Pathfinder: 180 BN

Richard didn't know what he was expecting. His workshop was not anything extraordinary, in fact it looked similar to the one Gregor had. There was a space next to a brick building that had a table, and a forge outside that was somewhat covered by an overhead. No tools were present.

As for the inside, it was also empty besides the vast amount of spider webs present. There were so many he could spot them with ease. The shelves were covered in them, as well as parts of the ceiling.

It looked as if this building hadn't been used for decades.

"She held up well, didn't she?" Gregor asked as he broke through some of the spider webs blocking his way.

"You're referring to this dump?" Richard asked just to be sure. He was not sure why Gregor referred to this building as a 'her' but he found it best not to ask.

Given a bit of time and some good cleaning, this place might turn out to be something that Richard could work with. In its current state, he found it to be lacking. Within the next year or two, he aimed to fix that.

However, in a year or two he hoped that his business would be up and running.

"What else would I be talking about?" Gregor couldn't help but ask as he looked at Richard.

"Never heard anyone give a building a gender before is all. I don't see any tools, did someone take them away?"

"Yeah, a few blacksmiths in town took them after Samson died. Not that he would need them, but don't worry you can use my place to remake all the tools you want. Free of charge."

Richard nodded at that. He didn't have to pay for the ore, or buy the tools, so this would save him a lot of coins. He still had to get acquainted with the town and find out where he could secure the ore or iron he'd be using. For that, he had to ask Gregor.

"Thanks, where do you get your ore from? There's a supplier in town?"

"Yeah, but there have been fewer traders coming to town lately, so prices have gone up. I'll introduce you to Blurchu after you're all settled in. He has some good ore, but Andy mentioned that other blacksmiths have been buying the ore in town due to the short supply. I'm afraid you might not have the time to get any before it's all gone." Gregor stated.

"Oh? Why is that?" Richard asked as this was something he wanted to know.

Gregor raised his eyebrow as he stopped moving around the building. He felt something was odd here, but he still answered Richard's question.

"The creatures outside the city, they're dangerous. Any trader traveling here or even by here had to hire either mercenaries or monster hunters to protect them. The fee wasn't worth it, as they were losing money I take it. And with the monster tide about to happen soon, no one would dare to step foot outside these walls." Gregor answered.

This information wasn't anything hidden, everyone knew it. So Richard should know it as well, this is what Gregor found strange. It felt like Richard was a kid who did not know anything about the world or even this region. Compared to Gregor's age, Richard was by all means a kid. However, in human years he could be considered an adult.

Once or two, no problem. But the young man was constantly asking him questions that were simple.

If Richard wasn't speaking so well and was competent in blacksmithing, Gregor would consider him to be stupid.

"Where'd you say you came from?" Gregor asked Richard.

"Never said, just told you I traveled here." Richard replied.

"So, where do you come from?"

Richard thought about this for a second. What should he say in this situation? It wasn't like he hadn't thought of making up some story to tell, but that entire idea was a lot of work. He'd have to remember the information and make sure his story held up. And in all honesty, it wasn't like it mattered to him.

What was the worst that would happen if he said he wasn't from this world?

Well, he could think of one. They might sentence him to Death.

"Far away, from a continent called the United States." Richard said.

It was not a lie, he did come from that place, but it more than likely did not exist here. Richard was more than ninety-nine percent sure of that based on what he's gathered so far.

"United States? Never heard of that continent before, and it's odd for a continent's name. How'd you get here, and why'd you come?" Gregor asked.

In his eyes, Richard could be telling the truth. Natives had a name for their own continents, and he knew that there was the Elthur continent to the east, and the Therian continent to the west. What lay beyond those? He wasn't sure, no map showed them what lay beyond those two land masses.

Even if there was nothing, Richard might come from a village or town on one of those continents that called it the United States instead of one of the names they did. This reasoning was not too far out there to be true.

"Hard to say really, I was working on a project and just finished it. After I read a bit and fell asleep, when I woke up I was here. That's all to it." Richard said.

Gregor scratched his thick beard and gave Richard a puzzled look.

"Pish-posh! If you didn't want to say anything, then just say that. Don't go around making up tales!" Gregor looked upset.

Who wouldn't be if someone thought they were as smart as a child? Richard seriously assumed Gregor was going to believe his story. It was something a child might find interesting, but him? No way!

Richard might not even be from the United States. Heck, there were only two known continents, and as far as Gregor knew, that was the entire world. Therefore, Richard has been lying to him from the start.

This meant that Richard wanted to hide his background, which was fine. Gregor's met all kinds of people in his life, so encountering a wanted person would not be unusual. And if Richard was truly wanting to hide then Evergreen was the best place to do it.

Although, he should still have knowledge of the world. So maybe his story did have some merit. It would explain a lot.

Gregor shook his head, that wasn't the case. It couldn't be.

Richard shrugged, he told the truth. That was what mattered. Whether the dwarf believed him or not was up to Gregor, but Richard knew the truth. Best of all, he wouldn't be caught up in a web of lies later on if asked the same question. Nothing was better than telling the truth.

There was a sound outside, as some people screamed. Richard and Gregor both went to see what was going on.

"What the fuck is that?" Richard asked as he saw what was making the citizens run.

It was some sort of beast, that had four feet with a muscular frame that was covered in dark fur. There seemed to be crystalline skin patches on certain parts of its body that the fur didn't cover. Its head shape reminded Richard of a dragon's head that people drew. With a set of wings attached to its upper back and a long thick tail covered in it's dark fur.

The creature was running down the road causing people to disperse in different directions. They were screaming, but after the creature passed them they stopped and started shouting.

This was no creature that Richard had seen or heard of before. His mind could make sense of a lot of things that were happening in this world, from the humans to even the dwarfs. After all, he assumed the dwarves were just small humans at first. Which they kind of were, but there hasn't really been any sign of anything magical in this world.

So in all senses, this was just a different world that Richard was in, not a fantasy one. However now, his brain was trying to make sense of something that shouldn't be possible. That creature should not exist.

"A Verlpax, this your first time seeing one I take it?" Gregor asked in the calmest of tones. As if that massive beast wasn't hauling it down the road as if its life was on the line.

It was tall, muscular and fast. Something that should not be possible, large creatures moved slow. Not fast, at least not that fast!

Chasing after the creature was a blonde-haired man leaning forward on a horse. Now that was a creature Richard knew of.

"Eh, not interested." Gregor said as he turned and headed back into the building.

Richard's eyes were glued to the sight. How could they not be?