Three weeks had passed since Castus had begun the torturous training from Dimas. At first Dimas was all over him while he forged, constantly critiquing him about his failures and mistakes. Dimas was brutal and did not mince words. Castus also had an inclination to believe that he did not like transplants. Once he had his first passable work Dimas had given Castus a number of materials to analyze. He had analyzed steel, mana infused iron, mana reinforced copper, blackened maleous, and histril. The last two were completely foreign to Castus and cost the most to produce. Fortunately, Dimas demanded him to make those the least. Blackened maleous was a very supple metal that was easy to form and bend but hardened with impacts. This made it ideal for inner plates on armor. Histril was a reddish metal that remained warm to the touch no matter what. Dimas claimed that it was used for fire-based weapons due to its resilience to heat and how it took to fire.
Castus had fallen into a routine with Dimas. He would wake up in the morning to Shi lightly shaking him awake, eat, then head to the forge. At the forge he would cast the heat resistance spell, then drain his mana making materials for Dimas. He never made enough to make Dimas happy. Dimas always complained about the quantity of the materials, claiming it would be more efficient for him to just send Castus to a mine. After, he would work on learning how to forge a new weapon or armor and get scolded by Dimas. Over time he had improved at working manually at the forge, but he was still absolutely exhausted every day. Every day he would sluggishly creep back to his room, eating whatever was left on the table and pass out. Castus felt like a zombie. The results were nothing to scoff at though. He was learning forging in record time. Not to mention he gained a single point in strength, dexterity, and vitality as well as ten in mana and stamina. He had also gained the skill minor forging.
Castus awoke to Wyden shaking him awake with a grumbling face. Castus shot back, surprised it wasn't Shi this morning. Wyden rolled his eyes and stood. Castus curiously asked. "Where's Shi?" Wyden spoke while waiting on Castus to get out of bed. "Got called out for some reconnaissance mission. Darius said it was a quick one so she should be back in a day or two." Castus quickly gulped down some porridge on the table and walked with Wyden to the door. "Oh, I see, thanks for the wake up." Wyden nodded and left in the opposite direction of Castus. Castus frowned as he left. In all honesty he had gotten used to seeing Shi in the mornings and he felt a bit of regret that he didn't get to see her this morning, but she would be back soon. Castus slogged off to the forge. There Dimas was waiting impatiently as always.
"Hurry up, for Sol's sake it would be easier if I just chained you up in here. Now your to produce only mana infused iron and mana reinforced copper from now on. Don't put it in the normal stock area either, keep it in this pile over here." This was the first time that Dimas actually had Castus' made materials stored in a separate area, but to Castus it didn't matter much. He cast the heat resistance spell and made the materials. Dimas scowling the whole time.
Once he was done, he walked back to the forge and began to work on a buckler. Dimas stopped him though. "Not today. From now on your decent enough to work into the main room. You will still make materials in here away from the other forgers." Dimas wrapped Castus around the waist and carried him like a book walking out of the forge. Castus, partly dumbfounded by the strength of Dimas and also embarrassed to be handled like a pet started to squirm. He didn't have the strength to even make Dimas budge though. Dimas left the chamber and entered the normal forging area with tons of people working on different weapons and armor. Dimas set Castus down next to a forge then pulled a sheet of paper off of a shelf nearby. Handing it to Castus to read he began explaining. "From now on you will forge this quota of items and make this quantity of materials. Once you are done you can go. If you fail." Dimas' eyes narrowed and he towered over Castus, "I hope you fail so I can show you." A vile grin spread on Dimas' face. He righted himself quickly and left.
Castus was left standing next to the forge holding a sheet of paper. On it was the request for five swords. Adding in the time he needed for taking breaks and having to constantly go make more materials for Dimas, Castus realized this wasn't going to get any easier than before. Just this would take the entire day. He set the paper down and looked around the room full of forges. He was in a more isolated corner with only one more forge next to himself. The fires were already embers and dying out. With no one to talk to Castus set himself to his work.
Twelve hours later and his mana being drained repeatedly Castus was finishing up the last sword. He was drenched in sweat and his hands shook as he grinded the sword to a fine edge. His eyes lazily moved up and down, threatening to snap shut for the day. The forge was quiet as everyone else had finished up a few hours earlier. Castus flipped the sword over and began sharpening the other side, pushing to finish and go sleep. The sound of the massive metal door clanking open brought alertness to Castus. He looked up from the sword and saw a creature enter the room that sent shivers down Castus' spine. It had four arms, purple skin, no eyes, and two fanged mouths aligned vertically like reptilian eyes. It lumbered over to the forge next to Castus and used one of its arms to light the fire in the forge. Castus was frozen, he stayed silent and still. 'What was this thing, why was it here? Is it starting to forge?'
Castus watched as the creature expertly began to light the forge and bring the temperature up. Castus sat and watched in amazement as the creature took out two ingots and began heating them in the forge. 'It really is forging.' Castus stared in amazement and did not notice his grip on the sword lessening. It fell from his hands making a clattering noise. Castus panicked standing abruptly. Grabbing the sword off of the ground he took two steps back and looked to the creature.
Horror gripped Castus as he watched two long tendrils with eyes push out from the fanged mouths and begin scanning the room. They quickly locked onto Castus. "mgurmgurglmmm" Incoherent nonsense spilled out of the fanged mouths. Castus took the sword and held it Infront of himself. One of the eyes retracted back into the head. It spoke. "Oh, so sorry about the spook, I didn't think anyone would still be here. I'm Freth. What's your name?"