Snowy Cottage

It was a fine day to do a job for Arakai. He had taken on a job to assist an old man by the name of Bartre build a house as a wedding gift for his daughter. Arakai reached his destination, the snowy mountain. He approached his client and looked him in the eye.

“Hello sir! The name’s Arakai Swift. I'm here to help you build the home!” Arakai told the man

The man looked at Arakai with a sad expression.

“You must be here to help me build this house. My name is Batre. Well Mr. Arakai, I’m afraid to tell you that my son, Ninko, will not be assisting us. We got into an argument and well, our relationship is crushed.” stated the man as he began to sob.

“Oh no, that’s no good… How’s about we also build him a little trinket as well? Maybe the gift will make him think twice!” Arakai stated with a snap.

A big smile formed across the man’s face, he was quite accepting of the idea! Arakai smiled himself as the two prepared to dive into the work.

The two started with Arakai breaking down some wood and Batre shaping the wood and putting it together to formulate the floor. Some of the house had already been complete; the basement was already installed and the floor was nearly complete. Arakai collected enough wood around the forest and then began to install the floor board with Batre.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened with you and your son?” Arakai stated as he began laying down the floor boards.

“Well, my son is the leader of a bandit organization. I told him how I feel about him running around committing crimes and it really made him mad.” Batre responded.

“How old is he?” Arakai asked

“Ten.”

Arakai had an shocked look on his face, but he continued to finish up the floor.

As they got the floor done, the two began putting up the walls and installing them next. Batre had already had the materials prepared; the walls simply had to be installed. Arakai began putting up the support beams one by one around the house.

“So wait, why are we building this house again?” Arakai asked Batre, still full of energy.

“My daughter recently announced her marriage and I wanted to surprise her with a homemade wedding gift!” Batre responded.

“What an amazing present!”

After all the support beams had been installed, the two began installing the walls and the roof. Arakai began to hammer on the different components that went into such work. He was excited to see how the product would come out when it would be finished. After the two finished building up the walls, they continued on to the roof.

The snowy weather began to pick up a little bit, causing the wood to rock back and forth. Arakai began to wonder if he should activate his power to help the situation. The house began to rock wildly. Arakai then inhaled shadows from nearby. He wrapped ten separate pieces of rope around the wood tight and then shadow surrounded his arms. He leaped high into the sky.

“Shadow Dragon blades!” Arakai yelled out as the ten blades stabbed into the ends of the rope without exploding.

“Wow! That was impressive! What kind of magic was that?!” Barte asked.

“Shadow Dragon Slayer, they tend to call me the Lizard of the night!” Arakai stated with a huge smile.

Arakai and the man then finished up the walls and the roof.

As they finished installing a door, the two began placing in windows and started painting. Hours had gone by and the man couldn’t believe how much work had been done. Arakai had so much stamina and it seemed as though he would never run out. The two were almost finished up.

The two finished up the paint job and finally, the house was finished. Suddenly, a rustling noise came from the bushes. Out popped a boy with a scarf tied around his mouth.

“DAD!” The little boy yelled.

He ran up to his father and jumped into his arms. The boy had assumed that he took in a new child, but this was not the case.

“Please dad, don’t get another son! Please!” The boy began to tear up.

“Don’t worry little buddy, I was just helping your father with this house for your sister.” Arakai told the little boy.

He gave the boy a wooden sword.

“If you want to be a Bandit King, you’ll need this!”

The boy took the sword and thanked Arakai.

“You’re the best!” He said

Barte hugged his son and embraced the boy.

“Oh Ninko, I could never replace my son.” Barte told Ninko.

“Thank you, Arakai. Here’s the reward I promised, 4,000 jewels.”

Barte took a big from within his pocket and handed it to Arakai. Arakai proceeded to head away from the area and trench through the snow; the young wizard headed back to his guild.