Omar’s eyes searched left and right as he led Stanis toward the forges. He knew exactly why Stanis had wanted him to lead the way towards the forge, and it wasn’t because Stanis couldn’t find his own way. No, it was obvious where the Smithy was from the plumes of smoke and ash in the air above the forges. Instead, he had been ordered to lead the way so that he could be conveniently killed if Stanis found any holes in his story.

Omar himself knew that he had told the truth but there were also many a thing that Omar didn’t know. Now, if Stanis discovered them and decided them a good enough reason to execute Omar, well, then there was nothing stopping him. Perhaps Omar shouldn’t have been so worried but what he had seen of Stanis so far, his lack of common sense in particular, told him that Stanis was an unstable character. Thus, it was as he walked that he also looked for a way out, a way he could run away from Stanis.

However, to his misery, there seemed to be no open opportunities along the way and the two of them were soon in front of the forges.

The forges had changed since Stanis had last been. What had previously been a building was now a whole area fenced off with defences everywhere; it was clear how highly the village valued the industry. There were multiple plumes of smoke ascending into clouds in the sky. All the constructions in the area, whether they be the gates, walls or buildings themselves, were all covered in thin layers of grime.

Just like the village, the forges were also defended by rows of defences. The first layer was a thick, tall wall which seemed to have a gravitational pull similar to the other walls. Behind the wall was a row of large, glass orbs. They were all arm-span length and had flickering, orange lights whizzing around inside. The last layer of defence was the most banal but also the most effective in case of an attack. It was simply a collection of guards, all armed to the teeth with high-quality equipment.

The only way into the forges was through a set of large gates that went through each layer of defence. Stationed at each gate were 3-4 guards casually talking the day away. This was because despite how high a priority the forges were to the village, due to their high defences, no one had attacked the forges so far.

Omar shivered as he realised that if the talks went wrong, he would soon be witness to the first ever attack. And despite wanting to trust their defences, his mind sadly foresaw another future. Either way, he knew that there was no way out now and so walked towards the first gate, closely followed by Stanis who peered at the defences like a kid at candy.

One of the guards walked towards them and stopped just in front of Omar. She was wearing full-body, metal armour and had a longsword by her waist. On her left arm was a solid shield decorated with simple colours. It was obvious from the thickness and mana-density of her equipment that she could easily take hits from tens of bulls and still keep moving.

“Halt,” she said, “What is your purpose at the forges?”

Omar turned around and looked at Stanis. He had spent the whole journey searching for a way to escape that he had forgotten to ask Stanis why he actually wanted to go the forges in the first place.

“I want to meet someone,” Stanis answered after a moment of thought.

The guard scrutinised Stanis and Omar before speaking. Omar was wearing leather clothes and a few defensive articles on top. He had a shortsword by his waist and looked quite good for wear overall. Most likely a rogue, the guard decided.

She then looked at Stanis. He was wearing a simple thread shirt and trousers. He was barefoot and had no weapons visible on his body. His figure was gaunt and slim with the only fat being on his cheeks. His appearance told her that he was a failure and yet the odd mana-fluctuations that emanated from him said otherwise. Unfortunately, that only worked to make her more suspicious of Stanis than otherwise.

She turned around and met eyes with the other 2 guards, before spinning around to Stanis and Omar once more.

“Sorry, none of the blacksmiths will be meeting anyone during this time. Come back early tomorrow and you’ll have a better chance,”

“Just call Rikkey out here,” Stanis replied, completely ignoring the guard.

She glared at him in response and made her message a bit clearer. “The grandmaster blacksmith will certainly not be meeting anyone without an appropriate appointment. If you want to meet her, go to the town hall and talk to one of the higher-ups about it,”

She saw that he still didn’t understand her message and so spoke before he could.

“Any further action will be seen as aggression. Leave.”

Omar felt his heart fall. He felt a nudge by his side and he moved over, allowing Stanis to step up to the guard.

The guard instantly unsheathed her sword and straightened her shield. “BACKUP!” she shouted.

The two other guards at her gate ran to her with swords out, and several other guards peered from ways away at the commotion.

Stanis didn’t respond to their defence and instead just stepped forwards. The woman saw her chance and slashed down at his neck. But he moved far faster than her and caught her sword by the edge. He gripped it and grabbed it out her hand, before throwing it far away.

She stepped back and lifted her shield. Expression still apathetic, he punched her shield. She instantly felt her legs topple and fell to the ground. Her lungs felt pinched and she struggled for breath as she lay there. To her side lay her shield with a large, fist-shaped dent in the middle.

“ATTACK!” screamed one of the guards near the back. Soon enough, the whole third line of defence was moving forwards as guard after guard ran out of the gate to face Stanis.

Omar watched the progression with dry eyes. He wanted to curse the idiots under his breath but at the same time, he couldn’t blame them. How many people could truly stand up to several, well equipped and trained guards at once? In fact, inside himself, he hoped that the guards would upset the system and somehow win. But as he saw the lightning crackle out of Stanis’s palms, he knew that it was already game-over.

“Holy shield,” many of the guards shouted. Out of thin air materialised multiple mana-shields double the height of humans.

The wave of lightning struck the shields and tore through them. The mana structures collapsed and the bolts then struck the people. The few at the front quickly fell down and the guards at the back fearfully moved forwards.

“STOP!” came a roar from the back of the guards.

Stanis curiously looked over and saw a familiar face coming out of the band of guards.

Ruun, on the other hand, saw the face of the horror from a month ago, and internally wept. He had been the only guard outside the forge then, and he was a lot more used to Stanis’s powerful displays than anyone else here. He hadn’t recognised him at the first but the casual way Stanis controlled the lightning was enough of a cue to connect 2 and 2 together.

The other guards turned to Ruun with mixed expressions on their faces. He was one of the higher-ranked guards and thus he had some say in matters like this. Most were happy that someone had stopped the fight but some were angry that such a villain was to be let off the hook.

“This way, Stanis,” Ruun said. All of those who had been angry instantly felt their anger melt into cold fear. And the few who didn’t recognise the name got a good enough feel of it from the reactions from the people around them.

Stanis peeked at the reactions before following Ruun through the gates. Omar stood star-struck for a second before closely following Stanis, both surprised and not surprised at the outcome of the battle.

Ruun debated inside of himself whether he should mention it and eventually decided to go for it.

“You could’ve just told them who you were and they would’ve let you through,” he said.

“I shouldn’t need to. They should recognise who I am and instantly make way,” Stanis replied.

Ruun then debated whether he should tell Stanis how different he looked now, and how the clothes he wore gave a confusing signal, but then decided not to say anymore. He didn’t want to get any more than his fair share of trouble.

“What are those things,” Stanis asked as they passed the glass orbs.

“They are flicker-lamps, one of the inventions the forge recently made. They shoot out the wisps inside when commanded. The outcome is similar to your lightning so I think you can guess the power,” Ruun answered.

Before he could say anymore and before Stanis could irritate him anymore, they passed the last line of defences and came face to face with the forges…