Ruvka village is a quaint little village with a scenic view, as the north side of it has a distant snow-capped mountain that is not visible from the farming areas due to the rolling hills.
As the wagon approached the village, Jacob found himself awestruck by the view.
'Wow, what a beautiful place. The village is well in order, but that view is simply amazing. . .'
The wagon trundled along, quickly making its way into the village with the single brown horse pulling it along with Mark as well as his father and his brother riding in it.
The village layout was quite simple, with several houses centered around a single well. The roads and walking ways were gravel or dirt, the houses were made of wood and thatch.
Several empty stalls could be seen, awaiting one of the market days during the week.
The clusters of houses became more sporadic and disorganized the further from the well, where they were positioned in the village.
They made a few stops, dropping off supplies that were ordered by various villagers and small businesses. The boys were able to unload most of the food the villagers ordered, and Arthur would get the money the villagers owed him.
This continued until they had gotten rid of everything except the small brown box.
They made their way out of the far side of the village a little ways until they came upon an unsuspecting property with a normal house.
They stopped at this house and Arthur brought the boys to the front door of the house along with the little brown box.
"Now, boys, watch and listen to how I talk to this man. He is the one person in this village that is interested in strange and magical things that are useless to us. You can call him mister Thom."
Then Arthur handed the box to Jacob, giving him a wink before turning to the door and knocking.
The door creaked open, and Arthur motioned the boys to follow him inside.
Arthur spared the boys a glance, noticing their nervousness at the new and unfamiliar place.
"Don't worry, boys, we are here as friends."
Old Thom greeted them as they entered.
"So, you have returned, Arthur. And it seems you have brought the munchakins with ya?"
The boy's eyes went wide when they entered the house. It was dark and gloomy, with white candlelight illuminating many shelves with curious trinkets on each one. Each shelf was lined with bones and ended in skulls, causing them to glow a brilliant white, illuminating the contents of each shelf. They seemed to contain items of a similar theme, though Jacob did not give each shelf a long enough glance to know what the theme of each shelf was.
He did notice something else, which pulled his attention from the glowing white shelves.
He looked up and thought about what he was seeing. 'It is much bigger inside of here than outside. And the view from that window does not match our village. . . did we teleport to some sort of central hub?'
Looking up, Jacob was able to count three stories. At least.
Arthur replied to the old man.
"Of course, Old Thom. You always tell me to bring you any curious sort of magic, and you will make it worth my while. And I think I have something very curious for you."
Old Thom was eyeing Jacob at this point, noting his reaction in contrast with his older brother.
'Hmm, the older one seems to be focused on the items, which I can hardly blame the young chap. I love these items as well. But that young one, who has not even activated the system, he has likely figured out what happened when they stepped through the gateway. Which should be impossible, unless. . .'
The old man reached out with his magic and gently brushed against the power of the young boy. What he felt was something highly unlikely. But it was right there in front of him.
'Power at the level of an initial wizard before unlocking his system. . . did this farmer bed the queen or something?'
Old Thom hummed with a deep thinking tone.
"Hmmm, it is something this boy has created. The one with the box?"
Arthur was a bit surprised initially, but shook his head to clear his surprise.
"Oh, um, yes. This is Jacob. He has managed to create something I think you will find interesting."
Old Thom nodded.
"Well then, boy, let's see it!"
He beckoned toward Jacob, who shuffled toward the old man with uncertainty.
Jacob opened the wooden box containing his first creation and looked up at the old man, who seemed more interested in him rather than in his shovel.
Old Thom reached into the box and grabbed the unassuming shovel, and turned it over. His eyes began to slightly glow in a blue hue as he used his power to observe the shovel more closely.
What the old man could see shocked him.
'This shovel is at least a rare item, the material is only mundane but the enchantment alone brings that up to the uncommon level. Then, this sharpness. . . it could be used as a weapon against a dungeon boss for a rank E dungeon. Possible as an expendable weapon in a rank D dungeon. That is insane. . .'
Old Thom then looked at the young man before him. Someone with an impossible amount of power for their age, and the control needed to harness it.
'Good thing spells aren't exactly easy to happen upon or learn without guidance. The gods help us if this young man ends up with any sort of magical class when he becomes of age.'
The old man smiled.
'What an interesting thing to come from a backwater. . .'
"Arthur, do you even realize what you have here?"
Arthur was a bit taken aback.
"Uh, it seems to be a weapon my son made on accident. I was sure it could get a good price. . ."
Old Thom shook his head, understanding the farmer had no idea what he had brought the old man.
He reached over his counter and produced three items. One was a sack filled with coins. Another was one of the etching tools that was used in the inscription process that created the shovel dagger.
The third one was an actual dagger, though it lacked any enchantments.