The blacksmith was a bit surprised by Alders’s request.

“Do you know how to use a forge?” the blacksmith asked.

Alder took a moment to contemplate before responding deciding to use his backstory to the fullest. “Technically I should know what to do, but I have no definitive memories of blacksmithing. Just yesterday I woke from a botched attunement awakening so I have no clue if I ever actually did smithing previously, however my instinct is telling me that I should know my way around a forge.”

The blacksmith looked at Alder sympathetically before acquiescing to his request, “I’ll let you use one of my unused forging stations, however, I don’t want monetary payment for its use. Instead, I would like for you to take a look at something for me.” he said while pulling something out from behind the desk.

Chain Quest Acquired: Time Ticks Down

Requirements for Completion: Help the blacksmith fix a nobles ornate clock.

Rewards: Access to a forge station, Variable amount of reputation, Next quest of the chain unlocked.

Failure Penalty: None, Access to a forge station.

What the blacksmith pulled out from behind the counter was exactly as the quest notification described, an ornate wooden clock with the back panel opened up to reveal an intricate maze of gears. “About a month ago a noble-looking man came into my shop and requested I fix this clock. I thought it was an ordinary job but boy was I wrong. The problem is with one gear, but every time I replace it the gear breaks within minutes of the clock operating. Now I only have a few days left till my deadline for the clock... Rumor has it that you metal folk are rather good at shaping and reinforcing metal so I figured you might have a better shot at it.” the blacksmith told Alder.

“I’ll certainly try, can you point out the troubled gear to me?” Alder asked.

Although limited Alder did have some experience with clockwork. One of the games he had played previously had a minigame in which the player had to assemble both real and fantastical clockwork with a surprising level of real-world accuracy. This caused Alder to do some research into clockwork as a hobby to increase his understanding.

The blacksmith showed Alder where the troublesome gear was and let Alder start to inspect the clock more closely.

Alder quickly identified two separate mechanisms in the clock. The main one was a traditional hand-wound spring clock with a pendulum to regulate the springs release. The second one, however, was much more complicated.

It appeared to only engage when the hands of the clock were turned backward. The mechanism itself was triggered by the broken gear pointed out to Alder by the blacksmith. The gears seemed to line up several engraved pieces of metal pieces when engaged. Focusing back on the attentive blacksmith Alder asked him a question, “by any chance do you have the original piece that fit in here?”

“Unfortunately I do not have the original gear, it crumbled to pieces when I was poking around the first time to find the problem.” the blacksmith replied.

Turning back to the clock Alder decided to attempt to put his Living Steel Dwarf skills to use. Alder activated his metal sense focusing very specifically on the pieces that surrounded the missing one.

After a minute of focus Alder was able to start to see with some accuracy the exact shape of the surrounding gears. After about a half-hour of fiddling with the clock and refining his metal sense, Alder was finally able to see with complete accuracy the surface of the gears that made up the clock.

Alders thought there must be something else causing specifically the connecting piece to degrade other than the moving pieces of the clock, no mechanical pressure he had ever heard of could cause a piece of metal to disintegrate.

After about an hour of carefully studying the surfaces of the gears, Alder discovered some odd etched lines that ran along from the pendulum to the gear that connected the two mechanisms in the clock.

Alder looked up to the blacksmith and said, “could I get a small piece of metal I can use?” the blacksmith soon returned with a small piece of metal that appearance-wise matched the other gears in the clock.

Activating his metal magic Alder began to form a piece exactly the same as the broken replacement piece the smith had fashioned, the only difference was a thin nearly microscopic channel Alder etched across the gear starting and ending at very specific locations on the piece. Fitting the piece into place and winding the clock it began to work as normal just like a regular clock. The clock working pleased the blacksmith however Alder was still very intrigued by the extra mechanism before he could attempt rotating the clock hands backward however the blacksmith stated to do it for him with a pleased smile on his face. After a moment of rotating backward, the clock began to hum a bit before Alder heard a ‘snap’ sound and watched as his gear fell straight out of the still open clock, despite breaking the gear the blacksmith seemed quite happy. He returned the clock to behind the desk and turned to Alder with a smile on his face.

The blacksmith began talking to a confused Alder, “Im afraid I haven’t been completely transparent with you, part of the challenge is not being aware after all. You just took what is essentially a craftsman entrance exam, specifically this one was designed for people who have the metal magic ability. Im happy to say you passed, the Dwarven government is very specific in who they let learn the ancient techniques of our race. Technically being an elemental you are exempt from those requirements however that is only true if you learn from an elemental master. Given that you are the first person in over a decade to come bother me and im beginning to get old I might as well pass on my legacy, Alder, would you like to become my apprentice?”

Alder took a moment to carefully consider the blacksmith’s proposition, he wasn’t too keen on being tied down to one profession for too long, however, after a few seconds Alder realized he was being stupid, he wanted to play this game to make cool items and experience new things why would he not want to learn how to actually blacksmith from a trained professional!

Looking back up at the blacksmith Alder said the words that would define the start of his journey, “I would be thrilled to become your apprentice!”

Quest complete: Time Ticks Down S+

Reward: Apprenticeship, [Unknown] reputation has improved!, Quest Gained: Famous Apprentice (Hidden)

Title Gained: Legends Apprentice

increased reputation with the [Unknown] faction

Looking at the second notification and with a slightly anxious feeling inside Alder did something he probably should have done when he first met the blacksmith, he analyzed him.

Name: Swiftstrike Metalbender

Title: Grandmaster Craftsman, Retired Royal Blacksmith, Crafting Guild Councilman