Mike was shown a wide array of armor from which to choose from and try if he wanted to. Still, this may seem a bit too much for Mike as he knows that wearing heavy armor is not his style and provides a bunch of disadvantages for more defense. Plus Mike was not looking to become a tank since he is not one to be constantly beaten up by anything and everything. Plus he was not really in a party unless Sarenthia counted as a party member.
So Mike was only looking at the types of lightweight gear that provided good mobility and defense at the same time. Eventually, Mike's eye was caught by a suit of leather armor that fitted Mike's needs. The leather armor had pieces of metal that reminded Mike of the kind that the guards wore as there was a piece of metal that would guard the chest while the belly and gut were protected by leather. There were shoulder guards that came with the armor while most other parts of the body would be covered in leather.
This piece was perfect because none of the metal pieces were touching each other so there would be no noise while moving around so it was suitable to stealth if the need arose and since it was not really made of metal it would not cost that much hopefully...
"How much for this?" Mike asked as he looks at the dwarf since price tags were not a thing yet
"Ah this suit is 50 gold," The dwarf says
"How come it is so much?"
"Some of the leather is actually made from the hide of a young Drake that once went on a rage near the city so the price is a lot but it has been up there for a long while and no one has really taken interest in it until you asked" The dwarf replies as he strokes his beard
Mike looked at this dwarf and tried to see if he was telling the truth
8
Not a clue.
"Still this is way out of my budget how about I give you something for it?" Mike offers
"Oh, and what are you offering? If it is more of that stuff that you were offering me from before I am afraid you will need better quality stuff," He responds in kind honestly interested
"Your kind is known for forging am I right?" Mike asks
"Yes so what about it," The dwarf says visibly confused at what Mike is getting at
"I have noticed that most of the iron used here has some impurities [1] on it if you want I can give you a foolproof way to improve it greatly" Mike offers
"Hahaha you really think I would trust someone who has never picked up a hammer in his life you must be drunk or crazy to think that I would listen to any underhanded method you have," The Dwarf says before Mike can say more
"Oh? Well how about this try out what I suggest and see if the quality of the item you make is better than usual" Mike says
"Hahaha alright then I will take that bet heck if what you say is true I'll even take you in as an apprentice! Hahaha!" The Dwarf laughs in full confidence that what Mike was going to say was bull
"Alright then during the forging process when you have melted the iron down just add some limestone or coal dust onto the mixture and you will see a significant improvement to the iron quality" Mike replies calmly
"Really just add that? Hahaha, you must be really something special kid if you really think that will work but to show you wrong I will do what you ask then," The dwarf laughs to himself once again as he heads into the second part of the building and a few moments another dwarf appears from the room
"Master has told me to keep an eye on you to make sure that you don't do anything while he is busy," The dwarf says as they stare intently at Mike
"Fine by me I will just be right here then," Mike replies as he leans against the wall
Now then how did Mike know this about forging? Well, he learned it through reading medieval books to improve his knowledge and come up with ideas on how to make new weapons and items in the D&D world that would be devastating to his enemies. So this method of forging was something that he learned about early on and incorporated into his characters as best he could whenever the DM allowed him to. In fact, he got so into it he wanted to actually start forging himself once he got older and had the funds so that he could make all sorts of items like miniatures, weapons, and of course dice to use himself.
Mike waited for the dwarf to finish up and all the while this dwarven apprentice that Mike was assuming to be, was just staring at Mike all the while.
Dwarves were another long-lived race known for drinking, forging, fighting, and holding grudges. They were short literally with the height of the one before Mike only being about 4 feet tall which is tall amongst dwarf standards. The one before him was wearing a blacksmith's apron which his red beard covered half of by its own. This guy however seemed to be taking his job way too seriously as he literally flinched when Mike moved his hand past his sheathed blade to scratch his head for a bit.
Eventually, after about an hour had passed an audible hiss rings out from the other room telling Mike that the iron had just been rapidly cooled down by water in a bucket. Soon after Mike sees the dwarf from before moving out and in his hands are the blades of two swords.
"Alrighty mister blacksmith I have here in my hand a blade I made before you got here made by the same way I always made it and the other blade was made with your suggestions added to it," The dwarf says as he places the blade on a counter and motions that his apprentice can leave now
The dwarf blacksmith takes out two wooden handles and after that, he moves to attach the blades to the handles. With the blades fastened in tight the dwarf blacksmith tosses the blade made with Mike's 'suggestion' as he put it towards him. Mike catches the blade easily and brandishes it
"Alright, lets now see which is better," The dwarf says full of confidence as he holds the blade out and waits for Mike to strike it
Mike obliges and both the swords clash against each other producing a loud ringing sound from them. They pull their swords back and the dwarf takes Mike's blade from him as he soon begins checking it for breaks from the clash.
After a few minutes of looking the dwarf is actually surprised to see that the blade is seemingly perfectly fine from the hit as there are no scratches on the blade.
"Um, sir your blade has um..." Mike chimes in prompting the dwarf to look at his own blade that he used
What he saw shocked him greatly as the blade he was using had a visible piece of it missing. In fact, looking at the floor they both could see the piece lying there on the ground glittering in the sunlight. This result shook this dwarf to the core as this human who has never lifted a hammer in his life had provided a technique to improve the quality of iron so easily. Now this dwarf knew that Mike was not a blacksmith himself because his hand had no calluses on them which were a clear indicator of hard labor. So when the dwarf first noticed this he just laughed at Mike's face since he assumed him to be crazy but seeing as how this strange technique worked he was starting to regret his previous actions.
"Um... sir I am terribly sorry for thinking that the method that you gave me was false. Please take that suit of armor and anything else you want as a form of my sincerest apologies," The dwarf says as he bows towards Mike
"Now now that is understandable for you to doubt me," Mike says while also thinking 'I am sure the person who discovered this way also had some doubters as well'
"Now I do require two things from you though and if need be I will pay for them," Mike says
The dwarf just looks up at Mike as he waits to hear what he wants
"All I want is for you to keep this method a secret regardless of who asks whether it be the king of dwarves or your best apprentice I don't want this method becoming well known and neither do you understand?" Mike asks
The dwarf understanding what Mike was saying nods his head as tears come to his eyes. With this technique and him being the only person who is using them his little shop will become famous for the quality of the works that he could make. Naturally, the thought of obtaining countless riches was enough to keep his mouth shut about the method that Mike gave him so that he would get rich.
"And the second thing you want sir?" The dwarf asks
"I would like a sword and shield made through the method I gave you for me to use" Mike answers
The dwarf fervently nods his head at Mike before the close up the transaction with a firm handshake.
"Haha young master if you even need anything the Stronghammer family will help you," The dwarf says as he takes out a stone coin that has the symbol of a hammer breaking a rock underneath it while some dwarven symbols and characters were surrounding it
"I will be sure to do so mister?"
"Ah where are my manners my name is Alexander Stronghammer at your service," Alexander says
"Well then nice to meet you, Alexander," Mike says as they both do another firm handshake
After talking about the finer details of Mike's sword and taking some measurements of Mike's arm and all the necessary items needed for his new equipment Mike. With that done Mike changes into his new armor and leaves the smithy.
"Remember I will be done in three days with your new equipment!" Alexander shouts out as Mike is leaving
With an acknowledging nod, Mike was done with his equipment shopping.
"Hey, Mike why did you ask for another sword?" Abbey asks
'With Sarenthia inhabiting my current sword I think it would be for the best if she uses that in battle while I use the other sword and shield in combat allowing her to not really worry about me' Mike answers as he walks back to the inn with the time being around 2 in the afternoon.
Orion who was following behind Mike quietly suddenly starts growling as he senses something happening. Mike notices this and looks around and just like last time when he and Dike were ambushed in the alleyway, there seems to be no one else around.
As Mike draws his blade a man walks out of an alleyway and towards Mike. The odd thing was that the man was wearing a butler's uniform and had incredibly pale skin which immediately reminded Mike of Irina. The man's features were similar to Irina's in that he had high cheek bones, red eyes, and jet black hair combed off to the side.
"Good sir m'lady wishes to speak with you," He says as he bows towards Mike
"You're a vampire too?" Mike asks
"Yes I am sir but before you ask any more questions I request that you come to meet with my lady as she has requested an audience with you," He says
"Alright then," Mike says as he sheathes his blade and motions for Orion to calm down
Orion calms down quite easily and it seems that he was indeed very obedient towards Mike as he stops growling buy his eyes never leave the vampire butler in front of him.
"Lead the way," Mike says to him
The butler snaps his fingers and out of nowhere, a horse-drawn carrage appears from nowhere from within the same small alley that the butler appeared from. He motions for Mike to enter as he opens the door and Mike steps inside and takes a seat on the cushioned chairs with Orion laying on the floor of the carriage before the door closes.
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1. Iron will naturally have impurities since it comes from the ground and these impurities cause iron to be more brittle as a result and that is not good. The most common way to remove them is by pounding them out with a hammer so that whatever is being made will be tougher than before but that will not get rid of all of them