At first, Khaos was against working for the forge because he was in a hurry to raise his power before his time was up. However, with his cultivation already halfway to his target, he figured it wouldn't hurt to get a job for the three months.
However he had conditions for Gother. The first condition being that Gother took care of Khaos' living arrangements, the second being that Gother would pay Khaos 20 gold at the end of three months time, regardless of how much or how little Khaos worked.
After some back and forth negotiations, Gother agreed since Khaos proved to be quite knowledgeable when it came to forgery and or blacksmithing. That was how Khaos began working for Gother, which he partly regretted on the very first day.
Gother took the fullest advantage of Khaos and worked him to the bone. In only the first week, Khaos had forged over 10 weapons which might not seem like a lot, but one had to remember that forging weapons consisted of long hours of non stop hammering.
Saying it's hard work would be a major understatement.
However, even though Khaos arrived back home (crappy inn) dead tired and literally dripping sweat, much to the enjoyment of Lyra, he actually liked being worked like a slave. Working with Gother reminded him of his own family's forge.
The combined smell of boiling iron and his own sweat. The searing heat from the furnace, the constant sound of metal slamming against metal, the weight of the hammer in his hand, and the pain in his bicep and shoulder from swinging the whole day.
Strangely, all these things brought Khaos closure. Every time he slammed his hammer into the mould, he also forged his own path forward. Doing a repetitive task like that gave him enough time to grieve internally and put his past behind him.
Like that, three months passed and finally, his last day came. Khaos held in his hands his last weapon. It was a double edged sword, one meter long with a canvax handle and a gold coated guard. This weapon had been commissioned by the mayor of Galor himself, however Khaos would not profit from his own creation.
After hanging the sword on the wall, Khaos shot one last look at the forge with a sad smile. There were high chances that he would never carry a hammer ever again. Walking through the door, he arrived at the main part of the store, where Gother was waiting.
"Mayor's sword done?" Gother asked.
Khaos nodded. "Just don't give it to him yet, wait a week or so".
"I can't believe it's time already". Gother said.
"Yeah, me too". Khaos smiled.
"Well, good luck at the Black Academy". Gother held out his hand.
"Thanks", Khaos shook it before adding, "Are you not forgetting something?"
"Oh right, here you go", Gother chuckled as he handed Khaos his pay.
"Funnily enough, the Mayor's sword is worth just a little more than your salary for three months. So i added a little bit of a bonus in there for you", Gother said.
Khaos looked inside the pouch and counted the coins. "But there is only 1 extra coin", he said.
"You are welcome, now get out of my shop, there is a customer behind you". Gother said while shooing him away.
Khaos shook his head with a smile and walked out the shop, and across the street to the inn.
"Hello Khaos", an elderly woman said as she left the inn.
"Afternoon Mrs Lei", Khaos nodded and he entered.
"Hie", he said to Lyra.
However Lyra just continued looking at the book she was reading. Khaos sighed, "You know i have to do this Lyra". During the course of the past 3 months, Khaos and Lyra had gotten together, after a lot of resistance from one side, and a hell lot of effort from the other.
"No you do not, you want to do it. You can just stay here, but you want to leave, you want to leave me", Lyra slammed the book onto the table.
"It is not that simple", Khaos said.
"Yes it is, you are just telling yourself that to feel better about yourself". Lyra huffed, "You do not need to risk your life like that".
That's not the point', Khaos thought. The more Khaos stayed in Galor, the more he thought about staying for good. Gother had even offered him a partnership in the forge. Khaos could easily earn enough money to buy a house in Gother and live a peaceful life, preferably with Lyra.
However, living a peaceful life is what he had been doing in Lator. Whenever he thought about staying and maybe even marrying Lyra, he would get visions of another Dark Dish appearing in their house and literally ripping apart his new family.
Losing his parents had been the most painful experience for Khaos, which he needed 3 whole months of hammer therapy to come to terms with. He could not even imagine the amount of pain he would have to endure if his wife and children were killed in front of him.
Khaos knew that true peace was impossible without sufficient power, which is why his resolve to join the Black Academy was strengthened. He did not want to live in fear for the rest of his life. "Lyra i...".
"I can't stop you Khaos", Lyra interrupted.
"Just promise me you will come back one day", she said.
"I will do my very best to come back". Khaos answered, even though he knew there were chances he would never see her again.
Lyra looked deeply into Khaos' eyes for a few seconds before picking up her book. Khaos sighed and went to climb up the stairs. Entering his room, he found a black long sleeved shirt, and slim fit trousers of the same colour on his mattress. There was also a pair of grey boots on the side.
Khaos noticed a piece of paper on the back pocket of the trousers 'Good luck', three words were written on the paper. The last word being 'Lyra'.
Khaos smiled and took a quick shower to rid himself of the sweat. Then he wore his new clothes, tied his now even longer hair into a ponytail and left the room.
However, at Lyra's counter now sat a man, who Khaos was familiar with. "Lex, where is Lyra?" Khaos asked. Lex was Lyra's brother.
"She left, her one year of taking care of the inn actually ended 2 months ago but she didn't want to leave yet for some reason". Lex answered giving Khaos an accusing eye.
"Oh, okay", Khaos said, feeling a lot of different emotions. "Take care Lex", he added.
"Take care Khaos".
With that, Khaos took off towards the Flux stone mine.