The ringing sound of hammers slamming down on anvils echoed all around Abel. The sight of those dark, giant figures slamming down on the pieces of ingot had been seared into his brain, and he knew he would not be forgetting such a sight any time soon.
Arnold led him around a few more corners before they finally left the main forgery where all the hammering was coming from. The orange light that was emitted from all the hot metal still painted their surroundings, though. Arnold brought Abel before a dark, metal box that stood a little bit taller than two meters.
"This is it. Your armor pieces." The old man opened his arms wide as the metal box slid open, letting Abel look upon what was hidden inside. Dark pieces of armor sat inside, supported by various thin poles to help hold everything together. The shoulder pads, arm guards, chest piece, shin guards, and other pieces of the armor glistened under the glare of the orange light.
"This isn't one of my good works, just something hastily cobbled together, so it doesn't have a name of its own. Perhaps if you can give e an extra month or two, I should be able to put something together that even the nobles will drool all over." Arnold shrugged when he saw the little stars in Abel's eyes.
"What are you talking about, old man? This is amazing!" Abel rushed forward to touch the chest piece. The armor felt hard to the touch, yet was still leathery and delicate.
"What is this made out of?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Err, the main component is the inside of a Flame Wolf's belly, along with some other minor materials gotten from monsters on the Second and Third Floors. It's fire proof, though."
A wry smile played on Abel's lips. He wanted to squeeze his face in disgust when he heard that the main material was the inside of a Flame Wolf's belly, but held his tongue when he thought of all the work that must have gone into making such quality equipment.
"I can't express my thanks enough." Abel turned and bowed to the old Dwarf. "How much will it cost?"
"Cost? Bah! Anything for that old coot, Audu. I owe him my life, some measly armor will never be enough to repay my debt. Now, pack it up and leave. I have more work to do." Arnold told them before turning around and disappearing behind a wall of pipes.
"Um..." Abel rubbed his neck in confusion while Sara began milling about the place. Soon enough, she had Abel's armor packed up into a small metal casing and was shooing him out of Arnold's personal forge room. If you could even call it that.
"Take care, Abel. Please, do come around again soon. I doubt that armor would last long on the Third Floor." Sara waved Abel off with a wide smile.
"I'll be sure to come around again soon. Perhaps I can pay for that one then." He smiled back politely as he took his leave.
The casing for the armor felt heavy in his hand was he walked away from the town and toward his home on the hill just outside of town. Just before he left town, he remembered that Audu wanted a few bottles of alcohol.
Shaking his head, Abel tried to remember if he had ever seen Audu taking alcohol before, but couldn't recall any memories of such. It was especially strange since the old man had single handedly raised him, and so, it would have been difficult to hide any drinking habits from him as he was growing up.
Shrugging his shoulders, Abel just proceeded to enter a shop where quality alcohol was sold.
"Welcome to Vinny's Vintage Wine Shop. How may we be of service to you, sir?" A young man who was wiping down the main counter stopped in his tracks and looked at Abel with a smile. From just a single glance, Abel could tell that it was practiced. Well, one had to practice keeping a smile on their face, even when rude customers came by, or else, they would lose at least half of their customers.
"Hello, please I'm just looking for anything with decent quality. I'm not really an alcohol person, but I'm getting it for someone." Abel explained himself as he walked up to the counter. The wine shop was completely empty, but Abel wasn't all that surprised. There was a whole load of wine shops down this street, but he just chose the first one he saw, and Vinny's Vintage kind of caught his attention.
"Dad, we have a customer!" The boy yelled through a curtain that led to a back room just behind him before hurrying around the counter.
"Okay, show them around! I'll be there to man the counter in a minute!" A gruff voice called back out just as the boy reached Abel.
"Um, please come with me. I'll show you around our store." He motioned to the high shelves lining the walls and interior of the shop as he nervously adjusted the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. Abel couldn't help but smile at the boy's behavior. It was quite obvious he wasn't made for social interactions.
"Please, lead the way." Abel stepped out of the way and motioned for the boy to lead the way. The boy rigidly walked past him, leading him through a few winding paths between shelves before stopping at one. He pulled out a dark brown bottle and gave it a onceover before handing it to Abel.
"This is the... the... um," He tried to adjust his glasses as he stammered over the name of the wine that he had handed Abel. Abel laughed and shook his head.
"It's alright, I can read it myself." He patted the boy's shoulder. The boy shook before nodding hesitantly. Abel went over the details on the wrapper of the bottle, making sure to take note of the alcohol percentage.
"60%... The old man will like this."