Early in the morning, in a medieval looking city, people were starting to wake up and shops were opening their doors and merchants were organising their merchandise for the day.
In one of the many streets, the black smoke and the clanging sounds coming from an old forge made of grey stone, indicating the prescence of the blacksmith.
" okay lad, today will be a busy one so i need you at your best." Said a middle aged man cheerfully as he put more coal in the hearth before giving a quick look at his young apprentice.
" Yes sir Gren, I won't disappoint you." Answered a young boy who didn't look older than 12 Restlessly while fidgeting around and he kept stealing glances at the door behind him.
Gren sighed as he saw the anxiety in the boy eyes.
" How about this lad ? We had a huge order from the army for standard issued daggers and swords, if you manage to make 50 mid quality dagger by the end of the day i will pay you this month salary in advance so you can buy medicine for the kids back in the orphanage, so what do you say? Are you up for the challenge Ryder?"
Said Gren as he gazed at the little boy who has been his apprentice for the past 8 months.
The boy was the definition of a walking twig, he was clad in a black shirt and black pants that was a bit too big for him with more than one patched hole in them, while his face was skinny from malnutrition his features were sharp and nose was straight but his blue eyes were cold which was unusual for a boy of his age.
Said eyes became focused and sharp when he heard Gren's challenge as he recalled the information he knew about daggers.
Daggers used by the army soliders were easy to make but a total of 50 mid quality dagger was a tall order even for an official blacksmith let alone a mere apprentice like him.
Taking a deep breath, Ryder turned his eyes to Gren and absentmindedly took in the features of the his mentor, despite being in his late fifties Gren QuickSilver was one of the famed dwarves in the empire for his crafts, like all dwarves he was short but built like a bull, with a bald head and a huge yellow mustache that had Ryder always wondering how has it not get burned by now, a toothy grin and a sailor attitude.
All in all he was a good man most of the times and was willing to give Ryder work when he looked more like a street rat than a human being when they first met, at first Gren agreed to have him help at the shop but he wanted more so he kept pestering him for few days to be given a chance to become his apprentice , until Gren couldn't take it anymore and gave him a challenge to overcome if he wanted him as a mentor.
" I will do it." Said Ryder firmly as he gathered his resolve, no matter how hard it gonna be, his little siblings are counting on him and he can't afford to fail them.
" HAHAHA, you got yourself a deal, boi. Infact i will give you an advantage, today i will be manning the shop and you can have the forge all to yourself." Said Gren cheerfully as he walked towards a box filled with random stuff and started fishing around until he pulled a half full bottle of alcohol, then proceeded to take huge gulps of the bottle before burbing and giving a satisfied sigh.
" Uhm, should you do that first thing in the morning ?" Asked Ryder uncertainty as a reddish blush started spreading acorss his mentor face.
" What do you know? Since i am gonna be dealing with people all day long i need this so i don't axe someone to death. Humans are dumb by default, worse they love to pretend they know about things they have no knowledge about. Anyway enjoy yourself i am out of here." Said Gren before marching toward the front of the shop where the weapons were displayed.
Ryder didn't know how to take the indirect insult but he could relate, more often than not people will try to find fault where there aren't any when trying to haggle over the prices.
Ryder quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts before taking a deep breath and looking around the forge, the hearth filled with burning coal was in the middle of the room, with the anvil close by and wooden tables around it and the sharpening mill in one corner of the room, with the forging tools hanged on a wooden wall.
Forging a dagger was pretty simple but had many steps, starting from choosing the appropriate type and size of the steal to heating it, hammering it into shape, cooling it and sharpening it.
' Weapons are classified into 3 ranks ' mused Ryder silently, remembering his mentor teachings, the the ranks were simply known as low, mid and high rank. rumours say there are other grades but these are the one known among normal folks.
Low rank is just a chunk of metal with a sharp blade to it and a handle, any idiot can make one but it was cheap and easy to make that some trading companies specialize in making many forms of it that can be used in the people daily lives, it can injure unprotected skin but it's more likely to break than not if it clashes with a higher grade steel.
Mid rank weapons, are most commonly used by the army soliders, it's made from a mid grade steel and a careful forging process. they were the mark of an apprentice and it's remarkably more expensive and more reliable than it's low grade counterpart.
High rank weapons were the sign of nobility,
They were the mark of a true blacksmith, they were made of a high grade steel that was many times more expensive and also rarer, not many can deal with that kind of high grade steel which result in half baked products and lot of wasted materials.
After preparing all the forging material, Ryder went to work, the heat of the forging room started rising as more coal was added and the sound of the clanking started to spread across the shop, despite having thin arms with viens bulging from excertion, Ryder was keeping a steady pace of both his and breathing hammering, not too fast nor too slow, it was quite the effort for a malnourished kid like him, but it was more manageable after months of practicing and some good food that was forced upon him by his mentor, but was it enough to complete the task ?
' It has to be enough, my siblings depend on me' with that thought he firmed his will and ignored the familiar aching of his arm, even if meant his arms breaking he won't stop until he finished his task.
The clanking sound continued, carrying with it the resolve and hope of a young boy who only wanted to help his family.
Gren was seen behind the counter leaning back on a chair and his legs on the counter Infront of him as he kept taking gulps of his drink.
While he couldn't see what was happening in the forge, he can roughly tell from the sound how things were processing.
" ahhh, what a pleasant sound, i can tell this patch will be of a higher quality than the usual." Muttered Gren to himself as he thought wether should he increase the price or not when the envoy came to take the weapons.
" 20% increase will do." Gren grinned to himself as he imagined the livid face the envoy would be making later today.
The alcohol seemed more pleasant as he kept savouring that thought, livid face, bulging viens, steam spewing from his ears and bloodshot eyes.
Same bloodshot eyes that was glaring at him right now from over the counter.
" 20%?! NOT EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS YOU GREEDY DWARF!!!!"
" WOW!" at that roar Gren fell back from his chair with a thud and dragging few items down with him plus the bottle of alcohol which thankfully was empty at the moment.
" YOU DAMNED HUMAN, HOW MANY TIMES DID I ASK YOU NOT TO SNEAK IN ON ME ?" Roared Gren with a red face at the growling man leaning over the counter.
" YOU DARE TALK BACK WHEN CAUGHT RED HANDED, THE DEADLINE IS TODAY AND INSTEAD OF FINISHING THE ORDER YOU GETTING YOURSELF WASTED FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!!!!"
The man was buff with a tanned skin, black eyes and short grey hair, he was wearing a black shirt with black pants, his face looked grim with a scar across his left check, his eyes were cold as he glared at Gren with ferocity that would freeze a normal person in his place.
alas Gren was no normal person.
" the order is almost ready, only the daggers remains and my apprentice is working on them right now."
Answered Gren smuggly as he crossed his beefy arms across his chest while glaring at the taller man Infront of him.
That gave the taller man a pause as he blinked in surprise, this was the first time he knew that this greedy bastard got an apprentice.
" even if you delegated this task to your apprentice, if the daggers are not up to the army standards the contract will become invalid and you will have to pay a fine."
Said the taller man as he shook his head, as far as he was concerned a mere apprentice won't be able to produce a full patch of dagger up to the regular standard.
" oh, you doubt my capilities as a mentor, how about this, if my apprentice manage to produce a full patch up to your standards, you will pay an extra 20% for the daggers, if not i will give you a 20% discount the next time we do business. Deal?" A merchant smile spread across Gren's face as he stretched his hand to seal the deal with his old business partner.
But the taller man didn't take it, he knew this black bellied dwarf will never make a bet he wasn't confident in winning especially when it came to gold.
" First introduce me to the Prodigy of yours."
Said the taller man as he started walking toward the backroom where the forge was.
A panicked look appeared on Gren face as he blocked the way toward the forge.
" N-not now, the kid was quite focused when i left him and any interruption can disrupt his flow and ruin his pace, i will introduce you to him on another day."
Gren voice was a higher pitch than normal as and his lips were trembling as he tried to look calm.
' If Ken saw Ryder i will never hear the end of it.' Thought Gren to himself.
Ken narrowed his eyes as his suspicion and curiosity towards this apprentice increased, he knew something was was suspicious and he was going to find out.
"I see, guess there is no helping it. I know how you forgers hate it when someone disrupt your 'flow'." Said ken as he stopped his place while shaking his head in disappointment.
Gren breathed a sigh of relief and his shoulders relaxed for a second but before he knew it something flashed before his eyes and then his body was flying through the air and crashing against the shop wall making a dwarf shaped dent in it.
Ken apparently was waiting for that brief moment of relaxation before throwing a heavyweight like Gren across the shop like he weighted nothing before opening the door.
And then he froze in his place in shock before his body started shaking and and his tanned skin starting turning red then he whirled around and started stomping toward Gren like a bull seeking blood.