When I arrived at Rogar’s, the sun was high in the sky and I was drenched in sweat under my armor in the sweltering humidity. I didn’t know if I would ever get used to the sensation.
The stocky man was waiting for me, of course, but he wasn’t alone. One of the skinny giants, dressed in a tidy gray coat, chatted with him, holding a long, thin cylinder.
“What’s all this?” I asked as I entered.
“Ah, Grug! You came. Good,” Rogar said excitedly, gesturing me over.
I’d never seen him this happy, which put me on edge.
“Allow me to introduce you. This is Mr. Bajek, from the Basecrest Blacksmith’s Guild.”
The tall man nodded, and I returned the gesture.
“Mind telling me what this is all about?”
“Of course,” Bajek answered in a deep, throaty voice. “As Mr. Rogar said, I am with the Blacksmith’s Guild, here to officiate your apprenticeship contract.”
“Uh, sorry?” I asked. “My contract?”
“My congratulations to you,” Bajek said, misunderstanding my surprise. “It is not often someone your age is awarded an apprenticeship. You must truly have impressed Mr. Rogar, here.”
Rogar grunted, but I barely noticed. The gears in my head spun madly, trying to understand the ramifications of this. None of them sounded good.
“Thanks,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “I’m sorry, but could I get some details? I’m new to this contract business.”
“Of course,” Bajek replied, popping open the end of his metal tube. It contained a long, rolled up piece of paper—or maybe parchment, by its rough texture—and laid it on a table before me.
I scratched my neck. “I’m sorry, but I can’t read. Would you mind reading it to me?”
“Oh, my apologies! I’d be happy to summarize.” Neither the giant nor Rogar flinched at my admission, which allowed me to breathe a bit more easily.
“The contract is mostly standard—ten years of apprenticeship to Master Smith Rogar, during which time you will be paid the going guild rate. Any products created and sold by you are subject to a 20% royalty share, of which 10% goes to the guild, and 10% will go to Rogar. As well, the first month of labor will be unpaid, to compensate for the damages incurred by your unauthorized usage of his equipment.”
I blanched. “Ten years?” I hoped I’d heard wrong.
“That is correct. This is the standard duration. If you would like it to go longer, we can certainly discuss a suitable arrangement.”
I had so many concerns, I didn’t even know where to begin.
“Is it expected that I remain here for the duration?”
This time, Bajek did raise a brow. “That is the norm, yes…”
“If, say, I needed to take extended journeys to other places, would that be in violation of the contract?”
“That is up to you and Rogar, I imagine…”
“What, are you saying you’ll bail on me?” Rogar barked. “When you haven’t even begun?”
“No,” I said, feeling a headache coming on. “I mean that I foresee a lot of traveling in that time. A lot. I’ll pay back the royalties regardless of where I am, but I can’t be here for the duration.”
“Well, it is common for journeymen to travel to other smithies,” Bajek said, pre-empting Rogar, who looked like he was about to argue. “Once they reach a certain level of proficiency, of course.”
“That comes after the ten years of apprenticeship,” Rogar said.
“Normally, yes. Though exceptions can be made.”
I waited for Rogar to answer. To be honest, I didn’t like the idea of any contract that lasted so long. But I needed the training, and I didn’t know how else I was going to get it, short of announcing my status as a Champion and returning to Order’s territory. Even then, if the regent of that country was even half of what Aerion made him out to be, I seriously doubted I’d have any time to work on smithing.
“How will you improve when you’re gone?” Rogar asked. “How will I teach you?”
“Give me instructions for the time I’m away,” I said. “I’ll practice on my own and come back after I’ve learned them.”
“Oh? On whose forge?” Rogar asked, gesturing with his hand.
“I’ll deal with that,” I said, thinking of a certain spatial inventory. It wasn’t anywhere near large enough yet, and its weight limit was too low, but if it increased as the description implied it would, sticking a whole forge in there might not be unreasonable. And until then, well, I’d just have to work something out with local smiths where my travels took me.
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Bajek and Rogar locked eyes.
“It is your decision, Rogar.”
The blacksmith crossed his arms and tapped a finger against his bicep, staring at the floor.
“This isn’t what I expected,” he said. “Taking on an apprentice who won’t be around will be a huge burden. Not worth the extra effort. Or the risk…”
“You’re already getting free labor for a month,” I said. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I’d even be in Basecrest for a month. For me, making that promise was bigger than any pay I’d lose.
Bajek cleared his throat. “Actually, Mr. Rogar is favoring you quite heavily, there. The cost of operating a forge overnight, when combined with the opportunity cost of the blanks you failed to deliver, accounts for several months of labor from a new apprentice. If I’m not mistaken, he had to put in his own time forging extra blanks, which means he will have to pay a penalty to the guild for being unable to meet his quota for the month. Not only is he foregoing seeking criminal punishment, but the terms are quite favorable to you.”
Huh. I glanced at the blacksmith. That was… surprisingly nice of him? I didn’t have a great counterargument.
“That royalty share. You said it was 10% to Rogar?” I said.
“Yes. And 10% to us.”
“How about we double Rogar’s share, at least initially. Until I prove I won’t bail on him.”
“Are you sure?” Bajek said. “You will be giving up 30% of your income. 20% to Rogar and 10% to us.”
No, I really wasn’t sure. About any of this. Sure, Rogar might be throwing me a bone by not reporting what I did to the authorities, but this was how it always went, didn’t it? Whether it was back at the gaming store I worked for, or here—going above and beyond was never rewarded. I knew I should’ve asked for permission before using his stuff. The whole reason I didn’t was because he’d never have given it.
“It’s fine,” I said with a sigh. “This is only for stuff I forge, right? If I sell equipment other people have made, I won’t be subject to this?”
“Correct,” Bajek replied.
“Then I’m good with this.” Any gear I found delving Trials would be mine to freely sell. Not to mention all the soul crystals Aerion and I would amass. And after I eventually announced that I was a Champion, I doubted I’d ever have to worry about money.
No, this wouldn’t be an issue at all. I was learning how to forge so that I could equip myself and Aerion with powerful Initialized gear. Not to make a quick buck.
“That’ll work,” Rogar said at last.
“Very well,” Bajek replied, taking out a quill and ink. “I’ll make the amendments right now.”
I saw him cross out a line and scribble some stuff down next to it. He did that in a few places.
To be safe, I had Rogar and Bajek read out the full page to me individually. Just in case they were trying to take advantage of my illiteracy.
They weren’t. Their accounts were identical, and I doubted they were both such good liars that they could perfectly memorize and copy what the other had said.
“Okay, last thing. Are you a Boonworthy or a Blessed?” I asked.
“I am not,” Bajek replied. “You may look it up on the official temple record if you wish. You will not find my name there.”
“If I do, and you're lying, I assume this contract is null and void?”
“Of course,” Bajek said.
“Write that into the contract, and I'm good.”
Bajek shrugged. “As you wish. The Guild does not make a habit of duping their members. We wouldn't have lasted long if we dabbled in such practices.”
The topic of contracts had come up in one of my conversations with Aerion. I'd asked her about magical contracts, and it seemed that only Boonworthy and Blessed with the power to enforce contracts could bind people magically. It had to be done at the time of signing, and the officiator had to be one of those people with the power.
Bajek made the adjustments and I signed my name where asked. Signing as Grug, of course. No harm having an extra layer of safety.
“Everything looks to be in order,” Bajek said, looking over the document. “With this, my duties here are concluded. Congratulations, Grug. You are now officially an apprentice of Master Smith Rogar.”
Bajek walked out, and I stared after him.
I turned to Rogar, who was rubbing his palms and eyeing me like prey. The nasty smile didn’t help the image.
“Well then. How about we get to work?”
“Yes, let’s,” I replied. I had a feeling I was about to get a lot more than I’d bargained for.
----------------------------------------
My first lesson in blacksmithing was actually… quite tame—physically, anyway. Especially when compared to the hard labor I’d done with Philip—who was still missing. I didn’t have a chance to worry about him, though. Rogar had me drinking through the proverbial fire hose.
From identifying red-hot from white-hot metal to watching Rogar’s hammering technique to learning about how iron ore was transformed into workable metal through the Bloomery forge, it felt like Rogar was trying to cram everything he knew into a single lesson.
Which may not have been far from the truth. I had to hand it to the guy—he was nothing if not dedicated, although he definitely could’ve used a lesson plan. Still, I could tell he had a lifetime of experience, so I desperately tried to soak up every word, taking mental notes to jot down later so I didn’t forget.
After that, it was time to try my hand at forging—under Rogar’s strict supervision, of course. What was I forging? Not knives or swords or anything nearly as interesting.
Nails.
Simple, basic, square nails. Not so simple, as it turned out. You’d think hammering a straight piece of metal with a flat head would be easy, but the length of the nail, its taper, shape, and several other dimensions had to be taken into account.
Not to mention that a light tap deformed it in the moments after retrieving it from the forge, while even a heavy swing might not do much at all once it had cooled. I had to take that into account when swinging.
It took me ten attempts to make one that even resembled a functional nail, and when I did, Rogar actually clapped.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all…
“Good!” he said. “Now make me another thousand.”
I did a double-take. “A thousand? You’re joking, right?” I knew the answer even before the words had left my lips.
“No joke. Nails are in demand more than anything else I make. Complete that quota, and we can start on harder items. Shouldn’t be an issue, if you’ve got half the talent you seem to have.”
“Uh, thanks?” Had the guy just given me a compliment? It felt a bit backhanded, but I’d take it.
I wiped off my sweat and got to work. If I was going to forge exotic weapons and armor in the future, I’d need a solid foundation, and that started here.