The dwarf was typical of what Aarav expected, short and broad statured with meaty arms and legs that looked proportioned for a human-sized man. He was male though Aarav couldn’t be sure. It seemed that dwarven females were hard to distinguish from males, at least by human standards.

Boren and Aarav had been staring at the man unabashedly for the last ten seconds since he spoke. His voice was a gruff bark. “Hello! How can I help you!” He yelled again over the ambient noise.

“Ahh! Sorry, sorry. We wanted to just understand the smithing process!” The dwarf took his time in replying, looking at them as if unsure what to make of the question.

“No.” He said finally, short and sweet, just like the dwarf. Okay, maybe not the sweet part but undoubtedly short, the same height as Boren.

“What do you mean, no?” Boren asked, not entirely understanding the denial. Maybe this was the first time someone so blatantly refused him. “We just wanted you to show us the process. Is that too difficult?” From anyone but a child who might have come across as snooty or sarcastic, Boren said it with such genuine curiosity that the dwarf just scoffed.

“Difficult? No, no, sonny. It is effortless to show you, but this is me craft! I won’t be giving away my trade secrets! Anyway, you can’ee copy what I do. You’re no a dwarf! Only dwarves can do what I do!” He said everything with the same barking yells that Aarav expected, but there was no malice in his words, only stating cold hard facts.

“Okay, that’s fine, not to worry.” Aarav said his time with the forge's heat had resulted in quite the gain. He wouldn’t complain if the man didn’t want to share; he had already gained something from this exchange.

You have gained the Environmental Skill, Fiery Living Level 1! This Skill will only level while you are within unbearable heat. It will also gradually improve your capabilities while exposed to said heat. You will be able to remain in this environment for 5.1min without melting. After that, you will lose 1cm3 of matter per second until you are out of the environment. Exp acquisition is increased significantly increased at the cost of pain and matter.

When he had got it, the melting hadn’t suddenly stopped. He had to move behind Boren to halt the melting while holding the newly acquired Skill. He would be fine for another minute or so. Then he needed to move away before he could handle more. Maybe I should let myself be exposed for a bit longer? If I had known this was how easy it was to get the final element, I would have stepped close to fire before. It was honestly already worth having come to town just for this. But there was more to be had. The more new experiences he could expose himself to, the better he would be for it.

I still want to go see the spatial pouch place as well. Though, I might have to wait for Haemish for that. That Potion Man was a little shifty about it. Anyway, this isn’t the time. We need to leave soon; otherwise, people will see my literal meltdown.

“Aarav, I really want to know, though!” Boren whined, squirming a little and really showing his age.

“Bor-. Ahem, child, this isn’t the time. This good man has his craft to consider, and he can’t give away secrets to people that are only interested in the process. Isn’t that right, sir?” Aarav almost gave away Boren’s name, no way that name wouldn’t be recognised here, even if his face was unknown.

“You don’t need to call me child! You are younger than I am!” Boren was starting to get irritated, and it was going to cost them their freedom.

“Understood, I apologise. Perhaps we should leave? May we get your name, good sir?” Aarav said, trying to pacify and distract the boy. “I think we may have overstayed our welcome; we shouldn’t disturb this gentleman anymore. I am Aarav, and this boy is Bonn” Aarav stared pointedly at the Boren. Then the dwarf clearly started to get annoyed.

The dwarf sighed and then said, “I am Gwyndwr. Very nice to meet you both, but I have a lot to be getting on with.” They said it in a way that told Aarav he was anything but happy to meet them, but there was nothing to be done about that.

Boren finally seemed to get a hold of himself, going back to the creepy robot version of himself and nodded, turning to Aarav. “I believe you are correct. We should leave.” Even his words came out stiff. This kid had problems. But if I had a mother like that, I would probably be a little screwed up, to…no, I am not one to talk. He has a loving family; I’m the one that’s screwed up.

That put Aarav into a melancholic state, and he had to shake it off with the help of his specific Talent. It seemed to pulse, and gradually the dark cloud faded and dispersed from his mind. Meanwhile, his time ran out, and he could feel bits of his sliding as he melted a little. Crap, he needed to get far from there.

Your Skill Fiery Living has increased to Level 2!

The more he stayed, the more experience he gained, but he would get exposed as a monster. Who knew what that would lead to. He couldn’t even blame the people. With the constant threat of monsters mostly taken care of, one in the middle of the city would cause chaos.

“Come on, Bo-nn, let’s go!” Aarav said, and they quickly pushed through the crowd. Aarav regained cohesion almost immediately once he was out of the forge’s heat, but it was a very unpleasant experience. The heat had melted a bit of him, so he might be a millimetre shorter now, but it was okay. Well worth the new skill, and hopefully, some new evolution options would become available. The pointedly missing fourth element he had not had access to thus far.

Hello Fire Slime! Can’t wait! Now I just need to max out my Level as a Boss Copycat Slime! Aarav hadn’t given it any thought since his fight with the pigeons, but he really hadn’t gained any experience in the last week and a half. He needed to get on that.

“Thank you, Mr Gwyndwr,” Boren said and bowed his head at the dwarf, who was a little taken aback at the gesture, especially after his rude dismissal of the two boys.

“Uh, yes, well. Thanks for dropping by.” He said helplessly. What else was he going to say? But dwarven smiths were legendary in folklore; even on Earth, there was no reason to believe there was anything but its truth.

Aarav and Boren just barely heard it as they squeezed through the crowd. “Bonn.” Aarav said pointedly. You need to keep your identity hidden.” Aarav quietly said as they walked together. Boren nodded silently and sombrely along with Aarav’s words. Then Aarav changed his tone to try to lift the boy’s spirits. “Time to explore something else. Where to?” Boren's expression changed back from robotic quiet to childish glee. Bipolar much? Aarav hadn’t spent much time with the boy, but this experience was alarming. Do they have therapy in this world?

“Okay, let’s keep walking through the market. There might be something good!” They walked past a woman spinning cards mid-air, and Aarav turned to watch.

“Want to know your fortune?” The woman said in a mysterious voice that screamed fake and charlatan to Aarav’s sensibilities. But this was a magical world; maybe these things had some meaning here. No harm in looking into it, right?

“How much?” Aarav deadpanned. He was not going into this with her, thinking he was some unsuspecting tourist. “I’m not paying more than….” Aarav turned to Boren and whispered, “How much is this?” Aarav held out a smallish coin to Boren, who just shrugged. A lot of help a prince was with small denominations.

Great. This had better be worth it. “This!” He held out the coin to the woman and hoped it was a small enough amount that he wasn’t being stiffed again like the fruit. Note to self, next time, ask the guy handing you money how much stuff should cost.

“Fine!” The woman huffed, and Aarav saw the glint in her eye, saying he was paying too much. “But you are robbing me for my services!” Aarav had to hand it to the woman, she was quite the performer, but then you had to be in her line of business, he supposed. Otherwise, no one would be giving her any business.

“Great.” Aarav said and handed over the coin so reluctantly that the woman almost had to snatch it out of the fake fairy’s hand.