Monsters Uprising

"It's heavy…"

Sief ran with a furrowed brow as the backpack on his back swayed rapidly, seeming fuller, and in his hands was the map he followed intently, the flame accompanying the path left by the healer.

Turning his eyes to the surroundings, Sief found himself between two hills that covered the area, allowing only a small portion of sunlight to enter and illuminate the way.

Despite being vigilant, throughout the rest of the journey, he hadn't encountered any monsters, and in the distance, he could already see the extra light indicating the end of the path.

He kept running until he emerged from between the hills, his view clearing, but the terrain abruptly ended, startling Sief, who clung to the nearest object, realizing that the ground ended there, leading to a drop into an ocean several meters below. He furrowed his brow slightly as he thought.

"Survive all this to die like this… would be…"

Looking at what he was holding onto, Sief saw the pillar of a bridge made of white stones that led to a fortified rock; the walls were high, but despite that, the large gates were open. Turning to the surroundings, he saw three other bridges leading to the same point.

Sief returned to solid ground and pulled out the map, sighing in relief and concluding.

"This must be the place…"

Still leaning, he held onto the ropes and began crossing the bridge with a bit more confidence. Although the bridge seemed very old, the place was clean, and the ropes looked new, making Sief notice the clear difference between a city and the Shaman's territory.

Upon reaching the site, the walls seemed as tall as those in Dokkel, but at the gates, he already noticed some noise as if people were talking loudly, and as he lifted his head, he understood why.

The entire path ahead was the rock of the cliff properly polished, while along the entrance path, various stalls and people declaring their prices could be seen. Where Sief walked, people moved at a much faster pace than in Dokkel.

Fruits, clothes, meats, and other obvious varieties stood out there, but Sief moved a bit further ahead, looking for a house that stood out, but there were many stalls, and he furrowed his brow slightly, thinking.

"This is too much for me."

He approached one of the stalls, seeing a large woman with tied hair who, upon seeing the boy, widened her eyes to announce, but was soon interrupted by the young man who questioned.

"Do you know where I can find the blacksmith?"

The woman lowered her eyebrows and said,

"Straight to the point, huh, boy?" She then gave a wide smile and extended a large apple toward Sief's face. "How about this? One copper coin!"

"No… thank you…" Sief stepped back slightly, furrowing his brow, and said, "I just want to know where I can find a blacksmith or a weapon merchant…"

"Maybe the blacksmith's address is in the apple." She showed a mischievous smile and asked, "Interested?"

Sief clicked his tongue, still furrowing his brow, and sighed, taking out one of the few copper coins he had, and as soon as it was placed on the table, it was quickly collected by the woman, who handed over the apple, still smiling.

"Good meal, boy. You look like you need it."

"Yeah, yeah." Sief bit into the apple, still in a bad mood, and asked, "And the blacksmith's address?"

"It's not in the apple?"

She gave a slight smile again, and Sief took a deep breath, but the woman laughed and said,

"I'm just kidding, boy." She stood up and extended her hand. "Give me your map."

Still with the same locked expression, Sief placed the map on the table, and the woman opened it. Her eyes gleamed with an almost transparent hue, and Sief watched as she touched the territory they were in.

As if zooming in a bit, the map focused only on the territory with an even better view, and again she touched the name of the city, revealing a complete map that Sief saw, almost as large as Dokkel.

The young man raised his eyebrows in surprise, and the woman touched a house near the city center with her fingertip, saying with an enthusiastic smile,

"There's an exotic blacksmith in the center; usually, you just show your attributes, but he…" She crossed her arms, smiling, and said, "You'll understand when you get there."

"Okay…" Sief pulled the map closer, still skeptical of that feature, touching the map and noticing that it was strangely tangible, noticing the relief in some regions that were nothing more than the territories. "Interesting…"

"Oh, you didn't know that?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I guess that's worth two or three apples… how about a watermelon?"

Sief was already pulling the map away and retreating, still curious, giving a slight smile and finally moving on with a slight grin.

"You're mistaken, I already knew."

He walked away with a slight smile, and the woman sighed.

The young man continued on, and when he used his mana on the map, the flame was smaller and followed his path, making the journey to the blacksmith much easier. In a few minutes of walking, he found himself at the city center, which was nothing more than a meeting point between the fairs.

Turning to the surroundings, he realized it would be difficult to find him, but soon noticed a particular stall that highlighted the blacksmith's sign, seeing that the stall was nothing more than an open door leading into a stone house where he could already see faint glows.

As he approached, Sief saw a house made entirely of stones, and the hot air already blew on his face, causing him to furrow his brow slightly, but he soon noticed a man forging a sword who didn't even seem to have noticed him.

He continued to enter and saw a counter that stood out amidst walls lined with weapons, from simple daggers to axes designed to lacerate. The glow of the strikes reflected off the metal of the weapons, making Sief whistle in surprise, until when he turned to the blacksmith, a pair of white eyes were staring at him.

Sief trembled slightly, realizing that something was projected from those eyes as if they were various circles and shapes he couldn't comprehend. Quickly, he raised the dagger, but soon heard,

"Where the hell have you been, boy?"

The man wiped the sweat from his brow and stood up, lighting a lantern in the corner of the wall, allowing Sief to see the face of an old man, blind in one eye, with black hair slicked back and a well-groomed beard, which made the young man raise his eyebrows with slight strangeness.

The light allowed him to see the blacksmith walking beyond the counter, picking up a thick branch from a drawer, which he pressed, and in an instant, the tip lit up, releasing smoke.

"You won't hurt anyone with that." He took a deep breath and blew out brownish smoke. "You carry a dagger and a spear, intriguing."

"N-No, I just want to sharpen the dagger, the spear I got recently…" He approached the counter and placed his dagger on the table. "And if possible, I want to trade it for a dagger that suits me. If you need my stats, I-"

"No need."

The blacksmith didn't even turn around and took a bracelet from the wall behind him. Sief raised his eyebrows, but in an instant, the man grabbed the boy's arm, who widened his eyes, and before he could react, the bracelet was on his arm.

"Fighting with two hands requires flexibility, so you'll need one of these and another larger one for bigger opponents." He held the branch in his mouth and blew smoke again, while staring at the assassin, who still didn't know how to react. "That dagger of yours is useless, choose another of those larger ones. This here will be more useful for you."

"A bracelet?" Sief furrowed his brow slightly and finally checked the equipment, noticing a certain weight. "I'm not sure if this is…"

When he focused his eyes on the equipment, Sief noticed an iron ring on his middle finger. He closed his hand to observe better, but as soon as his fingers touched his palm, a metallic sound echoed like a string being pulled, and a blade emerged, making him widen his eyes as he realized the tip was almost as long as his forearm.

"This is a hidden weapon, you're an assassin. With this, you'll be able to maintain your attacks." He opened the boy's hand, and the blade retracted in the same way. "With this, you won't need to draw your dagger and will also train your strength a bit. You'll need that to use it."

"A blade…" Sief remained slightly surprised by all that, but soon continued, "You saw all that without needing my stats? What are you?"

"I'm used to seeing adventurers, besides…" Once again, his eyes lit up, and the almost transparent circles stood out as the blacksmith said, "My unique ability makes my work faster. But I can see that you have defined muscles, you're strong, but not strong enough. You must be lighter than the girls your age, so you must be fast. Am I right? This is the best you can get without monster materials."

Sief listened to the entire description with raised eyebrows, seeing that he had hit almost everything spot on, but furrowed his brow slightly at the additional comment.

Continuing to move his arm, he realized that the object was heavier than a common sword.

"Will it give me the strength I need?" Sief moved his arm and noticed that the weight influenced his movements, but also gave him a strange sense of power. 'So the weight will train my strength in combat... this guy…'

Turning his eyes back to the blacksmith, who continued with his arms crossed, exuding an almost overwhelming presence, Sief suddenly noticed something.

'All this in an unique skill?'