39 Begging of a Legion

The usual loud lobby of the blacksmith guild was drowned out by the overly loud sobs. Those inspecting weapons on the walls and racks returned the weapons back in the rightful places before turning to look at the source of the wailing. The guards in the blacksmith guild all grinned from ear to ear at the sight of Floyd crying because of what he has gone through the past few days. Now that Tagas has showed up, his life should go back to normal.

A couple of days after Arbor told Floyd that he would be returning, Floyd's life went six feet under. Gorge started to torment Floyd verbally. When he would ask Gorge questions about forging or inscriptions, Gorge would explode and complain about how he let a protégé slip through their fingers without the slightest trace of where Tagas disappeared to. Other times Gorge would scream at Floyd from a different room and tell him that he is doing a worse job than someone without any cultivation, or that his next nine generations would be embarrassed that he calls himself a blacksmith. One time Gorge through his desk at Floyd as he was taking a step into his office. Gorge then berated Floyd over his shoulder as he made him rebuild it.

"Tagas…you...you're alive." Floyd wiped away the running snot from under his nose, "You…(sniffle) have saved my life. (sniffle). I have missed you so much."

A sincere smile appeared on Arbors face, "Yup, I'm here in the flesh. Sorry that I took a little bit longer than initially expected. We ran into some unforeseen circumstances and had to take care of a problem. Well, the problem has been temporarily taken care of. Is it all right if my friend and I use a forge?" Arbor nodded his head towards Orion who was standing next to him.

Orion attracted just as much attention from the crowd in the shop as Floyd's cheerful sobbing. Orion's sleeveless black and white constellation designed shirt showed the tattoos that cover his skin. Strange designs of shapes, lines, patterns, and runes cover his arms from his wrist all the way up to his shoulders and beyond under his shirt. People who have decorated their body in the fashion like Orion are all from an extremely distant village that is has no sense of how vast the realms are.

The on lookers started to quietly discuss between one another about Orion and why someone from the barren lands would be in a place like this. The only reasonable explanation is that this scrawny teenager filled with tattoos is Arbors slave. This is a widespread practice in the larger cities because those from the barren lands have a low cultivation. Thus, they are seamlessly fit for simple, mindless, cumbersome, physical tasks and errands.

"He's… your friend?" Floyd slowly asked with uncertainty. Orion noticed the new vibe in the atmosphere after Floyd inquired about their relationship. He stopped listening to the conversation between Arbor and Floyd and focused his attention to the murmurs in the lobby. The snippets of conversation Orion caught wind of caused him to excessively roll his eyes and shake his head.

"To think that such a lowly and despicable practice as slavery actually happens in the realm. Although it does not surprise me that much as the people here do not know the immensity of cultivation and the heights it can take them to. It can't be much help that the essence is so thin down here that they don't have a chance to achieve those heights." Orion reasoned with himself.

"Yes, this is brother Orion. Why do you ask it like that?" Arbors furrowed his brows at Floyd's question.

Orion coughed loudly before Floyd could respond. The rest of the chatter in the lobby stopped as Orion became the center of attention. "I would like to make it clear that I, Avea Orion, am slave no man or woman. If any of you have a problem with it, you can take it up with this guy." Orion grabbed the center of attention before quickly brushing it off onto Arbor whose face instantly became full of dread.

Arbor grabbed Orion by the collar and dragged him towards the back area of the blacksmith guild.

"I am unsure if he is actually a slave or not."

"Do you think that they are actually just brothers?"

"A slave would not dare to proclaim his freedom in front of his master like that."

Through the door to the back yard of the main building, ten stations for forging had been set up with all the required equipment. Off to one side of the courtyard is smaller building that functions as a classroom area. In the center of the courtyard is a much smaller building with only one door on it. The back of the structure rounded into the ground symbolizing that it is an entrance to a cellar of some type. Compared to the rest of the buildings that had slow, but steady, foot traffic, this one had none.

Arbor asked Floyd about the underground entrance and learned that it leads to the vault where all the surplus crafting resources are. Its protected by layers of formations that were cast down by one of the elders in the guild from the guild headquarters.

The three arrived at a one-story metal house in the back of the courtyard. This house is made from a dull ebon metal and has one door and a couple of windows. It is a simple hut, comparable to that of a straw hut in size. The roof is a partially slanted, shimmering, medium gray metal. Flord led the other two to the front door and knocked three times in succession before entering.

"Senior Master," Before Floyd could get passed his greetings a double sided hammer whose head is the size of a watermelon came flying towards the front door. Floyd, who has become accustomed to the actions of his uncle by now, quickly side stepped as he watched the hammer create a tiny breeze as it passed him. His eyes bulged when he realized that he forgot to warn Tagas and Orion.

The hammer stopped mid-air in the doorway. "Thanks for the warning Floyd." Tagas flipped the hammer over and caught its handle.

"I...I am sorry." Floyd lowered his head, "I've become accustomed to it and forgot. I seek your forgiveness."

"Don't worry about it buddy, no one is perfect." Arbor patted Floyd on the shoulder with his free hand.

"Is that the way you treat new members?" Arbor called out and returned the hammer with the same fashion that it greeted him with.

Floyd knows the weight of the hammer all to personally. To him the hammer is an immovable object. An now Arbor just caught it with ease. His admiration of Arbor increased a couple of notches.

Gorge stood up with gusto when he the familiar voice. He caught the hammer as if its weight is comparable to a feather.

Floyd stood in the corner of the room like he does not belong, like a young child before its seniors. Arbor quickly introduced Orion to Gorge before recounting the story of the cave dweller and its master. He mentioned the mercenary guild and the organization the Chen Hong is apart of and how they might get involved and try to stop it. Upon hearing this Gorge insisted that Arbor need not to be worried as those two are both large enough and powerful enough to handle such a threat.

After recounting the threat, Arbor got to the point of bringing Orion to the guild today. He is going to be crafting weapons everyday and plans on teaching Orion to forge and that he requests a private room. Without any hesitation, Gorge agreed under two condition. The first one is that the guild gets sixty percent of the profits from the weapons sold. The second is that Arbor has to help Floyd improve his craft.

Arbor readily agreed to Gorge's two requests. Gorge soon lead Arbor, Orion, and Floyd to his personal forge in the cellar! He took out a basic looking bronze key and insert it into the hole. The key, the door, and the rest of the small structure lit up with runes. Gorge turned the key and opened the door. The four entered and went down a couple flights of stairs before entering the cellar.

In the middle is a forge, smelter, and anvil. On one wall is a rack holding up all the required tools for forging. On the opposite of the forge from the rack are ten rows of shelving that are holding the metals and ores in possession of this branch of the Blacksmith guild. Gorge explained that the closer shelves are the more common types of ores and the further back they go, the rarer they are.

Gorge soon left after explaining the details of what they could and could not use. Arbor reassured them that they will only be using the basic metals to forge. He then took the time to explain the essence of forging and why it is useful in everyday life. Floyd, someone who has already started on their path of forging, listening attentively to Arbor. After the first day Arbor acquired the same booklet of known metals for Orion to study and familiarize himself with.

The entire first day, Professor Arbor lectured and answered any questions that either of the two have. The second day Arbor covered how to effectively smelt and various techniques used for the common metals.

On the third day, Arbor demonstrated different techniques that are used depending on what final product is trying to be achieved.

The beginning of the fourth day was the founding of a league of forgers that would go on to build some of the greatest and renowned in the divine realm. Obviously, these three have no idea what their future holds for them.

Faster than the swing of a hammer, a couple of months have passed. Arbor finally started to make a little bit of money due to the auction house. When Orion and Floyd finally shown signs of being able to work on their own Arbor left the two to their own devices. With Orion's knowledge with runes and inscriptions combined with Floyds gift for forging, the two challenged each other's knowledge and imagination.

Arbor made his way back to the herb shop, The Thousand Herb Garden. He did not dilly dally and bought the cheapest living and youngest herb that he could find. Unlike most people who would store the herb in a case, Arbor took the herb as is, dirt and all. Arbor stood in the center of the garden with his hands cupped around dirt. Arbor closed his eyes and focused all of his attention on the herb in his grasp. He injected his essence into the herb for half a minute before he opened his eyes.