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Suffice is to say, I pestered Njord most of the way back to his shop that evening.

"What aren't you telling me," I demanded, standing between him and the doorway.

"Look lad, you still have much to learn. Not everything is not as peaceful as it looks."

"Stop beating around the bush! There are only so many things a man cannot know about him and his surroundings. I already don't know who I am or how I got here, why keep more things from me?"

At that moment, Njord grabbed me by my shoulders and forcibly moved me out of his way.

"Listen, Ukjent! If you want to know so badly, then I will show you. But once you see what you will see, you cannot go back. You cannot go back to being a defenseless little trinket like all the townsfolk. Do you understand?"

I looked him straight in the eye and nodded.

"Good," he smiled, "then let's go to the roof. It's a good night to view the mobs."

...

"You see," Njord continued once we were on the roof, "there are two kinds of mobs: passive and hostile. Passive mobs are things like cattle, sheep, hogs, and chickens. They are organic beings, but they are not aggressive. Hostile mobs are a completely different beast, or perhaps I should say beasts."

"Like that," I asked, pointing down-range at a greenish-blue object that was lurching along the plain.

"Precisely. That is a Zombie, the least-dangerous of all hostile mobs. They will come toward you, but are very slow. A healthy young man like yourself should be able to cut them down easily with your sword."

We stayed up through the night, observing the mobs. I saw the armless, green, explosive Creepers, the arrow-shooting Skeletons, and Spiders as large as me. Njord explained that the mobs were afraid of light, whether it be sunlight or torchlight, which kept them out of the village.

"There are more kinds of mobs than what you have seen this evening," Njord told me, "but those are much rarer. If you are lucky, you will never encounter them."

"How do you know all this?"

"Remember what I said about my family being the blacksmith in Irion for the past five centuries? Well, the very first only became a blacksmith after being injured on the battlefield. That man was a "Diamond Warrior" of the Kingdom of Aurumium, the most elite force in the land. When he was forced to retire, he came here, founded this village, and took up metalwork. He met the woman who would be his wife, and the rest, as they say, is history. The knowledge he gained has been passed down all the way to me."

"What about the next generation?"

Njord smiled, "Not sure this village will survive another generation. We are so far from the center of the kingdom, if it weren't for the census taken every ten years, the kingdom would forget that we exist."

Description
Suffice is to say, I pestered Njord most of the way back to his shop that evening.

"What aren't you telling me," I demanded, standing between him and the doorway.

"Look lad, you still have much to learn. Not everything is not as peaceful as it looks."

"Stop beating around the bush! There are only so many things a man cannot know about him and his surroundings. I already don't know who I am or how I got here, why keep more things from me?"

At that moment, Njord grabbed me by my shoulders and forcibly moved me out of his way.

"Listen, Ukjent! If you want to know so badly, then I will show you. But once you see what you will see, you cannot go back. You cannot go back to being a defenseless little trinket like all the townsfolk. Do you understand?"

I looked him straight in the eye and nodded.

"Good," he smiled, "then let's go to the roof. It's a good night to view the mobs."

...

"You see," Njord continued once we were on the roof, "there are two kinds of mobs: passive and hostile. Passive mobs are things like cattle, sheep, hogs, and chickens. They are organic beings, but they are not aggressive. Hostile mobs are a completely different beast, or perhaps I should say beasts."

"Like that," I asked, pointing down-range at a greenish-blue object that was lurching along the plain.

"Precisely. That is a Zombie, the least-dangerous of all hostile mobs. They will come toward you, but are very slow. A healthy young man like yourself should be able to cut them down easily with your sword."

We stayed up through the night, observing the mobs. I saw the armless, green, explosive Creepers, the arrow-shooting Skeletons, and Spiders as large as me. Njord explained that the mobs were afraid of light, whether it be sunlight or torchlight, which kept them out of the village.

"There are more kinds of mobs than what you have seen this evening," Njord told me, "but those are much rarer. If you are lucky, you will never encounter them."

"How do you know all this?"

"Remember what I said about my family being the blacksmith in Irion for the past five centuries? Well, the very first only became a blacksmith after being injured on the battlefield. That man was a "Diamond Warrior" of the Kingdom of Aurumium, the most elite force in the land. When he was forced to retire, he came here, founded this village, and took up metalwork. He met the woman who would be his wife, and the rest, as they say, is history. The knowledge he gained has been passed down all the way to me."

"What about the next generation?"

Njord smiled, "Not sure this village will survive another generation. We are so far from the center of the kingdom, if it weren't for the census taken every ten years, the kingdom would forget that we exist."