Thomas stood next to me, a jovial smile occupying his face. His sister was standing behind him, seeming slightly wary of the dwarf. I walked forward sticking my hand out.

  The dwarf took my hand and shook it. His grip was firm but not to hard, his hand was rough from years of forging. “My name is Lucian from Hearthsmeth.” I said, making sure that I kept a respectful tone in my voice.

  “Names Hrothgarm, born and raised in Angralia.” He said, a hint of humour in the gruffness of his voice. Markus, the butler, stepped forward, and in a slightly authoritative voice then said. “In accordance to his grace, Duke Arthur, the second in line to the king. You are to craft a new blade for the one who defeats the young prince, Thomas.”

  I was a bit surprised at the honorific. ‘Guess they even call the sons of dukes princes.’ I thought keeping my expression steady. ‘Duhh, what else are you going to them.’ Adviser unhelpfully added.

  The smith smiled a deeper more pronounced smile. The gold capped teeth showing his wealth and possible love of sweets. His beard was a salt and pepper grey, unkempt and some pieces of metal seemed to gleam out of it.

  “Oh hoho, so the young prince Has finally met his match.” Hrothgarm said, the gold in his mouth seeming to never be covered. “Oh, please, I went easy on him.” Thomas said, a hint of redness spreading along his cheeks.

  “Don’t lie brother, you know you’ve never been good at it.” The girl said while giving him a small punch on his arm. “Neffie! Do not say that, it’s always good to keep all your cards hidden.” He retorted the red on his cheeks now extremely evident.

  Without my own help, a small smile spread across my face, the contagious atmosphere affecting my own mood. Hrothgarm, let out a booming laughter before he spoke. “HA HAHAHA, good my boy, keep that mindset, but you should always know when to except your own loss, learn from this me boy, there is always a bigger wart on the toad.”

  The strange expression had me barely containing my own laughter. The others were not as lucky they all burst into intense laughter. The only person who was not laughing was Markus the ever-stoic butler kept his emotions in check, but small smile still seemed to break his stoic demeanour.

  “They say you beat the young prince hey. Let us see your current blade boy.” Hrothgarm, said the rasp in his voice bringing his words in sharp focus. I once again pulled my blade out of my alternate storage, seeing the dwarf’s eyes widen in shock.

  He kept his demeanour way more in check, preferring to take the blade from my hands. He unsheathed it, feeling the edge of my blade with his finger, the sound of the blade singing in the air.

  “Astounding craftsmanship, and it seems to contain hints of adamantite. Tell me boy who was the expert who forged this masterpiece” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

  Feeling proud I decided to finally take credit in my own creation, and spoke. “That blade was forged by yours truly.” Hrothgarm’s eyes widened at my words.

  “Hmm, I’ve never seen such a curved single edged blade, I see that you have made the edge hard for slicing stabbing and cutting, and the spine you made flexible for handling impact, and parrying.” He said his eyes now scrutinising the edge with fine detail.

  ‘Mans got an excellent eye for detail.’ Adviser quipped. “Yes, and the curved blade fits perfectly in my sword style.” I said, the pride evident in my words. “I have heard of Hearthsmeth, it is a blacksmith town, makes sense why you came to Angralia. But unfortunately, I can’t really make anything that can rival something this well-made… Tis a real damn shame because that be any blacksmiths dream.” He said sheathing the sword and handing it back.

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  “You have quite the talent there boy, maybe this is a wakeup call for me myself. And here I was telling the young prince there is always a bigger wart on the toad.” He said seeming to become pensive.

  “I do need a second blade, that one I call a katana, I need a second one called a wakizashi, it looks the same but is made to be smaller so that it’s easier to draw and better for indoor combat.” I said trying to spark a bit of life back into the dwarf’s step.

  Hrothgarm seemed to be ready to jump when he said “Leave that blade by me and I’ll have it ready for you in three days.” ‘Truly an expert craftsman, but you can always just make it yourself, without the equipment, why leave it to him?’ Adviser asked his tone reverberating in my mind as I wondered how to answer him

  ‘It’s quite simple, I don’t want to be the reason that someone that good looses their motivation, I would rather be the reason for him to become even better at his work.’

  ***

  After we went out of the workshop Thomas decided to invite me to a cup of tea inside the manor.

  “Come on brother, you know I like them more than you.” Neffilia said, I had fully gotten her name directly after we entered the manor. They were currently arguing over some snacks Thomas was busy keeping out of her reach.

  They seemed to have a strong fondness for each other, the maids in this household were well mannered and each wore their uniforms like armour. They even went out of their way not to get any grime or dirt on it.

  “Wait, there is something that has been bothering me, you said you forged that sword.” Thomas said after his sister finally managed to get her cookies back from hm. “Yeah kind of par for the course, when you make your own sword art.” I replied, munching on a sweet tart that came along with the rest of the snacks.

  “But that means you are already quite adept at swordsmanship… magic… and the crafting arts.” He said sounding thoughtful. “Hey speaking of what school did you go to?” Neffilia, asked. Her question, thou asked out of nothing but curiosity, stung a bit.

  “I’m mostly self-taught, and in hearthsmeth, there isn’t any schools.” I replied feeling a little bit embarrassed. Thou I thought of myself to be quite well learned, the truth was, according to the standard of these noble’s children I was not much more than a well-spoken pauper.

  “That cannot be, you do not speak like someone who has not had a full education. You are even more talented than that.” Thomas said in a tone of revery.

  “My parents were adventurers, but my mother had the priest class according to my father she was quite well learnt. I think that she is the reason my vocabulary is as refined as it is.” I said remembering what my father had mentioned before.

  “Ah that makes sense, people who take the priest class path tend to be taught by personal tutors, catered to their specific educational needs. You’re lucky few Priests tend to have children, but then again, you said they were adventurers.” Neffilia remarked.

  “Oh, how I would love to hear the tale of how your parents met.” She said her face slightly turning red, she covered her face with her hands, trying to hide her embarrassment.

  She looked quite cute in that pose. So much so that even adviser had to make a comment. ‘Jip she is definitely one of those slightly cloistered girls whose only Knowledge of romance comes from the odd over exaggerated romance books, written by nobles with no experience for nobles with no experience.’

  The comment stung, because in my previous life, I was one of those who sometimes enjoyed reading romance books, because I had never had a real girlfriend. ‘if you don’t have something good to say, don’t say it at all.’ I commented to adviser. My feeble comment easily seen through.

  “I personally don’t know the full story, but as far as I know, she had been kidnapped when my father and a few other adventurers saved her from captivity. Where she swore to be his healer until the day that they no longer live.” I said slightly embellishing the original story to make it sound better suited to her tastes.

  “Oh, that is so romantic!” she said basically swooning. “Calm down sis, it’s not that romantic” Thomas said trying to get his sister to calm down.

  “I was going to ask this of the person who defeated me in combat, but…” He hesitated seeming to consider his next words. “My sister and I shall be attending the Angralian Magic Academy. I ask that you attend along with us as my bodyguard.” He said standing up