Kai woke up early the next morning, so early in fact that the sun hadn’t even risen yet. Throwing some clothes on his back, he dashed toward the manor’s gate, where Euphridia already waited for him. “Took you long enough.” She said jokingly and started walking alongside him. Their footsteps echoed on the quiet streets, alongside the bird’s joyful song and the bugs cricketing. Besides that, the cold morning breeze bringing a myriad of aromas and the rustling of the leaves filled the awkward silence between the two.
The tension, however, was so dense one could cut it with a knife. With Kai rushing toward the forgery, and Euphy casually following behind him like an eagle. Her armor, in contrast to Kai’s histerical rustle, rattled in a rhythmic beat as she strolled on the platform she’d seen a thousand times before.
“You know, you didn’t have to volunteer.” Kai finally broke the silence, a slight annoyance in his tone.
“I have to keep watch over you.”
“What for?”
“So you don’t hurt yourself.”
“I’m not that incapable!”
“You can’t even use magic…”
“I don’t see your point.”
“You wouldn’t be able to traverse between platforms, for one. Second, if anyone decided to fight you, I doubt you’d stand much of a chance. Third… you’re under my wing, so like it or not, I’m following you!”
“I’d have found a way to travel and fight someone, and the third point isn’t even related to magic!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Euphy said with a confident smile, “Just get used to me being around, I don’t even see why you’re so annoyed.”
Kai stopped in his tracks, snapping toward Euphridia as he raised his tone. “You locked me up in an animal cage! You had perfectly good cells, then left me in the dark and cold… And now you’re even tormenting me with training.”
The guard’s eyes widened, taken aback by Kai’s sudden assertiveness, she weighed her words before saying. “I apologize for that, I thought you were just scum that wanted to get close to our Heir, but the way you addressed her was just too weird. It was either the animal cage or outside, and snakes like the one you killed are a dime a dozen in those fields.”
Kai clicked his tongue and turned around, walking slightly slower until he stood side by side with Euphy. “So what you’re saying is, I should be grateful?”
“Uhh…. yes?” she replied, slightly confused. “Anyway, I’m just following you around, I don’t see what's wrong with having a bit of extra protection?” Kai’s face reddened, whether from anger or shame remained unknown, however, he said with a trembling voice.
“I, I’m tired of everyone treating me like a child…” A light chuckle escaped Euphridia’s lips as she stared down at Kai, whose head barely reached her tummy. Her eyes shone with amusement as she looked at his flustered expression, but she didn’t comment any further for fear of angering him too badly.
“Hurry up”, she picked up the pace, glancing behind her briefly before turning away into a sprint. Kai looked at his trainer with a tired, deadpan expression, however, in the end decided to rush after her, holding tightly onto the blueprints. Damn it… making me run so early.
…
As one ran and the other chased, the platform the forge stood on quickly appeared before them. Located next to a mountain range, into which the elves and dwarves dug a large hole. Inside, forges, anvils, ores, and whatever else covered the walls and pathways, every room serving a purpose and every worker moving around, creating new armor and tools for the Kingdom.
“Salut, Euphy!” An elf that seemed to share Euphirida’s age walked up to them as soon as they landed on the platform. He had brown, curly hair sparkling blue eyes, and a thin, frail build. His waist was a fair bit larger than his chest, giving him an hourglass-ish figure that many in his old world vied for.
“Salut Mar, this here is Kai, doesn’t speak Elvish so let’s just chat in the continent’s language.” Euphridia pointed at Kai, paying no particular attention to the young forger.
“Ah! So this yere the young genius? It is an honor, aye.” Mar spoke with a bizarre, thick accent as soon as he switched to the continental language. A bright smile creased his lips as he lowered himself, extending a hand to Kai in greeting. “I’ve to say, them machinations you gave us gave us a headache despite their simplicity.”
Kai shook Mar’s hand firmly and replied with a friendly smile. “Haha, just something I dreamt about. Anyway, I couldn’t quite understand the notes written on the blueprint…”
“Ah!” Mar exclaimed. “That must be old Nick’s handwriting, don’t worry, even we barely understand it.”
“No, it’s not that-” Kai tried explaining himself, however, it was to no avail as Mar grabbed his arm and yoinked him inside the forge with unexpected strength. Kai’s entire body heated up in an instant as soon as he stepped foot inside the room filled with raging furnaces, and the further inside Mar dragged him in, the harsher the conditions.
The rhythmic beating of metal upon metal rang in his ears, the sound growing louder and louder as they approached a room hidden deep inside the mountain. Forges, weapons, furnaces, anvils, hammers- All sorts of equipment necessary for forging and mending metals and other materials covered the walls and filled the rooms as they rushed through the middle of the forge. Mar hummed excitedly, and Euphridia followed leisurely behind them. Out of the three, only Kai felt the extreme heat sizzling his skin and curling the ends of his hair. Why is this twink-looking man so strong?! I thought they were supposed to be good at magic but his grip… I can’t even struggle!
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A mischievous smile creased Euphy’s lips as she watched Kai get dragged around by someone else, and she couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Serves that brat right!
After a short while, they arrive in a room inside the mountain, the door of which shone with a metallic glint. The sound of metal upon metal echoed out of the room, and the ground shook each time the hammer struck whatever it was shaping. Mar knocked three times, took a small pause, and then knocked three more times before saying, “Hey, Old Nick! The vampire kid is here!”
The sound stopped almost as soon as Mar finished the sentence, and the door clanked and groaned as it opened, letting out a large cloud of steam. As the hot air dissipated, the figure of a short, bald man with a thick beard gradually revealed itself, however, the darkness hid some of his features. His eyes were black like the ebony tree, and so were his calloused hands. He only wore a pair of boots and legs, leaving his muscular upper body and arms exposed to the infernal heat.
“A dwarf?” Kai unconsciously said out loud as he stared at the miniature man. Mar’s, and even Euphridia’s expression immediately changed to one of anxiety. Both of them immediately hid behind Kai, whose small frame could barely hide a strand of their hair. Looking around, Kai’s heart raced with panic at the sudden turn of events, and he turned his attention toward the short man as he gulped. Old Nick’s eyebrow twitched as his expression morphed to one of anger, and he spit out blood and… spit as he yelled,
“YOU DAMN BRAT, YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THOSE LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHINGS? SO WHAT IF THEIR WEAPONS ARE SOUGHT OUT BY EVERYONE IN THE CONTINENT?! SO WHAT IF THEY HAVE A RICHLY DEVELOPED CULTURE AROUND WEAPONRY?! SO WHAT IF THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THE BETTER PART OF THE MOUNTAIN AND WE ONLY HAVE THIS FOREST?! WHAT’S THE POINT IF THEY DON’T EVEN LIFT A FINGER TO GATHER THEIR MATERIALS?!! OH GODDESS LUMIERA GIVE ME PATIENCE BECAUSE IF YOU GIVE ME STRENGTH I’LL KILL THIS BRAT!”
Kai shivered in his boots, his heart racing as he watched the raging old man with fear. Is he… is he crazy?!
“You, brat.” Old Nick pointed toward him as he walked into the light, finally revealing his entire body. A pair of sharp and long ears, one of them black and one of them cut off at the midpoint, decorated his wrinkled head.
“I am Old Nick! First Captain of the First Gate! The Celestial Forger! I am the one who made Mjolnir and created a sword for your great-grandfather! Remember my name: Nicu Vulka Ni Zare!”
Kai stood there, dumbfounded by the old man’s ramblings. What the fuck… did this man just say he met… he knew my great grandfather?! And he made him a sword?!!” Euphridia let out a sigh, and seeing that the worst moment had passed, walked in between the two of them.
“Nick you… you’re saying too much again.”
“You knew too?” Kai asked, prompting Euphy to turn toward him with a weird expression. “You knew my identity?”
“Everyone knows it boy, well, everyone that matters. Your parents were pretty much regulars around here. I remember forging your dad a purple sword back in the day. Haha, he had to pay me an arm and a leg, and his eye too! For it.”
“Nick! Shut up!” Euphridia interjected, however by this point everything that didn’t need to be said had been said, so she only sighed dejectedly and turned around after giving the old man an ugly look.
“Anyway,” Nick coughed “We’ll reminiscense about old times later… For now, Kid, tell me, how did you come up with these?” He snatched the blueprints from Kai’s hand, inspecting them carefully, his cheeks almost reddening.
“I… had a dream?” Trying to bullshit his way out of this one, Kai used the most obvious excuse on the board, hoping that the old man would take it.
Old Nick shrugged, an invisible spark glowing inside his dark eyes, but didn’t care enough to pry upon the secrets of a child. “Alright then, come in, I have some questions that need to be answered.” With that, he turned away and entered the steaming room. Kai turned around, only to see Euphy and Marc looking at him with an approving expression. A sigh left his body as he followed the old man inside, the metallic door slamming closed as the locks clicked into place.
…
Inside, the room seemed fairly empty, yet spacious. Besides the obvious things needed for forging, there were also books and quills, as well as the necessary ink. On top of that, countless weapons and tools littered the walls and floors, most of which were either broken or unusable.
“Excuse the mess, I didn’t expect guests on such short notice.”
“Ah, it’s alright,” Kai said, wiping the waterfall of sweat sliding down his face. “Quite a cozy place.”
“Right, well, it serves its purpose. Here, hold this.” Old Nick said, handing a pendant over to Kai. “Or wear it around your neck, whatever suits you.” As soon as he touched the pendant, a chilly wave ran down his spine, immediately cooling off his body and balancing its temperature. “I got it as a gift but I don’t need. Its only use is when people such as yourself come to visit me.”
“People such as myself?”
“Weaklings.” Old Man Nick said without hesitation, almost as if by instinct. “However, that can be changed. A weakling can become strong, but an idiot can’t become smart. Kai, you’re not an idiot, neither am I. As for how you got these, I’m not going to pry, however in the future be careful, as you’re playing with fire.” he said without even looking at him, however, Kai felt like his very being was nothing but a piece of glass before the old man. A shiver ran down his spine, and he gulped before nodding softly.
“Understood.”
“Good, now, let’s get to business. I assume you need these to train your body, and I can assume why, seeing how weak you are to the forge’s flames. These things, they’re balanced weights meant to train every muscle group at once, right? And the big sphere… I can’t exactly tell its purpose, so you’ll have to enlighten me.”
“Ah that, it’s just to train balance…”
“Train balance?” he said with a scoff. “Piatra morii is better for balance, younglings these days and their fancy equipment…”
Piathra Morei? What…
Kai didn’t question the old man’s weird innuendo, and instead decided to get straight to the point. “So, what is it you didn’t understand?”
“Oh, that? Just an excuse to meet with you. Ya think I couldn’t figure out such simple schematics? Please. I was more interested in the mind behind them.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, the crippled son of two legends who should not have this kind of information. But I got the gist of it more or less, and that’s all I needed. Now,” He said, slamming the blueprint on his work table. “You can either loiter around and then leave, or you can help me and learn a thing or two, we can chat more if so. I’ll even answer one of your questions if you got any.”
Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or smile, but he began to take a liking to the old man. Picking up a dirty apron from the side, he tightened it around his waist and stood quietly next to Nick. The process of turning iron into weights didn’t seem difficult, however, Kai seemingly fell into a trance as the hammer hit and molded the cube-shaped metallic slab…