“I’ve got some bad news boy.” Master Dunrock said with a scowl.

Wolf didn’t even pause in his work. He stood covered in sweat as he finished another blank. Dunrock wasn’t sure what the boy's new fascination with creating blanks was, but he wasn’t upset. It never hurts to have extra blanks on hand.

“Elder Wu is putting together an outing for the youngsters like you.” Dunrock said with a huff. “I’d try and get you out of it, but honestly, I think you could use some time away from the forge.”

Dunrock was amazed at the boy's growth. With long hours of training and blacksmithing he seemed to grow larger while you watched. Dunrock knew the other’s still treated the boy poorly, but it wasn’t his battle to fight. A sparrow would never learn to fly if it never left the nest.

As Wolf finished another cast iron blank, this one for a woodcutter's ax blade, he grabbed a rag and wiped his soot covered brow. “Why?” he asked.

Dunrock never ceased to be amazed by how long the kid could spend behind the forge. The longer they knew each other, the more convinced he was that Wolf had some dwarf blood in him. Dunrock glanced at the large boy and reconsidered, maybe giant blood, he mused.

“It’s wilderness survival training.” Dunrock replied. “And considering where our monastery is located, mighty important training it is.”

Wolf only nodded. He had been emotionally and physically exhausted as of late. He had been on the cusp of finally using his qi and it aggravated him to no end that he hadn’t been able to breach the final wall.

He loved his work, but he needed a break to refresh his mind and body. Being stuck in the woods surrounded by a bunch of assholes wasn’t a perfect opportunity to relax, but it would be fresh.

Wolf flexed his aching muscles and stretched. “Alright.” he mumbled.

The old dwarf squinted at the boy. “Alright? Just like that? You’ve only left the forge for your bloody exercises for the last few months and now alright?” the dwarf grunted. “Daft children running around.”

Wolf just shrugged as he began to pump the bellows to reheat the forge. “When do we leave?” he asked the curmudgeonly old dwarf.

The dwarf gave another solid harumph before he began rummaging through a pile of boxes. “You’ll have two weeks of survival basics before they take you out as a group and see how ye fair.” The dwarf stopped rummaging and stroked his beard. “Elder Wu hasn’t gotten involved in teaching in quite a while, did the grandmaster put him up to this? I wonder if the old monster is up to something.”

“What?” Wolf asked. Dunrock just waved his hands and went back to rummaging. “Nothing, nothing. Where is that durned… AHA!” the dwarf exclaimed. “Found it.” He pulled an old trunk out from under some boxes as he pulled it over to one of the workshop tables. He gave a big puff to blow some of the dust off before he grabbed a rag and wiped it down.

Wolf watched out the side of his eye as he pumped his bellows. “Well don’t just stand there boy, come open your gift.” The dwarf growled. Wolf stopped working his arms and looked on curiously. “Gift?”

“Aye, you’ve been with me for an entire cycle now, I had to get you something didn’t I?” Dunrock chuckled. Wolf was dumbfounded. Had it been that long? TIme truly seemed to fly when all he did was focus on his work.

Either way he managed to eek out a smile as he wiped his hands and went over to the trunk. It was a generic wooden box with some rusty iron bands around it, he wasn’t sure how long it had been buried with the other random junk that the old dwarf seemed to pile up, but you never look a gift karnak in the mouth, as the saying went.

He slowly opened the lid and looked inside. He just stood there in silence.

“Well?” Dunrock was ringing his hands together in excitement, and he was slightly aggrieved that the boy wasn’t showing the same manner of elation.

Wolf pulled out the hammer and looked it over. A fine oaksteel handle the length of his forearm was wrapped in leather. The head was double faced with one face being flat and the other slightly rounded. The craftsman ship was superb and Wolf couldnt readily identify the metal. There were small engraving that Wolf knew were letters in the dwarvish alphabet.

“Master, this is too fine a gift.” Wolf said, even though there was a weird catch in his throat. “Bah” the old dwarf waved his hand and wiped his eye. “Think the smoke from the bellows is getting into me eyes.” He growled. “Now it’s not for everyday use mind ya, when you’re ready to make your journeyman item, you have the right tool.”

“It’s too much, where did this even come from?” Wolf lifted the hammer and gave it some practice swings. It was well balanced, though a little heavy, even with his growing muscles.

“My master gave it to me when I became a journeyman smith,” Dunrock grunted. “And though you ain’t there yet, I don’t think ye be far off.”

Wolf just nodded. He too knew that he had been progressing at a prodigious rate. “What’s it say?”

“Only the hottest Fire doth forge the strongest steel” Dunrock gumbled. “It’s an old saying from my homeland.”

“Thank you.” Wolf said as he stared at his new hammer. The dwarf just nodded. “No need to be sentimental, it’s just a hammer.”

Wolf smiled for they both knew this was far from “just a hammer”.

….

“Idiots” Elder Wu sighed. Wu was full of arrogance and disdain, which was far from what any of the students would consider a great teacher, but the man had been with the monastery since he was a child and you don’t spend nearly fifty cycles at a fort in the woods without knowing your business.

The traps they were currently building did not seem to satisfy the aloof teacher. Even though he had shown them all how to do it one time, he simply couldn’t wrap his head around why they were all struggling.

Survival classes so far were basic, but filled with information that Wolf wished he had known before. The traps he had set in his delirium-filled walk through the woods were poorly done to be sure, but now it was clear he would have had to have had the luck of the goddess on his side to have caught anything with those crudely made abominations.

The only one who seemed to be excelling was Shen, but no one was foolish enough to think the boy's uncle didn’t provide him with some private lessons.

“Must I show you again? Perhaps you dolts should spend a little more time enhancing your brains and not only your muscles.” Wolf actually quite liked this class as he didn’t feel singled out or behind. Other than Shen, everyone seemed to be starting from the same point. So far they had learned how to start a fire with a stick, to find clean water, basic shelters, and so much more.

Wolf didn’t feel like he was ready to trek the entire forest on his own, but he felt confident that he could manage the few days that they would spend out there alone without falling ill. Truly that was a good place to begin.

“No wonder Wolf is so bad at traps, he probably just catches vermin with his mouth!” Shen said with a laugh. The jokes about Wolf and the forest had been pretty lackluster in Wolf’s opinion. He ignored the jibe as he did all the others, pushing his anger deep and just focusing on his cultivation.

His bottleneck had arrived when he realized he could now form his core, but he had no idea what to do from there. He had been practicing making different blacksmithing blanks in the hope of getting some sort of inspiration, but none had come so far.

He had started thinning the ingot that was his core in places to make it more malleable, and that part had worked. He could now use his anger to turn it into an almost liquid metal form, but it still wouldn’t flow through his body as he had been told it should.

He had been tempted to ask around, but Dunrock was the only one he trusted, and he knew fairly little of cultivation.

“I’m talking to you dog.” Shen growled again. Clearly growing angry that his slights had been too slight for Wolf to care about. Still Wolf remained silent.

Shen stepped right up to Wolf, getting right into his face. “Are you deaf pup?” She shouted angrily. It resounded loudly over the suddenly silent area.

“Ahem” Elder Wu cleared his throat loudly. “It seems Shen, that you have decided that you have learned all you need to know from my teachings.”

“Sorry Uncle I-” Shen shut up quickly when an ice cold aura fell on him. Dagon had heard as you grew in power you would develop a palpable aura, but this was the first time he had seen one, let alone someone using one.

“You have interrupted me enough initiate, but as you know enough about this that you no longer need to pay attention. You will go to Master Hemi and tell him I have sent you to clean all the elders' chamber pots.”

“Uncle”

“Go” Wolf could feel the temperature in the air drop, nearly causing him to shiver. Shen just grimaced and nodded as he walked away. Wolf managed to meet his eyes when Shen turned to give him a parting glare.

Shen slowly drew his thumb across his neck before turning and walking away. It appeared Wolf would have to watch his back on this little outing. Wolf just smiled, the woods was his home.

….

The trek through the woods had begun with Elder Wu in the lead with two of his subordinate journeymen. An assorted group of twenty or so initiates and acolytes were trudging along behind them in state of quiet skepticism. Most wondering how often they would truly need to leave the safe walls of the monastery, for other than Father Brutus and his ilk, how many others would ever leave?

This did not include Wolf, who for the first time in a very long time, wore a great big smile upon his youthful face.

“Will you stop smiling so much, it’s creeping me out.” Mumbled Chester, one of the few left from Shen’s group, who had thankfully been thinning out. Every few hundred strides, Elder Wu would have a journeyman spit off with a group of ten.

They had started the day over fifty strong. Wolf felt lucky that he wasn’t separated into a group with Shen and his minions.

Wu pulled to another stop and tapped the younger of the two journeymen and gave him a quick nod. The younger man walked over to the back of the congregation and motioned for the ten at the end of the line to follow him, this included Wolf and Chester.

“You lot, follow me.” He said with a deep baritone that belittled his youthful appearance. He had very pale skin, with a shaved head and broad shoulders. “Name’s Dustin, and I’m not a babysitter, just here to make sure noone dies.” As they followed along, Wolf saw the last group head out again.

To Wolf’s knowledge, the path seemed to run in a half circle around the edge of the woods. They followed Dustin deeper into the woods before he stopped abruptly. “Alright, here’s the deal.” Dustin spat on the ground as he pulled a long knife from the sheath on his hip.

“Everyone splits up here, You’ll each pick a direction and head twenty to fifty paces into the forest where you will make camp for the night.” Dustin began picking under his nails with his knife. “Three nights you’re expected to stay out here, then on the morning of the fourth day, you will find your way back to the monastery.”

He looked each one of them in the eye. “You have enough water to survive if you ration it, but it's up to you to find more if you need it, and dinner is only for those who find it. As I said before, I’m not here to babysit. I’ll be keeping an eye on the woods just to make sure no big baddies head your way and eat you for lunch. Other than that, you’re on your own.”

“Now head out.” Dustin motioned with his knife. None of the others had knives, their packs only carried a bit of water, some flint and tinder, and some other basics like a short rope.

Wolf didn’t need to be told twice and he immediately picked a direction his gut told him and began walking. He had only gone about twenty paces when he stopped and turned around.

“Why are you following me?” Wolf growled. Chester stepped out of the woods and laughed. “Don’t think too much of yourself, I just happened to be walking this way.” Chester waved and walked off into the woods.

Wolf waited for a moment before he began his trek, but he couldn’t get past the nagging feeling that something was amiss. He stopped and turned the back the way Chester had walked, then shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. What would be would be.