The next morning came.
Revvyn stood just inside the open doorway of the cottage, pack already slung over one shoulder. The bag wasn't heavy, it had dried bread, waterskin, Marilyn's clay pouch of healing beans and anti-venom paste, and the four silver coins that were all he had left. Syll rested quietly against his boot, the size of a large melon now, surface a little darker and more textured after yesterday's fight.
His mother stepped forward first. She looked at him for a long second, eyes tired but steady.
"Be safe," she said.
Revvyn nodded.
Lily was standing beside her. She didn't hug him. She just looked at him, her purple eyes searching his face like she was saving it.
"Come back," she said quietly.
"I will," he repeated.
He stepped outside. The door closed softly behind him.
The path into the village was still damp with dew. Syll slid along beside him, leaving a faint wet trail that dried almost immediately.
The air smelled earthy. Somewhere a rooster crowed late, it had overslept. Revvyn thought.
The village market was already waking up when he arrived. Stalls were opening, merchants dragging crates, a few early buyers haggling over turnips and cloth. The weapon row was near the back, three blacksmiths and a traveling trader who specialized in "budget blades."
Before he even reached the first stall, Revvyn ran the numbers in his head again.
Money here was simple but brutal.
Copper coins were the smallest. They were small, dull and stamped with village symbols. One hundred copper made one silver.
Silver was the real working metal. Bright, heavy, what most people actually used. One hundred silver made one gold coin, which most farmers never touched in a lifetime.
Gold was for nobles, merchants, traveling adventurers who actually made something of themselves. And above gold sat diamond coins, rare, almost mythical, used only in the capital for land deeds, high-rank beast contracts, or bribes that could buy silence from a duke. Revvyn had never seen a diamond coin. Most people hadn't.
Weapons followed the same logic. They were ranked the same way beasts were: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and the near-mythical SSS-tier.
Common weapons were mass-produced iron or steel, they were durable but plain, no enchantments, no special properties.
They cost anywhere from three to fifteen silver depending on size and craftsmanship.
Rare weapons started at thirty silver and went up fast; they had minor enchantments (sharper edge, lighter weight, slight resistance to rust).
Epic weapons were usually custom-made for nobles or high-rank tamers and cost hundreds of silver or even gold.
Legendary and SSS were stories. Artifacts passed down through families or pulled from ancient ruins. Nobody in this village had ever seen one.
Revvyn had four silver coins and thirty copper (few change he could gather). That meant Common weapons were his only realistic option. Anything Rare would be a dream.
The first stall had swords hanging on racks, longswords, shortswords, curved sabers. Prices scratched on little wooden tags. A basic longsword was eight silver. A shortsword was six. Revvyn kept walking.
The second stall had spears and axes. A basic spear, ash shaft, an iron head. The cost was six silver. The trader, a thick man with soot-stained hands, noticed Revvyn staring.
"Looking for something light?" the man asked.
Revvyn shook his head. "Something I can actually swing without breaking my arms."
The trader grunted. "Try the cutlasses. The third stall. Old man Tang-Han has the cheapest decent ones."
Revvyn nodded thanks and moved on.
Tang-Han's stall was the smallest. No fancy racks here, just a rough table and a canvas awning. A few blades laid out on oiled cloth. No shine, no gold trim. Just honest steel.
Revvyn stopped at a short, single-edged cutlass. The blade was about two feet long, slightly curved, handle wrapped in worn leather. The edge looked sharp enough. Balance felt right when he lifted it.
"How much?" he asked.
Tang-Han, the gray beard old man, missing two fingers on his left hand squinted at him.
"Its a common rank. Good steel, no enchantments. Just Twelve silver."
Revvyn's stomach sank. He had four silver and thirty copper.
He set the cutlass down gently.
Tang-Han watched him. "You got less?"
Revvyn pulled out the four silver coins. "This is it."
Tang-Han scratched his beard. "That'll get you a practice blade. It won't cut much more than rope."
Revvyn looked at the cutlass again. He could feel the weight of it in his hand, the way it wanted to move.
"I need something real," he said.
Tang-Han studied him,from his bruised face, tired eyes, the blue slime sitting patiently at his feet.
"You're the boy who summoned the slime yesterday," Tang-Han said. Not mocking. Just stating a fact.
"Yeah."
Tang-Han grunted. "Heard it evolved mid-fight. That's something."
Revvyn didn't answer.
Tang-Han sighed. "Youblook like a good kid... Tell you what. I'll let the cutlass go for four silver and fifty copper. But you bring it back in one piece...a rent. Deal?"
Revvyn looked at the coins in his hand. Four silver. He had kept his copper coins.
"I've got no copper," he lied, he didn't want to waste all his money here.
Tang-Han stared at him for a long moment.
Then he reached under the table and dropped a small burlap sack on the cloth.
"Fifty copper," he said. "Call it a loan. You pay me back when you're not broke. And you bring the blade back alive."
Revvyn looked at the sack. Then at Tang-Han.
"Why be this generous?"
Tang-Han shrugged. "I was young once, just like you. Someone gave me my first real blade when I had nothing. Figured I owed the world one favor."
Revvyn took the sack. It was heavier than it looked.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't thank me," Tang-Han said. "Thank me by returning."
Revvyn paid the four silver, took the cutlass, and slid it into the loop on his belt. It hung comfortably against his hip.
He turned to leave.
Tang-Han called after him. "Kid."
Revvyn looked back.
"Be safe." Tang-Han said.
Revvyn nodded.
Tang-Han's face tightened. "Good."
Revvyn gave a small nod and started walking.
The village edge wasn't far.
As he passed the last row of stalls, a small tent caught his eye, a faded purple cloth, strung with cheap beads, a sign that read "Fortunes Told – Truth Guaranteed."
A woman sat outside on a low stool. Old, thin, wrapped in layers of mismatched shawls. Her hair was wild gray, eyes milky white but sharp. She was smoking a thin pipe, the smoke curling around her like a snake.
As Revvyn walked by, she spoke without looking up.
"The Moonlit forest will leave you broken, kid."
Revvyn stopped.
She took a slow drag from the pipe, exhaled blue smoke.
"But not today," she added. "Not yet."
Revvyn stared at her. "What?"
She finally looked at him. Her milky eyes seemed to see right through him.
"I see things," she said. "And I see you. A boy who died stupidly once already. A boy who woke up with a slime, A boy who thinks he can outrun his shame by running into danger."
Revvyn's mouth went dry.
She smiled, small, crooked. "You want to know the rest?"
Revvyn hesitated. He had no money. Four silver gone, thirty copper left. But something in her voice made him stay.
"I've got little money," he said.
She laughed, a low, raspy sound. "I'll take what you have. So Sit."
Revvyn gave her the thirty copper coins. She put them in a jar. He sat on the ground in front of her. Syll settled beside him, curious.
The woman pulled a small crystal orb from her shawl, it was cloudy and fist-sized. She set it on the dirt between them and placed both hands on it.
The orb glowed faintly blue.
Revvyn leaned in despite himself.
The glow brightened. Shapes moved inside, they were blurry at first, then clearer.
He saw himself, standing in a dark forest. Moonlight on black petals. A Midnight Flower in his hand. Then the image shifted, he was running, bleeding, something huge chasing him through mist. Then darkness. Then nothing.
The orb dimmed.
Revvyn looked up. "What does that mean?"
The woman removed her hands from the orb.
"You will win and you will lose at the same you will fail and you will gain, it all depends on what you decide," she said simply.
Revvyn frowned. "Fail how?"
She shrugged. "No money. No answer."
She stood up, tucked the orb back into her shawl, and turned toward her tent.
"Now leave my shop."
Revvyn stayed seated for a second longer. Then he stood, brushed the dirt off his trousers, and kept walking.
Syll chirped once, almost questioning.
Revvyn didn't answer.
He just adjusted the cutlass at his hip and headed toward the tree line.
Thunder struck, the clouds turned dark.
"Its about to rain." a trader called.
Revvyn looked up to the dark clouds, then to the path he was about to take. " What did she mean by I'll fail and I'll also win... It doesn't make sense." He concluded.