“Director, what are you planning, he seems like a nice kid you aren't planning on forcing him into a contract of servitude are you?” Sophie asked turning to the director once Asher was out of earshot, the director who had been wearing a smile up to this point went stone cold dropping all hints of friendliness. The director just turned to Sophie and in an instant was behind her, she hadn’t even blinked yet he had disappeared right before her eyes. All Sophie could do was slowly close her eyes and take a deep breath waiting for whatever was to come. Sophie’s eyes jolted open when she felt the director's hand land firmly on her shoulder.
“Ahh, Sophie this is why you have always been one of my favorites, but no I have no such plans for him, he has a much bigger role to play,” the director said into the right ear of Sophie, who could just stare in shock at what he had said. She knew that the director had always been one to use anyone and everyone after tricking them into believing that he was simply a nice guy. Sophie could only hope that Asher was at least slightly aware of the director's true intentions.
“Now please make sure to remember our deal, you wouldn’t want there to be a reason that your contract has to be extended now would you, you only have a year left after all,” the director said while taking his hand off of her shoulder. The director began to walk away from Sophie, leaving her with that information, Sophie could just sit there, her body shaking in anger from the director’s words. She knew better than to try anything especially while being so close to freedom, she would just have to suck it up for another year.
Asher quickly found the exit; from the exit he continued through the front plaza area that had a fountain and some small tables and chairs dotted around. Some tables were empty while others had what looked like a wooden board with game pieces on top of them, some of these tables had players while others were empty. While Asher didn’t have time to stop and examine the game, he did wonder how the pieces stayed on the board during strong wind, he assumed magic but didn’t know for certain. Asher continued going straight until he had exited the adventurer's guild area and was back in front of the large building he had entered into the Greg when he first arrived at this town.
With a little effort Asher began looking around the town searching for signs that he might be able to decipher and figure out what they might sell, but almost none of the stores were that easy, the only store Asher knew for certain was the blacksmith, that was because it was a largely open shop that allowed anyone to look into it. Inside were three shorter looking men with large muscles, each one of them hitting a hammer against one form of metal or another. Asher knew instantly that these men were dwarves, and with excitement entered the establishment.
“What can I help you with today?” One of the dwarves asked, setting his hammer down and walking over to Asher, that man had a darker skin color than Asher, but it was still fairly light, his hair was a chestnut brown, and his eyes were a deep shade of ocean blue. Asher wouldn’t have been surprised at his appearance if it wasn’t for the distinct lack of eyebrows and a beard. Asher had always seen depictions of dwarves with long, luscious beards and to see one without one left him shocked. It wasn’t until he took a closer look at the other two that he realized that neither of them had breads or eyebrows either.
“Where are your eyebrows and beards?” Asher blurted out asking the dwarf, not bothering to answer his question. Asher wasn’t trying to be rude; it was that his whole expectation was riding on those features, and he had to know why they were gone. The dwarf just sighed at his question and looked down at the ground. He had clearly been asked that question a lot and either wasn’t surprised by it anymore or just didn’t have the energy to be mad at the question.
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“You are thinking of battle dwarves, they have long beards and often carry a battle ax, we are blacksmith dwarves, and we often lose our eyebrows and beards due to the sparks and flames that come from the smithy. It isn’t the brightest idea to have something as flammable as hair so close to fire now, is it?” The dwarf said after a few seconds, Asher instantly felt bad for asking the question as it seemed to be a sore subject for the dwarf. “I am so sorry, I should have thought through that question,” Asher said bowing to the dwarf then after a wave and a smile from the dwarf he raised his head and looked around the smithy finally taking everything in. In the center of the smithy was a large coal powered flame where a bunch of different weapons or pieces of armor were constantly being put into or taken out of. The other two dwarves were constantly working on one piece while another was heating up, switching between them with expert precision. On the walls were wooden racks that
housed simple weapons and simple armor, Asher could only assume that these were for sale to anyone who wanted them.
“Ah about why I’m here, I am looking for a dagger, if you could either make one using an existing weapon or if you have a decent one available I would be greatly interested,” Asher said after realizing what the dwarf has asked when he walked up to him initially, he quickly brought out his knife from his side and handed it over to the dwarf who’s hand was already outstretched. The dwarf took a second to examine the knife, it was just a simple knife with a black stone handle as far as Asher was aware, but he had grown accustomed to it and wanted to keep it in use one way or another. After
the dwarf was done inspecting the dagger he began walking over to his anvil Asher’s knife still in hand, Asher quickly followed behind.
The dwarf was quickly reached the anvil and placed the knife down on top of it, then without warning brought his hammer down on it, before Asher could react a loud bang of metal clashing with metal could be heard echoing through the smithy, the other two dwarves stopping dead in their tracks and looking up from their work to see what was going on. The dwarf who had smashed his hammer into the knife just sat there in silence for a second before lifting his hammer to reveal a completely undamaged dagger beneath it, a smile shooting across the dwarf's face as he saw this. Asher could only sigh a breath of relief once he saw that his knife was undamaged.
“Why the hell did you do that?” Asher exclaimed the moment he had gotten over his relief. The dwarf just smiled at him while he slowly put his hammer back down, the dwarf didn’t stop there though and instead brought out what looked like a Loupe, a tool that jewelers were often shown using back on earth when they were examining a jewel or gem in a movie. The dwarf put this on his right eye and began examining the handle of Asher’s knife all while Asher was trying to figure out what the dwarf was up to. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that he set both items back down on his anvil and looked up at Asher.
“I believe we can make you the sturdiest dagger possible if you have the coin,” The dwarf quickly said, greed showing in his eyes. Asher knew that look far too well, and if he didn’t stop him now then he would end up paying way more for the weapon then he probably had to. The other two dwarves had stopped what they were doing and walked over to the anvil the main dwarf had set the knife down on, picking up the knife and inspecting it just like the main dwarf had done before them.
“How much coin are you talking about?” Asher asked knowing full well that whatever number came out of the dwarf's mouth was going to be way higher than he would actually probably have to pay if he was skilled in smithing himself. The dwarf just smiled at him as Asher sighed expecting the worst.
“Nothing much, just five gold,” the dwarf said, not batting an eye. Asher could feel a small amount of rage building in his stomach as the number came out. If Asher had stopped here first, he wouldn’t have questioned the amount and probably paid it without trying to get a lower amount. But after what had happened with Greg, he knew that a single gold could change a commoner's life, and this price was definitely way higher than he needed to pay.