"No, no, this can't just be…. Sayo, I don't know why but I think I'm dreaming or hallucinating. Did you, by any chance, knock me out when I went inside Kairo's room?"
"Don't be stupid, Rex. As unbelievable as this sounds, I really think we've been sent into this world." Sayo then eyed the book and got it out from Rexis' grasp. She read again the title. "Pandora, huh?" Now she turned the book to reveal the cover page. "The Mythology of the Greeks by Alexandros Andreas?" Her tone was quite doubtful.
"So....we're in Ancient Greece? Like we're isekai protagonists? Are we really that cool to get the lead roles?"
Sayo didn't say another word but her so-done-with-you face conveys a clear message. 'Dumbass.'
The way she remembered things, they were definitely sucked by the book that she's now holding, wherever this is. This place looks like it's a workspace for smiths, given the sheer number of weaponry and unfinished crafts inside. The designs were ancient, but they look sturdy and of high quality. It looks like they were made very skillfully by a talented master forger.
She stood up and surveyed the area. Not far to her right, she saw a very intricately made spear that was too cool to be ignored along with other weapons. She was about to make her way towards the mentioned thing when suddenly, she felt repeated taps on her shoulder.
"Sayo –"
"Get a grip, Rex." She tried to swat his hand away.
"Sayo –" He tapped again, this time with more urgency. This made her face him, who was looking terrified at something. He was pointing at it. "Look….." His voice quivered a bit.
She followed the direction of Rexis' index finger and what she saw also shocked her to her core. It was a very big and tall man, more or less seven feet in height, covered in soot, with a very broad back, messy hair all over, a weird, dirty, heavily tattered brown dress fastened at the shoulder, and a wild, worker appearance. His back was towards them and he looked so busy at stoking something in front of him. It was a furnace – no, it was a forge. The burly man was bent towards it, apparently heating something from it.
"Hrrrrmmmm." When he grunted, Sayo and Rexis whimpered and froze, but the man didn't seem to notice them. Finally, he straightened and let out a decisive "Hrm!" He then pulled out the thing he was heating from the forge…..with his bare hands.
Sayo gasped but Rexis was able to cover her mouth before she can gain the stranger's attention. The man in question looked to the sides, he probably heard her, but he just dismissed it as a random noise. He then placed the still glowing red metallic liquid in the nearby anvil, where it formed into a round shape about the size of Captain America's shield. There was a barrel and a huge hammer lying just behind that station.
"Hrmmmm hrmm hr-hrmmm." The man was humming an unpleasant tune as he turned over barehanded the now-shaping metal, and placed it in the barrel which maybe contained water. A loud 'woooshhhh' was heard from the cooling process. After a few seconds, the man picked it up and placed it once more in the forger.
"Hrm-hr-hrm-hr-hrmmmmmm!" The unpleasant tune was probably on its chorus when suddenly the forger's fire lit up at a higher intensity. Rexis and Sayo's eyes widened as their surroundings became even hotter with that move. Now, the man picked up the glowing round-shaped metal and placed it on his anvil. This time, he started to hit it with his hammer repeatedly on the working surface.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
This monotonous sound was on loop and it was almost deafening for the two of them. It was worse than the man's tune from earlier. However, they can't afford to take their eyes off that hardworking smith who was so focused on his work. Their 'WTF' faces became more and more pronounced as the man did his banging job. Finally, Sayo said something.
"I don't know if we're truly in Greece like you said, but I seriously wanna go back to where we came from. I mean, who wears a dress like that while doing some heavy labor such as forging?" It was barely audible for Rexis to hear.
"I must be seeing some really bad hallucinations if this isn't real." He replied in a whisper.
Just then, the door to the workshop opened and a woman's voice sounded from the entrance.
"Were you able to finish it?" the voice asked.
"Hrmmm, it's you. I'll probably finish it by the end of the day. Are you in a hurry to use it?" The burly man turned her attention towards the woman and that's when the light caught him and illuminated his face.
There was no other word for it – the man is ugly. Very ugly. His face was botched in many places, like it's swelling from a terrible insect bite without looking purple in the process. He also had horrible facial proportions, like he was thrown off from a cliff and barely survived the fall, creating his deformed features. Many people would've bullied and made fun of this man for his looks if he were from the same place as them.
"No, not really. I was just checking on your progress." The woman stepped closer to the man – and oh man – she's a knockout. She's a direct contrast to the man whom she was speaking. She had a medium length platinum blonde hair, radiant, literally glowing skin, and her off-white dress hugged her figure perfectly. A thick metal lines her to-die-for waist, and there were several little armaments as well that adore her body, like the metal bracelets in her arms and calves. She looked like she's wearing a loose armor – but not really an armor per se. The woman was also carrying with her what appears to be a cloak, the color of midnight blue. But her most striking features were her eyes – they were gray, like a very cloudy sky.
"Byakugan." Sayo couldn't help herself to say it. Rexis tried to cover her mouth again but it was too late. The woman's head spun to their direction.
The two of them hid themselves behind a crate containing various unearthed metals before the woman can hit them with '8-Trigrams 64-Palms.' Then, she spoke again. "Is someone else here?"
'Stupid!' Sayo cursed herself. 'So stupid of you to say that nonsense out loud! This ain't anime!'
"I thought I heard something too. Ah wait, I'll go see it." The man replied and they immediately heard footsteps coming towards them.
'Crap, nowhere to hide now. Nowhere to go. Dammiiiiiit.' Rexis thought.
"Hello, why are you hiding there?" The burly man's eyes met theirs and they noticed finally that he too was emitting a faint glow like the woman he was talking to. And yes, he's even more horrible up close.
"H-Hi, Sir. Hehe." Rexis managed to let that one out nervously.
"Yes, I remember, you must be the apprentices who applied to work in my shop, no?" The man asked. "Come 'ere, we got lots'a things to do." He flashed them a yellow-teeth smile.
For someone who looked so terrifying, the burly man was rather friendly with his approach, and it made Rexis and Sayo relax a little. You can't really judge a book by its cover. They silently agreed to just nod at whatever the man says.
They stood up from their hiding place and the man looked at them from head to toe. He frowned a bit but his expression changed almost instantly. "You seem to be from a place with talented craftsmen! Those clothes, very crafty! Perfect, just what I need for my apprentices to be. Come! Come!" And he led the way to the forge.
As they made their way there, the beautiful gray-eyed woman stared at them with utmost skepticism. She eyed them like they were enemies in the battlefield. She said nothing, but the intensity of her gray gaze spoke volumes for them.
"You, young man. I shall teach you first the 'Ways of the Fire and Smith'. You look like you're capable of handling extreme heat. That's a quality I'm looking for! Good, good!" The man said.
"Eh?" Rexis wasn't sure about how to feel about that. Was he just underhandedly discriminated? insulted? or is the man really that oblivious and he didn't mean to offend at all?
Then, the man spoke to Sayo. "You, young lady. I assume you are the one who is skilled at using weapons, no? Why don't you take a look at some of my creations back there and bring here what you think are faulty?"
Sayo only nodded and proceeded towards the display area of the available weaponry. Then, she felt a presence behind her. The woman from earlier spoke in a deadly tone. "Choose a weapon and come with me."