The next morning Derek resumed his habitual schedule. Early that morning he was pouring blanks and speaking to his master, “Master, the Serris this Prince Kylin is from, is that the same country where my father died?”

Ander looked at him for a moment before responding, “Yes, it should be so. I only know of one Serris. Your father went to fight for them when they were putting down some demon cultists. Ovid said that when a group of six greater demons attacked, your father used the Holy Sacrifice spell to destroy them. The Prince would have been a page of six or seven then so he might not have encountered your father but it is possible one of the knights did.

“Either way, after your father died Serris sent tribute to your family for a few years. That was helpful.” The old man stopped talking for a while to focus on some fine work and the two of them kept working uninterrupted for a few more hours before the Prince and his knights came up to the smithy.

It must be known that Rune Smiths were a haughty bunch to begin with but a disciple of the forge god? That took arrogance to another level. Some kings have been refused commissions by disciples who were annoyed by some misspoken word. Needless to say these three came bearing gifts.

Ander met them in the yard while Derek continued to work in the back. “Haha, what have gallant fellows such as yourself come all the way to my poor smithy this morning for?”

The Prince glanced at the two older men and said directly, “We have come to commision a weapon for each of us to commemorate the end of our pilgrimage. Do you have the time for such a commission?”

The old man looked gravely at them all as if judging them and responded, “I have time to make two weapons and my apprentice can make the third, young Prince. If that satisfies you I can take up this commission.”

The two knights frowned when hearing this. Having a custom work done by a disciple was truly an honor, but having that disciple suggest that one of the weapons be made by an apprentice? Isn’t that a bit much?

Ander saw the looks on the older men’s faces and quickly explained, “Do not think that the quality will be low just because it is my apprentice making this weapon. I just checked your Status and you two older gentlemen are tier seven and not just tier seven but you should be able to use level nine attack spells. Most Rune Smiths can only produce a weapon that can utilize level six attack spells. I imagine your current weapons allow for level seven or eight. I can guarantee that the weapons I forge will be able to utilize up to level ten.

“As for my apprentice, the Prince here is tier four and can utilize level seven attack spells. My apprentice has already made one weapon today that was tier four, and it could allow for a level six attack spell. Here, take a look at it. Notice the patterns from the twisting. That hardly challenged him. I guarantee that he will be able to produce a more powerful tier four weapon if you give him this commission or all three weapons will be free today. What do you say?”

The three of them were taken aback to hear this. An apprentice can produce a tier four weapon? Even some Rune Smiths that set their own shops up in the capital of Serris boasted of weapons weaker than this. Anywhere else and such an apprentice would be called a master.

The Prince looked at the two older men. They nodded to him. He turned and smiled, “I am very much interested to meet this apprentice of yours. The three of us would like warswords in the style of the Thorneblade. Name your price and we will decide whether to commission these weapons.”

The old man smiled at them. ”You all know that the materials for the weapons I will make will be expensive and my time is not cheap. I am bored now and wish to make these two swords so I will discount my labor. One thousand talents of gold is my price for each of the blades. I think you will find that reasonable. As for the price for the sword he makes I will leave that up to him. He knows the value of things so he should not charge you an outrageous price. You can pay after we complete the task. Do we have a deal?”

It must be stated that one thousand talents is a lot of gold. The Thorne clan earns just over that from all of its holdings every year. One thousand talents was the amount of the yearly tribute sent by the King of Serris to Derek’s family. But for a tier seven sword able to handle the energy of a level ten spell? It was quite low. This master could have asked for twice that and gotten the payment he required. It must be said that even the King’s Smith couldn’t produce a sword of this calibre.

The two knights’ eyes lit up upon hearing the offered price. The taller one said, “Disciple, if we pay so little won’t we be ripping you off? Won’t we be inviting your god to retaliate against us?”

The old man laughed when he heard this. “Don’t take it that way. There is a such thing as too much good fortune. If you pay me what these swords are worth that much wealth would be inviting disaster upon me. No, the price is as I set it. If you still feel you owe me afterwards then you can owe me a favor.”

The two knights laughed and agreed to his terms. They then pulled out a bottle and some mugs and sat at a table in the yard to drink while they awaited their new weapons. Ander saw this and busily prepared to work on their commission. These were the kind of men that appreciated his work the most and so this kind of commission was the kind he enjoyed to work the most.

Seeing his father and his comrade sit down to drink, the Prince shook his head and went in to meet with the apprentice. In the back of the smithy Derek was preparing more blanks. He looked up as the Prince entered and motioned him to a space that was out of the way. “Prince Kylin, why have you come here today?”

The hammer medallion around his neck clearly gave him away as another disciple of the forge god. Forgeries of the hammer medallion invited the wrath of the forge god. Thus wearing this medallion was the only proof a disciple needed. Prince Kylin looked at Derek and said, “Your master said that his apprentice would craft a warsword for me but I only see you and him in the forge right now. Where are your master’s other apprentices?”

Derek frowned at Prince Kylin, “My master has only ever had two apprentices, myself and my father. If he intended for his apprentice to make something then he was talking about me doing it.”

The Prince was stunned, “You? He said you would craft a tier four weapon and had just completed one that could utilize a level six attack spell. How is it possible for someone your age to craft something that powerful?”

When Derek heard this he laughed, “Prince Kylin, don’t overthink it. If I tried to make this weapon at another smithy I would only be able to produce a high grade tier three weapon that could maybe allow for level four or five spells. But my master’s shop is of high quality and harnesses powerful sprites. Because of this and the fact that I have worked for years with these sprites I can easily produce a tier four weapon. Come, let's talk details. What is the highest level you can cast? What style of weapon do you want...”

A short while later Derek had gotten the details and started work on the sword. It must be noted that the amount of time it takes a Rune Smith to produce an item is different from the amount of time a normal smith takes. First off, the Rune Smith doesn’t really use a hammer to forge, but rather to form the rune.

Everything they do is through the manipulation of runes. It is a form of magic that allows them to rearrange the structure of what they are working on and to imprint a runic enhancement into the item similar to how a runic schema is imprinted into a person. The time it takes a Rune Smith to craft something is purely dependent on how complicated or high tier the item is in comparison to the skill of the crafter.

Derek finished his task a few hours later. He then picked a shagreen, hilt, guard and sword knot and completed the warsword with those. He then polished the blade before handing it over to Prince Kylin. He said, “This warsword is a tier four weapon. It has jade and obsidian along its cutting edge similar to the Thorneblade. In terms of physical force it should be able to cut through tier five armor or a lesser demon without a spell being used. As for spells it can take a level eight attack spell.

“I don’t imagine you have used one of these before. If you would like to come out to the yard I will show you some basic stances and moves.”

Prince Kylin was not finished admiring his new blade. When he heard how powerful the blade was he was astonished. When he heard Derek suggest they go out into the yard to practice with it he excitedly agreed. This weapon was superior to any weapons Kylin already possessed for his current tier.

It must be understood that a person could use a higher tier weapon but it would be inefficient and cumbersome. Thus a superior weapon within a tier was a tremendous treasure. A weapon of a tier that could counter armor of a higher tier was even more precious.

Ander was still working on the first of the two weapons he was making as Derek and Kylin came out of the back of the smithy. When the two of them came out the two older knights were drinking and playing dice at the table. Kylin shook his head but followed Derek to the center of the yard where he was going to demonstrate the basic stances and moves for the weapon.

Derek knew better than to teach the forms of the Thorne Clan’s styles. He knew that those were guarded secrets of the clan. Instead he taught the basic stances and moves from the variation Ovid had taught him. These would be more useful to Kylin anyways as they were less ineffective against man sized opponents than the Thorne clan’s forms.

Kylin learned quickly as to be expected of someone who had spent most of his life in a military encampment. When he felt satisfied with his movements he turned to where Derek was standing and thanked him. He reached into his pouch and asked, “Well, how much is it?”

Derek shook his head, “You have already paid for this. The first few years of my life you sent my family money. That helped us get by. Take this sword as my gratitude for that.”

Something in what Derek said bothered the Prince. He looked at the two older men who were now watching them. He looked back at Derek, “Hmm? I do not recall any kind of tribute being sent here. You said a few years? Do you know how long?”

Derek responded, “My master said we received the money for four years. I never thought to ask how much we received. I only know that it helped us get by for a while. You have my thanks.”

Prince Kylin had a troubled look on his face but he didn’t press it further. He simply glanced at the older men who were talking quietly between each other and responded, “I didn’t know about it but you are welcome. Thank you for the sword.”