Blacksmith

The warm glow of the morning light slipped through the window, illuminating Riven's room. His eyes flickered open. "Arghh!" he groaned, stretching himself on the bed.

He glanced at the door and noticed that the maid that came yesterday was not there yet. He decided to check out his system first before starting anything for the day.

[Riven Von Grave – Status Screen]

[Level: 1]

[Class: ???]

[Title: ???]

[Race: Human]

[Affinities: Blood, Fire]

[Mana: 1000]

[Strength: 11]

[Agility: 12]

[Endurance: 10]

[Intelligence: 14]

[Willpower: 16]

[Perception: 11]

[Charisma: 6]

[Skills:]

[Blood Manipulation – Lv1]

[Fire Manipulation – Lv1]

[Sword Slash – Lv1]

[Fist Fight – Lv3]

[Next Trial: 28 Days]

His lips curled up into a smile as he saw the changes inside his stats. The only thing that made him frown was the countdown till his next trial.

He didn't know if it would get harder with each trial or not.

He dropped his feet down from the bed and sat up. He opened his palms and looked at them. A small ball of blood slowly formed over his palm, floating around and slowly increasing in size.

"So this is the blood manipulation? Pretty nice," Riven said. Suddenly, the door of his room opened and the nurse walked in. Immediately, Riven stopped what he was doing. The blood fell to the ground, splattering on the floor and onto his legs.

He turned to the maid, the same one that came yesterday. He got up from the bed and faced her. "Uhm, good morning," he greeted her. She glanced at him with a large bowl in her hands. She didn't say a word and walked to the door of the toilet.

"Uhm, also, please can you knock whenever you want to enter?" he asked. She looked at him again. She saw that his expression was confident and calm. It gave her a feeling that he was trying to be reasonable.

"Forgive me, young master. It won't repeat," she said, her tone lingering on formality and sarcasm. Even he heard the tone, but decided not to think about it too much.

She walked in and got his bath ready. When she was done, she walked out.

"Thank you," Riven said as she walked out. She turned her head to him, nodded her head, and walked out without a word.

Riven didn't bother with how she behaved. He couldn't change their minds about him in just a day. He headed into the bathroom and took his bath.

After he cleaned up, he got dressed: a simple black shirt and trousers, similar to what he wore yesterday. After that, he spotted a small pouch inside the cupboard. He picked it up; it felt weighty inside his hands.

He loosened the rope around the pouch and looked into it. There was a good amount of copper coins and some silver coins inside.

"I guess even hated nobles still get some allowance," Riven said with a smile. He stuck the pouch into his pocket and walked out of his room.

He decided not to have breakfast today. The tension around the table was too much for him. He had been here for a while and he was yet to even speak to his own siblings.

He walked out of the manor, into the compound, and headed for the gates. He got to the gate. There was no one there, so he walked out.

He headed into the street, leaving the manor behind. From the window of the manor, his father, the Baron, stood watching Riven leave. He watched him until he was a very good distance away.

Liam also walked out of the manor and headed for the gates. He turned and looked at the Baron up in the house. The Baron gave Liam a nod, and Liam nodded back before walking out of the compound.

Riven headed into the town. The clatter of the day's activities filled his ears—people discussing, children running, and old people yelling at them to stop.

He walked along the stone roads, getting past shops and stalls that stood at the side. No one really paid attention to him because he didn't pause long enough for anyone to see his face.

His eyes darted around. He looked for a place to get some armor and weapons. If he wanted to head to the guild and become an adventurer, he needed to look like one.

The guild was at the town's square, and he was getting close to it. Finally, he found a blacksmith shop. It was a small shop with a wooden signboard on the wall with the words Dark's Blacksmith.

He pushed open the door and it rung a bell. As Riven stepped inside, the scent of burning coal and hot metal rushed into his nostrils, thick and sharp, mingled with oil and soot. The air inside was noticeably warmer than outside, filled with the low light of glowing forges and the occasional clang of metal striking metal.

The interior was dimly lit, save for the orange glow radiating from the furnace at the back of the shop. Sparks flew in the distance as a burly man hammered away at a heated blade on an anvil, sweat shining on his muscular arms.

Weapons of various kinds lined the stone walls—swords, daggers, axes, and spears, some simple and functional, others beautifully made, as if for decoration. Along the right-hand side of the room stood armor stands displaying leather armors, chainmail shirts, and heavier metal armor pieces, each one tagged with a small parchment listing the price.

Behind a wooden counter at the center, a young boy no more than sixteen organized tools and checked the blades of a dagger. He looked up at Riven with a curious gaze.

Riven took a few seconds to take in the shop. It was quite different from what he expected. It seemed way too advanced for a town of this level. This was something that belonged in bigger cities in the story, so why was it in a small town like Robert.