15 The Adventures of Jym (2) (Edited)
"It took quite some time to craft these pieces of beauty, after countless hours of mind-numbing labour…
Its lightweight and easy to handle, however you will find major difficulties using them from the start if you don't train properly before using them."
Ben forewarned Jym before approaching the box closer.
When Ben finally opened the wooden box, two daggers were placed side by side, with tints of various calming blue spread across the dull side of the curved blade down to the handle.
The fine engraved details carved into the wooden case with leather adorned around the frame of the box and lined within as well to protect the daggers.
The presentation left both Val and Jym speechless.
Jym couldn't help but feel close to tearing up, as he hadn't ever seen a weapon crafted quite like Bens dual daggers before.
The curved blade seemed outrageous as the trip hooked back around towards the wrist, but the wide blade surface made Val realise why Ben said training was necessary.
Furthermore, the amount of work that went into the all the engravings on the metal and exquisite overly finish, he was positive no other person in Alynthn could contend against him for the most beautiful twin daggers out among the free worlds.
However, Jyms main fears now were the cost of something like this.
Maybe he could try and convince Val to help him out, however the moment Jym looked over at Val he knew there was no chance the bald Smith would help him after noticing the wide grin across his face.
Rather he might have a contender instead for the daggers.
Vals eyes never left the twin blades, looking over the dark steel blades to find any inconsistencies, any imperfects, something that he could fault, but there was nothing.
Infront of him laid two daggers crafted by his disciple he had yet to fully train himself, and yet… they exceeded all expectations he had of his student.
Val honestly felt discouraged at first after he saw the quality of work produced by his disciple, only to be kicked back into his lane once he realised all the mistakes on his part.
There had been very little personal time dedicated to training Ben, with Val pushing the task mostly onto Tia.
The last couple of days, Tia was largely involved in Bens training rather than Val himself, which left him wondering if he should be more ashamed about that fact or his disciples first creation.
Val understood it was impossible for anyone to keep up with Bens unnatural ability to absorb knowledge like a sponge.
When Val had previously shown him how to manage the hot iron on the anvil edge to quickly stretched the iron.
It was not something that should be done often as it could cause greater impurities to arise in the metal that would need to level by hammering.
He used to tell the same thing to his past disciples and unsurprisingly they all would use the technique to rush their tasks.
Val could quickly weed out the useless disciples that would not listen to his simple warning, compared to those who would diligently listen to his every word.
So, he thought he would do the same for his new disciple, but to his surprise his disciple had spoken up about why he was damaging the metal.
It irritated Ben so much that he pushed his master aside to stop any further irritation to the material.
Val couldn't help but ask Ben why he pushed him aside, though the answer wasn't anything that he'd expected to hear from a young child, roughly around 4.
'Because you were rushing your craft for momentary gains…'Ben innocently said, trying to hide behind the charm of ignorance, however Val saw through the charade and began to notice more peculiar traits of his disciple which showed him to be highly sensitive to the materials make-up down to the molecular level.
Besides the words, Val realised his disciple began to see his work beyond its basic construct to 'serve' but its greater ability to work alongside the user.
He was finally on the path to learn about himself as a Smith to find true worth in all of his creations.
After that day, no matter how much he pushed and shoved to see Ben work from start till finish, Val would be refused.
He knew something changed again in his young disciple and today after seeing the final product he was glad of the path his disciple decided to trek.
.
Ben watched on with a slight smile before grasping Jym by the shoulder to awake from his daydreaming, pushing him towards the daggers.
"I decided to make a pair of twin blades as I believe after some training, you should become unparalleled in all types of fighting conditions and scenarios with them.
Plus, one dagger alone is not worth it, only when you wield two will you feel the power of the daggers form and capabilities in combat."
Ben explained, whilst Jym grabbed a hold of his daggers, twirling them in his hands before swinging them slightly indoors, making sure not to damage anything.
As he played about for a bit, he noticed how comfortable he felt the entire time he wielded them.
Jym did not have to strain his body anymore by swinging a heavy sword or to continue wielding a heavy shield.
Rather his large range of movement made him the perfect person to move fast and attack before the enemy could make him a sitting target.
Just the lightness of the blades made Jym think he could finally move away from being the brute who'd take the damage in his party.
.
"Little brat… I never doubted you for a minute haha!"
Jym laughed heartedly, embracing his two daggers close to his chest as if he was holding a loved one after being separated for decades.
"I'm very happy that your satisfied with the work."
Ben replied with a cheerful smile.
"Satisfied?!
Brat!
This is far beyond what I thought you could achieve.
Even Val hasn't crafted something so… dazzling!"
Jym was losing his mind that he unintentionally berated Val, who was standing close by, his face clearly angered by Jyms words, with discontent written across the bald Smiths grimy face.
"…Boy, hurry up and push along this sale.
No point in keeping bumpkins like him around."
Val pouted as pushed Jym aside, walking towards the counter with his strides seeming heavy, as if a battle of attrition was about to begin between a furious Smith and a desperate Adventurer.
"Who the hell do you think you're calling a bumpkin huh?!
Getting all high and mighty now that money is going to be discussed… *Sigh* some habits will never change…"
"… Haha as long as my habits bring you misery, I'll be happy."
Val coldly glared at Jym before turning to Ben, his face full of smiles, shining like a meadow of flowers.
.
"Shall we begin, Boy?"
"Yes master"
"Very well..." Val turned to face Jym once again, behind his gentle smile was the unending hellfire that was ready to erupt.
"100"
"50"
"150"
"30…"
"200…"
"…10" Jym felt annoyed with the stupid game Val was playing and decided to bargain as low as 10 gold coins.
"…Son of a bitch 500!" Val screamed back in reply to Jyms offer, furious his students work was being evaluated so lowly.
He'd rather keep it for himself at that price.
Ben watched on puzzled by the weird bargaining situation going on between Val and Jym.
Benedict had learnt about the monetary system of the world from Gloria and all he had to say about it was 'its fucked' just as much as the world in general.
Each nation had its own monetary system that were very similar with one another, as they all used gold, silver and copper or bronze coins that were branded with the royal family seals of each nation.
Some nations had a history of each coin distributed by their treasuries, so they were able to catch out fake coins in circulation but even the fake coins became harder to notice.
One of the major issues was coins being smelted down or mixed with other metals, reducing the value of the denomination, which had at times been done by royal treasuries.
The original idea for the 'universal' monetary system would help trade and travel between the Empires, Kingdoms and other nations, however many were constantly at war with each other to propose such a collective idea.
Therefore, as the interaction and cooperation reduced over time, opposers against the system increased.
All nations still used the gold, silver, and copper as baseline for the monetary system, but the purity of the coins, size, shape, Royal stamp value and so on were the factors that evaluated the coins value in the Merahs market.
At first, it was not much of a problem, but over the years and generations, and the wealth spent on wars increased, it just happened to be too much for some Empires who'd already pushed their treasuries to beyond their limits.
That's when struggling Empires would typically reduce the purity of the coins minted in their treasuries.
Some chose to release counterfeits instead and reduce the real coins in circulation.
Only a handful of empires at present still adhered to the original system, which made them fairly wealthy and leaders among other Empires as their coins held value.
Kros Empire was one of those empires, as they were instrumental in implementing the system originally, so they continued to enforce the monetary system.
Certain noble families had urged their Emperors during their times of reign, to hand over the product of the coins to the managing officials leading the Empires.
All done in the hopes to reduce the influence of their royal family's control over the minting of coins, but the Emperors were wise enough to decide against taking such action, as they knew the importance of minting coins, especially if it remained in their lineages hands.
There was a lucrative business in banking with the minted coins.
For most leaders the ability to control the flow of money within their nations gave them the right to remain as the Kings, Emperors and Lords of their lands above all else.
Of course, some nations would take loans from one another time to time, but it wasn't always possible, especially during tougher times.
.
Ben watched as his master and Jym argued over cost of his twin blades.
Jym was trying to reduce the cost as much as he could, understanding the true cost of such an item would break his back.
He tried to argue that the equipment had yet to be used and as it was Bens first product being sold, his offer was more than generous.
However, Val stated that the blades were unique, and no one could possibly come close to crafting something similar, furthermore he used Jyms own words that he said earlier, explaining the spectacular daggers as the first of their kind.
Because they were just nit-picking at this point, the argument quickly dissolved into insults thereafter.
.
"You're charging an absurd amount for half-baked work, you hairless troll" Screamed Jym, slamming his fist onto the bench.
"Listen here, you wannabe adventurer…
You have failed at every other weapon known to 'free' men.
My disciple has crafted something that is unique, and only one of a kind in this world… even with their being two blades…
You should be paying the right price for such a highly valued item."
"... If that's the case, my shits are unique in this world, and nobody can produce the same smell or consistency as my brown lumpy shits...
Give me its according value then, asshole."
Jym replied to Val, both at breakpoint, as they were one insult away from beating each other silly.
.
"That's enough, both of you…" a deep voice demanded the two of them stop, as a charming figure walked in wearing all black.
The black cloak he wore with slight shades of gold that draped over his right shoulder down to his arms, made him appear as a noble aristocrat though he felt more like a daunting villain.
He walked towards Jym, his long strides were daunting that everyone felt as suppressive force bearing down on them.
Jym was covered in cold sweats, afraid that his actions had angered the mysterious man to the point his death might be imminent.
Only then did Jyms mind start screaming aloud at him to quickly process the sale for the daggers and leave before the man in black spoke.
Soon enough though, his worst fears came true... much worse than he had anticipated.
"I would like to bid for the young masters work."
.
Kage smiled cheekily at Val and Jym, having rushed over to the workshop the moment his shadows reported Ben would be showcasing his first finished product to his first client.
The main goal of the man in black was to get the jump on the rest of the Withering Roses and Alfred, as he knew they would be rushing over to buy the item once they learnt about it being put up for bargaining.
…
..
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