The inside was not what I expected at all. When you imagine a store, you would think they would have items over the walls showing off their talents. Instead, I was met with an office room that you would use for an interview.

The woman quickly beckoned us to take a seat while she sat behind the desk, “ Good morning, I am Samantha, apprentice to Dastreal black hammer, and I am ready for your order.” putting on her saleswoman smile, which came off more frightening than calming.

Samantha, as I now knew her as wasn’t what you’d expect from a salesperson with short messy black hair and skin that was still covered in soot from the factory. It made it evident that she wasn’t used to serving customers and was clearly out of place, she looked more rugged, and if not for her timid appearance, I’d say she looked rough.

I look at Rafael and see he looks just as confused as I am, which makes me smile, considering I haven’t really seen much expression on his face yet, and It calms my heart to see that this is just as unusual for him as it is for me.

I hear a sigh from the corner of the room and look to see the door open, and a man steps through. He was probably Dastreal judging from his height and build, muscular all over and with a big brown bushy beard, his hands looked rough just like the rest of him, and he had a particular look in his eye when our eyes met.

“Young master had I known you were here, I wouldn’t have had my apprentice serve you as she might be a fine blacksmith but still has far to go when it comes to social awareness,” he says as Samantha quickly stands up and looks down in shame, or is it fear as she does not dare to meet my eyes. Dastreal quickly makes his way over to the seat. “ Well, from the look on your attendant's face, I can see you were expecting something different. In my store, we don’t show off a bunch of products. We take commissioned orders to meet our client's needs instead of having a bunch of swords left on the wall to rust.”

“Can I ask how did you know who I was?” I had never met him before, and I hadn’t heard Father mention him being a guest in our house, so he couldn’t have seen me before.

“ Hehehe, did you forget just how much you and your father look alike?” Now it was my turn to be ashamed. How could I forget that, pale skin, red hair, and eyes? How could my father and I look any different?

The good thing was that, with my foolishness pointed out, it seemed to relieve some tension from the room as Samantha finally looked at me again, “ Now, can you tell me what you are here for, your first weapon, or have you taken a fancy to blacksmithing and want a tour of the factory?”.

Now that he mentions it, I am interested in the process, but it's my first day out, and I can’t spend it in a factory. “ As much as I would like a tour of your factory, I’ve got a full day planned and didn’t think to spend that long here, sorry.”

“hehe, don’t worry about it. You can come by any time. Now let's talk business; you are here for a weapon?”

“ Yes, please. I am thinking of a dagger small enough for me to carry and not too expensive, as I’ll outgrow it at some point”.

“Hmm, not too expensive, eh? An average iron dagger will only cost you one silver, but for you, young lord, eight copper.”

“ Father always said to take generosity when shown so eight copper it is, how will you design it?”

“ Depending on the client, we tailor the weapon, that only matters with experienced swordsmen, such as weight and length of the blade grip of the weapon. For your average sale, a training weapon can be used, and my apprentices will be the ones creating them.”

I take out the eight coppers, depleting my supply to 6 coppers, and hand them to Dastreal.

“ So, do you have a set number of days to create my order, or do I return in a week?”

“ It Varies depending on the order, but for an iron dagger, I’ll have it done by tomorrow.” Shooting me his best smile, the dwarf reaches for a handshake.

I stand up and shake Dastreal’s hand and go to leave when I see that Rafael is still sitting down. “ Rafael, what are you doing?”.

“hehe, that's a good attendant you got there. I’ll help him get up.” Dastreal stands up and shouts, “ RAFAEL.” Which seems to shake my attendant as he quickly stands up, backs away, and reaches for his sword, “ Have a nice day, young master. It was good meeting you.”

When Dastreal finishes, Rafael seems to wake up from whatever trance he was in, bows, and follows me out.

As we slowly make our way to the next location, I notice Rafael is unusually quiet, I mean, he's quiet all the time, but now I'm struggling to see him even do anything other than follow me silently.

“ Rafael ”

He finally looks at me, and his eyes don’t look so zoned out anymore. “ Sorry young master, I had lost myself for a moment.”

He looks truly sorry, which genuinely surprises me, “ What's got you so spooked?”

“Strength, young master, Strength, one day you will have the same experience as me.”

“ How strong is that dwarf for you to be this spooked.”

“At least A rank Qi master, that's what I felt from him. He is a brilliant blacksmith. I understand now why the Lord answered his monopoly request”.

“Why does the QI rank matter with him being a blacksmith?”

“ When they make equipment, they use their QI to bend and shape the metal more effectively. With an A-rank blacksmith, they can work with obsidian grade equipment, that is only one below Mythril; it costs 50 gold per kilo of obsidian to give you an idea of its rarity”.

“Do you think he's stronger than Father”

“ Rank does not mean victory, but if the dwarf knows any fighting techniques at a decent level, then yes, he would probably beat the lord in a fight.”

When we finish our conversation, we end up at Bren’s bar, Which is a place I’ve heard about from the guards at our estate. While it's called a bar during the day, it's more like a restaurant, so I’ve decided to come here to check out what everyday food is like here.