章 18: Miss Ironstone

"Wait a second. Are you really a blacksmith?"

Klaus had to confirm because even if the mission said and the woman pointed so, it was still strange to meet a blacksmith so suddenly, and much more uncommon to be a woman.

Most of the blacksmiths Klaus had ever seen in Rise Online and in any other game, were either strong old men or cranky dwarves.

"Yes, sir. And why you ask?" The woman inquired, looking confused.

"N-no it's nothing. Could you repeat your name again, please?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed, positioned both hands on her waist, and proudly uttered once again? "I am Therkara Ironstone, a master blacksmith and a woman blacksmith."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ironstone. My name is Kaizen." said Klaus as he extended his hand to the woman.

The Ironstone lady looked at Klaus' outstretched hand, but instead of greeting him formally, she collected her hands and avoided looking him in the eye, aiming her gaze downward as she said:

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Kaizen. You may call me just Therkara, please."

Klaus was confused by the woman's reaction, except that he didn't mind too much not having his greeting accepted. Possibly this was a quirk of hers, or shaking hands was not used as a greeting in Rise Online. Other than that, Klaus had no reason to suspect the woman-king yet, because looking closely now, he could see the NPC's name flying above her head.

"All right, Therkara. Before I ask you what I can help you with, I have to tell you, you scared the hell out of me. Why were you spying on me?"

"I wasn't..." Proudly, she tried to deny it, but soon noticed Klaus' suspicious look. "Really, I wasn't spying on you. I just quietly approached without making any noise."

'And that's not spying for her?" Klaus wondered. "Anyway, you scared me. I thought you were a murderer or a specter."

"Specter!? Why did you think that!?" She again steeled herself and asked in a loud voice.

Klaus looked at her from head to toe and stated, "Why, you look finished and that black cloak you are wearing... What should I think? I don't have any good clothes either, so if I walk around with a hood over my head, I'll soon be killed."

When Therkara received this response from the player, she felt as if an anvil had hit her. While it was true that she was far from well-dressed, that was hard to admit.

One of Klaus Park's faults was that he, on most occasions, had not many filters capable of preventing him from being completely honest. So, he usually spoke the first thing that popped into his mind naturally, especially in more ordinary conversation.

"Anyway, forget about it. Why do you need my help? You know I'm going to charge you for it, right?" Klaus asked.

Kaizen was indeed interested in the mission because of the generous rewards, but before accepting the mission, he wanted to confirm what it was about. The description that appeared in the mission proposal revealed almost nothing.

Therkara looked at him again and answered:

"As I said earlier, I am a master smith, or rather, I think I used to be one. I woke up a few days ago in this forest, and at first, I didn't even know where I was, but slowly I started to remember certain things by visiting certain places. This destroyed forest used to have amazing beauty, full of trees with fruit, and although my people didn't like this outside world very much, we lived near here, of the plenty of food and water ins this region.

Klaus doubted a little that a place as gruesome as the Misty Woods could ever have been as Therkara described, but within a game, that wasn't so impossible. There were strange trenches that could have been streamed, and the hollow where the Shadowcat was could have been a river many years ago.

The Blacksmith woman then continued to explain. "After recognizing the area, I ran to where I used to live. Although a bit confused, I managed to find my way to my home: a village of blacksmiths within a small but deep mountain to the east. However, as soon as I arrived at the village door, I was faced with a sea of spider webs."

"Spiders? Did you kill them?" Klaus asked.

"No..."

"Why? If it really was a sea of webs, a torch would be enough, no?"

"N-not normal spiders!" Therkara blushed with embarrassment and exclaimed. "They are the Scorpion Spider type, and if you don't know, they are huge! Each one is over a meter tall, and the venom from these monsters is scary!"

With his right hand, Klaus scratched his chin a little, thinking.

"Spider-Scorpion? I've never heard of that monster. Are there a lot of them? Even if they are big, I can set fire to that cave and set up an ambush for those that escape outside."

"There are many, dozens! And no, you can't burn the cave either! My village is inside the mountain and I want to see if there are still people there." Therkara stated.

Klaus Park stared at the blacksmith-woman with narrowed eyes because of her answer. To him, it was strange that Therkara still had hope that someone was alive inside a monster-infested cave.

"Kaizen, I am desperate. Please help me kill those Scorpion Spiders!" Therkara exclaimed, leaning forward, and in the same hour, the mission proposal screen updated.

[Mission Name: The Lost Links.

Upon meeting Therkara Ironstone, you received her request for help in killing the Scorpion-Spiders that infested the ancient Blacksmith Village that used to be in the Misty Woods.

Possible rewards upon completing this Quest:

- +1000 XP.

- Class Points (3)

- +100 silver coins.

- Mysterious Reward (1).

- Path to the Class Mission.

Do you wish to accept? YES/NO.

(Warning! The recommended minimum level for this quest is 15).]

[You have realized that Therkara Ironstone is hiding something. If you can find out what this secret is, your chances of winning the Mysterious Reward increase].

Klaus was hesitant to click YES to accept the mission. Although he was very tempted, the recommended level was at least fifteen, and he was at level 1, which meant that once again, he would be going into an area where any hit could kill him.

Still, the rewards were great, and the situation too opportune for him not to accept. If he didn't accept, he might not have a chance to win a mission like this until Monday.

Taking a deep breath, Klaus clicked to accept the mission and, at the same time, looked at the woman.

"I will do my best to help you." He replied.

A huge smile appeared on her face; she then threw her black cloak up in celebration.

"Yaay! Thank you so much, Kaizen! I swear you won't regret it! There were some of Midgard's best blacksmiths among my people, maybe we'll find a better bow for you!"

[You have accepted the Hidden Mission 'The Lost Links'].

[The quest will fail if:

- You die.

- Therkara Ironstone dies.

- The Blacksmith Village catches fire].

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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