Chapter 5: Blacksmith's Apprentice
The night descended as Axel finished up collecting cobwebs for one of the previous requests where he was knocked unconscious by the White Spider. He once again wondered if the people of this world knew about Milletians and their ability to auto-revive upon being slain in battle.
The world of Mabinogi that he was currently transferred to upon his death in Earth was in some ways vastly different from the MMO that he had once played. Instead of there being guilds created by "players", there was an adventurer's guild that was stratified in ranks of ability. The Elemental Orb served as a magical tool that could measure the levels and ranks of an adventurer. The market board was used not as a way to trade between "players', but was a means of work by completing requests posted on there.
All of the sudden, Axel felt strangely curious about what lies ahead for him in this unknown world. It would be completely different from the entire process in which he had leveled up and acquired equipment in the game. As he reflected on these thoughts, he saw that the Dunbarton Moongate had opened up, and he walked over the glowing portal where the chained up mana stone was floating high up in the air.
In an instant, he subconsciously imagined Tir Chonaill in his mind, and the next second, he appeared in a grass field extending endlessly in front of him.
The green landscape seemed to ease the anxiety in heart upon arriving in this new world. If Axel had not previously been a top ranked player in the original Mabinogi game, he would have felt fearful and unable to accept the reality in front of him.
Slowly, he took a few brisk steps in the grass field and heard some familiar animal sounds in the distance.
"Baaaaaaaaaaa!!! Baaaaaaaaaa!!!"
When he peered over to his left, he saw a herd of sheep nawing away at the grass. At this moment, he knew that this scene in front of him led him to confirm that he was indeed in the pastures of Tir Chonaill now.
Seeing that it was quite dark now, he headed off to the nearest inn in town. After walking a distance, he saw a wooden bridge that was built between the river and crossed it successfully. Afterwards, he climbed uphill, and crossed another bridge that was also built alongside the other parts of the segmental river.
Right after crossing the second bridge, he saw a small inn that was shaped in a old fashion cottage that was made from bricks and wood. Upon coming closer to the inn, he saw an amiable young lady with honey-blond hair in a traditional skirt. The lady seemed to notice an incoming customer and yelled,
"Do you need lodging for tonight? Let me lead you inside the inn!"
Axel nodded and followed her inside.
Inside the inn, various candles light up the brick like structure. By the counter there was a clean shaven, middle aged man in medium length navy blue hair. He looked over at the young lady and asked,
"Nora, is this a new customer we have here?"
"Sure is, Uncle Piaras." replied Nora.
"Welcome to the Tir Chonaill Inn! My name is Piaras and I am the Innkeeper of the only inn in town." Piaras chirped.
It seemed that he was excited that a customer had come, seeing that Tir Chonaill was a small town way out in the sticks. The townspeople were mostly self sufficient through agriculture practices and raising cattle.
"I would like to reserve a room here for 2 days." said Axel.
"Is that all? That will be 200 gold. Thank you for your patronage!" replied Piaras as he handed an antique looking key to Axel.
Axel handed him the gold and took the key which had a carving of "202" on it and went upstairs to the corresponding room.
Upon unlocking the door and going inside, he slid on the bed and fell asleep right away. Although that he was Level 3 now, fighting a White Spider and spending an entire afternoon of gathering cobwebs had drained him of his stamina. Soon after he entered into a dream realm, but something was amiss.
Inside the dream, Axel could see a beautiful young woman, or rather angel in a petite one piece overall standing in a colosseum like platform. The spotlight shone on her as if she was a godly existance to be worshipped. Her black angel wings seemed to contradict the whiteness of her robe, and her pale marble like shoulders seemed to blind whoever had laid sight on her.
"Can you hear me?--Oh, you can hear my voice--I have a rather difficult request, please come to Tir Na Nog--the world is in danger." the angel's voice trembled.
The next thing he knew, Axel disconnected from the dream as if it was planned beforehand. It was morning in Tir Chonaill, and he could hear the birds chirping outside of his window in the room.
To Axel who had played the original Mabinogi game, this dream was not a coincidence. The angel, or rather goddess that reached out to him was Goddess Morrighan. She was one of the many goddesses in the game Mabinogi and her call for help was the start of Generation 1, the first storyline in game for new players. Even the line of dialogue was similar from the original game, which spooked Axel a bit.
Eventually, the Milletian or Axel in this case would have to go to Tir Na Nog to defeat an ancient monster called Glas Ghaibhleann which was summoned from another realm to destroy the world of Erinn, which is the realm in which all the races and Milletians resided in.
As if trying to forget the event of the Goddess' calling, he got up and went out of the inn.
...
Axel took a third of his bread and sasiated his hunger. Then he thought to himself, "I really need a weapon or else I don't have a chance of beating a Gray Wolf."
At the moment, he had zero weapons and zero skills, which was detrimental to his combat ability. Sure, he could kill a few White Spiders and Brown Foxes if he used his boxing, but being Level 3 did not essentially give him an guaranteed victory in battle every time.
He thought that he would invest some time in life skills, other known as crafting skills previously in the game. He crossed the two bridges back to the grass fields, and turned left towards the blacksmith shop in Tir Chonaill. Soon he saw a middle-aged man with a tan, muscled complexion, and had a scruffy beard that distinguished him as a seasoned blacksmith. He was leaning on the wall of his shop and chewing on some raw grass.
"Good Morning Sir, I'd like to be apprenticed in the ways of forging." said Axel.
The blacksmith looked up. He stopped his chewing and replied,
"The name's Ferghus, I'm not taking any students at the moment, but there is something you could do for me, and I'll promise you a hefty reward at the end."
"What is the request?" asked Axel.
"I'd like you to procure 5 Gray Fox pelts which I need to make a decoration on a lightmail for a job I've taken on. Upon completion, I'll give you one of my handmade daggers, how's that?"
The weight of his words seemed to sink Axel's sense of reality into a corner. A dagger would easily fetch a good 1500 gold in any blacksmith shop, and Ferghus offered one for only 5 Gray Fox pelts. Gray foxes were only slightly stronger than a brown fox. If a brown fox was the one of the weakest monsters in this world, about 2 brown foxes would equal the combat strength of 1 Gray Fox. In this sense, it was a lot less dangerous than fighting a Gray Wolf bare-fisted, which he could imagine leading to his utter defeat.
"Deal." replied Axel as he set off for the north region of the grass fields. His luck was turning for the better and thought this would be his chance to rise up to an Iron rank adventurer in a short amount of time.
Weekly Power Status
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