[ PRESENT ]
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Ori tucked the bundle of mats under her armpit and entered the bustling marketplace. Dawny colours and glittery fabrics roofed the makeshift stalls as vendors and customers alike jostled for space in the crowded street.
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Ori too elbowed her way through a group of persistent women who walked at a leisurely pace and did not give a moment's consideration to anyone behind them.
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The scent of sweat overpowered all senses but speech. The air carried with itself the sound of shouting merchants, the clanging of metal on metal, and the cheerful chatter of children running between stalls.
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Amidst brightly-colored potions bubbling in cauldrons and robed Aeris hawking enchanted trinkets and magical charms, around a group of women flitting about selling bundles of dried flowers and glittering crystals, stood THE shop.
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Ori craned her neck to look up at its comforting structure and sighed a comfortable sigh. The weapon shop was always hogged by a group of goblins haggling with someone or another. Today, it was a dwarf and they debated over the price of a pile of gleaming gems.
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Though Ori couldn't read, the Weapon Shop's sign board was her safe place. The logo of a giant hammering away at a sword with a satisfied grin on his face.
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The soothing sound of clanging metal and the scent of freshly forged steel overwhelmed Ori's senses. With hasty hands, she pushed open the grimey wooden door, leading into a dimly lit interior lined with shelves of swords, shields, axes, and all sorts of fantastical, enchanted weaponry.
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The shopkeeper, a burly female dwarf with a long, bushy beard and twinkling eyes, looked up from her workbench and greeted her regular customer like family. "Welcome, welcome! My little," she boomed in a gravelly voice. "Came to check up on the goods?"
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Ori nodded excitedly, heart lips opening into a gummy smile as she settled the mats on the keeper's counter and pleaded, "I still don't have enough to buy, but can I have a look?"
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Her fluttering pretty blue eyes won over Arcelia, as always. "Only if you participate next week. Competitions are lining up and the stakes are pretty high," she informed, jumping off her workbench and taking heavy steps — she wore iron boots — into the restricted section.
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"Yeah, I will participate as long as you keep the sword safe!" Ori confirmed to Arcelia's back as the dwarf disappeared behind the doors. The brunette waited, fingers anxiously tapping away over the counter. Her eyes flicker between the door and the hourglass engraved over it.
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Underground fighting competitions were always an easy way to make quick cash. The rich folks would bet on players and the winners would usually walk out with heavy pockets. Though, escaping from the supervision of mother-supreme was one hell of a chore.
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Ori would have to think it through.
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A minute later, Arcelia walked out with Ori's dream in her small hands.
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"You don't need to check in so often. Your father's sword is safe with us. It's too precious to be sold anywhere but to the most elitist of Aurums," Arcelia pressed the sword over the workbench, then jumped up to stand over it and gain height. "Here, have it," She dropped the sheathed metal into the expectant arms of the brunette.
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Ori's chest flared and she couldn't help the little squeal that escaped her lips. Her feet danced around in a circle as she drew out the sword and let its blade swish with the air. Create tension, brew a rivalry, make love or make enemies with one swing and another.
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"Indeed, a sword forged by the Dragon's breath is the finest," Ori worded out, tone dreamy and blue eyes fixated on the sharpness of its black blade. A simple black sword, welding so much power. Her father had held it proudly, in his Knighthood days, and soon she would too.
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"Of course Black Fury is the finest. Our ancestors forged it with purpose. Off with it now, give it back and get to work!" Arcelia tapped over the counter, dark eyes demanding the magical object back. This was the worst part of all these visits, parting from the love of her life. Ori hesitantly sheathed the glorious black metal and gave it one last hug.
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"Misery is me, misery is this moment," Ori dramatically sobbed, giving the sword back to Arcelia's capable hands. "Thank you for letting me have it," Ori whispered, pursing her lips, eyes never leaving the sword.
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"Yeah, yeah, flutter away. Earn some money," The dwarf shooed away the human, jumping off her workbench and disappearing behind the restricted door again.
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One day, Ori would get her father's sword back. One day, when her father is all healthy and well treated, they will unsheathe the Black Fury together. One day, when everything is better, she will win a swordfight against her father.
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That one day would come sooner if she became a Knight.
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The one day would come swifter if she could make quick bucks.
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"Yes, I must earn money!" Ori nodded to herself, taking determined steps towards the corner where her stall setup was placed. Since their home had no place for storing big logs and ropes to set up a stall and since it was quite far away from the marketplace, Arcelia had been kind enough to help them store the stuff in her shop.
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All her favours came from her old friendship and admiration for Ori's father.
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"I'll meet you around six! Good day!" Ori chirped, picking up five long logs tied with ropes and a pastel blue fabric, enveloped in her arms, pressed against her chest.
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She balanced the mats on top of her head and walked out of the shop, heading in the opposite direction of the marketplace. Out of the bustling hoo-haas, Ori climbed an extra mile over a hilly terrain.
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Her mother used to bring her along when she was a child. She reasoned that the market was too competitive for their simplistic mats so they would sell it way out of the track.
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The hilly terrain was a winding passage meeting Evermire into the borders of Eldoria. Travellers would often pass by this route on foot, or in their carriages, and make stops to buy their mats. Evermire and Eldoria had scratchy relations and their mats made for great cheap gifts!
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Ori was certain it was out of pity, but her mother said that it was 'pure talent' or something. Ori would beg to disagree.
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Reaching their regular spot, Ori began working the logs into the pre-made, decade long, holes and stuffed small stones around the gaps to keep it sturdy. She tied the blue fabric over the logs, making a roof overhead. Then, spread out a larger rug and displayed her smaller mats all around it. She took off her straw boots and sat in the centre, waiting for business to come by.
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As usual, business was brisk. Ori managed to sell seven out of her fifteen mats and considered it enough for the day. The skies were blending in hues of orange and pink, the sun was slowly setting away and greeting someplace else. Suddenly, Ori felt weird.
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Her hands were getting clammy for no apparent reason and her energy felt weirdly drained. A strange sinking feeling embraced her gut and she couldn't help but crouch back on the rug as her hands and feet got all cold.
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She looked around wondering if it was getting colder. Ori had always been sensitive to cold, getting stomach aches if she wasn't dressed appropriately.
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Her mother had started the whole knitting business because Ori could wear warm clothes all throughout summer, even if she had to bathe five times in the river to get the sweat away. Thankfully, Evermire did not experience harsh temprature conditions.
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"Common, let's get home," Ori mumbled to herself, trying to stand up. Goosebumps rose over her skin and sudden cold gusts made the blue fabric of her roof, flap uncontrollably.
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The logs started shaking in their holes and Ori jumped over the mats to get out of its range of fall. Was it an earthquake?
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The stones of the rocky hill terrain trembled and shook, rumbling and rolling around together. "W-what is happening?" Ori whispered to herself, pushing against the ground to stand up again. The stones kept gravitating towards each other, forming small, rocky circles, which then joined together, forming a bigger circle.
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"I need to get out of here."
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Cold sweat dripped over her neck and forehead as she haphazardly started collecting her mats. But, strange gusts of winds kept spreading them out into the stony field.
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THUD!
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Her stall fell down with a loud noise, logs crashing against each other and thudding together.
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"Common! What is wrong with you?!" Ori whined, rushing to pick up the logs when a mat zoomed past her. Drifting with the air as if it were a magic carpet. "Come back here!" Ori scolded the mat that tumbled away, glaring at it whilst contemplating if it would be worth the chase.
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It was her mother's hard work.
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So, Ori ran over to grab the mat, five of them tugged under her armpit and three of them strolling away as if they were all in free real estate.
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The rumbling of stones was getting more chaotic and Ori had to nimbly avoid them from breaking her face as they zoomed past her, missing by a hair.
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The winds, Ori observed, were restricted only to a certain area for beyond it, Ori was able to grab her mat easily.
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Though, when she turned back to get the logs, a colossal stone monster loomed in front of her. Its body towering over the nearby trees and boulders, and its glowing eyes surveyed the landscape with a menacing glare. The hollow spaces between each stone shone with the golden light of its living core as it made the smaller stones, which weren't able to join it, tremble.
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Ori gulped, "So it was magic..." before falling back on the ground, in pure awe of the creation.
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The monster roared at the hilly road ahead, with its back towards Ori. Having lived mostly under the earth, Ori had never witnessed true Aurum magic this close. It was baffling to her, how the one constant place in her life was so swiftly stripped away of all its personality and woke up into a living and breathing, monster.
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What for?
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"It is marvelous..." Ori gasped out, hair and mats flying out of the monster's airy radius.
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Up ahead, a magic drawn carriage made its way downhill, bouncing and swaying along the rough terrain. The driver, a young boy with a pointy hat and a dangling sword around his lanky waist, held tightly onto the reins as he navigated the treacherous path.
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As the carriage neared the foot of the hill, the stone monster let out a deafening roar, causing the ground and Ori to shake even more violently. The boy looked up and gasped in horror at the sight of the monster bearing down on him.
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Ori would like to think this was the first time the young boy had seen a stone monster, just like her. He freaked out and violently knocked against the carriage walls, shouting something Ori could not decipher between the monster's roars.
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It roared so loud, Ori's breath hitched, excitement suffocating peace and adrenaline rushing in to save the day. This was it. Ori felt more brave when she had an audience and if she were to defeat this monster here— she could be a Knight!!
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This was her moment to shine!
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Charm of the fourteenth time!
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Ori abandon the mats and forced herself to get up again. She wiped the sweat over her sleeve, working every cell in her body to its limit. The carriage doors were opening as Ori shouted, "Don't come out! I got this! I will keep you safe!!"
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Just then, the monster smacked its fists against the ground, plunging the carriage, the driver, Ori, and the logs and stones into the air. Its hollow black eyes were fixated on the carriage, as if the sole purpose of its existence was to vanquish it.
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And all of them, within the magic circle of winds and stones, were hanging in the air — ready to be smashed to death.
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