Walk in the Park

Elysia strode into the grounds belonging to the race of peoples that were known for their ferocity. She wasn't very interested in fighting with any of them, she merely wished to learn by watching them forge weapons, as such, she found herself in the Blood Forge. She walked among their craftsmen, carefully seeking out the most skilled among them.

Riotier saw a girl wandering about the Forge Interesting I haven't seen her around before.he thought to himselfat least she looks like she knows whats going on here. He decides to talk to her since everyone one else is busy and having just finished crafting his Swords he had nothing better to do and starts to walk towards her.

Elysia was approached by a strange man in a foreboding robe. She saw that he carried newly made swords with him. She decided to speak first, "Might I examine one of those swords?"

"Hmm.. as long as you know how to hold them properly and do be careful to keep them away from your shadow." he said as he handed one over. "Would you like to hold both to test the weight and balance of my twin blades?"

She held out a single hand, "One will do." She grasped the hilt with the expertise of a Master Craftsman and swordsman. She looked along the length of the blade. It was the smoothest she'd ever seen that she hadn't made herself. The balance was perfect. "Would you mind if I tested it's temper?"

"By all means try it you seem to know alot about smithing who taught you?" he said "I would like anothers eye to look at them i was wondering if these will hold up to the brute force of some of the people i've seen around here"

She turned to face a direction that was void of people and blew a mighty fire onto the blade and watched it turn a dull red. To the normal eye, the metal would appear perfectly pure but, to her keen dragon eye, she could see the many minor, otherwise harmless, imperfections in the metal's composition. She could melt the blade if she increased the intensity of her dragon fire but, dunked it in a cold bath before handing it back to the smith. "I learned from my father and taught myself after I surpassed him. My name is Elysia and I am a Laguz of Dragons. There are some very minor impurities in the metal of your weapon however, it should still hold up to anything aside my Dragon Fire."

"It's very nice to meet you I am Riotier a Tracker of the Caesiums and if thats the case then i hope I'm never on the other end of your flames" he said with a chuckle. " You said you surpassed your father thats impressive it is tough to overtake ones teacher." "would you care to make something of your own or will you just watch for today? My station is still set up and I'll make sure none bothers you outsiders aren't normally allowed to craft here."

"I seek to further my knowledge still so, I would like to observe your most skilled craftsman. Could you point me in the right direction?"

"As you can see there aren't a whole lot of crafters in this place most just want to take the lazy route and steal what they do not have or use there magic to create weapons. So if your looking for the best I'd have to say it's me but as you can tell from your checking my work earlier I need more practice to truly take that title seriously"

Elysia smiled. "Then we should get to work. You said your table is still set up, right?" She walked over to where she had seen the man come from and found the empty workstation that was still set up. "First, we will need to address your ability to see." She transformed into a dragon about the size of a medium sized dog and said to Roitier, "Take two of my scales and place them on the table."

"If you insist" he said completely unfazed by the sudden transformation of the girl and pried loose two scales with some difficulty. "Now what should i be looking for exactly". Marveling at the scales rugged beauty.

A throaty chuckle emerged from the dragon that changed with her, into a cute girl's giggle. "You're not looking for anything, yet. First, I must refine the scales into lenses." she heated them into a malleable state that allowed her to easily spread the scale into a thin glass-like lens. She then took some copper and formed a rough frame out of it and melted it slightly into a smooth and comfortable frame that the green lens' fit into with perfection. She cooled them in the water bath and handed them over to Riotier. "There. Put them on and observe as I heat this hunk of metal like I did with your sword earlier." she grabbed a blank from a barrel and heated it. It was full impurities, many of which would not have been otherwise visible to him.

He watched as Elysia made short work of the scales in to a pair of glasses. When he put them on and looked at the heated metal he was surprised to see a vast array of imperfections more so than usual. "Amazing would you at all think about letting me keep these lenses?" he said to her "Of course I'll pay you somehow or trade for them they could help me greatly."

Elysia laughed at him. "Please! Don't think of me as a greedy dragon!" she laughed some more. "They're yours to keep. You don't owe me anything." She smiled him. "They'll only fit you, after all." she said. "Now, you need some dragon fire." she poured water over Riotier's current forge, effectively putting out his forge. She then breathed her Dragon Fire over the coals and it was brought back to life, a ferocious fire blazing in the stones. She then gestured for him to forge something, "Now give it a go and see how much better your creations will be with just those glasses and this fire."

Riotier smiled at his new found companion excited to finally meet someone who cared for the craft."all right" he said as he rearranged a few tools on the workbench close by felling the new heat coming from his personal forge much hotter than he was use to. I'll have to compensate for that. he thought. But he wasn't to focused on that as he turned back to the metal after making things to his liking with the tools the new lenses he was wearing allowing him to see things in the metal much more clearly and precisely. He slowly began to work on the blank skillfully crafting and folding the metal and keeping a faster pace than normal to make sure his timing with the heat was correct. Before to long a long dagger came into being with only the last touches of a hilt and sharpening to do.

Elysia watched closely as he made quick work of the dagger. "Next time, take your time and be sure that each hit with your hammer is perfectly placed. Also, it's assumed that because dragon fire burns hotter you don't need to spend as much time heating the metal; this is not true. You spend just as much time, if not, longer. This will temper the steel and even add some qualities you wouldn't expect; if you know how. However, I have no doubt that this dagger you've made is the best and strongest of any weapon to come out of this land." she patted him on the back and smiled at him.

"I see, I will remember that thank you" he replied jumping slightly at the touch "I see you can teach me alot but you said you came to learn i'm sorry i am not much help" he continued taking a small step back from the smiling girl.

She laughed, "Your technique is very different from, fierce and demanding. I have learned from you, weather you think so or not."

"My style of crafting is a bit different i'll admit" he said smiling at the girl glad she didn't notice his hesitancy at the physical contact.

Elysia shrugged. "It's what I expected from a race known for such violence. Though, I must admit, I didn't expect such expertise. I thought I would find not but crude weapons that barely saw the grinding wheel." she laughed.

Laughing at the remark "If you care to look around here i'm sure you will find out that the others will not come close to what i've done here. I have done my best to teach them but they don't really listen, honestly i haven't had such a talk about this work in all my time living here its all about the more advanced tech trying to catch up to the humans".

"Advancements in technology are only as good as the people who use them. An expert swordsman could easily defeat anything they could build or piece together."

"my opinion exactly" he replies "anything else you'd like to learn in our umm... fair city? I'll glady help you out here in the forge for as long as you like and if you like i could set you up a place for the night if your staying long."

"I'll be fine. Thank you. I would like to create something for you." She took three blanks and began to melt, cool, and melt again, removing certain metals and leaving others. She took her time with it all, allowing the Dragon Fire to do it's work. She hammered it into the shape of a claymore. It took many hours. The basic shape of the sword was done. She took it then, to the grinder and sharpened both edges. She continued to apply a low level of heat to make the grinding more smooth and for later adjustments. Once she finished that, she brought the claymore to a table and laid it out. She then took pure silver and melted it into a silky fluid. She drew the silver into an ink pen and drew intricate designs onto both sides of the blade while whispering what sounded like gibberish. When she made the last mark, the silver glowed briefly and changed in color to a faded blue. Elysia wiped the sweet from her brow and fitted the immense sword with a basic handle and pummel. She then lifted the sword with her pinky and tossed it to Riotier. He would notice that the sword, despite it's large size, weighed a mere pound.