Chapter 57 - The Defeated Blacksmith

Seeing the way he is being looked at by a kid who he knows nothing of, the blacksmith was all frown as he raised his head to look at the kid only to notice that he was holding his laughter in.

"I can see that you are really enjoying yourself boy" said the dwarf as he still maintained the frown on his face.

"Sorry about that, it's not what you think" replied Jason with a cleared throat.

"I don't care to know what it is except the fact that you are standing here without permission, tell me boy don't you know how to knock" asked the dwarf.

"Well you can't blame me for coming in unannounced but I did knock on the door but there was no response which is why I decided to come in" reply Jason.

"There was no response and you decided to come in because you are the owner of the shop" said the dwarf.

"Can we stop talking about minor stuff and talk about business" reply Jason in anger.

"Business you say eh, it seems like my hands have gone numb from hammering earlier so I don't think I will be able to help you with whatever you want me to make" said the dwarf.

"Okay then I will stop by tomorrow with the item" replied Jason.

"You don't get it do you, you are no longer welcome here kid" said the dwarf with a smile on his face.

Jason was short of words when he heard the dwarf telling him to get out of the shop.

"Wait a minute, are you doing this just because of the little misunderstanding we had" asked Jason with a frown on his face.

"You can call it whatever you want because I don't care" replied the dwarf.

With a sigh, Jason shook his head in disappointment as he turned away and began to walk to the door with the dwarf standing in place to watch him leave.

"This will teach you to mind the way you speak here to your elders" said the dwarf for Jason to hear.

Opening the door as he was about to leave, Jason suddenly turned to face the dwarf with a sad look on his face as he said.

"I wonder what the grand elder has to say about you rejecting his offer".

When the dwarf heard that the young man that he had chased out of the shop was sent by the grand elder, he became frightened as he called up to Jason before he could walk out of the shop.

"Wait up kid, let's talk things through".

"What is there for us to talk about, you already said you don't want me to come here again" replied Jason with all seriousness.

"That was not what I meant when I said I won't be doing it" said the dwarf almost in tears. 

"Then what did you mean when you say I am no longer welcome here" asked Jason with a frown.

"What I am trying to say is that you are free to visit at any time" replied the dwarf with tearful eyes.

"Meaning you are not going to charge me for the forging right" asked Jason with a smile. 

"That is out of the question kid, if I were to forge a weapon for you without any payment then you won't be able to call it a weapon" replied the dwarf.

"Whatever, I will pardon you Just this once but if you were to do such a thing next time, the grand elder will be informed and I promise to make things worse for you" said Jason.

"Now you are threatening me kid, is this how you want to treat a new friend" asked the dwarf.

"So now we are friends' ' said Jason as he raised one eyebrow to look at the dwarf.

"Of course we are friends, come let me have a look at the material you want me to work on" replied the dwarf with a friendly smile on his face.

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Jason closed the door behind him as he went back to stand by a bench where he placed the bone of the horned leopard down for the dwarf to see. Looking at the bones in front of him, the dwarf was stunned as he began to rub his hand over the bone as he said.

"This is good material you have with you kid, tell me what beast did you get this from".

"You are looking at the bones of a horned leopard" replied Jason with a smile on his face.

"I see no wonder it is filled with energy, what a minute kid, what beast did you just say own these bones" asked the dwarf who was already complimenting the bone until he heard Jason calling the name of the beast.

"It belongs to the horn leopard, what is the problem?" replied Jason who later became scared of the look the dwarf had on his face.

"Nothing, I am completely fine, it is just that I am surprised you are able to get your hand on the remains of the horned leopard" said the dwarf as he began to access the bones.

"Actually I killed it myself " replied Jason with a satisfied look on his face.

"Don't make me laugh kid, if you tell me the grand elder did I will understand not a kid like who can't even hold a knife" said the dwarf as he gave Jason a stare.

"I knew you won't believe me even if you saw it happen before your very own eyes" replied Jason with a sigh.

"You got that right kiddo" said the dwarf with a laugh.

"Do you think you will be able to make a fine weapon out of this bone" asked Jason.

"As long as the required materials are available, there is nothing I can't forge so tell me kid what weapon do you want me to make for you" replies the dwarf in full confidence.

"Will it be possible for you to make a staff out of it" asked Jason.

The dwarf was stunned by Jason's question as he turned to give him a look before replying.

"It will be an easy task for me to make a staff but don't you think that will be a waste of fine material".

"What do you mean by that" asked Jason.

"If you were to make a sword or saber out of the bone, it would be more useful than a staff that can't take a life" replied the dwarf.

"That is why I want you to make a staff that will be able to break a head" said Jason with a smile.

"Be serious for once kid, what we are talking about here could very much prove to be useful in times of need so don't just make decisions without thinking about the disadvantages" replied the dwarf.

"Let me ask you this question, what weapon is best used as defense and attack" asked Jason as he rested his hand on his cheek while waiting for the dwarf to give his answer.

"Well if you asked me I will say the staff is the best weapon for defense and attack but still I will suggest you pick a spear since it is no different from a bow at least you will be able to do my than enough damage to your enemy and at the same time defend yourself from danger" replied the dwarf.

After hearing what the dwarf had to say, Jason turned to the bracelet for a reply.

"So what do you think about the spear".

"It should be more than enough for you to reign over your peers" replies the bracelet.

Turning back to the dwarf who can't get his eyes off the bones, Jason clears his throat to get his attention.

"After thinking about it for sometime, I think I will go for a spear but make sure to make me a good weapon" Said Jason.

"You can rest assured kid since you brought this material for me to work on, I promise to forge a weapon that your peers will be so envious of" replied the dwarf with assurance.

"No, what is the point of making my peers envy my weapon if I won't be able to keep it for long" said Jason with a wave of his hand.

"Why do you say that, don't you want to own a weapon that is more attractive than those of your peers" asked the dwarf.

"If you make something that is shinier than theirs, then it won't be long before it gets stolen" replied Jason.

"So what do you want me to do, make you a weapon that is worse in grade compared to the others" asked the dwarf.

"Of course not, who will want to have a weapon with low quality when you have the chance to get a weapon with higher quality" reply Jason.

"So what do you want me to do" asked the dwarf as he was getting confused about everything.

"Easy, just make it look more ugly to the eyes" replied Jason with a smile.