Bride of a Blacksmith

"I believe you!" A determined voice reverberated through the smithy.

Everyone looked up, just to see a woman standing in the doorframe of

Maja leaned against the doorframe of the smithy, smiling as brightly as ever. She looked at the quarreling pair of an exhausted young man with crimson eyes and the muscle One-star Silver Blacksmith, trying hard to fake a serious expression.

However, this failed miserable as she broke into laughter after a few seconds.

"Why are y'all so serious?" She asked lightly before she lifted her fingers in a scolding manner.

"Taylor, just listen to Bertha and you will understand why she doubted you. And Bertha, don't doubt everyone, otherwise, you will never find the love of your life!" Maja giggled when she finished her scolding.

She entered the smithy, closed the door behind her, and sat down on a chair, which she had pulled out below the metal table.

Taylor looked a moment at Maja before he sighed deeply.

'Was I always so hot-tempered?` He wondered, not remembering that he cared about others' opinions that much before. It shouldn't matter to him whether Bertha thought he was lying or not, but it was his pride that prevented him to back off this time.

Taylor was confused and he wanted to look out for Eris to see what she would want him to do, when he noticed that the Demon Queen had appeared behind him.

She was leaning against his back, and her arms were hanging down his front side.

"Seems like you have the pride of a real blacksmith, you little devil," Eris said in his mind before she quietly added, "Listening to the explanation of a One-star Silver Blacksmith can only benefit you, don't reject it!"

Eris seemed to enjoy the situation much more than it should be. Her hot body pressed against his back and she breathed a bit heavier than before. If Taylor were to be able to see her eyes right now, he could tell that she was in heat, trying hard to control her body.

'How can he have become so different…so…so manly since yesterday?! Everything he does…affects me…' Eris thought as she began to tell herself that she had to control herself.

Meanwhile, Taylor was questioning a lot as well. However, instead of overthinking, he chose to listen to Bertha's explanation about why exactly he was not supposed to be able to create the seven metal bars.

This would distract him from feeling Eris all over him, and from her actions to influence his mind and body, or so he hoped.

Bertha had also chosen to sit down. She was not sure why she had apologized to Taylor, especially since it was only obvious for her to doubt that Taylor was telling the truth. However, in the end, she had reacted instinctively, which was quite confusing as her instincts were usually correct.

She eyed the young man, whose entire clothes showed stains of dried sweat, for a moment before she cleared her throat to clarify why Taylor had to be a liar.

"I won't go too much into detail because that would take too long, but I don't think that will be necessary to understand my opinion," Bertha said calmly, just to see that both Taylor and Maja nodded their head in sync.

"To put it simply, Ufnir Iron ore may be considered the most common ore in the Guivenhall kingdom but it is also labeled as a 'dead' ore. Civilians would say that it is only obvious for metals to be dead but blacksmiths and everyone who wielded a proper weapon in their lifetime knows that this is not the truth; all ores are alive!

However, if a blacksmith labeled an ore 'dead', that simply means it is extremely difficult to maintain their life, whether it is in the mining process or the forging process. There are even Three-star Bronze Blacksmiths, who have problems handling dead ores, which was why they would rather use other ores that are easier to handle.

The seven Ufnir Iron bars you have are not only still alive but you purified the dead ore, providing it with more vigor!" Bertha spoke without taking much time to breath. She was trying to explain the situation as simple as possible but quickly noticed that it was much harder than expected.

"For Blacksmith Apprentices, it is already extremely impossible to make sure that an ore, which is labeled dead, stays alive in the shaping process, let alone while using a special forging technique to purify the Ufnir Iron ore.

Most Blacksmith apprentices need years before they start to purify metals. It is simply too difficult to expel impurities from metal without making sure that the veins of the metal won't get damaged, or that they rupture! Furthermore, learning proper purification forging techniques takes lots of time and practice. Even prodigies need several months before they can create their first somewhat purified metal, from a metal that is easy to purify!

The only exception would be the use of special flames, but the Artisan house doesn't possess something like this either!

And last but not least, to expel purities from Ufnir Iron, one has to be especially talented because dead ores have extremely thin veins or other special traits that make it difficult for them to survive the mining-, shaping-, and even more so the purification process!" Bertha finally finished her explanation, to which Taylor nodded in understanding.

Bertha's words had distracted him from Eris' advances and they allowed him to focus on the things she explained rather detailed, which was contrary to her earlier words.

"So it's like that?... I guess it makes senses for you to doubt me then… It shouldn't be possible to purify metals without proper forging technique, or the use of unique flames," Taylor said before a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Now, he could be sure that his Ancient Power was such a unique flame, which was quite interesting because it was even more special than he initially thought.

But something bothered him at this thought and he turned reflexively to Maja, whom he frowned at lightly as he asked the question that had begun to torment his mind,

"Why did you believe me then? Or did you just say so to make me listen?"

If it was the latter, Taylor would be fine with it. It had been quite useful to listen to Bertha's explanation, and he felt a bit bad for the blacksmith.

Nonetheless, something prevented him from taking a liking to the muscular woman!

"Cause I saw your Ancient Power flickering brightly even in the darkest places! A beautiful flame, you have there!" Maja smiled foolishly, showing her white teeth as she pointed at the center of Taylor's chest.

Eris, in her invisible form, caressed the spot Maja pointed at, distracting Taylor a lot.

'Woman, calm down!' He screamed internally, but the only response he received was faint giggling that echoed in his mind.

'You're way too cute when I tease you!~' She whispered in his ear seductively before she blew into it lightly.

Goosebumps covered Taylor's body and he instinctively manifested his flame in his right hand that was moving upward to his ear.

Eris moved her head back while she continued to giggle, while Taylor cleared his throat.

"Eh…okay…so you saw this flame?" Taylor was a bit embarrassed with Eris clinging to him, especially since she touched him up all over.

When Taylor manifested his Ancient Power, Bertha jumped up from her chair. She looked at Maja for a moment, frowned at the young and bright women before she clicked her tongue as she rushed over to Taylor.

She grasped his hand without a second of hesitation, just to feel the searing heat of Taylor's flame. Bertha retracted her hand in an instant before she looked in the crimson eyes of the young man before she looked over to the flame, where her eyes were locked on afterward.

"You don't feel the flame's hat on your body, right?" Bertha asked in an excited undertone. Taylor nodded his head, which was enough for Bertha to become even more excited.

"Highly fire resistant body…and this flame…it's an Essence Flame, or am I mistaken?!" Bertha asks, looking at the ignorant Taylor for a moment before she continued to speak, "Now it makes totally sense how you could purify the Ufnir Iron without trouble…this flame invigorates the metal, and reacts with the impurities inside ores...amazing!"

As a renowned blacksmith, Bertha had accumulated her fair share of knowledge and experiences. Thus, she could clearly tell what kind of flame Taylor's Ancient Power was.

And only when realization struck her did Bertha turn back to Taylor's face.

"You really forged for the first time in your life…" She mumbled and Taylor nodded his head once again, smiling lightly this time.

"Oh, my goood… I'm so sorry for doubting you. I even called you a liar…sorry!" Bertha apologizes sincerely. She knew how it felt to get doubted for now reason and that most blacksmiths were proud artisans.

Bertha was a bit different than those blacksmiths but that didn't mean she had no pride or principles. Someone owing an Essence Flame as Ancient Power was bound to become a great blacksmith as long as they survived the obstacles of life.

"Essence Flame? What is that?" Taylor finally asked, and Maja answered this time instead of Bertha.

"Essence Flames are amazing! They're considered one of the few perfect flames for any blacksmith in all the known realms!! Because your Ancient Power seems to be the manifestation of Essence flames, quite powerful ones at that!

Your Essence Flame is definitely gradeless but you were able to purify Ufnir Iron to 10%...that means your Ancient Power is already quite powerful and special!" Maja sounded even more excited than Bertha, which caused him to smile faintly.

"So my Ancient Power is an Essence Flame? Seems like I was born to become a blacksmith," Taylor thought out loud, grinning brightly.

He had already forgotten about his quarrel with Bertha, and his heart was filled with excitement. Taylor was looking forward to the next days.

Meanwhile, Eris nearly started to drool when she saw his excited expression from the side.

'He is mine!~'