Kyle had reached Ethan's place in the industrial district of the capital of the Ruthobold kingdom after a short yet drawn out journey following the leaving of his mothers and his home.

He soon saw the grand layout of smithing tents- there were at least ten of them in a row, each with their own set of equipment- a forge, an anvil, a water pit, and racks of tools and materials.

A few smiths were hard at work, and Kyle saw Ethan currently hammering a red hot piece of iron with two young boys that seemed to be around the same age as Kyle next to him. All three of the people wore leather work clothing, and gloves to help them withstand the heat of the forge.

Each area had a canopy overhead that protected the workers from the sunlight, which beamed down on Kyle.

One of the boys had long black hair and wore a red bandanna around his face. He stared intently with fierce eyes at Ethan's hands as he pounded the metal into shape. The other one had short and well combed brown hair, and was holding tools ready for Ethan to use.

"Slowly but surely... when you work a good piece of metal, you might have to heat it and mold it a hundred times before it forms the right shape. If the metal is weak, it wont be able to withstand such a beating, however a strong metal will only become stronger if it can last that long.", Ethan lectured while beating the metal into the shape of a sword.

The two boys stayed quiet and merely nodded.

Kyle wondered if he should approach and interrupt their lesson and the work of Ethan, so he waited until he was finished and had placed the sword into the bin of water to cool it.

"Ah, Kyle! I was wondering where you were. It's great to see you here. You finally got out and into the real world, eh? I would like to introduce you to my current two apprentices, and your new roommates. This is Martin and this is Ralph. They have been my apprentices for about a month now."

Martin, the boy with the black hair stood forward and pulled off his bandanna.

"What's cooking? Names Martin, my father is a merchant and he does business with Master Ethan, and so I was hired as an apprentice to keep up relations."

Martin held out a hand towards Kyle, who took it.

Martin then grabbed Kyle's hand, curled their fingers together, and let go with a exaggerated movement, pulling his hand back and fluttering it around like a bird.

'Is this some sort of trend that I don't know about? I need to learn about and understand the culture of the people outside.', Kyle thought.

"I am Ralph, and my father works as a carpenter. Ethan and my father have often worked on joint projects together when regarding furniture for nobles and the such that require intricate metal parts, and so I have come here to learn to smith. I look forward to working with you."

Ralph bowed to Kyle, who did the same.

'I really don't get all these trends... I suppose I'll just copy what other people do for now...'

"Alright boys, it sure is hot out here. Why don't we call it a day and go out to get something to eat to celebrate our new worker here? How about tomorrow you two show him what you've learned and catch him up?", Ethan said with a cheerful laugh.

"Sounds good to me.", Martin agreed.

"As you wish, Master Ethan.", Ralph stated.

Ethan then put away some of the tools, and Martin and Ralph began cleaning up the soot and ashes around the area.

'Should I be doing something?? Agh... I don't want to just let them do all the work... it will seem like I am being lazy... perhaps I should...'

Kyle reached for a broom, however he was stopped by Ethan with a hand.

"Hold up, son. The forge is a dangerous place. You shouldn't do anything without first receiving proper training. You could easily lose a limb if you aren't careful."

"Ah... thank you for the warning.", Kyle said as he stood back and let the others finish cleaning up.

"Alright, lets go boys!", Ethan shouted as he put his hand over Kyle's shoulder and the four merrily walked down the street to the nearest restaurant.

----

The restaurant was called the armored knight, and it acted as both a tavern and a restaurant. There were not many people here right now as it was around 3 pm, however the lady welcomed Ethan in.

"Ethan! You're always gone for work, I can't believe you don't come by often even though you work so close!"

"Well... you know how things are. Speaking of which, I got a new apprentice today. This is Kyle, from the commercial area of town. Kyle, this is my wife, Vanessa."

Vanessa was a plain woman, however she was not ugly by any means. She looked to be in her late 20's and she had long brown hair that was tied up into a single pony tail and she wore an apron, fitting for the hostess of a restaurant.

"My wife is the owner... and currently the only worker at this restaurant aside from the chef, Donna. How has the business been? Have things been tough with only you to serve everyone?"

"Well, the fact that I have trouble keeping up with all the customers is a good thing, right? It's better than not having any customers to keep up with."

"You're damn right there. Speaking of which, I got a recent order from... you wouldn't believe it! The Indeterminant himself! I don't want much to have to do with the current noble conflicts, but he wanted me to make a high quality sword for the hero!!! I couldn't believe it when he came by! I'm going to put everything I can into the making of this sword."

"The hero's sword!?! Ethan!"

Vanessa was completely overcome with joy, and she showed it on her face.

"You finally got a big break from all these issues with the nobles and the pressure you've been facing! If you can manage to make the hero's sword, there will be nobody who can blatantly attack your reputation anymore!"

"Exactly. However, that only means that there is a lot of pressure on me right now to make this sword durable and reliable... if it were to break under the power of the hero, it would be a shame to my name! Who knows what those anti guild bastards would do in order to shove me in the dirt...", he said gritting his teeth.

"Well, anyways- do your best! I love you, darling. Don't give up!"

"Thank you."

Their exchange bothered Kyle somewhat. Ethan was the same man who he had seen repeatedly request Olivia at the brothel, and so it was somewhat odd to see him getting along so well with another woman. It was not that Kyle was jealous for his 'mother's' sake, but rather that he was somewhat sad to see the reality of things.

His mother's and their relationships were nothing more than those who had to be put on the side. A shame to be hidden. Something that could not be discussed in public.

And he was the product of that hidden past.

Kyle saw nothing wrong with his mother's line of work, however the rest of society did not see things the same way. It angered Kyle if he ever heard anyone using the word 'whore' or 'slut' to describe the people of his mother's profession. To Kyle, it was an honorable job, and his mother's were wonderful people who gave up even their dignity in order to bring pleasure to others. Not only this, but very often they were driven to this line of work through hardship and necessity, and to look down on them for something which was out of their control filled Kyle with disgust.

Even so, he was ready to work hard and do his best to help his mothers so that they would no longer have to live in a hidden alcove in some alleyway. He wanted them to one day be able to proudly enter society without having to hide their faces. He wanted for them to be able to freely greet others without the men shouting 'I don't know you! I've never seen this woman before!'

Alas, this was likely a pipe dream, yet the reason Kyle was here was to make money to attempt to fulfill that dream by dragging his mothers up with him.

"Let's get a roast chicken and four beers to celebrate. All my apprentices are 15, so they are full adults after all! It's on the house!"

"Thank you, master."

"Indeed. Many thanks."

"Yeah."

The four then ate and drank for the rest of the day until it was late, and the group was then led back to the townhouse which was just a block away from the smithing area.

It was a large building that was made of wood and had 3 stories, with a triangular roof and a balcony on the 2nd and 3rd floors. There were many of the same buildings lined up down the street and connected to one another in close proximity.

"You two go ahead. I have something to say to Kyle here."

The two apprentices showed their respects to their master before heading inside.

"Kyle. You've been a lifelong friend of mine. I have seen you around since you were born, and I have respect for you, and great hopes for you. My only request is that you keep quiet about my visits with Olivia, and I will train you up and forge you to become my successor- even above those two. What do you say? Are you up for it?"

Kyle thought about it, but did not hesitate much.

It was his duty to provide for his mother's. Ethan was a highly ranked member of the smiths guild, and if he was able to succeed him then he might be able to drag his mothers out of their poverty.

"Of course. Please teach me everything you know."