Ralph: "So can we even afford the inn, Jade?"

  Jade opened her coin purse; five silver came into her hand.

  Jade: "This gets us food for one day or two if planned, but not enough for the inn."

  Ralph: "We could go look for a job at the adventurers guild. How much are the prices at the inn?"

  Jade: "They could have upped the prices. Let's see."

  While walking into town, business is strong. Merchants everywhere, and the sweet smell of food in the air is intoxicating.

  Ralph: "I haven't had any of these before, but it looks so tasty. Maybe we can have some later."

  Standing in front of the inn, Jade's expression twisted in disbelief.

  Jade: "What... two gold for one night and food? Only one bed? One month, 10 gold for one bed?"

  Ralph: "We don't have that kind of money. Are we gonna sleep tonight?"

  Jade: "Don't worry, we will find a good job that pays at least for tonight. I'm going to hit a friend for a favor he owns."

  Ralph: "A friend? How do you know someone here?"

  Jade smirks at Ralph.

  Jade: "I have many friends. Come on, he should be close to here."

  Ralph: "How does she have friends here? Didn't she say she hasn't been here in a while?"

  Arriving at what seems like a rundown blacksmith shop with crooked letters on the signboard: "Dwarfish Stuff."

  Ralph: "Hey Jade, you sure this is the right place?" pointing to the degraded sign.

  Jade: "Just as I remember, yes. Here we are. Let's go in."

  Ding-ding. As the door swings open, the interior is rather well kept compared to the outside. A small knee-high creature wobbles out from behind the armor stand.

  ???: "Oh, customers! Come, come, let me show you my new invention," waddling up to Jade.

  Jade: "Hey old man, remember me?"

  Looking up at the towering figure above him, the old man opens his mouth wide.

  ???: "Ahhh– Oh my marbles, is that you Ms. Jade? I–I– thought you had vanished a bunch of ye–"

  Jade: "Hey–hey, I have someone with me, ok?"

  Fixing his glasses and squinting his eyes to get a look at Ralph:

  ???: "Ok, son, come here. Don't be shy. My name is Zofrik. I'm an old pal of Ms. Jade. Haha!"

  Ralph: "Nice to meet you, Zofrik. I'm Ralph Cro... just Ralph."

  Stopping in his tracks—calling himself a Crowswell wouldn't be right. Not now, not yet.

  Zofrik: "And what is it you might need, Jade?"

  Jade: "Remember the deal? You owe me a favor, Zofrik."

  (Waving his hand in the air) Zofrik: "Yes, I know, I know. I asked what you needed."

  Jade: "You know how some mages use wands or staffs to cast spells while training? Can you make me a weapon with that ability?"

  Ralph: "Hey Jade, you don't need to waste this on me!"

  (Looking back at him) Jade: "Are you gonna waste it? Because I'm investing in you."

  Ralph: "No, of course I'm not wasting a weapon, but why a special one like that?"

  Jade: "Simple training wheels. It will help you conjure your magic at first, and it can be really powerful if you stick with it."

  Zofrik: "What do you fancy, child? A sword? An axe? Ohhh, maybe a dagger? Do you want a dagger?"

  Ralph: "I want a hammer. A great hammer, if possible," looking deep into the dwarf's eyes.

  (Raising an eyebrow) Zofrik: "Ohohoho– Splendid! But a great hammer is far more than what you can carry, young one."

  Ralph: "I will train to be able to wield it better, even if I'm slow now."

  Zofrik: "Ok then, but you have to promise me to take good care of it. Give me a moment."

  As he wobbles behind the counter.

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  Raising it above his head, this bald dwarf with beard to his feet was holding a giant weapon two, maybe three times larger than himself.

  Jade's eyes widened at the presence of the weapon, but she remained quiet.

  Zofrik: "What are you waiting for? Take it."

  Using 90% of his strength just to hold the hammer upright with both hands:

  Ralph: "Uhf— How... It's so heavy..."

  Zofrik: "Go on, try it. I'm going to give you your first lesson, as it appears Jade herself hasn't."

  Zofrik's tone changed, now serious and focused.

  Ralph closed his eyes. Blackness enveloped him.

  Zofrik: "Relax your shoulders. Calm your breathing."

  His shoulders dropped. His breathing slowed.

  Zofrik: "Now... remember. Why do you want to use magic? Why do you want to fight?"

  In his mind, flashes of his father, his dream, the escape, Feld, his first fight—everything came to him. His grip strengthened. For a moment, it wasn't so heavy.

  Zofrik: "Gods above, Jade... What have you brought me?"

  Ralph opens his eyes. The hammer, once grey and silver, now filled its linings with a purple glow.

  Ralph: "This is it, Jade. This is the same color as that one time–" (he stopped, Jade's hand covering her mouth, slightly trembling)

  Jade: "Ralph... you know that most magic is a hand-me-down, right? Ralph, your mother's magic wasn't purple. It was green."

  Ralph: "What? But if this isn't from mom, then this is–" (his heart raced, and with it, the weapon's glow increased)

  Their voices faded into the background as he was stuck in his own mind.

  Ralph: "This is Father's—no... no... I can't! Wait... Ralph, think. This is your magic, not his."

  He gripped the hammer tighter, his fingers trembling.

  Ralph: "No... but I can't... Because this is what he used to kill people...!"

  His pulse quickened, his chest tightening as the weight of it all settled in. The rush of confusion and disgust made his hands shake.

  Ralph: "Oh God, stop being such a baby, Ralph. We're not children anymore!"

  His heartbeat thundered in his ears, each thump a reminder of how far out of control he felt.

  Ralph: "Shut up! Shut up, all of you!"

  Then he opened his eyes. The hammer on the ground broke the floorboards.

  Zofrik: "This is why I told you to control your breathing, child."

  Ralph bit his bottom lip while shaking and again grabbed the hammer.

  Ralph: "No... (teeth clacking) this is fine. It's my magic, not his. Mine... not his..."

  Holstering the now grey and silver hammer to his back.

  Zofrik: "If you ever need to send your mana to it, just... do that again. But don't go on a rampage again. Jade will teach you... Now go do whatever you need to do, young one."

  Jade: "Sorry for that, Zofrik."

  Zofrik: "Don't be, hehehe– that was one of the most intriguing things I have seen in decades."

  Ralph: "I'm going to wait outside."

  Ding-ding. Jade catching a glance of Ralph's back—it looks bigger than before.

  Zofrik: "Jade, is that Liora's kid? Heck, don't even answer. The look in your eyes says it all."

  Jade: "Uhum," (she nods) "it sure is. Just like his mother... Thanks, old man. I will come to see you another time."

  Zofrik: "Goodbye, Jade. Take care of Ralph... and my Zeal."

  Jade stops in her way to the door.

  Jade: "So that hammer was Zeal, alright," and leaves.

  Ding-ding.

  Vussh–Vussh– (Ralph attempts to swing his hammer)

  Ralph: "Damn, this is heavy. I can always use ma–"

  Jade: "Hey... maybe not here. Wait until we are on payroll. Look at the sun—it's almost midday. Let's register at the guild and get a job."

  Two hulking orcs flanked the guild doors, their tusked scowls at odds with the cheerful sign above: "Welcome, Adventurers!"

  Ork 1: "What do you want?" (sniff sniff) "Human."

  Jade: "We want to register. Can we go in?"

  Ork 1: "Me don't know. Me just here."

  Ork 2: "Be quiet, just act scary, dude... Yes, you may go in. Just remember: common sense and no fighting in guild's quarters."

  Ork 1: "You make trouble, me ready to tumble," pointing at Ralph.

  Ralph: "..." Ralph kept his eyes down, but his grip on Zeal tightened. The hammer's weight grounded him—better to bear this than risk another outburst.

  Ork 1: "Hey, you dum dum, me talk to you," putting his hand on Ralph's shoulder, his hand almost the size of Ralph's head.

  Ork 2 looks at his brother and shakes his head.

  Ork 2: "Go in, kid."

  The inside of the guild is bustling—talking, screaming, multiple species hanging together: orcs, dwarves, humans, half-beasts. A single slot in line remained open: "Registration." As they approached, a rabbit girl awaited for them.

  Rabbit girl: "Welcome to the Adventurers Guild. My name is Linda. How might I help you?" Her red eyes and white ears blinking and shaking happily with energy.

  Jade: "Hello, Linda. My name is Jade. This is Ralph. We are looking to register and get a job."

  Linda started to rummage the papers.

  Linda: "Hmm– aha– here it is. Two guild initiation papers and two silver each."

  Ralph: (still distant) "But we only have five..."

  Jade: "Are we sure to get at least one gold from a job today?" throwing the five silver pieces up and down in the air.

  Linda: "Well, that's hard to answer. If you take up a killing task, maybe. This season we have many—winter is coming up, and we need food. So we have some high bidders for monster meat right now. Goblin is the one I have here: two gold per normal goblin and ten for a commander."

  Jade: "Ok, here. Take the 4 silver pieces and let us sign up."

  Linda: "Ok, come here, you two. Just place your hand here on the paper. Yes, like that. And while the magic does its thing—cough—we are not liable in case of harm, dismemberment, and death. For benefits: we can buy and sell any loot you pick up, and all you get is yours. Just bring one tooth as proof of killing. Kill a commander, and Sylvoria blesses you—we'll even send a retrieval team!"

  Ralph: "That's it?"

  Linda: "Yep, that's it. You're Wood-level adventurers now and are registered in the magical index. Don't worry, we haven't had a breach since a few centuries ago," she says this while smirking.

  Linda: "Bye and good luck."

  Jade: "This is why I never signed up. Too much bureaucracy..."

  Ralph: "To the forest now, I guess?"

  Jade: "Yes, it's fairly close. Just a few minutes gets us there. If this city didn't have a monster barrier, they would be doomed."

  The town noise fades away, and the eerie chills of the woods creep back in. They lurk and hide in the bushes when two lone goblins are found fiddling around a dead deer's body.

  The wind howled through the trees as the goblins picked at the deer's carcass.

  Jade: "Ralph, I'm going to snipe the one on the right. You take the one on the left, ok?"

  Drawing her handmade bow and arrow.

  Ralph: "Pst– Wait, I need to charge this. Ok, Ralph, control..."

  (The hammer grows slightly)

  Ralph: "A bit more. Remember what dad said..."

  (his heart raced a bit, but the breathing quieted it down; the hammer's glow increased)

  Ralph: "I'm ready, Jade."

  Jade: "Ok. Three... Two... One..."

  Swish– Pisht– Jade's arrow hit the goblin in the shoulder.

  Goblin 1: "Rahhr urrr!"

  Goblin 2: "Ahhh— cama arrr!"

  Ralph lunges forward, swinging the hammer from head to ground, but the goblin evaded his move.

  Jade: "Ralph, on your back!" As he turned, an arrow pierced through the goblin's head.

  Jade: "Kill the other one now!"

  Goblin 2: "Ahhh—"

  Ralph: "Come here, you piss off–" swings and misses, swings and misses, and repeats. The hammer is getting heavier.

  Ralph: (he goes for another swing but mid-swing) "Damn it, just freeze!" The word left his lips before he understood it. The goblin's limbs locked—just for a heartbeat—but it was enough for the swing to connect to the goblin's chest, now gasping for air, breathing blood.

  Goblin 2: "Uhf– ahf–"

  Jade: "Great job, Ralph, but take it out of its misery..."

  Ralph: "Jade, I felt strange there. It was like the goblin obeyed me."

  Jade: "Maybe, Ralph, but I can't really help with this purple magic. If it was your mother, maybe... Oh, see? He bled out now. The meat is tainted. Good job," and a slow clap from Jade.

  Ralph: "Oh, sorry, I forgot..."

  Ralph: "Maybe he has something on him. Come take a look."

  Jade: "A crude stone dagger. This isn't worth a copper, I think."

  While the two are hunched over the corpse, a towering shadow comes from behind them.

  Thud— Thud— ???: "Hu hu hu... You puny thing kill my type? How you be... No important. You die, woman..."

  As they turn to face a commander goblin bringing down a mace on Jade. The mace whistled through the air—Jade had only enough time to widen her eyes.

  Ralph: "Jade, no!"