The dwarf girl had once again arrived in front of the massive workshop. She had taken the most direct route to the house as she didn't feel like spending her whole day waiting for Camedyr to arrive.
She walked into the first room once again and was greeted by the lionkin man she was talking to earlier. He still sat in his seat reading some papers, but stopped to talk to Aleyn.
"Little miss is back huh, Master is back there. Good luck." his tone had quite a lot of sarcasm. He must have had a lot of people come to him for this exact reason.
She thanked the guy and walked in to the workshop area.
The forging area was massive, there were tens, maybe a hundred anvils all around the room coupled with racks of tools. The biggest eye catcher was the forge in the middle of the workshop, it was something to behold.
The forge itself was probably the size of Cybils whole workshop, it was cylinder shape covering most of the room inside the workshop, it had multiple huge holes which were used to heat the metal. You could probably throw a whole shipment of armor in there to melt it would fit. Workers were rushing all around, some heating metal some groups were carrying large metal bars. There was not a soul who was not working inside of the workshop, except Aleyn, she was standing there looking at it all in wonder which caught the eye of few of the workers.
She marveled at it all until she remembered why she had come there in the first place, to become Camedyrs student. Problem was, the only things she knew about Camedyr was that he was famous, full of pride and powerful. Cybil had never actually told her how he looked and she had never seen any indication of it either. Having nothing else to go by she started to look around the house to see who fit the description. As she was knocked on the floor from behind as some workers were carrying a large armor towards the front of the shop.
"Gah, who the!? Don't you know not to be in the way in the workshop area!? Wait I don't remember you who are you?"
She was bombarded with sudden questions, by this huge bald muscle Man wearing the usual forging clothing. He was definitely the biggest person she had ever met and towered over everyone.
"Ah sorry, I was slightly in my own world there. I'm Aleyn and I'm looking for Camedyr."
The big guy took a look at her.
"What do you need master for ?"
"I want to be his student." She answered honestly.
The whole vicinity went quiet for a few seconds, and then a row rumbling of chuckles started to fill its emptiness.
"That's not how it works little girl, we here have a hierarchy. Here let me explain it to ya" the big guy let the others carry the load away and spent a few minutes explaining things to her.
Basically they had their own ranking system. Where people were split in to ranks. People who wanted to become blacksmiths started from the bottom.
rank 7 – learning their way around the forge, if they could pass an oral exam they would be put to the next rank. Usually anyone who studied a bit would only stay at this rank for 10 minutes.
rank 6 – learning to craft simple tools, they had to forge a set of tools perfectly before they would be put to the next rank.
rank 5 – learning to craft simple weapons and armor, basically forging armor and weapons that were mass produced under a set timer, once they could do 4 sets of those without stopping and or going over the time limit they would be put to the next rank.
rank 4 – learning to craft more unique armor and weapons, this is where people usually have their biggest bottle neck in ranks. Crafting something that takes a lot of patience and skill. They would have to craft a whole set with good quality before they would be put to the next rank.
rank 3 – at this point it Camedyr would take over their teaching and supervision. That is all she needed to know about the last ranks.
The guy boasted from left to right how every rank could take months to surpass and how much they had to work for it. He was obviously ridiculing her and trying to make her feel bad with his constant grinning.
She took a moment to think about what she should do, should she just ditch the guy who was being an asshole to her and look for Camedyr more aggressively? Her other idea seemed much more enjoyable though.
"You're the rank seven overseer right?" she asked
"Yes.I'm also the rank six, five and four overseer" He grinned.
"Oh convenient. Can I take the exam?"
"Yeh, sure. Follow me." He humored the little girl, even if she knew about tools and procedures. There was a massive gap between rank seven and three.
To his mild surprise she passed her first exam without any problems. Though it wasn't that major of a step he still thought she wasn't gonna go anywhere from the start.
"So what does the second exam have in it?" She asked without further waiting.
"Now hold on, you still need to learn how to craft the tools. Just learning them can take you a month." he said with a calm voice.
"Oh.. I know how to craft tools. Can I take the second test?" she answered trying to sound like a country pumpkin who had no clue.
The overseer turned around to pick up some bars, while he turned around he had the biggest grin on his face but he removed it immediately once he turned back to face her.
He gave her seven tools to make which included everything she had learned to forge in her sleep. It didn't take long for her to finish the task.
The overseer was shocked at how fast she had finished the job. His grin turned into a frown.
"You got some skill girl. Have you been working for long?" he asked with a more serious voice.
"I've worked as a blacksmith for a month or two" she tried to sound proud, but she knew very well a month meant nothing.
"Oh wow... A whole month." The overseer faked an impressed voice and expression. Internally he was laughing.
"So can I take the next exam now?" she swayed her whole body and twirled her hair between her two fingers. Giving the most 'blond' expression she could muster.
"Oh you think you're ready for it? Well with your experience you might even pass."
The overseer went to to pick up some bars. Normally it took many months to advance from rank six to five, yet this girl wanted to take the exam with her one month experience? If she passed then it would be a surprise.
"You have an hour to craft 4 sets of this armor."
He pulled a simple chest plate from the rack on the wall and presented it to her.
"Okay then, you ready with a timer?" she asked.
"My internal clock is perfect." he grinned again as he answered.
The overseer thought to himself, "Two sets, that's all I see from you.".
"That's so cool." She answered with a giggle which infuriated the overseer internally.
She started making the chest plate. Her hands worked fast and she hammered the bars in no time, which made the overseer gaze in shock. "What the?."
As she was at the half way mark she had finished three of the chest pieces. At one hour mark she was waiting and cleaning up the tools, she had made 5 sets of armor easily.
"Oh did I make five? Sorry I must have miscounted. But I passed right?" She asked kiddishly as a single drop of sweat dropped from her chin.
"Erm oh yes, you passed." The overseer was in awe as his prediction was crushed.
"Yaayyy." she waved her hands in the air.
"So what do I need to do for the next exam?" She asked while hanging from the overseers hand and smiling.
"You Bitch..." he said with a low voice.
She had gone a tad overboard with the acting and he had noticed it. Thinking back to everything she had said and the way she had acted he started to realize things.
"Huh?" she asked as if she hadn't heard what he just said. Though she did.
"Time to step it up a notch." he thought to himself.
"Oh nothing.... Your next job is this. You got four hours." he put down a set of plans on the table next to them.
The actual exam gave the person the whole day to craft the set and they could only start it at the very start of the day, filling the whole twenty four hours of the day. Every student used most of the given time. There was no way any student could finish it in four hours realistically unless they had deep knowledge on the subject.
He strode out of the way and sat on a table few anvils away.
"Timers running." he yelled.
"Uh oh." she said as she took a look at the plans.
The set of armor was composed of a chest piece, pants, gloves, and a helm. To any other blacksmith the set looked hard to make, there were multiple moving parts which required some intricate design and hinges. To Aleyn it looked like a failed version of her own armor which she had worked on for many hours.
She took her fake expression off and started acting more seriously as she prepared for the task at hand. She figured she could easily finish before four hours were up, but wanting to see how fast she could do it she decided not to take it easy. She chose to make the gloves first as it was the hardest part to make with numerous moving parts.
It took her an hour and 30minutes to finish the pair of gloves, she didn't have any trouble with them at all as the design was so much simpler than what she was used to working with.
The next part was the helm, she had not made one for her own set but it didn't mean she didn't think about making one. She worked on the helmet for an hour before it was finished, it took unexpectedly a lot more work than she had previously anticipated which worried her but she didn't let that distract her.
Meanwhile the overseer was gnawing his massive knuckles as he watched the dwarf girl work. The only thing on his mind as he saw her progress was "Are you fucking serious?!" .
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Next she chose to work on the pants, as much as pants are not the same as chest pieces they do have similarities in the eyes of a blacksmith. Her work progressed fast even though she wasn't experienced with the lower body armor and in an hour she finished the pants.
Last but not least the chest piece which had the lowest amount of moving parts. The chest piece actually had integrated shoulder pieces on the design which made the work slightly more complicated, but as the shoulder pieces were completely connected to the chest piece there were no moving parts needed for it so she thought it wouldn't be a problem.
She finished the chest piece in an hour and 10 minutes. To her surprise the connected shoulder piece was more work than she had anticipated and she had gone over the 4 hour mark by a semi large margin. Failing the fake exam and her own test.
The overseer looked at the armor set. Its quality had no problem passing the exam, and she had spent little more than four hours to craft it. He would know, he observed the whole thing without blinking, thinking there was some witchcraft at work.
"I guess I didn't pass then since I failed the four hour mark. Is there some sort of a time penalty on when I can try and take it again?" she genuinely looked sad. Not because she failed the four hour mark, but because she had gone over her own estimations.
The overseer ignored the only real expression she had given her and exploded in anger.
"Quit playing with me bitch! A month or two my ass!" The overseer exploded and threw the chest piece on the floor which made a very large distinct noise across the workshop.
Anyone who heard the noise immediately looked at the overseer who was infuriated and striding towards the dwarf girl. Even a certain lump of muscle and power was aroused from his concentration at the other end of the building. He started slowly striding towards the commotion.
"WHO ARE YOU!? There's no way anyone without years of experience could do this. QUIT PLAYING!" The overseer took a grip of her apron .
"I've already told you who I am. I'm Aleyn and I've worked as a blacksmith for one or two months and I want to become Camedyrs student." she was very serious.
Having heard what she said he exploded in to another fit of rage. There was no way she had worked for only a couple of months with her skill. He released her, but right after releasing her his fist landed on the table next to her. Completely annihilating it.
She froze in shock for a moment. His whole fist was the size of her head, if she got hit by it she would definitely need more than medical aid.
But if he was simply throwing a punch, it wasn't particularly hard to dodge for her, but the fear of getting hit by such a massive fist still scared her enough to make her very very careful.
A crowd had gathered around the scene, forming a circle where they watched in awe. It wasn't everyday someone fought an overseer so it was good entertainment, however they had not expected that he would have trouble in the fight.
The overseer seemed to have lost all of his care for the furniture and in such a place where there were loads of tables and racks his fist could not avoid obliterating anything they hit.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise, she didn't mean to get anything destroyed but it was too late now.
The overseer turned around and immediately threw his other fist at her, this time she had made sure there was nothing behind her as she ducked below the fist and side stepped behind him.
At this point the big lump of muscle had arrived at the circle, he was watching intently at the whole scene. Normally he wouldn't even bother to come and watch such a scene but as he had not heard the workers cheering and instead watch in silence he knew there was something interesting going on. He watched as the little dwarf girl kept avoiding the giant in front of her.
"I'm confused, I thought I completed your tasks. Even if i failed the last one, this is still too extreme." she said with an out of breath tone.
The big guy in the crowd was confused, why was the overseer so angry? She said she had passed his exams and failed the last one that meant she was rank four. As much as it was impressive outside of this workshop. It wasn't anything a special in his eyes.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT, DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A CLOWN?" he threw another punch which she dodged while trying to avoid the equipment.
Aleyn changed her attitude and expression.
"Actually, I sort of do. It's no different to what you felt towards me when I talked to you earlier though is it?"
"YOU...." Every single vein on the overseers head was pulsing. It looked like he was close to a heart attack.
He took two quick steps towards Aleyn and threw his right arm stubbornly at her again.
Aleyn having had enough felt like she should stop it before he bursts a vein. She sidestepped to the right and faced away from the man, once the fist had went past her she took a firm grip of it with her both hands and put all of her strength into throwing the overseer.
With her strength she managed to throw giant over her shoulder and in the air. To her sadness she had forgotten to see if there was anything in the mans way and he landed on a table, completely destroying it as he landed on his back on top of it.
The overseer not defeated and still burning with rage stood up and got ready to try again but as he faced Aleyn he noticed a huge figure in the crowd.
"Master.."
The inferno of rage that had been assaulting Aleyn without a pause immediately without question shrunk down and stopped moving.
The huge figure parted the crowd and approached the overseer. He had his hands behind his back and a very calm expression as he tried to figure things out.
"Cofius, explain." he said with a strict tone.
"Master I..." he tried to explain but was cut off by Aleyn
"You're Camedyr yes?"
The man turned to her.
"Yes."
"Your overseer here is very rude. I completed the tasks he told me to do and then starts attacking me." she said with a nagging tone.
"Pass the first exam, yep easy."
"Make tools, yep done." she pointed at the tools on a further away table away from the ring.
"Craft the four sets in an hour, yep done." she pointed at the scattered pile of armor at the other side of the ring. They were placed in a row nicely and you could see without much counting that there were actually five armor pieces
"Craft the more complicated set of armor in four hours, well I finished it little over the four hour mark so that's fair enough I failed. But it still doesn't mean you can just start throwing punches." She pointed at the chest piece next to her and the other pieces across the room.
During the whole ordeal, the overseer was sweating and shaking.
"Is that true cofius?" he asked calmly
"Yes, master. But..." he said without hesitation.
"Silence." Camedyrs voice was sharp and loud.
Camedyr walked up to Aleyn and looked her over as he towered in front of her.
"Who are you then?" unlike the overseer he seemed calm and not hostile.
She dug into her pocket which had the letter. The letter was damp and crumbled as it had endured through out her journey around the city and her ordeal with the overseer.
Camedyr took the letter and opened it ignoring it's condition and started reading. Even before he started reading he noticed the letter wasn't the only thing she had given her there was something sharp below the letter.
As he read a smile crept on his face and he realized what the sharp object below the letter was and after having read the letter of introduction he took a look at it. The pin was the one he had given to Cybil there was no question about it, and with the letter he had just read he was pretty sure he was looking at Cybils apprentice.
"Get back to work." he raise his voice, not enough for it to be considered a yell but loud enough for everyone to understand that they needed to move.
He took a look around to confirm that everyone was indeed working before replying to Aleyn.
"You know you really could have just come to me and given this. It would have saved you a lot of trouble." he said with a hearty chuckle.
Aleyn sighed.
"Well I did try, but the guy at the front said you weren't in when I came at first and your overseer here insisted on this hierarchical crap. I thought I would show him something interesting."
"I can't say I'm surprised. You know how many people come to see me?" Camedyr said expecting something much different then what he was about to hear.
"I don't care how many people come and see you to be honest. I came here to learn."
The whole vicinity in an ear throw quieted down a tone, the people were working but they were also curious and what Aleyn had just said seemed unbelievable to them.
The silence was broken by Camedyr as he started laughing. Everyone else kept quiet while the man cracked a smile and had a laugh.
"I like your attitude girl." He paused and looked at the overseer still waiting for judgement.
"Cofius, you're paying for the damaged goods. Pick up the things she made and put them with the rest. Learn from this, humility is not a disease."
"Yes master." Cofius quickly stood up and started picking up things.
"Aleyn, get some rest. Come here before the place opens tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you." As Camedyr said that he immediately started walking back to where he came from.
"Will do."
Her first day at Dvalfgar turned out to be more than she had expected.