Eon walked out of Meron's shop with a steady pace. The sack of leather on his shoulder felt much lighter than it should. Thanks to his stamina and strength being high compared to other humans, the weight of leather felt nothing.
Meron followed close behind him. The merchant was still pale. He kept looking at the empty spot in his back room where the stone used to be. He looked at Eon with a new kind of fear. It was the fear people have when they see a god or a ghost. Although he has seen this magic used in front of him once, but his fear for it hasnt decreased as of yet.
"Lord Eon," Meron whispered as they stepped onto the dusty market street. "I have seen many types of magic in my life. But I have never seen a man just... touch a stone and make it disappear, of course other than the certain incident which i told you about. What kind of magic is that?"
"The useful kind," Eon replied shortly.
He didn't want to explain the details of his System or his skills. To the people of this world, everything he did was magic. If they wanted to call it that, he would let them. It made him more intimidating, and in this world, being scary was a form of protection.
As they walked through the village at the base of the mansion, Eon looked around. The village was in bad shape. Back on Earth, Jin-ho had seen poor neighborhoods in Seoul. He had seen places where the paint was peeling and the streets were dirty. But this was different. This was the smell of true poverty and despair. Compared to this, earth's modern era's poverty was nothing.
The houses were mostly made of wood and stone, but many of the roofs were sagging. There were no children playing in the streets. The few adults they saw were thin. Their clothes were rags. This was the result of the Edger family's bankruptcy and the recent mercenary raids.
Suddenly, a loud shout broke the silence. It was followed by a dull thud and a high-pitched cry of pain.
Eon stopped. He turned his head toward a narrow alleyway between a closed-down bakery and a small house.
"Hey! Please stop! I'll get the money, I promise!"
It was a boy's voice. It sounded young, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old.
Eon walked toward the sound. Meron hurried after him, grabbing his sleeve. "Lord Eon, wait! Don't go there."
Eon looked at the merchant. "Why not?"
"That's ... that's just how things are here now," Meron said, his voice shaking. "Those are the local thugs. They pick on the weak. That boy... I know him. He is the son of the man who used to be the gardener for the Edger mansion."
Eon paused. "The gardener?"
Meron nodded sadly. "Yes. When the Count went bankrupt, he had to let go of almost everyone. The gardener lost his job and his home. He tried to start a small farm, but he caught cholera. He died almost overnight. Now it is just the boy and his mother. She tried to sell flowers and herbs to the local restaurants, but nobody is buying flowers when they can't even buy bread, you get it. They must have borrowed money from the wrong people."
Eon felt a cold anger rising in his chest. Back in his old life, Jin-ho hated bullies. He had been bullied himself when he worked those long shifts. Managers who yelled at him for being tired, or customers who threw coins at him. He knew what it felt like to be trapped with no way out.
"Poor things," Meron said, turning his head away. "But we should go. Those men are not average street thugs. they have connections to very powerful people in this territory. Even the Count's family avoid them. Getting in their way is not good, even for an individual such as you. Especially not for a... well, for someone in your position."
Eon looked at Meron. He saw the honest fear in the merchant's eyes. Meron was a man who survived by being invisible. He thought Eon should do the same.
"I can't unsee things as you, Meron," Eon said. His voice was quiet but it had a sharp edge. "And I promised in the meeting. I am going to turn this estate into a peaceful territory. I want to build a place where everyone can live happily. If I can't even protect a boy, then all my talk of building a sanctuary will become a lie."
Meron stared at him. He saw the fire in Eon's silver eyes. He slowly let go of Eon's cloak. He realized that Eon was not a man who cared about "connections" or "powerful people." He just wanted to save as much people as he can. And nothing can stop him.
"I understand," Meron whispered.
Eon turned and walked into the alley. Meron stayed a few steps behind, watching with wide eyes.
In the middle of the alley, five men were standing in a circle. They were big men, mostly in their thirties or forties. They wore dirty leather vests and had mean faces. One of them was wearing a brass ring on his thumb.
On the ground in the middle of them was a boy. He was thin and pale. His face was already covered in bruises. One of his cheeks was swollen and purple. He was clutching a small basket of wilted flowers as if it were a shield.
"Where is the interest, kid?" the man with the brass ring asked. He kicked the boy in the ribs. "Your mother promised us three silver coins by noon. It's past noon."
"We don't have it!" the boy sobbed. "The restaurant didn't buy the herbs! Please, give us one more day!"
"One more day means one more silver coin in interest," another thug laughed. He reached down and grabbed the boy by his hair, pulling his head back. "Maybe your mother can pay us in other ways. She's still got a pretty body, doesn't she?"
The boy screamed and tried to bite the man's hand. The man snarled and raised his fist to strike the boy's face again.
"Stop."
The word was not loud, but it cut through the air like a blade.
The five thugs froze. They turned around and saw a tall figure standing at the mouth of the alley. Eon stood with his arms crossed. He wasn't wearing his armor, just a simple cloak to hide his face, but he looked like a statue made of ice.
The man holding the boy let go. He stood up and spat on the ground. "Huh, Who the hell are you? This is guild business. Get lost."
"I am the person who is telling you to leave the boy alone," Eon said. He walked forward, his boots making a soft sound on the dirt. "And I am the person who is telling you that debt-collecting through violence is no longer allowed in this estate."
"Hahaha." The leader, the one with the brass ring, laughed. It was a dry, ugly sound. "Is that so? And who made you the King of the dirt? You're just a pointy-eared toy. Maybe we should sell you instead. An elf like you would fetch a lot of gold in the southern markets."
Seeing his cover was already blown, Eon was a little shocked to see a mere thug knew instantly his identity. As hiding his face no longer necessary, so he showed his face.
The other thugs started to move, spreading out to surround Eon. They reached into their belts and pulled out short clubs and rusted daggers.
"Lord Eon, please!" Meron shouted from the back. "They are too many!"
Eon didn't even look at Meron. He focused his mind. He didn't want to kill these men. If he started killing every thug in the area, the streets would be covered in blood. But he needed to send a message. He needed to show them that the old rules were gone.
"I'll give you one chance," Eon said. "Leave now. Walk away and never touch this boy or his mother again. If you do that, you get to walk away unharmed."
"Get this fucker!" before Eon finish, the leader roared.
The first thug charged. He was a big man with a heavy club. He swung it at Eon's head with a grunt of effort.
To Eon, the man's movements were incredibly slow. Almost 3/5th of the time slower. His senses and his improved stats made the world feel like it was moving through water. He didn't even have to use magic.
He stepped to the side, the club whistling past his ear. Before the man could recover, Eon struck. He didn't use a fist. He used the edge of his hand, hitting the man in the nerve cluster at the base of his neck.
Thud.
The man's eyes rolled back in his head. He dropped his club and fell face-first into the dirt. He didn't make a sound.
The other four stopped. Their smiles vanished. They looked at their friend on the ground and then back at Eon.
"What was that?" one of them whispered. "He didn't even hit him hard!"
"He's a mage!" another shouted. "Use the knives!"
Three of them rushed at him at once. One tried to tackle him low, while the other two swung their daggers at his chest.
Eon moved almost like a blur. He grabbed the wrist of the first man with a dagger. With a quick twist, he heard the bone pop. The man screamed as the dagger fell from his useless hand. Eon then kicked the man who was trying to tackle him, sending him flying backward into a pile of empty crates.
The fourth man tried to run, but Eon was faster. He appeared behind the man in an instant. He grabbed the back of the man's collar and slammed him against the stone wall of the bakery. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Finally, only the leader was left.
The man with the brass ring was shaking. His face had gone from red to a sickly grey. He looked at his four friends, all of whom were either screaming in pain or silent on the ground. He looked at Eon, who hadn't even broken a sweat.
"You... you're that demon," the leader stammered. "The one from the mansion. The mercenary-killer."
"Ohh, So you do know who I am, rumors spread fast i see," Eon said as he walked toward the man.
The leader backed away until he hit the wall. He fell to his knees, dropping his knife. "Please! We were just doing our jobs! The Boss... he told us to get the money! If we don't get it, he will kill us!"
Eon stopped in front of him. He looked down at the man with a gaze that felt like a winter storm. "Who is your Boss?"
"Neir! No, not Neir... his associates! The ones who handle the black market trade for the Merchant Guild! Please, don't kill me!"
Eon felt a flicker of interest. 'Neir'. The name Hans had mentioned in the meeting. It seemed the son of Count Hyra had his hands in many different pots. If the Merchant Guild was using thugs to squeeze the poor, then his plan for a "peaceful trade deal" might be harder than he thought.
"I'm not going to kill you," Eon said.
The leader let out a sigh of relief, but it was cut short when Eon grabbed his hand.
Eon looked at the brass ring on the man's thumb. He focused his Mana.
Matter Manipulation: Compression.
The brass ring suddenly grew hot. The metal started to shrink and tighten. The man screamed as the ring crushed his thumb, the bone snapping under the pressure. The ring didn't just tighten; it fused with the skin.
"That is a reminder," Eon said, letting go of the man's hand. "Every time you look at your hand, you will remember what happens when you touch the people of this estate. If I see you or your friends near this boy again, I won't just break a thumb. I will take the whole arm."
The man clutched his hand, sobbing and shaking. He didn't look back as he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the alley, leaving his unconscious friends behind.
Eon turned toward the boy.
The boy was still on the ground, staring at Eon with wide, terrified eyes. He looked like he wanted to run, but his legs were too weak.
Meron walked over, looking at the broken thugs with a mixture of horror and respect. "Lord Eon... you really didn't hold back. These men won't be getting out of bed for weeks."
"Good," Eon said. He knelt down in front of the boy.
He reached out a hand, but the boy flinched. Eon softened his expression. He tried to remember how his Grandpa used to look at him when he had a scraped knee.
"It's okay," Eon said in a gentle voice. "They're gone. They won't hurt you anymore."
The boy looked at Eon's black hair and his pointed ears. "Are you... are you a ghost?"
Eon smiled faintly. "No. I'm just someone who can handle small fry like those. What is your name?"
"Alen," the boy whispered.
"Well, Alen. Your father was a gardener for the Edger family, right?"
Alen nodded, a tear tracking through the dust on his face. "He was the official gardener for many years. He could make the roses bloom even in the winter. But then he got sick... and the Count didn't help us. Nobody helped us."
Eon felt a pang of guilt, even though he wasn't the one who had abandoned them. The old Count Edger had been a fool who let his estate rot while he gambled away his fortune.
"I'm sorry for what happened to your father," Eon said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a single gold coin. He had taken it from the mercenary leader's pouch a day ago.
He pressed the coin into Alen's hand.
Alen's eyes went wide. He looked at the gold as if it were a piece of the sun. "I... I can't take this. This is too much! The thugs only wanted silver!"
"Take it," Eon said. "Use it to buy food and medicine for your mother. And tell her to stop selling flowers for now. Tell her to go to the Count Edger mansion tomorrow. Tell her Hans is looking for people to help with the new herb gardens. We need someone who knows how to grow things."
Alen's lip trembled. He looked at Eon, and for the first time, the fear in his eyes was replaced by a pure, shining hope. He threw himself forward and hugged Eon's legs.
"Thank you!" Alen cried. "Thank you, Lord Elf! I'll work hard! I promise!"
Eon patted the boy's head awkwardly. He wasn't used to this kind of emotion. Back on Earth, he was just another face in the crowd. Here, he was a savior. It was a heavy weight to carry, but it felt better than hauling boxes.
Eon stood up and looked at Meron. The merchant was staring at him with a strange expression.
"What?" Eon asked.
"You really meant it," Meron said. "About turning this place into a peaceful territory? You're not just doing this for the gold or the power? Do You actually care about these people?"
Eon shrugged, picking up his sack of materials. "If I want them to work for me, I need them to be healthy. Dead workers don't make potions, Meron. It's just good business."
Meron chuckled. "You can say that, Lord Eon. But I've been a merchant for thirty years. I know the difference between a man who is doing business and a man who has a heart. The North is a cold place. Human's here hasn't had a heart in a very long time. Maybe that's why the gods sent an elf."
Eon didn't answer. He started walking back toward the mansion. The sun was beginning to set, casting long, orange shadows over the village.
He had the materials for his grindstone. He had saved a boy. And he had potentially made some very dangerous enemies in the Merchant Guild.
'Jin-ho, you really can't keep your head down, can you?' he thought to himself.
But as he looked up at the mansion on the hill, he didn't feel regret. He felt a sense of purpose. He was building something. Not just a forge, and not just a potion business. He was building a home.
After some time, they reached the gates, the Denares soldiers watched them pass. Eon ignored them. He went straight to the forge.
Liam, Kaelen, and Carla were still there. They looked surprised to see him back so soon.
"Did you get the stone?" Kaelen asked.
"I got it," Eon said. He dropped the sack on the central table. "And I got the leather. Liam, clear the space near the back wall. We're going to build something that will help us sharpen the blades faster."
The elves moved to help him. Eon opened his system screen one last time, after placing every ingredients for making the grindstone pedal in front.
Item Search: [Foot-Pedal Grindstone]
[Required Materials:]
High-density Sandstone or Emery stone (1 Large Block)Wrought Iron or Steel (For the frame and axle)Treated Leather or Heavy Cord (For the drive belt)Hardwood (For the base and pedal)
[Crafting cost: 500 Mana]
[Proceed with Crafting? Y/N]
Eon choose Y.
A brilliant blue light filled the forge. The raw materials on the table rose into the air, spinning in a whirlwind of mana. The iron twisted and flattened, forming a sturdy frame. The wood shaped itself into a base and a wide foot pedal. The emery stone was carved by invisible blades into a perfect, heavy circle, and the leather belt snapped into place around the axle.
Seconds later, the light faded.
In front them stood a machine that looked like it belonged in a different world. It was clean, efficient, and powerful. Everyone present here had their mouth open with awe. They had never seen such magic, if it could be even called a magic at this point.
Liam walked over and pressed the pedal with his foot. The heavy stone wheel began to spin. It picked up speed, making a low, humming sound that vibrated through the floor.
"By the stars," Kaelen whispered. "It's so fast."
Eon picked up a rusted, dull dagger from a nearby bench. He held the blade against the spinning stone.
Screeeeeeeee!
A shower of orange sparks lit up the room. In less than ten seconds, Eon pulled the blade away. The edge was shining. It was so sharp it could cut a hair in the air.
"This," Eon said, holding up the gleaming dagger. "Is how we win. We don't just fight harder from now on. We fight smarter."
The elves cheered, their voices echoing in the stone room. For the first time, they weren't just refugees hiding in a house. They were a force.
Eon stepped out of the forge and looked at the evening moon. He was tired, but his mind was already moving to the next step.
Author note: "If you're enjoying Eon's journey, consider supporting the story on Patreon for early chapters!"