While Gren and Ken were having there conversation, Ryder was in his own world, a world where nothing mattered beside the task at hand, he could feel two sets of eyes observing him but it wasn't enough to break his focus.
Going from one dagger to another, hammering, shaping, sharpening or heating them, over and over again, this was taking a toll on his body and straining his focus, he didn't know how long he has been doing this but he know he couldn't stop until he is done, no matter how much his arms screamed or his body begged for a break, for the sake of his siblings he must hold on.
Ryder was rasied in an orphanage ran by an old sweet lady named Lara, with a bunch of other kids, she took care of them as best as she could with how little money she received from the holy beasts temple, which between the food, the clothes and the orphanage rejuvenations... It's just wasn't enough.
Some of the more responsible kids tried to help, but orphans weren't exactly trusted by the people and were seen as rats at best and theives at the worst, so more often than not people will find trouble with them adding to aunt Lara problems.
Normally they could barely scrape by, but in the winter they couldn't buy medicine for the sick kids, which ended with some of them dying from the cold and lately the winter was becoming worse.
Last winter, Ryder's heard Lara crying as he passed by her room in the middle of the night, they had just buried 6 kids between 2 and 9 years old that morning and since they couldn't waste the clothes, Lara was forced to take them off before burying the kids and he saw her clutching some of these clothes and begging for forgiveness.
At that moment, seeing the closest he has to a mother crying and begging like a small lost child, caused something inside Ryder to snap and promoting him to take action, so the next day he started looking for a job, some kicked him out, others tried to rip him off and it took him a while before a kind man pointed him in Gren direction.
But he didn't act rashly this time, he took his time to observe and watch Gren from afar and what he concluded was that he was a good man with some personality issues, which was good enough for him, so he waited for him in the middle of a raining night to prove his sincerity, it took some effort but eventually he agreed to give Ryder a job.
Since then he was learning under Gren for months and earned enough gold to be helpful to his Aunt and bring a little joy to his younger brothers and sisters.
Seeing their smiles and hearing their voices calling him Big Brother brought warmth to his cold heart and filled a void that he didn't know it was there and for a brief moment they were happy.
But before they knew it, the winter came once more and despite their preparation about 5 kids fell sick and even Lara is currently running a high fever so for the first time in his life Ryder felt anxious and asked Gren for help.
So Gren guided him to a kind hearted doctor who was willing to come to the orphanage and even offered to pay for him, but Ryder firmly refused, it wasn't logical and he knew it but something inside him refused to accept any kind of charity, same thing that won't allow him to kneel to anyone even his mentor who he was very grateful to.
According to the doctor, they only needed to take the prescribed medicine and they will get well in few days but if left untreated it may get dangerous especially for younger ones, but after asking around Ryder found out that his savings won't be enough to treat everyone.
So that's how he ended agreeing to this challenge, he knew it was his mentor way to help him in a roundabout manner and he couldn't be more grateful.
Despite being lost in thoughts, Ryder's efficiency didn't waver and he kept working through the pain and fatigue for who know how many hours, he didn't even know how many daggers he forged already but he knew that if he stopped to check he won't be able to continue.
"Ok kid, time's up." Only when he felt to muscular arms on his shoulder did his focus return, looking Infront of him he noticed Gren and some musclar man standing at the door staring intensely at him.
Before he could say anything, a wave of dizziness washed over him threatening to steal away his consciousness, causing him to stumble against the wall but he endured by biting his tongue, he couldn't rest, not yet.
"Drink this first, it will help." Said Gren as he shoved a small flask filled with red liquid into his mouth forcing him to swallow the bitter drink and making him wince in disgust at the taste.
" Ughh...." Ryder felt like he was gonna puke but he forced himself to keep it down since he knew that his Mentor only carried med ranked potions at the very least, normally he wouldn't accept such things, but Gren was adamant that if he wanted to be his apprentice then Ryder's well being was Gren's responsibility as a mentor.
"The sun has set, so let's check your progress and evaluate your work." Said Gren with nonchalant attitude as he walked toward the box that held the Daggers forged so far, which was filled to the brim by sharp silver daggers this time.
Gren beckoned Ryder to stand close to him as he carefully scrutinized every detail about the daggers and pointed out flaws and mistakes he did and how to avoid them or do a better job about them in the future.
Usually Ryder would be listening carefully but this time half his mind was carefully counting the daggers and thankfully he managed to count 51 dagger in the box so far.
" Colour me impressed, nice job kid. Here is your reward, there is some food outside, finish or pack it with you before going back, you should hurry though, it looks like it gonna rain soon." Said Gren as he smiled and shoved a pouch filled with golden coins into the hands of a relived Ryder.
" YES SIR, THANK YOU SIR." with an escatic look on his face, Ryder bolted past Ken and ran for the door while grabbing a grey vest that he hid the pouch of money in it's inside pocket while forgetting all about the food.
"For someone who has been working for the past 12 hours he sure has lots of stamina. In a year or two i want to invite him to join the army, what do you think ?" Said ken as his eyes kept observing the running kid until he went out of the door.
"Don't even think about, go find your own disciple." Said Gren as he went next to Ken and pulled the hem of his pants up a bit exposing his combat boots.
"As expected, you throw in one of your daggers." Muttered Gren as he pointed at the empty sheath strapped to the combat boot.
"Didn't you do the same." Grinned Ken as he lifted the shirt of Gren, exposing an empty dagger sheath strapped to his belt.
Gren shrugged as he took a black ring out of his pocket and pointed it at the box filled with daggers before it vanished in thin smoke. He then handed said ring over to Ken who traded it for a similar ring with the same black plain design.
"Pleasure doing business with you." Said Gren as he received his payment.
Ken took the ring and headed for the door but before leaving he turned back to Gren.
"I will be coming again to check on the kid, it's a waste to leave such a talent in your hands."
Then he closed the door before Gren could replay to him.
Shaking his head, Gren went back to clean the forge.
"He ran away before i could charge him more, slippery bastard." Muttered Gren to himself while chuckling a bit.
*****
The footsteps of Ryder could be heard echoing through the capital's back alleys as he ran trying to reach the Pharmacist's shop before it closes, he has long forgotten the fatigue in his excitement.
But in his excitement he failed to notice that someone was following him and a bunch of people waiting for him in a dark alley, he only noticed it when a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and throw him into the alley.
Ryder grunted as he scrapped the palm of his hands on the cobalt ground but he quickly focused on the people around him as he could hear them snicker and sneer at him.
His eyes could see well in the dark, so despite the low illumination he could make out the figure of 5 teens, two of the bulkier ones stood at the entrance of the alley blocking it, one who looked healthier than the rest was sitting on a bunch of crates holding a bottle of what he could assume was alcohol and was trying to act like a king and he was flocked by two skinnier teens, on his left side one held a notebook in his hand and the one on his right side held a steel bar in his hand.
Ryder cursed himself for his carelessness as he stood up, while focusing his sight on this little gang leader.
This guy was called Linard, he has been harrassing the orphanage and some parts of the poorer districts for the past year demanding ' protection ' money and when they refused to pay he would cause trouble for them and harrass the people there whenever he got the chance.
Usually the bigger gangs would get rid of small gangs like his or absorb it's members into their ranks, but no one dared to touch Linard group even when he extended his hand into other gangs territories.
"Well, what do we have here ? You have been ignoring my summons for a while now, Ryder." Said Linard to Ryder as he took another gulp of his bottle.
"since you have started working for that dwarf, things have been going well for you, you aren't wearing rags anymore, your skin looks healthier and you actually carry gold on your person." Linard's body leaned forward and licked his lips while Ryder took a step back as his eyes narrowed slightly in surprise wondering how did he know.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Said linard as he stood up and started walking toward Ryder while his croonies started narrowing the circle and cornering him against the wall.
"I have an eye for talent, you know. So when i first met you i knew you will be useful, especially after you made that old dwarf accept you as an apprentice, so i had someone keep an eye on you for a while and it paid off." Linard stood in front of Ryder as he streched his hand for him.
" so now you have a choice, hand over the money you have and become my subordinate and i will let you live, or i kill you right here and now and i still get your gold, either way i am gaining something out of this."
Ryder looked at the outstretched hand and at the rest of the group and then gave a low sigh and lowered his head a bit while his left hand grabbed the pouch of gold.
The sound of golden coins caused Linard's eye to lit up in greed as he took a step closer unable to stop his eagerness, but he didn't know that's exactly the moment Ryder has been waiting for.
Clenching his right fist, Ryder's head snapped up and his features sharpened while his blue eyes started to glow softly in the dark alley. Before Linard could react his vision was filled with the shape of a fist and then there was a crack before the punch forced him to step back and a sharp pain exploded from his nose while blood was gushing out.
Not giving them time to react, Ryder moved towards the highest threat among them, the skinny guy with iron bar, who with a shout swung the bar at Ryder's head in a downward swing, but Ryder's sidestepped to the right dodging the attack and talking a hold of the bar with his left hand while he fired a punch with his right hand at the jaw of the skinny teen causing him to get thrown back and be out of the fight for few seconds.
These past few months while working for Gren, not only did he learn how to forge but the decent food Gren gave him and the work itself allowed his body to develop some muscle, so while these teens were older and bigger the difference in strength wasn't too big.
"KILL HIM!" Linard's muffled shout was heard as the two bigger guys moved towards Ryder at the same time causing him to narrow his eyes in concentration.
Holding the burrowed iron bar in his right hand, Ryder rushed at them, dodging between their attacks and blocking some of them using his weapon while delivering few punches and kicks of his own.
The teen with the notebook was pale as he noticed that no matter how they attacked, Ryder seemed to be able to react in time despite them ganging on him, to his eyes it seemed like his figure was a blur as it suddenly accelerated to dodge some impossible attacks, it looked like he can see the future and adjust accordingly.
Which wasn't very far off, a while back, Ryder noticed that under extreme concentration the world in his eyes turned different shades of grey and everything moved slower which saved him more than once during this fight, but it put immense pressure on his brain and caused him a headache like nothing else.
So while he was doing his best to stay alive, he failed to notice that the skinny guy that he thought he knocked out earlier was moving slowly toward his back, maybe because of his inexperience or negligence but he should have kept tabs on the enemy position, even this ability of his can't help him react when there is no time to react.
Unfortunately there is no medicine for regret, so without a warning the skinny guy broke into a run and tackled Ryder from behind before he started beating him, not missing a the oppurtonity the rest of the gang moved toward the downed figure and started kicking and punching at him while Ryder tried his best to protect himself.
The sound of bones cracking and smell of blood filled the place as the Ryder laid there unmoving with blood and bruises marring his face while the small gang members were panting from exertion.
" This what you get for not knowing your place." Giving the limp figure a ruthless kick, Linard started searching his pockets until he fished out the money pouch and opened it, seeing the golden coins and despite his nose being slightly crooked, Linard's mouth stretched into a smile.
"Finish things here before coming back." Said Linard before he started to walk away but he felt something take a hold of the hem of his pants, looking down he found that despite his injures, Ryder was grabbing into him and refusing to let go, his eyes still glowed with that same ferocity of a wounded beast which caused goosebumps to spread across his body, followed by anger at himself for even feeling that was, an anger that he turned toward Ryder before he lifted his leg and brought it down on Ryder's arm.
The sound of bones breaking caused the rest of the group to shiver and Ryder let out a groan and his eyes turned white from the pain.
"Kill him and throw the body out in the forest, let the beasts take care of it.". Said Linard to the group before grabbing a fistfull of Ryder's hair and whispering to him.
"After this, i am gonna head to that crappy little house of yours and i am gonna kill that old lady and sell those kids for slavers and it's all gonna be your fault." Linard grinned viciously before letting him go, he didn't know wether Ryder heard him or not, but he has every intention to do what he said.
Although Ryder heard every word but he was too tired to respond, he could feel his consciousness slipping and that he was falling into a deep dark bit, he tried to resist it but the more he resisted the more tired and the more pain he felt and his thought process become more sluggish, he started to question why was he even trying.
Why shouldn't he just give up? It wasn't his responsibility to take care of anyone. He was just 12 years old and he already experienced so much, the hunger, the cold, the humiliation, the pain, why would he continue fighting an uphill battle like this, wasn't it easier to just let go, was it fair for others to live comfortably while here he was being killed in a dark lonely alley.
'It's not fair' That was the last thought before he allowed the darkness to consume him.