Grey rushed through the halls where the others were training and headed straight for the forge. He had already set his mind on the training schedule. He was going to work in the forge for most of the day untill he could lift the sword he would keep up the running and stretching however. If he lost stamina and flexibility he would not be as capable a fighter as he was before.

It did not take long for him to reach the forges. He was in quite a hurry after all the forge master noted him and just nodded the same as usual. Returning the nod Grey immideatly set out for storage room. He started weighing the different types of metals he found there and sorted them from the lightest to the heaviest metals. The lightest was a kind of transparent white-ish metal and the heaviest was the icy blue metal he had used before.

He used a metal that seemed to be a bit heavier than the metal used in the hammer he was now wielding. He took the metal to the forge and made a new hammer out of it. Quickly yet expertly he finished the hammer and weighed it in his hands. It was a decent bit heavier than the one he was using now. The plan was to wield this hammer until his body was as used to this weight as to the one of the normal hammer. Then he would make a new hammer of an even heavier weight and so forth.

The training went on for a few weeks. Running, stretching, smithing, running, smithing and repeat.

He kept himself to this basic schedule until after about 6 weeks he felt like he could move on to the next metal. Months passed like this before he had finally reached the ice-metal hammer. The hammer was a bit lighter than his sword but once he got used to this he should be able to pick it up. Unknown to him his body had changed a good bit during these months.

Although he knew he was stronger than he was before he wasn't really aware of it. He noticed a bit of change but those around him were very much aware of it. The reptilian sisters Fog and Mist seemed particularly aware of it as they kept eying him during training. sometimes they would even pop into the forge and watch him work. He himself hadn't even noticed this, his mind was set on the training and the beating of his heart and the sound of the hammer hitting the anvil were harmonizing. Causing him to not be able to sense much else or maybe more accurately anything else.

Although this trance like state was ideal for when he was forging weapons his guard was down whenever he got like this. Not the the twins really cared about this. As long as they could stare at the eye candy before him not being noticed suited them just fine. And he had become quite the eye candy his body had changed into one of a young adult. Tall with rippling muscles and a slim waist with his long grey hair strapped into a messy bun with some left over leather. The glow of the heat on his face and the sweat running down his chest. Standing there shirtless with the light of the fire dancing on his bare skin.

No need to say that the twins liked wat they saw. The twins where not the only ones who noticed of course. Tatt's would stop by from time to time to take a look but when he saw the bare chested Grey at work he got a look of passion in his eyes and started to train even harder. Snowflake passed by once aswell his eyes lingering on him for a moment before the blush on his face was unmistakable and he hurried of. To the soft snikkers of the twins. Luniera dropped by once aswell and let her eyes roam his body but taking more note of the way he was forging his weapons than the way Grey looked without a shirt.

Grey was standing there with the ice-metal hammer in his hand deciding that he would use this hammer for 2 months before finally removing the blade from its stand beside his bed. And thus another 2 months passed. In total now 2 of the 5 years before their first arena match would be held had passed. It was finally time for Grey to use his own sword.

He walked to his room staring at the sword for a moment before reaching his hand to it. He had attracted quite a few viewers when he walked to the sword. Most of the others had noticed the sword and just about everyone had tried to move it only to not be able to budge it in the slightest.

Even Oak could not get the blade to budge. Once he had tried and shown no results most of the others had simply given up. The conclusion was simple if Oak could not lift it none of them could. There where a few who stubbornly tried to lift it each day nonetheless like Pebble who looked simply hilarious when trying to move the sword that was nearly twice as big as him. And Tatt's who seemed to think it had become some kind of competition.

Wrapping his hand around the hilt you could feel the tension that was starting to spread around the cell. Tensing his muscles the rest could see them flexing beneath his skin. Muscles bulging he grabbed the sword and with a mighty heave swung it upwards sheath and all. The others simply stared in amazement. They had expected Grey to be able to lift the sword eventually. Everyone was aware that this was wat he had been training for the last year. But wat they did not expect was for him to be able to move it with one hand!

It was mostly just an after effect of all the smithing. Wielding the hammer was always done with one arm so his right arm had grown used to the weight and he could now carry absurd weights with that arm. His left arm had naturally also grown in strength because he now also used the other metals for forging the weapons. The right arm remained his dominant arm however and its strength was now proven for all to see.

The cuff of the sword clasped itself to his wrist. Other than that nothing more of interest happened. The crowd quickly dispersed noticing that anything exiting had already happened. His friends congratulated him in turn patting him on the back. The twins were a little more touchy with their congratulations resting their hands on his chest longer than would have been necessary in any scenario. This didn't seem to bother anyone other than Snowflake. Who still seemed to shy to really share physical contact with anyone. Even a simple pat on the back was still beyond him.

Grey anxious to try out the sword headed to the training hall. He swung his sword around a few times getting a feel for the weight. He then moved on to one of the heavy iron training dummy's the instructor had them practicing their hits on. He swung the sword to the dummy a few times stopping just short of touching it. He then prepared himself for a proper swing. Getting in stance he set his foot forward and swung his sword with the force of his entire body behind it. Muscles strained to the maximum flexing at the power behind them he made the blade whistle through the air. The blade smashed into the dummy with tremendous force shattering it into a hail of shrapnel that was blasted around the room causing all nearby trainees to take cover.

The rain of shrapnel dug itself into the wood and some of them even managed to lodge themselves into the stone on the wall. The entire hall was staring at Grey mouth agape. Most of them hadn't even managed to dent the heavy iron dummies. Let alone shatter them like they were made of glass. First of all metal was not meant to shatter at all. Wat kind of magical properties or extreme force would have to be wielded to make the blade inflict such damage on its target. Most of them shuddered thinking about the effect that such a swing would have on a human body.

“Not a bad swing you got yourself kid” The instructor said walking up to him. “Your form however is hideous, nothing was used in that swing besides your own brute strength.” Typical of the instructor to have a compliment but wrap it up in things he was doing wrong and could improve.

Still this was not a bad trait for an Instructor to have.

The instructor backed up his words with deeds and started to show Grey how to wield his sword properly. The style the instructor taught him was nothing like the smooth liquid-like dancing movements Luniera made. The movements the instructor taught him where simple, crude and most of all extremely effective. He taught him how he should take down opponents without even giving them a proper chance to fight back. With creatures however he was told to just find out wat to do on his own. The only thing the instructor could teach him in that regard was how to use the power his body had properly.

The next year was spent much in the same training pattern as before. He would still spend his free time at the smithy. He felt like he was already a decent smith. The other thought he was good enough in fact for them to start asking him to make weapons for them aswell. So that was exactly wat he spent most of his time at the smithy doing. He made weapons that fit the fighters. For Tatt's he made 2 brand new axes with a gleaming red metal. He used a dark metal-infused wood to make his handle's. The axes where large and heavy but fit Tatt's perfectly. In honor of his name he had even added black tribal markings to the blade. All in all they made the barbarian looking Tatt's look even more like a barbarian.

The others got weapons that fit their style's as well. He made a tower shield for Oak that was created by a mixed compound of metals that gave the metal an odd mixture of colours. The mace he simply made of the strongest and heaviest steel he had. After all by now Oak had grown enough in strength to be able to wield a weapon made of ice-metal himself. For Luniera he made a sword of the lightest metal he had but he infused it with traces of the ice-metal for strength. He was somehow able to mix them together so well that the weapon was light yet still as strong any other steel. He was actually pretty sure that it could shatter a normal steel weapon. The blade somehow ended up with a transparent black glass kind of look. The weapon seemed kind of creepy but it seemed to suit Luniera just fine.

For Sansieri he made a pair of gauntlets. More than gauntlets they where more like knuckle plates.

It was quite a strange weapon covering only her knuckles in a golden tinted steel. Sansieri however loved his creation she told him they would fit her fighting style perfectly. Six got a hatchet that seemed to have blood on the edge of it. It was however just a coincidental mix of metals that made it appear that way. The rest agreed though that it fit his bloodthirsty style perfectly. For Pebble and Mist however he couldn't make a weapon. Wooden weapons where not his expertise and he had never made a bow before and did not want to make a faulty one just for the sake of it seeming fair. He did make a sword a shield out of a green metal he had found for Fog. Who seemed ecstatic at the weapons she had been gifted. She clenched them to her now noticeably growing chest with a not so innocent grin.

Once he had finished creating weapons for every one of the people who was trapped in the arena. Another 6 months had already passed. Only 2 and a half years left till their first match.

#note,

At the twenty chapters i will take about a week to review evrything i have written so far i will remove mistakes and errors i have made aswell try to smooth it into a better story line. I may also make changes to the chapters or fuse some chapters together. This will take about a week in my estimate just letting u guys know upfront.

Hope u liked this decent chapter. (im glad im not stuck its actually pretty decent in my eyes. I think the enxt chapter i will do a timeskip and chapter 15 will be the first arena fight! You guys will enjoy that one i hope :D