Mary was astonished to get started so soon, but very excited.
“Alright” she exclaimed and she followed Risus into the back room.
Ch 11: What? Light? - Acacius
It was dark out and the sky was lit up by the stars and moon in the sky. Under the light of the stars and moon could be seen a shorter boy who was bloodied and bruised all over. His breathing was labored, and he struggled to even stand up.
Nero looked at this boy with disappointment. “You are pathetic, Acacius. We have been going at this all day, and now it is dark out and nothing yet. Do you not feel even a bit of power?”
Acacius looked at Nero angrily and replied sarcastically, “I don’t know, you tell me oh wise and powerful expert who thinks that beating me up will release this power.”
Nero looked back at Acacius with disdain. “Punk,” he muttered as another solid tentacle of shadow shot out and smacked Acacius across the open field.
Nicolas was sweating profusely from his personal training. he looked at Nero with concern, “Hey man, don’t you think that is enough? You’ve been beating and hurting him all day, give him a break!”
Nero didn’t look at Nicolas but replied, “i***t, we need to keep going until his power unlocks. If we stop now then his body won’t feel the stress of being in danger, and he will have to start the whole process over again.”
Nicolas looked down in frustration. He understood the reasoning, but he still wanted to do something to help his friend.
Nero continued walking towards Acacius as he was lying on the ground in agony. Suddenly, the ground started rumbling as a bright golden glow emanated from Acacius. Acacius’s hair turned bright golden color, and all of the injuries he accrued over the day and night faded. He found he could stand up.
The bright light coming from his body dimmed down and disappeared soon after, but his hair remained a golden yellow color.
“What?” Acacius asked himself, as he looked at his hands and around his body, seeing no injuries.
Nero heaved a sigh of relief, “Finally, something came out. It’s about freaking time.”
Nicolas was looking at Acacius with a huge grin on his face, “Duuuude, that was sooo cool! You should do more of that!” Acacius looked up at Nicolas with shock on his face, “I’m trying but I am not sure if I can!”
Nero looked at Acacius up and down and stated, “At least we drew the power completely out. It will take time for you to master and be able to use your abilities to their fullest, but the best way to figure out how to use it is to practice. Also, it looks like your hair is going to stay a pretty blond forever now, so get used to it!”
Acacius touched and played with his hair, “It’s blonde now...well, I guess it could be worse!”
Nero looked from Acacius to Nicolas, “Alright, let’s go get you some decent equipment. I know you two poor hobos have no money, but lucky for you I have a couple of golden royals, so that will be enough to get you something!”
Both Acacius and Nicolas had their mouths drop open. Two golden royals? One golden royal was worth twenty-five normal royals, and one royal was worth ten gold coins. One gold coin was worth ten silver coins, and one silver coin was worth ten copper coins.
Nicolas had paid for most of their current supplies with his three royals that he had managed to save up over two years, so they were only left with a few silver and copper coins.
This Mysterious and creepy boy called Nero just became much more mysterious.
- Writer
