Master Pierce stood next to him close enough that he could feel his hot minty breath on his neck. His ever-present cup was held in his hand its contents forgotten as he stared at the small stone held in Painin’s open palm.

“Reach out and just touch the pebble with your mind. Nothing exists except for you and the stone. Just relax your mind.” He intoned in a monotone voice.

“I wish that I was just me and the rock. However, all I keep focusing on is your hot breath on my neck.”

“Oh yes sorry lad.” He stepped back, leaned against the table behind him, and took a sip from his cup.

Painin sighed deeply and closed his eyes trying to quiet his mind and focus on the rock in his hand. It was a normal-looking rock with seemingly no special features except for a strip of shiny material that seemed to run through it. He could feel it sitting in his hand as he tried to push his mind outward towards it. He fumed inside at the stupid exercises Master Pierce kept putting him through.

All the talk of the magic in his blood honestly was starting to annoy him to no end. Master Pierce had taken his blood and performed tests on it over the years he had been here at the Keep. During his time here he had become closer to those at the Keep and had settled into a nice routine. During his time, he had also begun to put away his childish body and evolved into that of a young man.

The passing of Monroe had been a major setback for him in multiple ways both losing the friend the man had become and the entire Keep had felt a change come over it. He had died in a way that he would have loved as a goblin spear had hit him in the neck as he fought beside Commander Novik helping to protect him. The Commander had promoted Painin to be his only Valet, a task that he now understood how much Monroe had done.

Painin silently chided himself and once more focused on the rock. The stupid rock in his hand sat there and mocked him just as it had in previous tests. He had no ill feelings towards the rock outside of him believing that it was only here to make him feel like a failure. Closing his eyes, he pictured the rock in his hand and imagined it exploding and being reduced to dust.

“What did you do?” Master Pierce all but yelled into his ear.

Painin opened his eyes and saw the rock in his hand was still there just as it always was and looked at Master Pierce with questioning eyes.

“What did you do?” He asked again, placing his hands on Painin’s shoulders and looking at him intently. Painin just looked at him in confusion as he pointed at the rock.

“You changed it. Well, very slightly but I felt it. What did you do?”

“Nothing. All I was doing was picturing it exploding.” Said Painin with a shrug.

“Exploding? That is all?”

“Yes. Exploding. I don’t like that pebble anymore.”

“Try it again just do whatever you did before.”

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Painin sighed, closed his eyes, and pictured the pebble in his hand exploding into nothingness. He tried to do everything earlier the same but after trying for a time he finally gave up as sweat covered his forehead. He tossed the pebble to Master Pierce and rubbed at his temples trying to rid himself of the headache that was beginning to form.

Master Pierce caught the pebble and carefully placed it onto the table and began to cast a spell over it. Painin sat down heavily into one of the chairs not covered in books and closed his eyes continuing to rub at his head.

“Extraordinary you managed to change just a small bit of the rock into something else. I am not sure what it is exactly, but it is very intriguing considering your lack of training. I have never heard of anyone short of Grand Wizards being able to do something like this, and they require massive spells to accomplish.” He just looked at Painin sitting there on the chair.

“Does your head hurt?”

“Yes, it is killing me.”

“Let me see your hand.”

Painin stopped rubbing his head and looked up at the Battle Mage with a look of confusion on his face.

“My hand?” He asked slowly moving his hand towards the Mage.

“Yes.” Said Master Pierce grabbing his hand in one motion and beginning to squeeze his hand between the thumb and first finger. Painin cried out in surprise and pain coming off the chair and just as fast he had let go of the hand. He shook his now throbbing hand and clutched it to his chest.

“What did you do that for?”

“Your head doesn’t hurt now does it?” He replied with a smirk before taking a sip from his cup and turning to inspect the pebble once more. Painin just sat there rubbing his hand and realized that his headache was magically gone.

Master Nich called out a count in a loud and clear voice that could be heard over the sounds of the forge. The ingot of metal glowed almost white hot as Painin pulled it from the bosom of the forge and placed it on the anvil. He braced himself and the metal tongs he held onto it with.

Ting, Ting, Clang. Ting, Ting, Clang. Ting, Ting, Clang.

With each heavy strike, a shower of sparks shot off the block of metal, and it slowly began to change shape becoming longer and thinner. There was something normal and peaceful about being in the forge that made him feel a sense of calm. It was hard to describe to someone how he felt. His father had explained it best by saying.

“People who themselves are like the steel feel a kinship to it that others won’t understand. This is true for most of the elements. Everyone is drawn to certain elements without their having to choose it and working with it just feels natural to them.”

With a final swing of the hammer and a shower of sparks the metal had changed enough in color to be reheated and Painin replaced it within the forge fire. Master Nich took the ladle and filled it from the bucket hanging near the door and took a long drink from it before refilling it and offering it to Painin. He took it with much gratitude its refreshing coolness settling his dry throat for a moment before he replaced it in the bucket.

Picking up the hammer once more he motioned for Painin to grab a different ingot from the forge and they once more began to work the metal into a shape that would eventually become a replacement practice sword. While he lost himself in the rhythm of the hammer on the steel, he was amazed by how easily the boy had taken to blade smithing. He understood that his father had been a smith, but the boy seemed to understand what the steel required to grow almost on an instinctual level.

They continued swapping out the metal ingots in the fire as each one sought to become what Master Nich had envisioned for it. Finally, he motioned for them to stop and they placed all the ingots onto a table that had its top filled with sand for them to cool overnight. Painin banked the coals within the forge and helped replace the tools in their respective places upon the wall behind them.

“Will you require anything more of me Master?” Painin asked.

Master Nich shook his head releasing him to pursue some of his other duties around the Keep proper that required his attention. Master Nich smiled as he watched the boy, no young man jog out into the courtyard beyond and disappear. Gone was the scared boy that had shown up a slave now replaced with a young man growing into a man of his own.