“You’re early, good,” Terry said, motioning with his head. “Follow me.”

Jack looked to Mark, who nodded. “I’ll leave you to it,” the guard said.

Jack followed the smith into his workshop, glancing around to see all the weapons. They were of great quality, and he could tell that Terry was almost as good as the smith that worked for Chief Bloodwall, which was a great compliment to him.

As he walked in, a young woman appeared. She was roughly his age, a fairly tall girl with short hair and pale skin, freckles dotted along her face and arms. She had a boyish look to her, especially in her overalls.

“You’re the Bloodwall boy,” she said.

“Merri,” Terry said, “show some respect. He’ll be your junior soon enough.”

The girl marched up to Jack, staring into his eyes. She narrowed her eyes and then assessed him. “He doesn’t look too weak, so that’s good. I’ll be assessing you to see if you’re worth-“

Terry smacked the girl across the top of her head. “Who said you’ll be assessing him? You’re barely able to assess my shadow!” His face soured as though he had bit into a lemon. “Get back to work! I want two swords finished by the evening!”

“Two sword? You damn geezer, who do you think I am?” Merri aimed a kick at her father, though he managed to meet it with his own leg. She winced, clutching at her leg. “Are you wearing a sheet?” she asked, scoffing at her own father.

Terry, who had anticipated his daughter’s antics, smiled down at her. “You’re a hundred years too early to be assessing my apprentices.”

Merri rubbed her shin and frowned. “Just you wait!”

“Just I wait for what?” Terry clenched his fist and shook it at her as she stumbled away.

“I’ll have three sword on your desk, you damn geezer!” She stuck out her tongue at him and then barged out.

“Ignore her. She’s just an idiot brat. If only she had taken her brains from her mother.” Terry sighed and shook his head. “Take a seat, I’ll bring you some tea and the test.”

Jack sat down beside the worktop where he assumed the test would take place. He continued to look around to see most of the items that the man smithed were weapons, spears and swords in particular. It made sense since they were the most popular weapons. He also spied that there were a couple of armour pieces as well, meaning he was both a Weaponsmith and an Armoursmith. Having the ability to create both sets of items was extremely useful, which explained how the man was still in business.

Terry returned a short while later with a fresh pot of tea, as well as the supplies required to take the test. He placed down a sheet of paper and an hourglass, which he turned. “Your test begins now. Answer the questions as best as you can. Once you’re done with this test, I will give you the second half of the test.”

“How much do I need to get right?”

“Eighty percent,” the smith said. He was sure the boy could get at least sixty percent, which was roughly what one would expect, but since he was a Bloodwall he had much higher hopes.

Jack rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and then picked up the paper. He read every single question first, wondering if they would give him any insights to the later questions. Once he was done, he dipped the quill into the ink, wiped it, and then was about to write when he stopped. “Do I write in cursive?” He looked up to the smith.

“Whatever is easiest for you. There’s no need to show off, as long as I can read it I don’t particularly care.”

Jack nodded and then began to write. He wrote neatly, but not in cursive since that was mostly for nobility and for extremely official documents. He wasn’t sure if this would be seen by others, but it was best for the smith to understand his sincerity. He wasn’t a Bloodwall any longer, now he was just Jack.

The first part of the test was just about him. His age, height, weight, rank, and other abilities. He didn’t need to write much in each area, a general overview was fine. Once he was done with those questions, he was asked to list out several different types of metals and their uses. Most of the questions continued in this vein until he was done with the first test with most of the time left in the hour glass.

“I’m done,” Jack said.

“Are you sure? Double check your answers. Once you hand the paper to me I will not return it.”

Jack did as the man asked, double checking each answer. Seeing that he made no obvious mistakes, he handed the paper over. Terry placed another test in front of the boy and Jack read the papers.

These questions were far more specific. They asked about rarer metals and their properties, including what Jack would expect if he mixed certain metals together. This was much harder than the last test, but Jack went right to writing. He wouldn’t have enough time to plan out each answer so ended up tackling the easiest questions.

Alloy combinations, and how to smith certain items using old and new methods, as well as the best way to smith a sword in a single day. There were many mathematics questions too, both to do with finances, but also the amount of metal which needed to be imported or kept in reserve. Jack wasn’t entirely sure what the answers were for the last few, but he did his best.

Once he was done, he handed the paper to Terry, who raised his brows at the boy. Jack took the hint and double checked his work, glancing at the time to see he only had a couple of minutes. He double checked his math, since that was his weakest subject. He wrote the calculation to the side just so that his thought process was known and then passed the test to Terry.

The man checked over the test, letting Jack sit in the quiet. The boy poured himself some tea, noting the water was still fairly hot. He sipped as quietly as he could.

Terry narrowed his eyes. The first test had gone fine, with little error, but the second test was a little more questionable. Technically, he had written a few answers which were wrong. However, considering he was a Bloodwall and their smith no doubt taught the boy differently, the formulas that were used were different because of their daily fights against the beasts. If he wanted to, he could deny the boy the pass, but then he’d be missing out on a boy who had worked under the Bloodwall’s smith. An opportunity like this only came once in a lifetime, and if he could become close with the Bloodwalls, it could assist in their plan.

“Well done,” the smith said, folding the sheets of paper. “Let’s see how you smith.” Terry led Jack to the forge where Merri was already smithing a blade. Her face was contorted in a mix between utter rage and concentration.

“Smith me a typical sword, I’ll watch over you to see how your process. I’ll judge you both on your process and the final product.” Terry sat down and crossed his arms.

Jack looked to Merri, who was currently working on shaping the general outline of the sword. He looked back to Terry and then cleared his throat. “May I use another forge?”

“Go ahead,” Terry motioned with a hand.

Jack wasn’t sure how to word his request, looking between the forge and then Terry. The older smith raised his brow. “Lighting the forge is also a part of the test.”

“I don’t have the Breath of Fire for the forge,” Jack admitted, trying to convince the smith.

Terry sighed, but he couldn’t help but smile. When he was a boy he had been enamoured by the Breath of Fire of a local smith, and it was then he decided he’d become a smith, much to the chagrin of his family. They wanted him to become a merchant, but he refused.

The smith stood in front of the second forge and inhaled deeply. He felt the mana inside of his lungs and his throat before he exhaled the magic out. The mana summoned flame, which swam towards the forge and then started to light the fire required for forging. The area around them lit up, and even Merri stopped smithing to watch the fire being lit. Terry continued to spew out fire, the flames licking all over the forge, before he finally stopped once he was satisfied. The fire continued to dance for a few moments before it settled.

They said the first few smiths were dragons, and the Breath of Fire was a technique which had been passed to some of the first humans in order for them to access the greater techniques which the dragons possessed. Being a true smith meant that one would be able to channel the Breath of Fire, though he heard that there were many different Breaths of Fire.

Jack smiled, staring at the older smith. His eyes were sparkling with joy, and Terry cleared his throat. “Now get to smithing.”