Enigmas

At the inn, Hilia was renting the rooms as Yoan stood beside her, whistling away, leaning against the desk where Hilia was talking to the innkeeper. The atmosphere inside the inn was boisterous, occupied by town folks or adventurers. They both headed up to their room, placing their belongings inside as they set off to their destinations.

Wooden tables and chairs were scattered around the inn, fully occupied by customers who contributed to the boisterous atmosphere. Huge cups of ale were resting on the individual tables, the customers all streaming into the inn with one motive in mind; to relax.

After Hilia was finished with renting a room, Yoan set off to find the town's blacksmith. She remembered Yoan's reminder of getting information about the location of the main town, approaching the burly innkeeper, who held a constant frown on his face.

"Is there any way of travelling to the main town from here?" Hilia asked the innkeeper, who was cleaning the cup with a piece of cloth as she sat down on the seat in front of him. The wooden chair creaked slightly under her weight, crossing her legs as her priestess robe swayed to her movement.

"Sure, but it's a long journey, probably a few days, up to a week at most." The innkeeper answered, his voice gruff, answering her question once he served another customer at the bar, sitting two seats away from her.

"Is there any other way, other than walking there?" Hilia questioned, pouting a little at the thought of walking there by foot, her legs were already twitching.

"No other way, unless you are filthy rich or an Enigma." The innkeeper answered and Hilia instantly furrowed her eyebrows at the foreign word mentioned by him.

"Enigma?"

"What? You don't know about them?" He replied to her, his eyes widening in shock as he stopped cleaning the cup.

Hilia shook her head, bewildered at the fact that the word is being referred to as 'them'.

Is he saying that they are people?

"You don't travel much out of town, do you?"

"…something like that." Hilia struggled those words out, forcing a smile on her face.

***

"Hey there, mister! You interested in buying some new clothes? Yours looks so tattered!" A woman said, catching Yoan's attention as he stopped in his tracks, looking at her before glancing down at his clothes.

His clothes was covered in dirt, and the place where he was almost cut by one of the attackers at his hometown was torn quite badly. He frowned, touching the torn area; this was one of his favorite clothing.

"Sorry, not interested. Is there a blacksmith or weapon shop around this area?" Yoan asked, making the woman sigh in disappointment at another customer rejecting her offer.

"They are both at the same place, just head straight down and turn to your left." The woman said, pointing her finger straight ahead. Yoan thanked her, following her directions as he started fidgeting with the torn area of his clothes.

I'll ask Hilia to fix this up later.

He perked up when he heard the familiar clanging sound. Just as instructed, he turned left and finally arrived at the blacksmith.

"Hey there, young lad, what can I do for you?" The blacksmith said, grinning as he stopped his actions, facing Yoan. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks, an evident sign that it was hard work hammering down on the weapon.

"I'm looking for a durable bow." Yoan asked, browsing around, admiring the different weapons made by the blacksmith.

"Ah, come this way then." The blacksmith said, leading Yoan to a door, opening it, the room was filled with bows, some in display cases, other hung on the portrait.

"Feel free to pick any one of them," the blacksmith said. "And don't even think about stealing any of it." He muttered the last sentence darkly before exiting the room. Yoan just nodded, unfazed by his threat.

Observing the different bows, Yoan's eyes landed on one, a simple bow with no complicated design. His fingers traced the texture of the wooden bow, tapping on it before he nodded in approval. He dug his hands in his pocket, taking out the remaining money he had left. Taking the bow, he opened the door, walking outside. Seeing the blacksmith back at his anvil, forging another weapon.

"I'll take this." Yoan said, showing the blacksmith his chosen bow.

"Hm, simple and durable, nice choice. That'll be 250 Ciqri." The blacksmith smiled, holding out his hand. Yoan handed him the exact amount, sighing internally when he realized he had only 100 Ciqri left.

At least it wasn't as expensive as other places I've been.

Yoan thought, a relieved smile on his face.

"Are you an Enigma hunter too?" The blacksmith questioned Yoan, who frowned at those words.

"Enigma hunter?" Yoan frowned, bemused.

"Hah, you have no idea what an Enigma hunter is?" The blacksmith smirked, placing a newly forged weapon into the bucket of water; the water sizzling loudly. "For such an adventurous-looking young lad, you sure don't know much about the outside."

"Enigma are people granted with supernatural powers, but they are to sacrifice something from themselves," the blacksmith continued, lifting the weapon out of the bucket, placing it back on the anvil. "Some even go mad, losing their sense of humanity. There has been a raise of people hunting down Enigmas, so I assumed you were one too."

"You've never encountered any one of them?" The blacksmith questioned in disbelief. It was common for adventurous to encounter them, because some of them went insane and prowl the outside world in the day and night.

"Not yet…" Yoan shook his head, giving the blacksmith a look of disbelief.

"Hmph, you must be lucky." The blacksmith commented and resumed on perfecting his next masterwork.

"Maybe." Yoan grinned, picking up the bow he just purchased, observing it and prepared to set off.

"Bye, old man. Nice talking to ya." Yoan said, waving goodbye to him as he walked off.