Castus ended up experimenting with creating items and hanging out with Shi, Alyssa, Rys, and Wyden for an entire week together. During this time he had managed to create two important items as well as some smaller items. The first was a knife. It was shaped like a kitchen knife and during the time in the marshlands Castus had noticed that preparing your own food in the wild was important to survival. He had made a cutting board and some skewers as well for cooking. The second item was a shield to compliment his spear. Castus had used some scales from an armadillo like creature to cover the front and metal on the inside to create a solid shield. It was a bit more expensive to make, but he didn't want to skimp on something that might protect him. Along with all of this the others had requested him to make a number of things, like forks, cups, vials, or some pieces of clothing. Their living situation had improved decently due to this. He had also taken some time to better organize his analyzed materials.
Castus had roughly broken it down into household materials, like woods and ceramics, weapon and armor materials, and miscellaneous materials. The later was filled with things like bread, soup and materials that didn't seem too useful at the time. He had gotten into a habit of analyzing most things he touched. The habit had caused a few issues, like the first time he held a ceramic bowl he had immediately destroyed it, causing hot soup to pour all over him.
As the week came to a close though, Darius returned. It was late in the afternoon and Darius entered the barracks area looking at all the new items Castus had made over the week. "Looks like you've been busy. It's time to put you to better use though. Follow me."
It took nearly twenty minutes of walking to get to the location Darius had in mind. Along the way Darius gave some information on where they were headed and what Castus would be doing. "Now that Grant got you leveled up enough, it's time to seriously put you to work. You will be working with Dimas to learn about making weapons and supplying them to our armies in the war effort up north. Remember the path we took to get here, every morning you are to report to Dimas and get a quota of items to make from him. You will work in the forge. I suspect you will struggle in the heat at first, but..." Darius had a sadistic smile as he looked back at Castus. "You'll get accustomed to it."
When they finally arrive, Castus could feel the heat that Darius had warned of. Even outside of the room he could feel the intense heat. It felt like being in a sauna just standing outside the door to room. It was imposing as well. The door was nearly twelve feet tall and made of a solid black metal. Darius cranked a wheel on the right side of the door and loud clicking could be heard from the door as it slowly unlatched from the wall. When the latch finally gave way, the door swung open, bringing a searing heat to blast Castus in the face. He could feel sweat begin pouring down his back. Darius began striding into the furnace of a room and Castus could only steel himself and follow. Inside the room was a number of people, red in the face hammering away on metals, forming armors, weapons, or various large metal pieces. Darius continued to walk past them before entering a room in the back wall. The heat had continued to rise as they walked and Castus could feel the sweat pour out of him and evaporate just as fast now. He knew he wouldn't survive in this place for an extended period of time. Estimating how long he could go without leaving or some external measures, he could only last about 30 minutes before he would drop.
They entered into a smaller chamber. The walls coated in that black metal and hammering away on an anvil was a human looking man, with crimson skin. Every bit of him was red, from his skin, to his eyes, even his clothes. The heat carried a different intensity in this room. Castus no longer felt simple heat, but something else with it. Like his very essence was being warmed up. His estimate changed, 15 minutes and he would most likely drop. Darius seemed unbothered though and walked forward to the red man. "Dimas! I've brought your new apprentice." The man didn't flinch at the words and continued to hammer away for another minute before taking the metal and setting it down.
Seeing the man straighten his back Castus could only reel in shock of the imposing figure Dimas cut. At nearly 8 foot tall and built like a rhinoceros, The red man's black hair and beard made him seem more demigod than mortal. "Darius, you may go, I will handle matters now." He was serious in his phrasing. Darius simply nodded and left, closing the door behind him as he left.
Now alone in the searing heat with the behemoth of Dimas, Castus felt tension. Dimas towered over his small frame as he looked at him. "Your the transplant huh. Scrawny little thing aren't you. You don't look like you can swing a hammer, why did they assign you to me?" Castus wanted to answer, but his knees were giving out. His mouth was bone dry, and his throat hurt badly. The heat was getting to him. He didn't have long. His vision was beginning to swim. He conjured up some water quickly in his mouth and swallowed. The cool texture of the liquid soothed his throat and stabilized his stance. "I have a blessing that makes it possible for me to make things." Castus finally responded. Dimas looked expectantly, holding out a hand. "Show me." Castus took a labored breath and summoned the knife he had crafted a few days earlier.
Dimas took the knife and looked it over. There was no surprise in his face. Almost like this was a regular event. "Decent work for a blade. The material is shoddy though. Might work well for skinning livestock though. You've got a long way to go before you're making anything work a damn though." Dimas gripped the blade in the palm of his hand and crushed it. A mangled piece of iron fell to the ground. He looked back to Castus now. At this point the heat was consuming Castus, he swayed on his feet, struggling to stay conscious. His vision constantly going in and out of focus. He had stopped sweating as well. Dimas, finally seemed to notice his struggles when the clacking metal on the floor caused no response.
"Shit. Heats getting to you. Follow me quickly. We will need to fix that soon." Dimas turned and started to walk to a smaller door on the side of the chamber, but noticed Castus didn't move. "Hell, just cause you a transplant doesn't mean you get special treatment, WALK." The reverberating words anchored Castus consciousness, and he hurriedly entered the room.