Shin, Kate, and Chun Qin walked out of their ship. The moon of Wrath, the weather was constantly scorching hot and the skies remain a constant hue of grey and black. Billowing clouds of fumes emitted from volcanic vents all over the surface hover menacingly over the city of Smiths. Hundreds of thousands of “Tinks” from hammers could be heard in the background as if it has become nature’s white noise. Dozens of blacksmiths line the main street. Hundreds of merchants and peddlers move back and forth between the shops moving metal and products. They cover almost all metal mending on the planet. All cast iron skillets used for cooking, all metal fences, and even bronze statues, all come out of the blacksmithing central city of Smiths on Wrath.
They walked down the road, window shopping and browsing various interesting metal wares. Shin restock on some metal grilling tools and Chun Qin got some metal boxes for storage. Soon they came to the middle of the town. In the middle of the town was a large billboard. On it was poster for all sorts of metal orders. They were ranked on difficulty and blacksmiths could browse the board looking for commission. Shin spotted a poster on the very edge of the board. It was a ragged poster titled “Brigid’s Brilliant Battle Wears.” It had crudely drawn pictures of various weapons. There was an address at the bottom of the poster. It looked quite crude and was completely ignored as background color for the billboard.
[Shin]: This…couldn’t possibly be it…could it? [Kate]: Doesn’t hurt to try.They went to address and found a small wooden door between two larger black smiths. It was at the end of a stairways leading down into a basement. On the door was a nicely carved metal door sign saying “Brigid’s Smiths”. On the door was a post-it note saying, “Out to lunch.”
[Chun Qin]: Looks like we just missed them. [Shin]: Speaking of lunch, we haven’t had any yet. [Kate]: I saw a nice restaurant over there. Let’s go get a seat and a cold drink to relieve this god awful heat. [Chun Qin]: Good idea. This priest robe is getting heavier and heavier by the minute…They backtracked to a local diner named, “Hot Skillet Bar and Grill.”
They got a table and the tree of them sat down. They ordered food and drinks and happily started having lunch. Suddenly they heard shouting.
[Girl]: I, the great Brigid Smith, Demands ice cream!A girl was pounding on a table behind them while screaming at the waiter for ice cream. The bearded man next to her covered his face in shame.
[Waiter]: W-what flavor would you like? [Girl]: Vanilla! [Waiter]: O-ok dear customer. We will bring you an order of ice cream soon. [Girl]: Make it fast!The girl sat back down all grumpy after her tantrum. The bearded man try to console her.
[Shin]: Did you hear that? [Kate]: This seems like far too much of a coincidence… [Chun Qin]: True, but one says there is no such thing as coincidence…only fate.Chun Qin walked over to the table.
[Chun Qin]: Excuse me, are you Brigid Smith?The girl looked at Chun Qin like she just saw a large bear.
[Bearded Man]: Why do you ask? [Chun Qin]: I would like to recruit her. [Girl]: I don’t like priests, they look too weird. [Bearded Man]: No deal.Chun Qin could only walk away in regret.
[Shin]: Ahaha, you got told off by a little girl. Let me go try.Shin walked up to the table.
[Shin]: Little miss, sorry about my friend there. He wasn’t trying to be weird.Chun Qin gave Shin a menacing glare.
[Girl]: Your weird too, I don’t like you.The bearded man stood up and blocked Shin.
[Bearded Man]: Leave us alone.Shin walked away in regret as well.
[Chun Qin]: Not so easily is it? [Kate]: You two don’t know how to deal with a child…Kate took the beetle shell part and walked to the table.
[Kate]: Can you make something out of this?She showed the girl the shell.
[Girl]: This…cooool it’s so shiny. I want it! [Kate]: Help us with something and I will give it all to you. [Girl]: Sure thing sister!The ice cream arrived and the girl ate it faster than anyone could see.
[Shin]: God my head hurt just watching her eat so much ice cream so fast. [Chun Qin]: How does she not have brain freeze…. [Girl]: I’m done. Let’s go!The girl jumped up and ran out the door.
The bearded man slammed money on the table and ran after the girl.
[Kate]: I-I guess we follow her? [Shin]: I guess…They paid for their lunch and ran after her.
Back at the door down the stairs, the girl and the bearded man waited.
[Girl]: Slow, too slow!She opened the door and entered. Shin, Kate, Chun Qin, and the bearded man followed in after.
Although the outside looked plain and ordinary, the inside was probably the most exquisite of smiths on the entire street. Everything was maintained perfectly clean and various powerful weapons emitting murderous auras line the walls.
The girl stood on top of the table.
They all stared at her wide eyed.
[Shin]: B-but you look…like a twelve year old girl… [Brigid]: It’s good to look young but I am tired of being treated like a child due to my looks… [Kate]: I…I think I should be feeling jealous. We are almost the same age… [Brigid]: Anyways, what do you want me to do? [Kate]: Would you please join us on an adventure? [Brigid]: Make me.…
Kate slowly took out both the entire beetle shell and the broken slime king core.
[Kate]: Take these. [Brigid]: Yeay, good materials to make stuff. [Kate]: There’s more where that come from. If you join us for the Antagonist Online game, we will get more than just B rank beast pieces.The girl’s eyes shined with anticipation.
[Brigid]: But…She looked toward the bearded man. He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder.
[Bearded Man]: It’s ok. It’s time for you to enjoy a journey of your own, like I did long ago. Perhaps you may learn new skills and create mythical things. You already learned everything I could teach. Take the Smith name, and make it known as a legend. [Brigid]: Yes sir!She turned toward the group.
[Brigid]: I’ll join you, but first I want to make something out of these two items. [Kate]: Take your time, we got a year until the event starts. [Brigid]: OK, one year is more than enough time to prepare for the adventures ahead.She pumped her fist up in anticipation.
[Shin]: This…was far easier than I thought… [Chun Qin]: I think Crule might be joking when he said this was supposed to be a challenge… [Shin]: I feel sorry for you, having to get the red rider. [Chun Qin]: Hey hey, you can’t push it all to myself… [Kate]: Good luck Chun Qin! [Chun Qin]: Not you too… [Brigid]: Hey you guys, don’t leave me out!
