1 Prologue

The sky was a beautiful baby blue color. To the East was a large snow capped mountain with various shades of orange and red light creeping behind its tall peak. Trees lined its steep cliffs and a small river flowed down its surface winding its way through a small town to the west. All along the river, as far as the eye could see, were various hills covered in deep green shades of grass.

Near the village you could spot various farmers, working their fields, as they chatted harmoniously with their different farm hands. Just outside the town was a large hill with an old willow tree that stretched high into the clouds and covered the hill entirely with its branches. A young boy was currently sat beneath it. His arm was outstretched as far as he could reach, as his longing gaze seemed to pass through the tree wishing for more. What exactly he wanted, not even he knew.

As Ashtyn gazed at his outstretched hand he seemed to jolt back to reality.

"OH NO!"

He bolted from the ground and sprinted as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, through the town and past the merry farmers and villagers.

"Hey Ashtyn, tell your dad hi for me, will ya?"

"Ash, you'd better hurry your dads been calling for a while now,"

Various villagers waved and said hi as Ashtyn flew past.

"ASHTYN!

A large 6'2 man with a weight easily exceeding 240 pounds was currently calling loudly to his troublesome child. He was a muscular man with tan leathery skin; his long dark brown hair was tied into a ponytail while his bushy beard hung below his chin reaching his upper chest. This man was Albin, Ashtyns father.

Ashtyn reached his father while gasping loudly for breath as his hands tightly held on to his knees. Sweat was glistening on his forehead and the only resemblance he had with his father were their deep blue eyes.

Albin gazed at his late son while shaking his head with a tired look in his eyes. "Ashtyn, we begin our trip to the city today. But, before leaving we need to finish our current orders and clean the shop as we'll be gone for a month at least."

As the young boy gathered his breath, he looked at his father and nodded his head in affirmation. "I'll get started now." His eyes no longer shown with a longing gaze, as they changed to one of determination.

Ashtyn stepped into the store and walked past the counter, through a door towards the back. As he stepped through a wave of heat assaulted his skin. He placed his cotton apron over his sweaty head, wore his heavy work boots, and finally placed his leather gloves over his callous covered hands. He clapped his hands and began his work in the forge.

Ashtyn's job in the forge was one of the easier ones, as he was still young and inexperienced. But, everyday he worked there his dad would do his utmost to teach Ashtyn the importance of each action. In a forge, one mistake could cost all the money they might make off a job, so it was important not to mess up. But, despite that, Albin pushed Ashtyn to push his limits and do the best job he could.

Ashtyn learned about the oxidation process and its use in removing impurities. He grabbed some ore from the side of the forge and began the process of meting it over coal. As the ore began reddening to the point of turning translucent, the dross made its way to the surface (thanks to the coal removing the oxygen around the metal). Following that was a simple removal of the dross, from the surface of the metal, before restarting the process all over again. Once the dross stopped forming on the metal, the forging process began, followed by the quenching process to avoid the metal falling apart.

In his fathers forge, they used a salt-water mixture to quench the metal so as to slow the heating process. This increased the sharpness of the weapon while avoiding a weapon becoming brittle due to improper care in the forging process.

After forging for a good portion of the day, Ashtyn went inside the store and made his way upstairs where he changed clothes after taking a shower. He moved his aching body outside across the street to his mothers' pet store.

Most of the pets were gone from the store, leaving a sole puppy behind. It was a tan white husky girl that no one decided to buy in this small town. While living their meant less competition, it also meant less customers. If Ashtyn's mother sold 12 puppies one month, the following month she would sell less as a large portion of the demand was met. Of course she didn't limit her store to puppies; she sold cats, birds, and even hamsters and gerbils. Of course, you couldn't see that now, as most of the store was empty save for the husky.

"What am I gonna do with you?" A tall 5'8 woman, with long brown hair, questioned the puppy while holding her waist. She turned around, as she heard her son's footsteps walking through the store. His mom was a beautiful woman who attracted gazes from many of the single, and married men in the village. She had straight, long, brown hair that cut off just before her waist. Her skin was smooth and white unlike his father's rough tan skin. Her name was Maurina. "Ashtyn, why don't you take care of this puppy? It could help you grow an understanding for the love and work that goes into raising a pet,"

"But, with me working with you and dad I won't have the time to watch the puppy," Ashtyn responded with a gloomy face.

To this his mother began pondering as she held her chin with her hand. Her eyebrows were scrunched as she began mumbling to herself. Finally, with a look of enlightenment she cheerfully responded, "When you're working with your dad you can leave the puppy here with me, then when you come to work here the puppy can accompany you," She looked happy with her decision and also eager to see her sons' response.

Ashtyn jumped in the air while cheerfully thanking his mother; to which she responded, "But… you must train the puppy well so it doesn't antagonize the other pets, in addition it cant poop or pee inside; you will bathe and feed it with your own effort."

Ashtyn couldn't care about the new responsibility being thrown on him; he happily agreed to get his new companion. Ashtyn quickly walked towards the frightened puppy and reached down to grab it; to which it ran away. Ashtyn continued the chase as the puppy backed its way into a corner. But, before he could chase further his mother intervened.

"Stop, don't chase the puppy like that," She lightly scolded, "The puppy is young and doesn't know you well, you need to give the puppy the option to approach you while you let it acclimate to you,"

Ashtyn noted everything his mother said seriously, as he wanted the puppy to like him as well. He knelt on the ground and reached his hand forward while calling the puppy. It slowly approached after noticing this large boy wasn't as scary as he seemed. Finally, it reached Ashtyn's hand and began licking him while jumping back and forth nibbling on his calloused hands. "Ouch!"

As Ashtyn pulled his hand back and the puppy backed away at the sudden fright, his mom chuckled on the side. "The puppy is teething so it will enjoy biting right now. It's important you teach it not to bite you by showing it hurts, while yelling ouch loudly if it bites even a little too hard. It'll scare the puppy a little and help it realize that biting you is wrong. Also, its your job to keep her from biting the furniture." She said slightly more seriously towards the end.

Ashtyn thanked his mom for her help, and began playing with the puppy again. "Ashtyn go get ready make sure to get enough supplies for the dog on the trip, we won't be back for at least a month. Bring a water dish, a food dish, along with some toys and horns to help with the teething. You can grab what you need off the shelves; once we get in the city, the puppy will have to be on a leash and you'll have to pick up the poop,"

…

After they prepared everything, they got on their horses and began their long trip towards the city, where Ashtyn's parents would have an assembly for small business owners. Albin also planned to buy some ore and different materials they couldn't get in their village. While Maurina would buy some new pets to begin breeding, she'd also buy some important materials like birdseed and dog kibble. They made sure to bring a carriage to carry all of their supplies on the way back.