The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

The only noteworthy thing Isaac heard that day was an interesting story. Apparently, the village head had a daughter; she was his only child. When she was younger, he took her to the sect to be awakened. However, the gatekeeper wouldn't let them in. Even when the pair got down on their knees and pleaded, the gatekeeper still turned them away. Thus the daughter was never awakened and had no chance to become a cultivator.

The story meant that the sect and probably some other places from real life existed within the illusion. At least, they existed in theory.

It was a bit complicated but illusions were spaces built within the mind. That meant illusions couldn't be infinite and they had to have a limit. Isaac hadn't tested it but he guessed this illusion's limit was either the village or the area around it, so he couldn't leave to visit the sect.

The second important part of the story was that the village head and his daughter might have a grudge against the sect. Information like that could help work out what the trial was about. At the moment, Isaac wasn't sure whether it was related to the village head and his daughter or the strange behaviour of the wolves. However, he might find out by testing the illusion's limit. If he couldn't go outside the village, it meant the trial had nothing to do with wolves.

When night fell, Isaac snuck out of the tavern. His room didn't have a window so he had to creep into the landlady's room, steal the key from her bedside table, then unlock the tavern's door and leave. Then, he walked to the edge of the village.

The wall surrounding the village was too tall to climb, topped with spikes and patrolled by guards. Nevertheless, it was designed to keep things out, not shut them in. There were steps up to the top of the wall for the guards to use, but Isaac didn't mind borrowing them for a bit.

However, he was stopped by an invisible barrier the moment he tried to climb them. His foot couldn't even cross the line of the first step.

"This must be the limit..."

Isaac knew what a limit was and why illusions had them, but he didn't know what they could do. Some illusions would collapse if you passed the limit, but these illusions usually had crazily strong defences (like illusionary dragons) to stop people doing so. Other limits teleported people to a random place within the illusion, which could be inconvenient and dangerous. Imagine being teleported into the sky, 3 miles above the ground. Splat.

Luckily for Isaac, this harmless type of limit was the most common. If it wasn't, or if he'd been unlucky, Isaac's story might've ended here.

Blissfully ignorant of his luck, Isaac returned to the tavern. He locked the door, put the key exactly where he found it, and went to bed.

He slept for as long as possible before the landlady came to wake him up. It went without saying that she wasn't happy.

"Get up, there are customers! Remember what you said on the first day about being perfect? This is not perfect! This is less than ideal! Wake up and get to work."

"Okay."

Isaac's bland response dissatisfied the landlady. However, she didn't say anything more and left the room to get back to work. Isaac got ready as quickly as usual and entered the main bar area.

He'd only returned last night since it meant he didn't have to sleep on the streets. Since his business here was done, Isaac waited until the tavern keeper was in the kitchen before opening the now unlocked door and leaving. He didn't plan on coming back.

'Taverns are filled with hundreds of rumours, but what I need now is a single piece of crucial information.'

Isaac had to dig deeper into the village's connection with the sect, but he couldn't do that in the tavern. He was on his way to visit Jax, the village's best blacksmith and a member of the village council. However, Isaac failed to notice the man following some distance behind him.

Eventually, he arrived at the smithy. It was on the outskirts of the village so the walk took longer than expected. When he arrived there, he saw a bear-like man sitting at an anvil and hammering. After noticing Isaac approach, he got up and wiped the sweat from his brow,

"Hello young man, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Are you Mr. Jax?"

"Yes son, you don't have to call me Mr though, I'm not that old, hahaha!"

Isaac didn't know why he was laughing, but he just played along.

"I'm looking for a job. Lady Seliora from the Red Dragon Tavern recommended I come here."

"Seliora? She must either deeply dislike you or truly think highly of you to send you here. I've tried hiring assistants before but none of them were cut out for it. If you think you're up to the task, I'll give you a chance. Let me finish this, then I'll find some work for you."

Jax continued hammering for another 20 minutes. Isaac waited without saying anything. When he was finished, Jax looked up at Isaac with a big smile.

"Good! Looks like you have enough patience for the job!"

Jax led Isaac inside the smithy and found his own list of tasks. He pointed to three bullet points,

"Do these, then make lunch. As for pay... does lunch and 12 copper coins sound okay?"

Isaac wasn't sure how much purchasing power copper coins had but he nodded enthusiastically anyway. Jax grinned again,

"Better get to it, then."

Jax and Isaac both went back out to the front of the smithy. Jax returned to forging, while Isaac found a pile of farm tools. He picked them up and brought them over to the grinding wheel, then sat down and used the pedal to spin the stone wheel while he sharpened tools on the stone.

After he was done sharpening them, his next job was to go to the back yard and chop firewood. However, Isaac never made it to the back yard. When he went back into the smithy, he immediately started looking for Jax's living quarters.

When he found them, he entered the room and began searching for anything about the village council. He was looking for a diary, a transcript or any document with details about council meetings and the village head's plans. Isaac was determined to discover if there was a connection between the village and the sect.

*************************

Meanwhile, a familiar man had started talking to Jax outside. At least, he was familiar to Isaac who had served him at the tavern yesterday.

"Hey Jax, how's it going?"

"Slow. Not too many orders recently, the high taxes mean people don't have much money to spend right now."

"But wasn't your council the one who passed them?"

"Sure, the council passed them. Doesn't mean I agree with them. Actually, I voted against them."

"That's tough. I saw a kid here earlier, what's he doing?"

"Just got him running some jobs. He said Seliora recommended this place to him. Anyway, I don't see you often. How've you been and what are you here for?"

"Just here to catch up with an old friend. Why don't we go inside and have a chat? You can tell me some more about that kid while you're at it, I know it takes a certain type of person to catch your eye."

*************************

Inside, Isaac was rummaging through cupboards and desk draws. He'd searched over half of the room but still found nothing.

Suddenly, he heard the front door opening and people entering. He froze. Footsteps became louder and louder as Jax approached the room... and walked right past it.

Isaac let out a deep breath. However, it would be difficult to leave the room unnoticed, and they'd eventually realise he hadn't been chopping firewood in the back yard. The only saving grace was that he heard Jax talking to somebody. Hopefully that would distract him and give Isaac a little more time.

He started searching more frantically, no longer caring about throwing books and paper on the floor. It was fine if he made a mess so long as he left before Jax discovered it.

*************************

Ten minutes later, Jax and his friend were talking over a cup of tea.

"I'd have Isaac make us lunch, but I don't know where he's wandered off to."

"Wouldn't he be doing the jobs you gave him?"

"I called for him out back, but he didn't answer. Either he couldn't hear me, or he's gone walkabout."

"Isn't that quite worrying, though? A boy you don't know or trust could be anywhere on your property."

Jax frowned. The man's words had obviously made him concerned.

"Hold on, I'll go and look for him."

As Jax got up and walked into the hallway, he saw Isaac closing the door to his bedroom.