Renovations

Asher had collected the money and nearly sprinted to the property for sale. There seemed to be a couple of prospective buyers, but Asher cut in front of them. He immediately held out a bag of coins for the man selling the property and stated, "There's five hundred extra there for you. I hope you're fully satisfied with the amount."

The thin man's eyes lit up at the sight of so many gold coins. "Is there anything you need help with?" Asher thought for a few moments before replying, "We'll need lumber. A lot of it. Don't be afraid to order the premium cuts, I intend to gut this place and truly make it my own."

"Are you intending to be a blacksmith by trade then? After you just won a fighting tournament?"

"Absolutely not," Asher replied. "But, I hired a blacksmith that will fit the job I need done. Now I just need to do some renovations before I can open up shop." He was getting more and more excited as he thought about his ideas coming to fruition. It was something he would have only ever dreamed about before. Despite the taxes that would have to be paid towards the city, he felt as though they could truly turn a profit. If it failed at first, they would rebuild in a different area. Asher was convinced this was the way to go.

Orion slowly made his way down the street towards Asher with Leah guiding him. His brown eyes were lit up with excitement. He would have an actual shop to work with, to perfect his craft. In addition to that, he would receive formal training as an additional form of payment, per Asher's word on the matter. It seemed too good to be true, yet the evidence was right in front of him. The man that Asher had bought the property from hammered a, 'Sold,' sign into the ground. Things were definitely looking up for them.

"Was it what you expected?" Asher asked. Orion had a wide smile as he replied, "Yes, I can't believe you actually did it. Might I put in some personal requests?"

Asher responded, "Of course, I expected you would."

Orion grinned wide as he began to scribble down names of equipment that he wanted, including an anvil and an actual blacksmith's hammer. As for the forge itself, Asher was guessing he would need to hire a stonemason to build it. It would take special bricks in order for it to survive the heat. As soon as Orion had finished writing down his list, he said, "We also need someone running the front of the shop. I can forge everything, that's no issue. If we're going to start a business though, we need someone up front who can sell goods. Preferably someone with charm. Maybe really good looking too. I'd like to see a blonde running the front of the store, preferably one with plenty of personality if you know what I mean," Orion nudged Asher with a wink.

Asher sighed and nodded. "I'll find someone. I can't promise they'll meet all of your requirements, but I will try."

"That's all that I ask for," Orion stated. As the young blacksmith was walking towards the desolate shop, Asher heard him muttering under his breath, "I'll take anything I can get at this point."

Asher shook his head and tried to ignore the comment from the young man. He was young once as well, so he understood. As opposed to Orion though, Asher's childhood and teenage years were more nomadic. He hadn't stayed in one place for more than a few weeks at a time usually. Asher would be willing to wager that Orion had never left Imperia. He shrugged and got moving towards the marketplace.

As soon as he arrived, he began looking for a decent stonemason. As soon as he found one, he hired the man to build the forge and rebuild the foundation for the building wherever it needed it. Asher found a man offering services to teach steel smithing and hired him to teach Orion his craft. With that done, Asher returned to the shop to find lumber being dropped off out front from the shop. Asher began to gather bundles of it over his shoulder with Orion close behind him. The one thing that the young man seemed more excited about than anything else was just getting the shop running.

Over the next several days, most of Asher's group was working on the shop. Several of them were sawing away based off measurements made by Orion himself who seemed to have a knack for carpentry as well as blacksmithing. Every nail they used was taken from Orion's hovel in the slums. He had produced thousands of them in almost idle boredom. Asher had already assured him that he would be progressing from such a mundane job and towards new horizons. Orion would now be making weapons to sell at the shop.

The shop was coming together very nicely with a beautiful lobby. The flooring was oak, giving it a homey look whilst the front desk was set up in such a way that anywhere one looked, there would be weapons and armor on display. When Orion finished smithing some anyway.

The real improvement was in the back. Orion had measurements given to the stonemason for every inch of his forge. There were tool racks within reach for every job Orion had to do inside the enclosed space. The bellows he would use for the forge were custom made, costing Asher a fortune. The forge itself was large enough to shape a sizeable piece of metal.

Orion had nothing to want for in the shop, but Asher had discovered that it was quite a bit more expensive to begin a business than he had anticipated, especially with Orion's custom ordered tools and forge. With everything put together, it had nearly drained Asher of every coin he had. He couldn't believe exactly how quickly he had run out of money due to the renovations to the shop, as well as hiring someone to teach Orion how to smith steel properly.

When it came to hiring someone for the front, Asher had asked Leah to take care of it for the moment. She gladly complied and hired someone that mostly fit Orion's requirements. As everything came together, Asher looked at the sign that Orion had made to hang on the front of the shop. The name seemed fitting enough to Asher.