A few minutes later, Jonathan was standing outside of the nearest smithy, one that was richly appointed, and seemed like it belonged to someone with quite a lot of money to throw around. The building was covered in ornate decorations, made out of metal, and there were large windows, displaying a series of weapons and armor, all of which looked quite finely constructed. There was a line outside the smithy too, with about a dozen people waiting. Upon seeing Jonathan however, they quickly made way for him, chattering excitedly among each other.

He nodded his thanks, and entered the smithy. The interior was even more ostentatious than the outside, with what looked to be an actual carpet in the waiting area. Jonathan made his way up to the desk, prompting the man sitting there to look up. He was of a race that Jonathan had never seen before, but he did recognize it from some less than appropriate shows back on Earth. The man looked like a normal human, but he had the ears of a cat, and had feline features as well, with eyes that glowed slightly. Whiskers protruded out from under his nose, and he frowned at Jonathan.

“What are you staring at? You have something against my kind?”

“No, you merely reminded me of something,” Jonathan said, wondering why he was even bothering explaining. “I have business with your boss. Can you direct me to him?”

“Master Garnath does not deal personally with the likes of you. You can either leave an order for him here, or get out.”

Jonathan had been hoping to do this diplomatically, but the man’s tone was rubbing him the wrong way. He sighed, and walked past the desk, heading towards the forge in the back room.

“Hey! You can’t go in there!”

Jonathan ignored the cat man, and kept walking. He heard a hiss from behind him, and something impacted his back, without enough force to break through his armor. He turned around slowly, and saw that the desk attendant was clutching a crossbow in his hands. Jonathan growled, a low, terrifying noise, and a wave of power surged out of him, cowing the other man. It was the same feeling that he had felt from the monstrous reptile that had almost killed him, but this time it was coming from him.

A growing stain across the front of the other man’s pants alerted Jonathan to his effect on him, and he turned around, disgusted. There were no more crossbow bolts after that. He was glad that he had not injured the other man, as he felt no pleasure in harming those who were weaker than himself. There was no way to gain power from that, after all. Perhaps if he murdered thousands of people lower level than him, he could gain levels, but although he acted in a brutal manner against his enemies, Jonathan was not evil. Part of his desire to leave the Hells after all was to be able to free all of the lost souls here. Still, it was all well and good to be espousing his morals here, but he knew that things would probably change if he ever made it past this ring. Eventually, he suspected that his morals would be tested, but for now, he was powerful enough to actually follow his desired path.

He entered the back room a few seconds later, finding himself wandering to the middle of an expanse of sweltering heat. Emaciated workers shoveled coals into an endlessly burning forge, and other workers brought tools to a giant of a man who was working in the middle of the forge. Jonathan frowned upon seeing the state of the workers, but he withheld his judgment, at least until he could find more. Upon hearing him enter, a marvel, given the noise that the constant ringing of the man’s hammer was making, he turned around, facing Jonathan.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What do you think you’re doing here, you bastard? You dare to come disturb my work? I ought to crush you for that!” The man blustered. Jonathan ignored his angry words, and instead studied the man. He looked human enough, but he had a certain rough hewn quality to his features that told Jonathan that he was not entirely so. He quickly analyzed the man.

Forge Master Garnath

Half-troll

Level 32

The man was a half troll, which explained the size. In addition, he was of a higher level than Jonathan, but he suspected that the man would not hold up to him in a real fight, which seemed to become more of a possibility as time went on.

“Did that worm of a mayor send you here to interfere with my work? Pathetic. That man is far too weak to be in charge.”

“That depends. Who are these people, and why are they in such bad condition?” Jonathan asked, pointing at the workers. The other man sneered at this.

“These wretches? Why, they are my slaves. Does that cause you offense?”

“I can see that you do not treat them with the respect that they deserve. I was going to let you off with a warning to not interfere in the workings of this town, but it seems like we have a problem,” Jonathan said, folding his arms. He would not abide this sort of evil, no matter whether it was his place to stop it or not. The other man laughed, long and low, and drew a massive hammer from his belt.

“It seems like we do,” he said, starting to pump fiery energy into the hammer. The slaves scattered, and the forge master lumbered forwards, crossing the distance between himself and Jonathan deceptively quickly. He brought his hammer down, and the air rang with the speed at which it traveled. Jonathan stepped to the side and slapped the hammer to the ground, where it left a massive crater, blasting chunks of rock in all directions. Some of those rock chunks struck the slaves, injuring them. Jonathan's rage started to burn hotter. He grabbed the handle of the hammer, but was forced to let go, as his flesh started to blister.

“You filth! I may be a blacksmith, but I am more than strong enough to defeat you.” The man swiped his hammer up and towards Jonathan’s face, surprising him with the speed at which it moved. He snapped his arms up to protect his head, and blocked the strike. Even with the awkward angle at which it had traveled, it still cracked bones. However, it was not enough to keep Jonathan down.

Jonathan skidded backwards, keeping his feet, and laughed at the other man. Mana surged to his fingertips, and his mana drills came into being, lighting up his form. With a single step, he was in front of the massive forge master, and he swung his fist into the man’s gut. The leather apron that he was wearing evaporated around the mana drill, and Jonathan’s gauntlet quickly thudded into flesh. The giant of a man was lifted off his feet, and was sent sprawling into the forge.

He quickly got his feet underneath him, but Jonathan was already there. Lifting up one hand, he grabbed the smith’s neck, and lifted him off the ground. The massive man writhed in his grasp, but Jonathan was too strong for him.

“You will release these slaves, at this moment, or I will kill you. If I ever heard that you have continued in this foul trade of flesh, I will come here, and end you. Is that understood?” Jonathan placed all of his conviction, cultivated through battle, into his words, and let his aura flare out in full. The smith nodded, terrified, and Jonathan dropped the man, letting him drop to the floor.

“You lot,” Jonathan said, addressing the slaves. “You’re all free to go. Go check in with the mayor, and tell him that his employee sent you.” It was only fair that the mayor dealt with the backlash of the errands that he was sending Jonathan on. The slaves nodded wordlessly, and then ran out the door, startling the people waiting in line. Jonathan reached down and dragged the broken smith to his feet, and punched him in the jaw, knocking the man out.

“That was for the slaves, you bastard.” Then Jonathan walked out after the fleeing slaves. He hadn't had the chance to warn the other man about his rebellious behavior, but he assumed that the smith wouldn't be causing any trouble after that. Leaving a line of confused townspeople standing behind him, Jonathan left the smithy, not sparing a single glance back.