First day

After searching for a long time, I finally managed to find one of the smithies that she said, I went to the door and knocked on it several times.

Knock Knock…

I heard sounds coming from inside, but no one was opening the door so I knocked louder again.

Knock..! Knock…!

Even though I knocked louder again, they still wouldn't open the door after waiting for a few minutes. I decided to knock on the door one last time before giving up, but when my hand was about to reach the door. Someone opened it.

I could feel the heat coming from the smithy as a boy, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was taller than me.

He looked at me for a moment before saying with a grumpy expression "What are you doing in this place so early? We only open in the afternoon."

I think it's around eight so I don't think it's too early. By now he would already be fighting monsters in the dungeon.

"I've come to see if I could learn about weapon and armor forging, " I said without any intention of hiding my intentions.

"Could I speak to the manager of this place?" Asked.

He frowned a bit and said with a sullen expression, "I'm the manager of this place."

"Aren't you too young to be in charge of a smithy?" For some reason, I couldn't help but make that joke.

But I think he took it badly because he put on an angry expression and said "Are you looking for a fight? I'm a pallum, of course, I look young! But that's not a reason to make fun. Besides, aren't you very young? to aspire to be a clown? because I see no reason for you to have skin as pale and sickly as a corpse."

I got a little angry hearing it, but I couldn't refute what he said, because it was true and the same applies to when I call him young because, from his point of view, it was the same as calling him little.

I just sighed and asked "So are you going to teach me how to forge or do I have to find another smithy?

He raised an eyebrow before speaking "Oh, and what are you willing to do for us to teach you?" I was surprised by what he said because I thought he was just going to reject me or charge a certain amount of valis for his tutoring.

"I don't know, is there something you need from me?" I said with a bit of doubt, but he just showed a smile and said.

"I've been short on some manpower recently and you've come at just the right time. I'm willing to teach you how to forge some weapons, but you have to work under me for as long as I teach you."

"How long do you intend to learn from me?" When I heard his question I replied "One week"

He put on an annoyed expression again "Are you serious? A week is a very short time to learn even the basics of forging"

He seemed caught up in his thoughts for a few seconds before continuing to speak. "I will be willing to teach you if you stay under my tutelage for at least two weeks. Know that even if you learn to forge for two weeks, you will not become a blacksmith because forging is something that can take a lifetime to master."

I thought about it for a moment.

It's free, and although I get to spend time working for him, it's not like I have any other choice to spend my time, and I get to work in the morning for the second week and hunt monsters in the afternoon.

I explained to him what I had in mind and to my surprise he just accepted it and I could only say "Okay, when do I start?" He smiled for a moment and exclaimed "What are you talking about? Of course, you'll start right now" For some reason I had a bad feeling.

And I was right because right now I am hammering a piece of ore with a hammer that is literally about the same height as me.

"Hammer harder!... You hit like a spoiled child who has never held a tool!" I wanted to complain, but I didn't have the energy to. We've been hammering a mineral for a few hours. Although I am only hammering where he tells me, while he is in charge of hammering, giving shape to the metal.

"How much longer do we have to do this?!" I yelled because my arms felt sore and tired from hammering. Almost and I thought they were going to separate from my body, while I saw that the pallium kept hammering faster than me and the sound it produces when hitting the mineral sounded louder.

I feel like the heat in this place is going to burn me alive. But when you hear him say "Just hit a little harder and faster in the center of the blade and we'll be able to temper it!" I gritted my teeth when I heard it because I no longer had the will to continue and I had to bite the bullet.

I activated my Exalted state and suddenly all the feeling of tiredness disappeared and I just put on a happy smile at how much fun it was to do this. I stopped thinking about how exhausting it was and just felt excitement to keep hammering and before I knew it I heard the pallum scream.

"It's enough!" I stopped when I heard it and I realized that I let myself go. I returned to my Calm state, but I ended up collapsing on the ground and it felt like every part of my body was numb.

This reminds me of when I would get carried away using exaltation skill in the dungeon while being accompanied by other familia members. Who never stopped complaining because I ended up running after monsters and they had to take charge when I no longer had the strength to move due to overexertion. But I have not gone through that situation again, until a moment ago.

I watched as he picked up the piece of metal shaped like a large double-edged sword blade before putting it to cool.

He approached me and dragged my bruised body to a corner of the room and continued hammering the ore, while I continued to watch the process.

When he finally finished hammering and shaping the blade, he let it cool, and then he approached me.

"Boy, I must admit, you were amazing for your first time. I thought you were just going to give up halfway through the job and I would have to take care of the rest of the job, but you far exceeded my few expectations of you" he said with a smile conceited

I only had one thought going through my head and that was to punch him across the face, but I still feel my body all bruised.

"I look forward to working with you, by the way. My name is Fresk and I am a member of the Goibniu familia" I saw him reach out his hand for a shake and I did the same.

"I am Liam and I am a member of the Abeona familia, I will be in your care."