Saved By The Bolt

Khalid sighed in exasperation at the thought of how packed his schedule for this game would be in trying to corrupt just one single item. He took one last look at the imposing Training Hall before walking across to a building frequented by the village guard, the Greenwood Inn. As he walked in through the front door, he was relishing the sight of the quaint and medieval inn that looked exactly as he had expected. There were plenty of wooden tables and stools where people had gathered at while eating their meat and drinking ale while raucously laughing. He had caught sight of some of the village guard in their own corner, drinking together while retelling stories of their successful victories in repelling the monsters of the Greenwood Forest, and had thought of walking up to ask if there was a way to join them, before quickly extinguishing the idea. The moment people had noticed him, a hush had fallen over the previously rowdy inn, and the feeling of all the gazes falling on him had sent a shiver down his spine. Khalid quickly walked over the innkeeper before he could let his thoughts psych him out of his attempt to start gaining a high reputation. The innkeeper, Esmeralda, caught sight of him nervously, and hilariously stiffly, wobbling over to her. She yelled at the crowd to get back to what they were doing. "Oi! You lot better get back to your tales and bragging before I come show you what for! Over here scaring a lil baby chick into wobbling and leaning all over my inn." Khalid felt a wave embarrassment wash over him upon being called a baby chick but had finally managed to walk up to the counter. "Thank you for that, my name is Khalid. I was sent by, um, well actually I'm not too sure who I was sent here by but I guess it would be Zeus since he blessed me."

An ear piercing silence fell the moment he mentioned his blessing from Zeus as Esmeralda began to stare at him, her eyes seemingly filled with shock and ridicule. "You, a little baby chick that can barely walk straight through an inn while being stared at, really had the audacity to say you not only met the king of The Pantheon, but even endured his presence and was blessed? Wait a minute, you're one of those Otherworldly Demons aren't you?" Khalid realized he messed up badly by mentioning someone of such a high status upon his first meeting, and harshly reprimanded himself for being so casual about it, before making a mental note to be more low profile about his encounter with Zeus. "Uh, I'm not so sure what exactly an Otherworldly Demon is, but if you're talking about the people sent here to help fight against the invasion, then yes I guess you're right." Esmeralda began laughing hard, and everyone else inside followed her until eventually they stopped. "You, you're serious? You mean to tell me you, as an Otherworldly filth, managed to be blessed by the king of The Pantheon himself? I refuse to believe this." Esmeralda called for the village guard to grab him and take him to the village chief for questioning. The village guard, obviously riled up by the fact an Otherworldly Demon dared to brag about such an impossible event, rushed over and gripped tightly upon his arms. They threw him to the floor and tied his legs up as they literally began to drag his body over to the hut of the village chief. Their leather armor tightly fitting their bodies and aggressive demeanor had caused him to freeze up before he could even think about retaliating, and before he knew it he had landed himself in front of the village chief's place of residence after being dragged over a long stretch of dirt littered with stone pebbles and shards.

Khalid gulped as the guards had pulled him up and sat him on a splintered chair, tying him tightly to it, before knocking upon the door to the particularly grand hut. "Village Chief, please grant us an audience. We have tied up an Otherworldly filth that has dared to brag about receiving a blessing from The Pantheon, we ask that you expose this Demon for the fraud that he is." After the old village guard gave his stentorian plea that boomed through the quiet village, a crowd of villagers began to gather nearby, and the door to the hut began to open. "Hmm, after I had given you my token to be healed, you already managed to land yourself into even more trouble. You truly are a cursed one, aren't you? I can't tell whether to laugh or lament at your horrible luck. Well lets go ahead and see if you're truly a blessed one." The village chief finished his sentence with a bitter smile, taking out a see-through orb from his robes and placing it down at Khalid's feet. Before anyone could process the fact that the village chief not only knew Khalid, but had even given him his token, the orb began to shake violently. Thunderous noises began sounding out from the orb, and flashes of blue electricity began to shine within at a rapid pace. Soon, a figure similar to that of Zeus, though much less grand and imposing, had appeared over Khalid and had both of his hands resting on Khalid's shoulders. The entirety of the crowd gathered stood in complete shock, and the phantom of Zeus began to disappear before a blue lightning bolt struck the ground behind Khalid's chair, freeing him of his bonds. Khalid jumped up in pain as the lightning bolt had managed to lightly burn the skin on his arms, while the rest of the crowd simply stood there dumbfounded. "Well, do you believe Zeus blessed me now?" Esmeralda realized that Khalid was speaking to her, and began to panic while stumbling over her words, before the village chief cut her off.

"Enough child, I can see that our innkeeper has wronged you and I'm sure that she is apologetic towards her actions as well." The chief shot a look over at Esmeralda, and she picked up the hint, nodding her head violently in hopes of being forgiven. The chief sees this and simply sighs before picking up the conversation again. "Well, allow me to properly introduce myself this time, oh blessed one. My name is Narian Greenwood, chieftain of the Greenwood Village. I greet the Exalted of Zeus. If there is anything this lowly one can do to assist you, please do not hesitate to place forward your requests, I will strive to accomplish them as best as this old body can." Khalid stood there for a moment, trying to process the rapid turn of events that occurred in the past few minutes, before realizing this was his chance to not only gain a high reputation quickly, but also gain better equipment and instant access to the training hall alongside resources to help him advance quickly. "Ahem, Chief Narian, let us forgo the formalities. Although I was lucky enough to be blessed by Zeus, I myself am still a weak mortal. As for requests, I do have two. Firstly, I would like better clothing and equipment along with medical and food supplies. As for my second request, I would like to be granted a title that gives me high reputation and allows me to use the Training Hall." Narian heard his words and laughed lightly before realizing what exactly Khalid's goal here was. "Since the Exalted one does not insist on formalities, this lowly one shall proceed as before. Little child, the Training Hall is only open for the village guard as a way to encourage our villagers to train and protect us from harm. As for a proper place to train for a personage of your status, you need not look farther than the Adventurer's Guild. They have the proper facilities and staff to help facilitate your growth, and you can simply use my token to let them know the validity of your blessing." Upon finishing his words, Narian snapped his fingers, and winds began to pick up rapidly, creating a small whirlwind in the shape of a ball. As the winds began to dissipate, Narian's token appeared as it began floating towards Khalid. "As for the equipment and supplies, you can visit the blacksmith or Scynthian Merchant Store and present the token for the equipment and supplies."

Khalid lightly grabbed it and thanked Narian for the information and the token. He made his way over to the blacksmith first in order to grab some proper gear and clothing, as the chafing from this excuse of a garb he was wearing had gotten extremely bad. He was glad everything turned out well in the end, although it was a bit unfortunate he hadn't managed to unlock a new title or gain more reputation, but Khalid assumed the events that transpired moments ago would gain him plenty reputation, so he wasn't too upset about it. 

"Sigh, all of this is happening so fast, and my brain feels as though its 10x as slow compared to the outside world. Right now the priority here is to grab the better equipment to stop this damn chafing. If this continues any longer I might have trauma of this day of wearing a potato sack." Khalid gritted his teeth as he finished his walk to the blacksmith, his eyes glittering with joy at the thought of finally being able to wear proper clothing. As he makes his way over, he notices that the path to the North-West of the village suddenly cuts, making a sharp turn to the left with a singular shabby shop at the end of the path, crafted entirely with wood. A single board at the top of the shop hung loosely from one nail, creaking as it swung slowly in the wind. Khalid became unsure if he was at the right place, but the sign seemed to have the words "Greenwood Smithery" so he was definitely in the right location. Khalid sighed, not expecting much from such a rundown place, before pressing onwards. Right as he was about to open the door that seemed as though it would fall off its hinges at the slightest breeze, he was thrown backwards by a sudden force. He rolled over multiple times in the dirt before finally stopping after hitting a fence nearby. "Ugh, my.. everything. What in the world was that?" Khalid held his head with one hand, complaining of the pain, before looking upwards and seeing a figure standing in the doorway. A surprisingly young voice sounded out, filled with the endless vicissitudes of life. "Hey kid, no matter how shabby a shop is, its still a shop. Make sure you knock next time so that you aren't the one getting knocked to the floor again." With it's words done, the figure quickly slammed the door shut behind him, and the whole smithery began to appear as if it would vanish, turning illusory. It seemed to be right in front of him and yet so far away, like the moon's reflection in a pond. 

Khalid was sure it would be futile, but approached the door once more, and this time politely knocked on the door 2 times. As he tried to knock on the door though, his hand completely passed right through, before hearing the same voice as before booming in his ears. "WE'RE CLOSED YOU OTHERWORLD FILTH! TRY YOUR MANNERS AGAIN TOMORROW!" Khalid stumbled back in shock before sighing at the situation before him. It seems that he treated the NPCs here far too much like simple robotic characters. He grumbled at the fact the figure had yelled so hard his ears started to ring before pulling out the token given to him by the chief. The voice was about to start another round of yelling before suddenly pausing, apparently shocked that Khalid had this token. "You... How did you get this token." A sudden chill burst through the entire street, and killing intent surrounded Khalid. It was so overwhelming it felt almost like it was thick enough to push out any air, making Khalid feel as though he was drowning in quicksand. He dropped the token, grabbed his throat and fell to his knees, as the figure appeared once more, making an attempt to snatch the token that had fallen to the floor. All of a sudden, an even more overwhelming pressure descended from the skies, that had suddenly filled with grey clouds rumbling with electricity. A flash of blinding blue light passed through the skies rapidly and shattered the domain created from the killing intent, leaving behind a single bolt that radiated a pristine and imperial aura, untainted by the mortal world.

"Sigh I was truly hoping the influence of those self proclaimed kings of the Pantheon had stopped watching over us here in our tiny village. Not only has this not happened, but a blessed of that lightning fiend has even entered here. SIgh, well its only right to introduce myself considering the introduction given by your blesser. My name is Victor Hephaestusopoulos. As you can tell, I am indeed of the lineage of the divinity of forging, so among those at the Quasi-Grandmaster level of the Forging Path I am essentially unrivaled. Now, your turn, who are you and just how did you obtain this token." Khalid gasped in heavily as Victor's words ended, greedily sucking in as much oxygen as he could before coughing violently. He was enraged that he had to be saved twice in one day, purely because he was weaker than the other party, but swallowed his anger as he knew it was never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. "I am Khalid, an adventurer, and I was given this token for the same reason you decided to introduce yourself. The chief saw who had blessed me and gave me this token, telling me to enter the Smithery and grab myself some proper equipment." Victor's eyes widened at his words, before he began to cough trying to hide his embarrassment. "A-ahem, well since Narian himself handed it over, I see no reason to continue this conversation outside. Please, Khalid was it? Head inside and take a look for what suits you. I'll improve whichever weapon you choose as an apology for my rudeness." Khalid clenched his fist hard enough for his nails to pierce his skin and make him bleed, before flashing a fake smile at Victor and walking into the illusory shop.