Blackwood Village - Bronze Tavern - Meeting Room - 4:30 PM - November 2nd, 1150 of the Fourth Era.
The four survivors of the Scar Conferring Ceremony were summoned for a brief introduction to the battle they would face tomorrow.
In the spacious room, Zack Blackwood sat alone in the right corner; he had a proud expression on his face and looked down on his three fellow survivors with disdain. Nolan was on the opposite side of the room, near the right wall; he still wore his dark red scarf covering his nose, mouth, and, of course, his striking Golden Scar on his neck.
In a darker part of the room, leaning against a wall while standing, was the unknown skinny boy who wore black and gray linen clothes with a gray hood made of an unknown fabric. He seemed to want to avoid standing out and remained silent the entire time since entering the room.
The scrawny girl, the only female survivor of the last Ceremony, had an oval face, brown eyes, and messy, dirty blonde hair. She smiled shyly and anxiously, sometimes asking the boys questions, trying to break the silence in the room.
Nolan only nodded a few times in response to her questions, still incredulous that she had not only risked herself in the dangerous Ceremony but seemed to have joined the army willingly!
Unlike Nolan, Zack, and the hooded boy completely ignored the girl.
Soon, three people entered the room. The scrawny girl, recognizing them, tried to stand up to greet her new superiors in the army, but was stopped by a simple hand gesture from the group's leader.
Among the three who entered the room, the one who stood out the most was a tall man, almost 2 meters, dressed in full silver body armor. His armor showed little wear, with only a few dents and scratches. He was the Captain of the current army stationed in Blackwood Village.
Next to him was a red-haired woman very familiar to Nolan. She wore the same full black, rusty body armor. She was the Vice-Captain of the army, whom Nolan had recently discovered was named Milla Rivers.
The third man present at this meeting was unknown. He wore elegant trousers and a long-sleeved shirt in matching green colors, and a dark green cloak full of plumes that varied between blue and green. His hat, resembling a straw hat, was made of green mistletoe and also had feathers as ornaments. To the boys of Blackwood Village, he looked like a bird, and it was obvious that he was not a soldier. Everyone thought he might just be a nobleman passing through.
"Hello, welcome to my unit. My name is Captain Sullivan Greytorn, and I am a veteran of 9 battles. To my right is our Vice-Captain, Milla Rivers. She may look young, but know that she is a veteran soldier who survived 6 battles. To my left is Lord Maximus Herahorn, a rather popular merchant from the Merchant Guild; we are fortunate to have someone as experienced as him in our logistics this time."
"So the birdman is a merchant? And what the hell are these two's battle counts? Aren't these people afraid of death?"
Nolan muttered internally.
"Hello, as introduced by your new Captain, in addition to being a representative of the Merchant Guild, I have also been tasked by the Kingdom with granting your first Bronze Cards*.[1]"
Smiling as he observed everyone, especially Nolan, with sharp eyes, the man continued.
"As you may already be informed, as soldiers who will participate in any battle for the Scarmith Kingdom, you receive a Bronze Card with a total of 6 months of daily allowances at the bronze level. In addition to receiving your first card and advance payment before the battle, you must fill out a document confirming your true names and the names of your parents, as well as naming your heir in case of fatalities in tomorrow's fight."
While Nolan filled out his own document, he finally decided to sign his true first and last name: Nolan Ironhill.
He did this to avoid legal problems with his card later and also because confidentiality was guaranteed. In the heirs section, he simply checked that there were none.
Next, he checked the divided estate option; in case of his death, the surviving soldiers would divide his assets, even if he didn't have anything of much value besides the daily allowances he had just received in advance...
When he handed the completed form to Merchant Maximus, the man smiled, and after glancing at the paper, said, somewhat surprised: "You're a descendant of the Ironhills? Fate wasn't kind to your ancestors…"
Not understanding what he was talking about, Nolan simply replied:
"I was born here, so I don't know what you're talking about…"
Despite being curious, Nolan didn't want to talk too much in front of Zack and the others; he had already turned his back when Merchant Maximus called him again: "Wait, young man!"
"What is it?"
"Your scarf seems to be a good item. Would you like to sell or trade it?"
"It's a gift from my late mother, it's not for sale!"
"And the glove?"
Nolan was surprised by the merchant's sudden interest, but he remembered something he had completely forgotten, and simply repeated the same phrase, this time slightly changing the origin of the other equipment:
"It's a gift from my late father, it's not for sale either!"
The merchant sighed as if he had suffered a great loss, then nodded to the red-haired Vice-Captain; she left the room and returned carrying several boxes. When the contents were revealed, Nolan and the others saw various weapons and armor that varied in size, type, and kind, some made of cast iron and others of reinforced leather.
"You can take a weapon for free, but if you want any armor, you need to pay using your cards."
After their Captain's words, not only Nolan and the skinny girl moved quickly to the weapon boxes, but even the hooded boy, who seemed to want to avoid being noticed, did the same.
They all wanted to choose their free weapon first!
And the target of all three was a possible bow and arrow!
But to the disappointment of the three, there wasn't a single bow in those boxes… Bows and arrows were rare and hard-to-find weapons, and they were always the first choice of any young man who was going to fight and was afraid of getting hurt in hand-to-hand combat. And whoever already had a bow rarely sold it.
While Nolan and the hooded boy lamented, the skinny girl acted quickly, grabbing the only shield from the box. The shield was round and had a small, sharp iron point in its center; it seemed small, but due to the girl's frail body, it seemed capable of covering her entire torso and head.
The parts of the iron frame were completely rusted, but in general, they were in good condition, without dents, and the part of the black wood painted with the red and orange colors of the kingdom was completely new.
The hooded boy picked up a long iron dagger, which was the only item that looked good in the boxes without any rust marks, and Nolan picked up a long spear that had a considerable weight due to its shaft not being made of wood.
Zack was the last to approach the box. He looked at everyone with disdain and ended up picking up a short iron sword that only had rust on the hilt.
"Aren't you going to buy armor?" the merchant asked with a wide smile showing his pearly white teeth.
"How much?" Asked the girl first.
"Four months' worth of bronze supplies for each piece of reinforced leather and six months for each piece of iron."
"What a rip-off!"
Nolan thought the prices were outrageous, but decided to keep his thoughts to himself.
He would risk his life to earn those six months' worth of supplies he now had on his card, but this guy named Maximus wanted all that for a piece of iron? It wasn't even steel!
All three young people refused, and only Zack remained looking at the armor, but in the end, he also gave up, buying nothing.
"Alright, if you still want to buy something, I'll be here again tomorrow after the battle. Here are your Bronze Cards. I hope you young people survive, good luck!"
As the merchant left the room, Nolan observed the so-called Bronze Card. It was the size and thickness of his thumb, but slightly wider, resembling a whetstone in shape. It was bronze in color and had his first and last name carved into it in very small letters, along with the numbers that were his year and place of birth.
Nolan noticed that the card still had plenty of space to be filled, but he didn't see the details of the value it should have inside. He didn't know how he would use this item, nor how the daily allowances were deducted when buying something, but he decided to postpone the questions for later.
In front of them, Captain Sullivan interrupted them with a cough and waved his hand, speaking in a serious tone:
"Now that Maximus has left, I'll tell you the details about the fight we'll have tomorrow…"
[1] There wasn't an exact word in English for the name of this item... "Bead" might have come closest to the meaning, but that would have taken away from the item's significance. So we'll stick with the Bronze Card so you always remember it's a monetary item. They are crafted by artisans and hold much more than just money; they also serve as a form of identification.