Lore/Story Harold's Voyage

Hey, hi, yes, I'm making a story thing! The first chapter is on this post and I'll post the other chapters along the thread, which I will then link here on the main post, of course.
This first chapter doesn't have a lot going on, it's mostly just the introduction and no, I don't know how many chapters I'm gonna make. :V

Chapters:
Chapter II: NA
Chapter III: NA
More?

Tell me if you want to see more of this story and tell me how I can improve, given that I'm not very experienced at writing!

Chapter I

A long time ago, in a village by the coast, ruined by war and depressed by corruption, lived a man called Harold, one of the survivors of Ancient Nemract, before it was overrun by the corruption. Harold was no ordinary man, he was one of the guards of Ancient Nemract and only took a few years to quickly go up the ranks and become one of the most notable warriors of Nemract, being trained since he was a boy; but after the fall of Ancient Nemract, Harold fell into a deep depression.
Losing his child during the fall of Nemract took a toll on his mind, he stayed home most of the time, barely anyone ever talked to him, apart from the occasional "Good morning!". And although lonely and depressed, everyone knew Harwold from his grey bushy beard, his curly hair, his blue eyes, and his love for mead.
However, one night, Harold's life changed forever when he was drinking mead late at night in Nemract's Bar and a woman, wearing a black garb covering her whole body, and a beast hunter hat covering her face, entered the bar.
The woman sat down and looked around, it was full of people talking, with a few adventurers among the citizens of Nemract, while a group of people were cheering the group playing a song in the background, it really felt like the typical bar at night.
"One cup of Nemract Whiskey." Says the mysterious woman, without making eye contact with anyone.
"Here you go lady, that'll be 2 emeralds." Says the bartender, while pushing the cup her way.
After taking her drink she leans over to the bartender and whispers to him.
"Hey, I'm looking for a partner to go on a dangerous quest, do you know anyone here that you think could be up to the task?"
"Well, you have those two lasses over there, heard they're mercenaries from another land, but they always stick together, you'll have a though time breaking them up if you only want to take one with you." Replies the bartender, while looking at the two women sitting at the corner of the bar. "You also have that dwarf guy over there, he comes here a lot but no one has seen him recently, he's good if you want some muscle but he's not the smartest of people."
The strange woman looked around the room, disappointed, when she finally saw what she was looking for, "Hey, who's that old man sitting in the corner, his weapon is... interesting." asked the woman.
"That's ol' Harold, he's one of the last surviving citizens of Ancient Nemract, he lost his boy along with the city and the only thing that he still has is his hammer, apparently he's had it since he was a boy; but I wouldn't take him if I were you, although he is very experienced, he is very old and I doubt he can manage himself in a real fight."
"I'll take my chances." Says the woman as she gets up from her seat and walks towards Harold.
The woman sits in front of Harold and puts her hat on the table, unveiling her long blonde hair and starts talking to him.
"Hello, my name is Maria, I was looking for a partner that would come to me on a quest and I heard that you are quite the veteran, what do you say?"
Harold slowly looks up at Maria and slowly says "Listen, Lady Maria, I'm just an old man, and this hammer hasn't been in a battle in years, don't you think an old man like me would just slow you down?"
"No, not at all, I actually think having an old experienced warrior would be better than to have, say, a chubby dwarf with me. Just listen to what I have to say! I heard that there's an island that almost no one has explored and it contains a great treasure, thousands of emeralds, but it is also protected by some great beasts, and I happen to have the map that takes us straight to that island, what do you say?"
"A hidden island with thousands of emeralds, protected by great beasts? Oh spare me the chit chat, all treasures have been found and stolen, be it by thieves or armies, all great beasts have been killed, be it by Bob or by an old man like me! I don't have time for this let me enjoy my drink!"
"So what are you gonna do then? Are you gonna stay in this small crappy town, waiting for the world to end and drinking your sorrows away, I guess that's also how you avenged your son, eh?"
Harold got up and slammed his hands on the table and replied to Maria, in a furious tone "Don't you dare talk like that about my boy you w... hmph..."
Harold finished his drink and ran out of the bar furiously and headed home, no one saw him for the rest the night.
The next morning Harold heard someone knock on his door, something that hadn't happened to him in years, he opened the door only to find Maria leaning on the wall next to his door.
"What the hell do you want?" asked Harold, still half asleep.
"Oh you know, just stopped by to see if you changed your mind about my offer..." replied Maria.
Harold sighed.
"Alright, whatever, come in, I do have to warn you though, it's not nice in here."
Maria walked in Harold's house, it was a small house with only one floor. In the middle of the room there was a table with some bread, cheese and empty mead bottles on it, on the corner there was a broken bed with blankets on the floor next to it; there was a hole in the roof that was badly repaired with some wooden planks.
"Ugh... I don't mean to be rude but... it smells like there's a dead body in here..." said Maria, as she entered the house.
"Well excuse me princess, you can always leave if you want, no one wants you here anyway." replied Harold, as he sat on the bed and ate some bread and cheese, "Anyway, tell me about this magical adventure you want to go on, where we'll find 'riches beyond our wildest dreams'".
"Alright, there's this island to the Northwest that is said to countain thousands of emeralds, but, like I said, it's guarded by powerful beasts, and that's why I need your help, but the hard part is actually getting there. I was thinking that we could take a small boat from Nemract to Selchar, where we'll stock up on supplies if we need to and so we can get a good night's sleep, then we'll set sail once again to Pirate Town where we can rest for a night, and then we go straight North to treasure island!"
"And how much time do you think this would take?"
"I'd say around 3 weeks, if everything goes according to plan and we take enough supplies. So, are you in?"
"Well, I don't have anything better to do and no one will miss me if I die in the middle of the ocean so, why not, how much will I get, 50% of the treasure, if we ever get to it, that is?"
"Alright, we have a deal, I'll get a small boat for us in no time, pack as much food as you can and we'll meet tomorrow morning at the docks!"
"Wait, wait, wait, how do I know you're not just gonna stab me in the back and kill me as soon as I clear the way to the treasure for you, eh?"
"Hey, if I was gonna kill my partner then I wouldn't have chosen someone that could kick my ass, would I? Ahah. Anyway, start packing your stuff, we'll be leaving tomorrow at sunrise!"
The next morning both of them were at the docks by sunrise with bags full of food and other supplies, Maria had bought a small wherry for them, just enough to carry a few people and some bags, they both got in the boat and got ready to set sail.
"Do you uh... do you even know how to drive this thing?" asked Harold, with a worried expression.
"Maybe, I guess we'll find out today, eh? Ahah!"

Also, thanks to @Black Sun for helping me out!
Remember to tell me how to improve and what you think about the story!

 

(hyped for chapter II)​

 

Me likey! :3