Ashes of the Fallen

"I already have," replied Ansgar with a stern voice full of confidence. "This axe here, is steel my liege. We're still experimenting with getting the amounts right but we're at a thirty-percent success rate at the moment. In time, we'll have it sorted."

Clapping my hands together, I wanted to give the man a high-five and a hug and a bonus of beautiful women and a fine feast. They had done it, they had moved the needle. We weren't far from being so far ahead of the game that it wouldn't be a lie to call this land, the capital of advanced weaponry. Money was sure to come, trade, everything.

Enok spoke up next, "I've modified the crucible slightly, to better fit our production methods, I think, give me a month, and I can have it working as intended."

Hah, there was no need to curb my enthusiasm now.

Damn, we were going to be rich.

Good bye, fragments of bloomery steel that could only be pattern-welded onto the edges of swords and axes and spear tips and hello, relatively solid single piece steel constructions!

"Good work men, we'll throw a feast for your accomplishments here," I bellowed proudly while patting Enok and Ansgar on the shoulders. "Damn good work."

Letting myself out as they went back to work, I was in the best of moods.

I wasn't sure if anything else could top the feeling at the moment.

My spirits were soaring far above the clouds.

"Hey guy," messaged Ellieby with rather peculiar timing.

"Hey Ellieby!!" I replied somewhat overeagerly due to my uncontrollable happiness.

"Uh whoa, you're excited," she followed up with a light smile as she enabled the video imaging. "I've got good news for you."

"Yeah?" I replied succinctly.

"We managed to sell everything ahead of schedule!" she declared almost shouting as she jumped and threw her hands up. "Turns out white furs are pretty popular, who woulda' thunk it? Me, that's who! Ahhahha!"

Hah, what.

I couldn't help but laugh too.

The two of us on screen, laughing almost maniacally as others stood nearby and watched, clearly visible in the background of our video call. We didn't care though; we were both traders and had made a killing.

We had a right to laugh!

"Oh man, today, must be my day," I finally said after laughing to my heart's content.

"Right?" she stated after catching her breath. "Anywho, I was able to get the items you wanted, send the next shipment when you're ready, sooner the better!"

"Ah, let's clarify this time," I said clearly, not wanting to have any confusion this time around. "I can send about a quarter of that first shipment right now, and if you get some solid connections… I might have something special, weapon wise, in the future."

"Wait, weapons?" she questioned.

"Yeah, that's a secret for now, give me some time and I might surprise you."

"Okay, well, send what you've got, and I'll send money and goods back!"

Closing the video call, my day had surprisingly improved.

More so than I thought was possible.

Walking around the village, I was informed by the villagers that Milly had been running around talking to everyone. With that information in hand, I decided to turn around and head back to the blacksmith's hut.

"Hey Ansgar, Enok, keep that sword and axe a secret for now would you, we've got outsiders here, don't want them to learn anything," I explained quietly as the two listened intently.

A single nod from both of them sealed their agreeance.

I went back out into the town, with happiness on my mind.

Prepping the longship for a second voyage and picking a crew wouldn't be hard, but I didn't want to go on this trip. A waste of two days at least, sitting in a little boat.

That wasn't exactly my idea of fun.

A feast was necessary, yeah, that was what I wanted to focus on.

One large feast for everyone!

Chapter 63: A Glorious Day

(Sunday, September 19th Game Day / Monday, March 29th Real Day)

Lying on the river bank, I was enjoying the dream, a bright sunny day, one that seemed brighter than all the rest. With a few parted clouds in the sky to throw the right amount of shade down on us, followed by a pleasant ocean breeze that blew steadily across the river, there were no complaints from me.

Nor were there any complaints from any of the others, currently enjoying the festivities. Roasted meats of all types, plenty of seafood to tide one over, and even a few vegetables from the farm that were recently harvested.

Live music in the form of singing and chanting as the warriors got drunk by the fireside only added to the ambiance, as Selene and Katherine enjoyed themselves with the other women. Even Milly was somewhere in there, too.

Everyone was having a good time.

The birds were busy chirping in a tree a little ways from me as I continued to stare at the sky, thinking about how far things had come. When I started this game, alone and cold, nearly freezing to death on many occasions, I had a goal but didn't know if or when it would come together.