It had been a simple afternoon, five months ago.
Too simple.
Eric had been sitting on a low hill, watching the distant glow of his village. Torches marked the houses below.
The roads. The caravans leaving through the gates.
Then, from the nearby forest, he heard sudden laughter.
Bokoblins.
Not many, but enough to leave people injured.
Eric clenched his fists.
He didn't have a clever plan. He didn't even have a decent weapon. Just one stubborn idea.
He stood.
Moved forward.
And charged.
After the Great Calamity, all of Hyrule had been plunged into a fragile state. Many children began training with local militias as early as twelve or thirteen.
Because of that, this small group of Bokoblins didn't frighten Eric.
The first one lunged at him and died quickly under a clean slash of his dagger. Their movements were predictable. Two swings, a roar. Always the same.
The second nearly caught him off guard, but Eric still managed to drive the blade through its throat.
The third fell with a clumsy scream.
The last left him bleeding on the ground.
Then, suddenly, a voice echoed inside his head.
---
[Condition Detected]
[Sustained Will]
---
Eric gasped.
—What the hell… —he whispered—
A strange screen appeared in his field of vision.
[System Activated]
….
The memory faded.
Eric opened his eyes again, back in the present.
This hunt had paid well.
A Goddess Core.
10,000.00 points.
And the Centaleon's parts.
—And you don't have any upgrades? —he asked—
Eric blinked as his fingers brushed the smooth wood of his Bow of Light.
The bow responded with a soft pulse, almost offended.
Eric let out a short, tired laugh.
—Alright, alright… don't look at me like that. When you first floated in front of me with all that fanfare, I thought you were some legendary weapon. Turns out you can barely kill a Moblin—
He drew the string carefully.
A light arrow began to form. Not intense like the one he had used before. This one was faint, unstable, like a spark barely holding together.
He fired at a nearby rock.
The arrow struck and left a glowing mark that faded seconds later.
Eric studied the result.
It wasn't impressive.
—A bit weak… —he murmured—
The system screen responded immediately.
[The Bow of Light has not fully awakened]
[Enhancements Required]
Sub-entries appeared around the bow, one after another:
– Beast fragments
– Energy cores
– Ancient runes
– Combat experience
Eric exhaled slowly.
—So I have to make you grow… —he whispered—
He looked at the bow once more.
As night began to fall, Eric descended the hill toward his village.
—He's back.
—By the gods… look at that bow. What the hell did he hunt this time?
—He never disappoints.
Heads turned higher than usual as Eric returned.
He crossed the village square at an unhurried pace.
The local guards greeted him first.
Not as a superior. Not as a subordinate.
But as someone who had earned genuine respect.
They had lost count of how many times they'd seen him emerge from the forest with the bow on his shoulder, just before monsters tried their luck.
Sometimes carrying enormous quantities of monster parts.
—Route clear? —one of the guards asked—
—For now —Eric replied—. But don't get complacent.
He nodded to them and walked toward a shop.
The shop was his.
What had once been an abandoned warehouse was now filled with stocked shelves, carefully hung weapons, sacks of dried food, jars containing sorted monster parts.
The sign was simple. Nothing grandiose.
Inside, Lyra Thalren, his mother, managed the place with confidence.
—Come in, come in —she said to a pair of merchants—. If you're looking for reinforced blades or monster parts for brewing elixirs, you've come to the right place.
Eric set the haul down on the central table.
The sound was… different.
Heavy. Metallic.
Impossible to ignore.
Conversation stopped instantly.
First came the colossal Centaleon bow.
Its curvature was unnatural, its metal strings impossible to draw without immense strength.
Even so, its material alone sold extremely well.
To a blacksmith, that bow meant enough refined metal for five solid swords.
Then came the shield. Massive. Scarred with impact marks no ordinary weapon could leave.
Then the horns. Long. Intact. Impossible to mistake for anything previously seen in Hateno.
Silence took over completely.
A merchant dropped his pouch.
—That… —he swallowed— where did that come from?
Eric shrugged.
—The hills.
Lyra studied the pieces, then her son.
She said nothing. Just nodded, as if she had learned long ago not to be surprised by Eric's feats.
Within minutes, the shop filled with extravagantly dressed men.
They had seen Eric hauling the stock from afar.
They had also heard of the famous shop in Hateno. They simply wanted to confirm the rumors with their own eyes.
—They say you always have premium goods here.
—That it doesn't matter what you're looking for.
—That if other towns don't have it, you'll find it here.
It wasn't exaggeration.
Reinforced weapons looted from monsters.
Rare parts.
Materials other villages saw once a year at best.
Here, there was everything. Eric hunted every morning and returned loaded with supplies.
And Hateno benefited from it.
Caravans returned. Routes reopened. Prices stabilized. Slowly, the village began reclaiming its long-lost prosperity.
A merchant's child pointed at the colossal bow.
—That… do you use that?
Eric shook his head.
—No.
—That's for sale. The material is incredibly valuable.
The reaction was immediate.
—FOR SALE?
Nervous laughter rippled through the shop, thinly veiled greed beneath it.
Eric observed the crowded store, the constant murmur, his mother moving effortlessly among customers.
He mounted the bow on the wall and checked the inventory.
He smiled faintly.
He loved seeing his shop fully stocked.
It was visually perfect.
He wasn't a king…
But it made him feel like one.
However…
A few minutes later, after rearranging items in the storage room, Eric returned.
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Empty inventory.
Completely empty.
Too empty.
The counter spotless. The walls bare. The space that had held weapons, monster parts, and rare materials moments earlier… was a desert.
His right eye twitched.
A sharp, involuntary tic.
—No… —he murmured—. No, no, no…
Only two merchants remained at the counter, calmly counting rupees with infuriating serenity.
One tall and thin. The other short, unsmiling, with the look of a man who had barely won a brutal economic war against an ambitious woman.
—Fifty thousand rupees exactly —one said—.
—Good business.
Eric tried to speak.
—Wait… all of that isn't—
—SOLD —his mother said at the same time—
Eric turned slowly.
Lyra Thalren stood behind the counter with perfect posture, a professional smile, and the unmistakable reflection of rupee symbols in her eyes.
—Mother —Eric said, voice tight—.
—That was the entire stock.
—And now it's all capital —she replied without losing her smile—. Don't be rude to the customers, dear.
One of the merchants laughed.
—She's right, boy. Inventory comes and goes.
The twitch returned.
Stronger.
His teeth clenched.
—I… —he inhaled deeply— I need to see my shop full.
Lyra tilted her head, fully aware of her son's strange fixation with abundance.
—And we need to see this —she said, lifting the rupee pouch— full.
This wasn't the first time Eric had shown… questionable psychological tendencies.
If Lyra indulged him, this wouldn't be a shop.
It would be a museum.
She had even suggested it once, after realizing just how concerning his young psyche could be.
Unfortunately, psychologists didn't exist in Hyrule.