"This seems to be the place." Noah looked up from the map marked with the location of Anvil Artisans.

He took almost an hour walking nonstop to get here. This was despite the place being located very close to the central plaza on the map. The initial estimates he had of this town just kept getting subverted. It seemed that the population here was more than just than a few thousand and looked to be in the range of hundreds of thousands, possibly nearing a million.

The only saving grace from this exhaustive walk was that he didn't have to go out of his way to search for the place. The entire structure stood out from far away. Asking nearby town inhabitants, he confirmed it to be his destination.

He stood in front of the grand structure. The wooden building was tall despite having only one floor. The plumes of smoke coming out of the chimneys of the roof belied the building's nature.

There was a massive logo of a hammer placed on an anvil at the front. High traffic of people moved in and out of the entrance indicating the popularity of the place. Noah moved inside the place following the crowd.

He came upon the reception. Upon showing the letter, the busy staff just pointed in a direction leading to inner parts of the smithy before turning to the other customers. Giving a nod to the staff for the help, he resumed his march.

He finally stood before massive double doors at the back of the smithy. Most likely leading to the forge. Noah took a deep breath to calm himself and pushed open the doors.

The doors were halfway open before a sudden thunderous voice startled him.

"YOU BUFFOONS! HAVE YOU NO IDEA WHAT TEMPERING MEANS?"

He was taken aback and slightly frightened by the rumbling voice. Focusing his sight, he came upon a scene that would be burned on his soul and reminded him of the fact that he was in a different world now. He spotted a midget holding two men by the collar. The two men were on their knees looking like they were scared shitless. The rumbling voice made an appearance again.

"IS THIS WHAT I TAUGHT YOU, HUH? YOU TWO LOOK LIKE YOU NEED SOME TIME ALONE IN THE THE SALVAGE LINE."

This time he was able to pinpoint the source to the midget. He couldn't believe the scene happening before him. Not that the midget could lift a man with a hand. He was already familiar with that but that no one around was looking shocked. It was as if they had seen this scene before many times.

The two men continued to plead for mercy as if the thought of going to this 'Salvage Line' was more frightening than facing the midget. Despite his diminutive stature, he was intimidating. His bushy beard and hardened muscles exemplified this fact while the steely gaze he directed at the two miserable-looking men made him look downright scary.

"NOW HURRY UP AND MOVE TO THE SALVAGE LINE BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND."

The midget threw the two men across the room. They landed with a plop. Their face twisted in pain but they didn't dare to keep laying down in front of their master and hurriedly stood back up. The men withdrew from the forge after meeting the midget's gaze and scurried out of his sight.

The entire commotion died down in an instant and all those who had stopped to enjoy the sight went back to their work. It was as if the previous event didn't even occur. He felt quite out of place here not able to put together the tone in the forge.

At one moment, it was serious with the midget shouting at the top of his lungs and the entire forge paying attention to him while in the other moment they are doing their normal blacksmithing business looking like a common forge.

He was jolted back by a voice coming from his front.

"Hey, you, step aside. This is a busy place and you, my clueless fellow are blocking the entrance."

Noah looked to see a boy slightly older than him carrying a bundle of metal tools standing in front of him with an annoyed gaze.

He unconsciously stepped aside allowing the man to move through.

"Now that was quick." The man was surprised at how Noah moved aside immediately after hearing his words. Looking closely, he didn't recognize him as one of the staff.

"You look new. Are you one of the new apprentices?"

Noah nodded at the question to which the man asked.

"The appointment letter?"

Noah took out the letter and showed it to him.

Confirming it to be an appointment letter, the man said, "Go and hand that to master Ralvol."

"Who?" Noah obviously didn't know who this master was.

"Master Blacksmith Dalir Ralvol, owner of Anvil Artisans." The man stated proudly.

Seeing the still confused look on Noah, he clarified.

"He was the one shouting earlier."

Noah's face paled slightly hearing that. The man noticed this and explained.

"Don't worry, he won't bite. He is just a bit strict when it comes to his craft." The man headed on his way towards the front of the smithy just after saying that.

"Okay?" Noah as always decided to just go with the flow. He couldn't avoid meeting with the smithy owner anyway if he was to be learning at his place.

Moving inside, he took in his new surroundings. The first thing he felt foremost was the sweltering heat. Everyone was sweating buckets in here. The temperature difference surprised him. He hadn't felt the slightest heat standing before the door but taking a step inside, he was suddenly hit with continuous waves of it. Looking back and scrutinizing the doors, he couldn't spot anything magical looking except for a few engravings so like all other magical things before it, he just chalked it up to magic fuckery.

He started heading towards the backside of Forge where he saw the midg-, ahem, master going. Along the way, he came upon the sight of multiples forges placed at the different stations all around the room. People were milling around the forges hammering, bending and twisting molten metal. The entire atmosphere was orderly with everyone dedicated at their work. Except for a few people at the side who clearly were new here and seemed to have no clue what to do.

He then caught sight of the master checking a few weapons placed in a stash. Heading towards him, he greeted nervously.

"Greetings, master Ralvol. I am here for apprenticeship in your smithy."

Master Ralvol showed no reaction to his words and kept eyeing him with a blank look.

Noah felt uncomfortable with his stare. Wanting to end this interaction, he presented the letter to him. "This is my appointment letter."

Master Ralvol took the letter and looked it over before stashing it in his coat pocket. Noah could see similar letters placed in the pocket.

The uncomfortable staring resumed and Noah was inwardly getting frustrated with this master. He was just about to excuse himself but Master Ralvol spoke up before he could.

"Go and stand there with other newbies." He pointed to the group of people he saw before who looked out of place.

Noah felt relief at being able to get away from him and turned to head to the group.

"What is your name, kid?" Noah stopped in his steps at the stern voice coming from behind.

Turning back, he answered with a professional smile.

"It is Noah, Master Ralvol."

He grunted affirmatively with a nod before speaking in an irritated tone.

"Don't act subservient here. I don't like that sort of behavior in my smithy. AT ALL!"

The last bit frightened Noah and his smile faltered. Master Ralvol continued speaking indifferently.

"Now move ahead, I will be starting the demonstration in half an hour."

Noah was more than happy to go away and quickly rushed out towards the group.

Joining in with the Initiates and possible native apprentices, he stood silently and watched master Ralvol continue to inspect the different stashes and the items inside.

Nobody said a word within the next half an hour, all deterred by the Master's presence.

Some people joined in within that duration of time in the same manner as Noah. Though he noted that none seemed to have faced the same treatment as him. Noah felt especially bitter at the special treatment.

Did he really look the scheming type with squinty eyes. He had never thought of himself like that. He was just being cautious like a normal human in front of obvious dangers. In fact, he considered himself more of a reckless type with how he butted heads with knight Rylee. It seemed so stupid of him now to act like that.

Why he had to aggravate the only person who would be training him for the coming months. He wanted to say he was ashamed of his actions but the truth was, he wasn't. Despite thinking he was being stupid at that time, he didn't regret his actions. Just regretted that he could have done it much better.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the murmuring around him. He glanced around to see Master Ralvol standing before them. Just barely though, because of his short 5' height.

Without saying anything, He signaled with his hands beckoning the group to follow behind him.

Everyone followed him obediently for a while to reach a huge forge at the far back of the smithy decked around with all sorts of bizarre devices and structures. It looked very odd among all the other normal forges but strangely fascinating at the same time.

Master Ralvol turned around and addressed the apprentices.

"You lot have come here to learn the craft of Blacksmithing. It is a very noble craft requiring countless hours of dedication. Therefore, before we start with this, I should remind you, if you want to learn here, you must follow the only rule I have set."

He paused for a moment to take a glance at the faces in the crowd and continued.

"That is, you must not, at any moment try to think of this as a game. If I see you at any moment dilly-dallying around, I will throw you out at that instant. I don't care what you do outside. Inside, my word is the law. UNDERSTOOD!" Master Ralvol voice became increasingly deeper as he kept speaking. The last words hit their ears like a truck as master Ralvol roared with his loud voice.

Everyone flinched at his voice and stood still utterly silent. He didn't seem to like that as his voice became even more loud.

"DON'T YOU HAVE MOUTHS! I REPEAT, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

""YES, SIR"" Everyone erupted out in chorus at his threatening voice.

"Good" Master Ralvol's voice deflated back to his usual levels at once. He then smiled at them for the first time.

"Now, we should start with the demonstration." His voice was much softer than before.

Noah along with all others was still dazed with the sudden change in attitude. The only thing Noah knew for sure was that his life has completely drifted from the mundane to crazy.

Unknowingly, Noah's lips upturned and a smirk came upon his face.

He was starting to enjoy this entire thing.