"Oh , can I ask him to come with us ?." says Rafat .
he might want to see the shop too .
" Yeah sure , bring him along , " answers Azila .
Rafat walks to their table , hearing what his dad is talking about as he approaches . The war ? I guess Warob doesn't know about it .
" Hey , Warob, we are heading to the merchant, do you wanna come ? " asked Rafat .
Warob glanced out the window to see that it's still early in the day but he still nods .
"The merchant is in town ? " says Altaaf . " That's why it's a slow day today . Azila are you going ?"
"Yes , I will be back in about an hour." answers Azila ," do you want something from there ?"
could you get a nice painting to hang on the wall ." said Altaaf , "One used to be there but it got stained by someone ."
"yeah I can get a good painting to fit there ." says Azila , " but do you want to join us ?" . As they both were getting up from the table .
I can go there later , after you return , " said Altaaf ," someone should be here outside the kitchen too . I am not too interested in going anyways and Warob , I will tell you more about it some other time ."
yeah ok , " Said Azila , " let's go then."
Azila looks at Warob, realizing he is a lot taller than she thought he was .
There they are walking outside passing the other shops . Azila being a bit ahead of them , Rafat and Warob walking together .
we are just going to the shop to look around ." said Rafat ," I couldn't tell my mom about the whole thing , she just knows I have to meet the merchant . I have never seen the shop before , have you ?"
Warob shakes his head . I guess it's not just me .
"It'll be more fun then , I hope you didn't think we were going there for something important. "
Warob gestures with his hands, no worries .
"Oh sorry about that but we could enjoy the shop though , since we are supposed to visit after it's closed , we can't see how the shop is during its opening hours ."
Rafat's eyes turn ahead to see the shop . " THE MYSTIC MERCHANT " a board on a small shop and line of people going in and coming out of it . How can the shop fit so many people? It looks like it can upmost only fit 30 at a time and the doors are as wide as the shop is , which seems very unusual . waited in the line a bit and then they entered the shop . Rafat is astonished by the space inside , the shop might be able to fit 500 people or more . I wonder how it works like this .
"You can come with me if you want." Azila shares ," I will be heading to the decoration section ."
" We will just look around for a bit ." Rafat answers . Azila makes her way to the section while Warob and Rafat stroll around all the different sections . There are a collection of different sections: weapons , clothes , tools , accessories and some more.
There isn't anything Rafat particularly needed but he is amazed by the variety , there were products from around the world and you could feel the different styles of their craftsmanship . Warob seems like he is not interested , Rafat thought .
he walked around with Rafat barely glancing at the merchandise . while they are at the tools section Rafat is looking at a hammer which is similar to Warob's one . His head turns to Warob , as he is about to show him the hammer , he notices Warob seems to be intrigued by something , his head turned , facing somewhere else .
"Wanna go there?" asks Rafat .
Warob nods . They make their way to a book section , it looks more like a library , having sections of its own . Warob pacing to the history section and Rafat following behind . He grabs a book , without looking around for even a second . The 'Shattered Crystals' is a book on the history of the crystal kingdom . Oh it makes sense why he would want a book like this , he did seem really interested .
"Do you like history ?"
Warob nods .
"Well we might be able to find something that could give us some more info on elementals or on their time , in normal libraries, something like that is nearly impossible but in a place like this there could be a useful book about it ." shares Rafat . " Let's look around a bit ."
Warob nods and grabs a book from the lowest shelf as Rafat looks around , handing it to him . well this book is heavy. Rafat wipes the dust off , 'elementalist world' title on the book .
"Let's give this a read when we have time ." says Rafat " there could be at least something useful in these pages . " flipping through them and closing the book .
" Well we have seen most of the shop." Rafat comments " Is there anything else you're interested in? "
Warob shakes his head .
" Wanna head out then ? "
Warob nods .
"Lets pay for our books first. " Rafat Added " I don't see where we can do that though. "
Rafat looks around . That's odd , people seem to be leaving without paying . Are these free ? He checks the book and well there is a price written on them , oh wow this book is expensive .
" Let's ask someone." suggests Rafat and approaches someone heading for the exit .
Hello sir ? How do you pay here ? Rafat asks
"Well , you can just leave with what you want to buy and coins will be taken by itself , it's a clever system , so you can't leave with something that's not paid for. " says the customer .
So the merchant doesn't need to be in the shop? .
"Where would the merchant be ?" Rafat asks .
"I have never seen him . People do say that when he arrives at a place , he buys items for his own shop while his shop runs by itself , so he would be outside somewhere between the shops , I don't know what he looks like though ." answers the customer .
Well , he seems like a humble man.
"No problem , thanks for the help , have a good day." says Rafat
"You too " , says the customer as he heads to the exit . Why was that guy staring at me the whole time?
Hey, can I have that book ? Rafat asks .
Warob hands him his book . Rafat immediately runs for the exit , not wanting Warob to pay . Dodging the customers he makes it out . He lets out a little laugh as he imagines how it would've looked from Warob's perspective . He checks his pocket , wow that does happen . He looks up to see warob made it out .
Handing Warob his book , "Here , I didn't want you to pay for it so consider this as a gift if you want. " says Rafat , smiling ." wanna go to the inn again ? We can read together if you want ."
Rafat nods . They make their way back to the inn. It started to get lively , as people came to the inn after visiting the merchant . Altaaf is again busy with the customers , they both take their seats at a table . setting their books down . Opening the covers , Rafat and Warob began to read their books . Rafat goes through the introduction first , reading the author's name ' fuje ' , getting an idea of how reliable the text is . He reads ' the bold sentences are facts from my research and the other text is speculation , theories and opinions that are marked with their respective symbols ' . Well at least the writer is honest but still I don't know how dependable the 'facts' are . He looks through the chapter names , sliding his finger top to bottom . There isn't a specific chapter that catches his eye , similar in names to some other books he has read , until he reaches the bottom . Simply titled 'the great mage' , this is the first time he has seen a whole chapter dedicated to it , as these words rarely appeared in books . He flips through the pages reaching the chapter's beginning . Behold , there was only one bold sentence that read ' The great mage did exist ' . Well that isn't new but what research did he do to make this a fact . He reads further into the chapter which are just theories and speculation , The mage could still be alive and I have multiple reasons to believe it . Firstly our language all around the world is the same , what we write and what we speak. If you put enough thought into it , the chance of that is so incredibly low and there would have to be a very specific way for this to be the outcome . Furthermore , we don't know what level of magic control the mage possessed , the mage was the strongest but by how much from others is uncertain . We don't know how much of an effect he or she has on the world . well this book has given a different perspective . Rafat looks up to see Warob invested in his book . Reading at an alarming rate , turning a page every few seconds . Could he….well there is a chance . As Rafat finishes his thought , Warob closes his book.
Rafat turns the book to Warob , "Hey , check this out ."
Warob only glances at the text .
"Rafat ! "
"Oh mom is back, coming " , Rafat gets up ", she might need my help , so you can read while I am gone."
Rafat heads to the kitchen .
"Here take this painting , hang it on the wall." says Azila, " it's about to be lunch time."
Rafat goes outside, hanging it on the wall . His stomach rumbles , I should eat something . Making his way back to the kitchen , he notices how absorbed Warob is when he is reading , not even the slightest of movement . Entering the kitchen , he is instantly handed a plate .
"Wait , How did you know ? " says Rafat .
"What do you mean you are always hungry around this time?" says Azila , " if you're free after this you could help around , your father can use your help and I don't know why he isn't hiring someone to work on the front ."
"Yeah sure." , says Rafat as he eats ," I am free for a while ."
Orders started to come in and the inn slowly became lively , outside laughter could be heard in the kitchen. Azila places the meals at a window from where Altaaf picks it up and serves the guests.
Rafat finishes up . putting his plate on the counter
" Take this to table three " says Azila, handing a tray to Rafat ," And you could put your sword..umm..nevermind just keep it on and serve the table the , food is gonna get cold ." , he looks nothing like a waiter she thought as a smile appeared on her face .
"Okay.", says Rafat and heads out . Wow the inn is pretty full . He looks around for table three and makes his way there serving the people and then goes back to the window for more trays to serve , as he does his duty as a waiter . He later notices someone sitting with Warob . A Purmal , little man with a tall pointy hat and purple skin, wearing some simple loose clothes . Well I have never seen him around here , he could be but I guess there is no harm to ask . Rafat goes back grabbing another tray which by chance for a table that passes theirs . Serves the food and on his way back , approaches their table , I wonder what they are talking about . He observes the person's face for the first time . Wise looking , wearing glasses and with shining grey eyes . He seems to be discussing something from the book .
"Welcome to the inn sir" says Rafat ," I have never seen you here before , do you come here often?"
"Oh no no , I barely come by once a year . " says the Purmal , as a smile starts to appear . "What's your name, young man."
"Rafat and this is warob." Says Rafat .
"What are the chances , you were expected to meet me later in the day." says the Purmal
"Wait , So you are the merchant ." says Rafat . I had a feeling , didn't expect him to look like this though .
"Indeed I am," says the merchant . " Just call me Rauz , your friend here is quite the listener."
"Oh , could you give me a moment? I need to take care of something, " says Rafat as he looks to the kitchen window, starting to fill with trays of food waiting to be served.
"Yes of course I am free for some time ." says Rauz.
Rafat paces to the window grabbing the trays and distributing them to their respective table as fast as he could . He goes back into the kitchen to tell Azila about the merchant .
" Oh the merchant's here, where is he ?" she asks .
Rafat shows her as she peeked outside the kitchen .
" That's him right there with warob ." says Rafat
" He is so small and actually quite more simple than I imagined," says Azila , " how is he here , isn't he supposed to be managing his shop ?"
"Most of the time he is never in the shop ." says Rafat . " The shop just runs by itself."
"Really ," says Azila . " I just thought he would be somewhere in the shop , wait so you didn't meet him ?"
"Yeah we didn't and we were going to try again later in the day , but thankfully we won't have to." says Rafat
As Azila goes back to the kitchen . "He didn't order anything but just in case , ask him again ."
"Yeah sure ." says Rafat " and mom I won't be able to take orders for a while , since I have to talk to the merchant ."
"Okay then, I will tell your dad when he comes around again , " says Azila , " he does naturally shift to taking orders only , whenever you're helping around , I guess that is efficient , and don't worry , the main surge of orders has already passed. "
Rafat takes an extra chair from the kitchen and places it down at the table.
"Rauz, would you like something ?" asks Rafat.
"Oh no , I am good for now. I ate before joining warob , I was sitting at another table . " says Rauz
I served him before ? I guess I didn't notice. He takes a seat at the table .
" I saw warob reading this , so I asked to join in. I somehow never read this book and it's quite interesting."
Warob nods in agreement.
"We actually got this from your store today, this was the first time I have visited it. " said Rafat
"Oh really , so what did you think of the shop?" asked Rauz " it's good to know a customer's opinion . "
"It was amazing but I couldn't tell how it all worked ." says Rafat ," the shop was somehow huge from the inside . "
Rauz lets out a light laugh and says " it does catch most people by surprise , basically I have a large shop in one place and just link the door from the small shop to it and the small shop just travels around ."
" You must be a strong mage , the constant magic for the shop and the whole purchasing system , that would require so much power to work ." says Rafat.
" Most people assume that when I tell them about the shop ," says Rauz , " but I am not strong, I just have more magic capacity and I just made efficient use of it , now regarding the main matter I would suggest we take a walk while we have that discussion since we could be overheard and I also need to make some stops around some shops ."
"Yeah sure , that would be better ." says Rafat .
And warob nods in agreement . All three of them get up and head outside.
" Just follow me, I will make my stops on the way ." says Rauz .
They followed Rauz who barely made it to their legs . Rauz paces while Warob and Rafat take steps .
"It's easier for me to shop because the streets aren't busy, " says Rauz .
"Yeah I do notice that now , many people are at your shop," says Rafat .
" And since it isn't crowded , we can talk a bit freely," says Rauz , " so now on the matter in hand , I was on a path to the ice tower plains to collect some frozen flowers as they are some very nice desired decorations , as I made my way there , a boulder was thrown at me which somehow broke cleanly split into two pieces when I noticed it , the boulder had no form of magic on it like it had been drained . which made me curious to it , so I followed to where the boulder came from . As I headed there another boulder was thrown at me from the front , I shielded myself before it hit and then in the distance I saw something that was unclear at first until I took a look at it through a spyglass I carried with me and I am sure for what I saw was an earth elementalist . let me take a stop here "
It was a crystal tool shop . Warob and Rauz made their way to the shop's window while Rafat was behind thinking about Rauz's encounter.
Rauz finishes his purchases and puts them all in his backpack which seems to have somehow fitted all of that in .
" How do you believe it was an elementalist ? " asks Rafat
" Well from all the books I have read that mention them , it appeared to be very similar in description " answered Rauz ." a humanoid body made from the element it controls , in this case it was an earth one , well they can change their form but that's the most common one to be known ."
" that does all add up . " says Rafat .
" So now " says Rauz with a sigh as he stops and turns around to face both of them ," the place where I spotted him is quite far away but this year , due to the order I am visiting towns , In about three days I will be at a town close to the plains , I can offer you both to come with me if you want since it would be a lot quicker and it wouldn't hurt to have some company."
"Really , you would do that ?" says Rafat with astonishment , " that would be great , Warob what do you think?"
Warob nods and they continue their walk .
" Okay then we will leave in about 4 hrs , a bit after sun down ." says Rauz , " It's fine if you wanna shop with me for a while but if you wanna pack some stuff you better get started because I would have to leave if you guys are late ."
"Right , yeah we will be on time ." says Rafat as he looks at Warob and he nods in agreement .
"meet me at my shop an hour after sunset , for now I am gonna be shopping around a bit ." says Rauz .
" Sounds good, we will see you there ." says Rafat .
Warob and Rafat both turned back and Rauz kept on making his way to the other shops .
I am gonna head to the castle, you're coming too right ?
Warob nods and both of them make their way to the castle. The gates opened and they entered.
"Welcome commander Rafat " says leaf
"Hey Leaf and Fael , I am in a hurry right now , where would the king be ?" asks Rafat .
" the king ? not sure but at this time he should be in the throne room . " answered Rafat
"Okay thanks Leaf ." says Rafat , " Warob , I am gonna meet with the king , so you can go ahead without me."
Warob nods and they both part ways. Warob makes his way to the forge while Rafat heads to the throne room . Rafat reaches the throne room door , large , shiny and heavy . He pushes it open .
"Oh Rafat come in ," says Sayber as he suddenly turned serious ," Is something wrong , What happened ? "
" Oh nothing , I just wanted to tell you some things , " says Rafat , " we met the merchant early…."
Rafat told the king about what happened .
"Hmm , the merchant taking you would be really beneficial and that's quite a generous offer ."
Says Sayber , " come here Rafat . "
The throne room is more like a writer's work place , with a big desk covered with papers and an ink pot with a quill . Sayber reached into one of his desk's drawers, taking something out as Rafat approached him to his desk .
"Here Take these " , Sayber hands him two badges and two pins . " You will both need this as a form of identification , just show the people one of these and they will know where you're from. I should've given you this a while ago but you never needed one until now , most people don't trust word of mouth and in your case even less people will believe that , so this would be really important , give one of each to Warob and don't lose any two and keep them safe from theft. "
" Thank you , king ," says Rafat as he smiles .
He takes a look at them both the pin and badges are both made of white crystal , which makes them targets for being stolen . They have a peculiar design on them that Rafat doesn't seem to recall .
" Have a safe journey , even though I know you're strong but still don't let your guard down and stay confident , the outside world is a lot less safe than the towns around here . " , says Sayber .
A heavy beating heart with which Rafat takes a deep breath to calm down and says , " I know , the thing is , the moment I step out of this castle I never let my guard down and I wanted to thank you for being a great king . "says Rafat with tears in his eyes and a fine smile appearing on his face .
Sayber gets up and goes around the desk to him , putting his hand on his head ," with the problems you have dealt with , You didn't let them change your genuine self and that is a gift that most people including myself don't have , and now it's better we get to our work I have a lot of stuff I need to get through and you need to start packing up for the journey ahead ." He slowly eases his hand off his head .
" Yeah and thank you ," says Rafat as he looks up to the king ,"I better get going then. "
Rafat then leaves and Sayber gets back to his own work . He makes his way to his room , passing by the forge . He didn't see warob , assuming he was in his room . Rafat packs his clothes in a bag , with a pair of shoes , some eye patches and some other things he would need, wearing it on his back with the sword squished in between . He puts one of the pins on a red scarf , which he then wears around his neck . He comes out of his room and turns to the forge where warob seems to be in . He just seems to be looking around.
"Warob, are you ready to go ?" asks Rafat.
Warob nods back . Just having a small bag on the side . I guess he doesn't need much. Both of them make their way to the castle gate .
" You seem to be going on a journey, " says Leaf .
"Oh yeah" says Rafat ," We are gonna be gone for a few days . "
"This castle will feel empty while you're gone ," says Leaf , " is warob also going? "
" Oh I never told you ," says Rafat , "Warob is an upper knight now ."
" Really ? That's a big achievement ." says Fael
"I never got to see what he did though but the king seemed really impressed by him . "
Says Rafat . " And since there isn't much work for him as a black smith he was free to join me ."
" Well it does make me wonder what he did though ." says leaf
" I also wonder about that sometimes but he seems like a humble person ." says Rafat .
All three of them look at warob at the same time as he just listens to the conversation from the back and there a awkward pause . Warob not knowing what to do , he just waved at them .
" We should get going then. " says Rafat " Hopefully I will see you guys in a few days and stay safe."
Leaf and Fael open the gate .
" Yes sir , we wish the same for you both ." Leaf and Fael both speak at the same time .
"You know , you don't need to say sir to me, " says Rafat .
"Oh no , we say it to people to show our respect , we never say that to Incere ." says Leaf.
"I will not comment on the last bit but I appreciate that . "says Rafat as he heads out and Warob follows him behind .