After spending the rest of the day getting the forge warmed up and the wares laid out, Ozlo ate dinner, went to bed, and woke up, ready to start it all over again. Thankfully, that's exactly what happened. Ozlo approached his new employer. "Ah, uh... Ozlo. Yeah, Ozlo. Jorgen is stoking the fire and you'll be busy helping me directly. Tell me boy, can you hold a pair of steel steady with some tongs while I forge it?" Ozlo made to answer, but Manny had turned his back while continuing his speech. "Of course you can, who couldn't hold something? Though I guess if you were missing an arm or two... Forget I said anything. I'm going to be busy making knives. Apparently one of the cushier nobles has a skill that requires he throw the damn things. Waste of a good blade if you ask me, but of course, no-one does. Why ask the help when you can just order them around."

Manny stopped at that and gave Ozlo a smile. "And here's the help. Hold the hot metal with the tongs, Jorgen will feed the fire and you just stand there. Got it?" Manny asked Ozlo, but didn't stay looking in his direction long enough to listen. Instead his hands were quickly working through the ingots, laying a large pile next to the forge and grabbing a long pair of crudely made tongs.

And so Ozlo's day went. For the first few hours Ozlo held the ingots on the makeshift anvil while Manny beat it roughly into shape and after taking a short break for a small meal, Ozlo was in charge of handing him things so that he might finish the blades. First came the grinding stone, which thankfully Manny operated by himself, not that Ozlo could hope to keep up with the speed that the smith worked the blades. Then came the polishing, a handle made out of cheap leather, and a generous portion of oil to keep everything sharp. After finishing the blades Manny took a seat and stared into the forest.

"You know lad, when I was your age, I wanted to be an adventurer too. Course I had all that motivation beat out of me by life. The older you get the more you realize that life isn't fair. Some people are born with silver spins and others don't even have a bent fork to their name. So you know what you do boy?" Manny leaned in close, practically touching Ozlo as his hot breathe hit the back of the youths neck. "You eat with your damn hands and you like it!" Manny started to cackle a bit and Jorgen, just now finishing up with his side of the forge rolled his eyes and gestured with his hands the universal sign for CRAZY.

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"Anyway, the point is, you're not making a damn thing today. And I know it doesn't seem fair but, not many customers yet. The noble who wants the knives won't be here until tomorrow and the sun will be setting soon enough. And while I may not be well off, I always make sure I don't work deep into the night. Interferes with my drinking you see.

Manny got up and walked over to his tent set up behind the makeshift smithy and promptly sat down on his bedroll. Jorgen approached Ozlo and gave him a small wave. "Just ignore him, he gets like that when it's slow. Which it usually is. So uh... You're an adventurer? I mean uh, are you an adventurer?"

Ozlo shook his head and turned to Jorgen. "No. I'm a conscript. So I've been conscripted by-" Jorgen held up a hand motioning him to stop. "Say no more. Most people these days are. The empire likes to pretend that the whole continent is safe but of course it isn't. How could it be?" A bitter look filled Jorgens face, but he quickly shook it off. "Anyway, Manny is right. You should probably head back to your camp and try to find something to fill the time. Ozlo started to head out when an errant thought made him turn around. "Wait, what are you going to be doing?"

Jorgen gestured to the various tools and the hot forge. "Making odds and ends. Knifes for butchering, tools for cooking, nails, the usual things people find themselves needing on the road and were too stubborn to pack. I usually have to help mend a cart every fortnight or so." Ozlo returned to his camp to find it empty, save for Boyd.

"Back so soon? I thought I told you to get busy? You'll regret not doing things when you're older, or even just tomorrow if you do little enough you know." Ozlo gestured over a bit to the forge and explained the situation. "Oh, well. Can't be helped then. Tell you what, why don't you help me make dinner? Couldn't hurt to learn how to fend for yourself, some men never marry after all." Boyd waggled his eyebrows suggestively at a young woman walking by.

It took Ozlo a moment to understand what Boyd meant, and when he did he made sure not to let it show on his face. "Ah, uh yeah. Let's get to cooking.