It was an incredibly quiet morning when Naru made his way through town. He was headed to work, but there weren't that many merchants in sight. The ones that did happen to be working looked as though they'd rather be somewhere else. He could hear his own footsteps on the ground which was a testament to the lack of commotion in the marketplace. Whatever the reason was, it allowed Naru to arrive at work quickly. Today he was hoping to finish cutting some gems that he had been working on. He had been coming along as a jewelry crafter and was one of the better ones in town.
Naru stepped into the jewelry shop and was surprised at how nice everything looked. "I wonder who cleaned up," he would wonder. This place had been a pigsty last night so someone must have gotten here early. Naru's question was answered when he saw his boss run to the front windows with a wet rag and wipe it down hurriedly.
"Do you have an important client coming over today," Naru would ask, genuinely surprised to see his boss doing any form menial labor.
"Didn't I tell you," the boss would huff, "the new man is coming to town today. I've got to have the shop looking its best. His cart is going to pass by our shop - I just found out this morning."
Naru shook his head and wondered why it was necessary to impress some new man. He wanted to ask more questions, but the boss shooed him away, "We can talk later. Just follow the cart to his house and I'll meet you there." Naru shrugged and would wait outside and saw that a lot of others were doing the same. Naru crossed the street and wondered if he could get any more information about the newcomer.
"Sir, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this new man would you," Naru would ask politely.
"Why yes I do," the older man said plainly, "his name is Uziel and rumor has it he's a master jewelry crafter. They say he makes the most beautiful jewelry you'll ever see, but only lets his wife wear his best pieces. His arrival's caused quite the commotion as you've no doubt seen. I suppose everyone wants to get on his good side. I suppose most people either want a famous friend or to learn his secrets. I just want to see the wife, I hear she's quite the looker!" the older man ended with a laugh that seemed uncomfortably powerful for his frail stature. The man nearly toppled over, but Naru was there to hold him steady. "Thank you lad. That must be their cart now, look!"
Naru turned to see several large wagons making their way down the road. Why he had chosen to go down one of the most congested streets was a mystery to the faelnir. "Well, I can hazard a guess that he's inflating his ego," he would think to himself. He hadn't even met the guy and he knew that he didn't like him. Naru watched as the carts passed and he followed the slow procession along with everyone else. Eventually they would arrive at a large home which was no doubt where the family would be living.
Eventually the carts would stop and a couple servants would hop out and start unloading them. Most of the attendees wondered where the family was, since they didn't' seem to be in any of the carts. Before long, the family arrived in an overly decorated carriage driven by a well-dressed servant. The carriage had to slow down to pass through the crowd and would eventually come to a stop at the doors to the house. Naru strained his neck trying to get a good view of what was going on and decided to fight his way to the front. Meanwhile, servants continued unloading extravagant pieces of furniture from the carts.
As if Naru hadn't been jealous enough, the family stepped out and Naru got his first look at the beautiful woman who was no doubt Uziel's wife. She looked to be about thirty who walked with precise steps and had incredibly seductive brown eyes. She had long black hair that was twisted into an elaborate pattern that seemed to match her even more elaborate clothing. Her figure looked slim enough, but it was hard to get a good view, even from the front. One thing was clear to Naru: this was a very high-maintenance woman.
The man standing next to the woman was no doubt Uziel. He looked on the older side, perhaps his mid-forties. He walked around, greeting people of importance with an air about him that told Naru that he was in charge. His voice was accented to a point that Naru wasn't sure if common was even his native tongue, even though he looked human enough. The one time Uziel passed close by, the man was able to smell a strong scent of exotic food that made Naru's mouth water. Other than that, the newcomer was remarkably unremarkable in Naru's eyes. He wasn't sure what the man had done to gain such fame, but he intended to find out. "What's he got that I don't," he would wonder, "what do I have to do to be this recognized?"
Within about thirty minutes the commotion did down and the crowd had circled around Uziel. Naru had spent so much time trying to find flaws in the newcomer that he hadn't noticed that the wife and kid had headed into the house.
"Thank you for the warm welcome," Uziel shouted so that all could hear, "It is truly an honor to be amongst you all and I hope you will enjoy the world class wares from my shop. I have purchased my home and intend to live out the rest of my days here. Now if you don't' mind, I would like to be getting some rest after my travels!"
Uziel clearly wanted the crowd to disperse, but Naru wouldn't let it. He would step forward and shout with a sharp tone, "is this what we do now? Welcome competition with open arms? We have the best talent in the world and we reduce ourselves to this? He should be coming to us and earning our favor, not the other way around! It's not like we even need more high quality wares, do our fellow faelnir not work hard enough?" There were murmerings amongst the crowd. There were no doubt those who agreed with Naru who wouldn't speak up. "Have any of you even seen his wares? I'd bet anything that my own jewelry tops his any day!"
Uziel seemed to boil with anger at Naru's words. "That's enough out of you," he would shout as his jovial demeanor vanished, "I spent my whole life perfecting my craft and you think you can compare to the likes of me? If you think there's no need for another man in town then let's settle this once and for all. Meet me back here at this time tomorrow and we will compare our best pieces." Naru gave him a curt nod then turned on his heel to head back to the shop. The crowd parted for him and quickly dispersed, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of the dispute.
Naru's boss arrived shortly after he did and was livid. "Listen, I'm not sure what made you want to challenge Uziel but it doesn't look good on me. I can't make you call it off and apologize, but I highly recommend it." The boss paced back and forth as Naru stomped towards the workshop, "I'm telling you lad, there's nothing to gain here! There's not even a prize involved!" Naru slammed the door behind him before he got to work on the necklace he would make. He was even more emotional than his boss was, truth be told. He was angry at what had turned into; a bunch of foreigner lovers that couldn't appreciate their own talent.
"I'll show them all," Naru said, "And there is a prize. When I win, it'll show everyone that we don't need foreigners and that I am a competent man. And when he loses, nobody will respect him anymore. They'll envy me instead. Me, the one who defeated the oh so great Uziel." Naru knew that his primary motivation had been jealousy. He couldn't be that upset about foreigners coming to town he would have spent his whole life angry if that was the case.
"Godheads help me through this I beg of you. I'm going to need it." It wasn't easy to make a necklace from scratch with no preparation. Naru would work into the night and would only stop once the brilliant gold necklace was polished. He had employed every trick in the book that he knew about making jewelry with no regards for cost. It was early morning before Naru finally allowed himself some much needed rest.
Naru woke that morning to the feeling of his boss kicking him in the rear. He jumped to his feet and asked desperately, "what time is it? Am I late?" The boss shook his head and responded, "no, but you're lucky I came in to check on you. Let me take a look at what you managed to throw together." The boss scooped up the necklace that Naru had painstakingly crafted and started inspecting it in a way that only a man would. "Not bad, I see you didn't hold back. This is definitely the best work I've ever seen you do, but I don't think it can compare to the likes of a master. The only reason I'm not going to stop you from competing is because I'm quite curious to see what our competition can make."
Naru snatched back the necklace and placed it into a box, "you had a much different tone last night," he said as he tried not to yawn, "why the change of heart?"
"Well, win or lose you've still got talent. Worst comes to worst you'll at least get your piece out there in front of the big wigs. Who knows, you may even win, although I'm sure that won't be the case. I talked with some of the other craftsmen and none of them had seen a piece by Uziel before so there's a chance that he's just a bunch of hot air."
The younger jewler turned on his heel and left without another word. He wasn't nervous, at least not yet. He had prayed to the godheads for help and he was almost certain that this was why the necklace had turned out so well. In reality, the godheads had nothing to do with it. Naru had yet to learn that he had been blessed with more than just a perfectly sculpted body. On his way to Uziels house, the faelnir spotted a familiar chubby kid. Naru walked right past him then realized that it was Uziels kid. Looking back, he saw that the kid was stuffing his face with sweets and was staring right at him.
"You're the challenger aren't you," the kid said after swallowing his enormous bite, "yes you are, I'd recognize that look anywhere! I can't tell you how many times I've seen the same look only to see it turn to tears after losing to my dad!" the kid let out a hearty laugh and seemed to inhale more sweets simultaneously. "You're like a wee bug about to get stepped on haha!" Naru rolled his eyes and continued on his way. "What an obnoxious kid. I bet he's just like his dad." The laughing never stopped, Naru merely walked far enough away so that he wouldn't hear it anymore. Thankfully, he had finally arrived at the residence which seemed even more busy than the day before. "No mystery why this lot is here today," the man thought with a grimace.
Among the attendees for today's event were crafters of all types, onlookers, and Uziel's wife. Naru hadn't gotten all too good of a look at the wife yesterday and it was shocking just how attractive she looked. He found his eyes glued to her as navigated through the small crowd. The woman noticed him approaching and locked eyes with him. It was only when Naru kept approaching that she realized that this was her husband's challenger. She gave Naru a sly smile and averted her gaze, but Naru found it difficult to do the same.
Naru approached Uziel with his boxed necklace and shouted, "alright let's get this over with. Who's doing the judging?" Several senior crafters stepped forwards and motioned for the competitors to take a seat at a small table that had been laid out for the occasion. The background gossiping died down and the crowd tightened so that all could see the pieces that the two had brought to show off.
"I'll go first then," Uziel said with a smile. It was only now that Naru noticed how tired the man looked. The newcomer looked even tired than Naru was which probably meant that he had crafted a piece just for the competition. "I had thought he'd just show the best of his stock. Why did he go off and make a whole new piece?" Naru didn't have much time to think before Uziel pulled out a necklace that was more spectacular than any jewelry that Naru had ever seen. It was gold, but it had a color that seemed more pure than pure gold itself - and judging by the way the man handled it, it definitely wasn't malleable like pure gold ought to be. The necklace had incredibly detailed etching work and gems that shone even when not in direct sunlight.
The crowd gasped and even the judges couldn't believe such a creation was possible. It was almost as if they thought they were looking at an illusion. Naru didn't even want to show the necklace that he had made. It was good, yes, but it didn't deserve to be in the same splendor as something as amazing as Uziel's. But alas, he had no choice - he was already in too deep. With a gulp, Naru gave one last prayer to the godheads, "Gods, I thank you for all you've given me and I swear I will earn these people's envy in your name. Somehow."
Naru felt a surge of divine energy flow through his body as he opened the box. What was inside made his jaw nearly drop to the floor. What was in the box wasn't, couldn't have been the necklace that he had made last night. Everyone in attendance stared longingly at the most perfect necklace that Naru could have ever dreamed up. "Thank you! Thank you! Naru would think as he presented the necklace to the judges. He didn't know how it was even possible but somehow he had caused the jewelry to change form. It didn't take long for the judges to come to their decision.
"Well," a judge started, "Uziel, I must say that your piece would be difficult to beat by most of our crafters, but Naru here has somehow made something even greater. We're going to have to declare him the winner."
Naru grinned and said, "How about I give it to your wife as a token of friendship." Naru would wink at Uziel and his wife, knowing that his popularity was about to go sky high. The judge held out his hand towards the wife, then all of a sudden, the necklace started to morph. Within a few short seconds the necklace returned to being only somewhat remarkable. It was as if nobody was quite sure of what had happened. Naru definitely didn't know that there was some kind of time limit on the Crest magic that he had just used, "What happened? Did I only make it beautiful for a short time? No, it happened as soon as I gave it away. What kind of foolery is this?"
"Well well well," Uziel said smugly, "I'm not sure how you pulled off that illusion, but it looks like I am actually the winner. I wasn't aware that mans were tricksters of the most heinous kind!" Naru snatched away his necklace and took off. He had to pretty much push his way through the crowd and he was furious that he had to keep listening, "and now I will bestow my necklace to my wife, as it is the only piece in this city that deserves a spot around her neck."
It was half an hour before Naru finally escaped to a place where he couldn't be bothered. He was ruined now - everyone would think that he had tricked them and now everyone would envy Uziel now more than ever. Even he himself was envious of Uziel. A beautiful wife, status, and the skill to make a necklace that seemed to defy reality. Uziel was a framed picture of what Naru aspired to be, something that Naru thought he would never be after today's events. The jealousy welled up so powerfully within Naru that he doubted he would ever have difficulty identifying that emotion again.
Naru sat there in sadness for the longest time and ran the competition through his head hundreds of times. The only words ringing through his heads were the ones that he had thought to himself when he thought all was lost "Godheads, I thank you for all you've given me and I swear I will earn these people's envy in your name. Somehow." Naru intended to follow through on that promise; it was the only thing he could do lest he live out the rest of his life in envy of the newcomer.
"I'm sure I can do it, but how?" Naru would think about ways to get back at the man, anything to somehow turn the tables. However thinking under these conditions was not very conducive for good ideas. The very humiliated man would slowly make his way home, only stopping by his empty workplace to drop off the necklace he had made.
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