Book 2 Chapter 56

Willow ran through the snow dusted streets of Acerorazon, dodging and weaving through the sparse crowd as he went. Not many seemed to like moving around outdoors during the colder weather, but he typically didn’t mind it. So long as it wasn’t the heavy snowfall prevalent around the great lake the cold didn’t bother him that much.

Besides, he felt it made good training for his spatial awareness while moving around at relatively high speeds. He didn’t fully sprint, of course, otherwise he might accidentally hurt someone when he made a mistake due to the treacherous footing.

Today was ostensibly not one for training. He was supposed to be resting and going over the lessons he’d learned. However running around could hardly be called training, he just liked thinking of it as such so that he could justify doing it in his head. Especially since he had felt a bit too cooped up recently and it felt good to move around.

Unfortunately his wandering thoughts had him not paying attention to his footing as much so he hit a patch of ice while turning a corner and wound up in a heap in a pile of soot-stained snow on the side of the road. Thankfully a tumble like that didn’t hurt him one bit, and he hadn’t harmed anyone else with his carelessness.

As he climbed out of the snow bank he’d suddenly found himself in he noticed a soot covered girl staring at him nearby.

Willow waved her way and that seemed to have eased some of the worry on her face.

“You all right? That looked like it hurt.”

He nodded and tried giving the nice girl a reassuring smile. “Yeah I’m fine.”

However his body began to betray him as he started to shiver due to his now thoroughly soaked clothes. Since even he wasn’t that immune to the cold. If he got away from prying eyes he could probably use Eos to warm himself up and dry off.

Yet the soot covered girl seemed to have other ideas.

She grabbed his frigid hand and began dragging him into the nearby smithy she’d come from. “You need to get warm or you’ll get sick.”

Willow tried to protest and disengage, but the girl was surprisingly strong and equally stubborn.

“I’ll be fine, promise. I haven’t been sick at all in quite a while.” Which was true, since starting his core training he hadn’t gotten sick once. Not counting the harmonization incident with Huey, of course.

Yet his compelling argument was soundly ignored as he was dragged into a place of noise and warmth.

There was a massive forge that took up one side of the room with two girls around the same age as the girl currently pulling him taking turns working the bellows and shoveling fuel. With the actual smithing being done by three women of wildly different ages. One looked to be about Maple’s age, another was closer to Aunt Jieun’s, and the final was likely of a similar age to Madame Park. Though she definitely had far more muscles than the Madame.

What immediately drew his eye was the metallic lizard whose back was being used as an anvil. They had large and flattened metallic growths on their back that the women seemed to be taking turns hammering their metal on. The beast itself seemed quite content with the arrangement so Willow was more curious than anything.

If his eyes weren’t deceiving him there was also a fire spirit in the forge, but that just made him wonder why they needed to give them so much fuel. Maybe it was somehow more efficient. He was halfway tempted to undo the binding on his senses to get a better sense of everything, but held himself back. It would be quite rude to pass out on the floor if it turned out he couldn’t handle everything after all.

The eldest of the smiths was first to notice their arrival.

“Girl, how many times do I have to tell you not to let strangers into my forge?” Her voice cut cleanly through the noise of the smithy, causing the others to pause their work before deciding it wasn’t worth their attention.

The girl did not stop pulling him closer to the forge. “But look at him! He’ll get sick if he doesn’t warm up. Saw him crash into a snowbank while I was cooling off.”

The old smith took a closer look at Willow and noticeably wrinkled her nose. “What kind of foolishness were you taking part in, boy? Running around in this weather is usually reserved for errand boys and thieves, and I’m not seeing a parcel on you.”

Willow blinked in confusion. “I was just running around because it’s fun. Plus it’s good spatial awareness training to dodge between the people. Mister Matias says it’s best to be aware of your weaknesses and attempt to fix them, so that’s what I was doing.”

The gray haired woman laughed. “A different sort of fool than I thought then. You say your master’s name is Matias? Is he an old guardsman?”

“He was, yes. Though he’s just my current teacher, not my master. Closest thing I have to one of those is Miss Mu.” He clarified through chattering teeth. The air in the forge was definitely warmer than what it was like outside, but the snow melt soaking him was still quite chilly.

The older of the two other smiths finally interjected. “Let the poor boy dry himself auntie, he looks like a half frozen drowned rat.”

Oi! He didn’t think he looked that bad. Then again he couldn’t really see what he currently looked like…

He hoped the soot would wash out of his cloak. He’d hate for it to be stained from this mishap.

The eldest smith snorted. “Fine. Camila, get off the bellows. Working them should warm him up plenty. Jimena, teach him the timing since you dragged him in here. And boy, take off that sodden cloak and shirt, we can at least hang those to dry while you work off our kindness.”

Everyone moved to follow the stern woman’s orders, including Willow. He certainly hadn’t planned on spending his afternoon shirtless in a smithy, but at least this was a new experience for him.

The only forge he’d spent any time around was his Uncle Lucius’, but the scale of work here was far different from the vale’s lone smith.

Despite being unfamiliar with the task, working the bellows was surprisingly easy for him, and after a few stops and starts he figured out the timing of it with minimal issues. His stamina was more than up for the task, and the old woman was right in that he quickly warmed up while doing it. The bellows being right next to the heat of the forge definitely helped as well.

“Sorry about Granny, didn’t expect her to force you to work.” The soot-covered girl, apparently named Jimena, tried to apologize after teaching him what needed to be done.

Willow didn’t blame her in the slightest for getting him roped into her family business for a bit. “It’s fine, you were just trying to help me. Besides, I would’ve wanted to try and pay you back somehow anyways, so this just makes it easier for me.”

Jimena visibly relaxed. “That’s good.”

She watched him continue to work the bellows in silence for a while, seemingly impressed at how long he could go without a break.

“So did Granny say you were training to be a guard or something? It’d explain how you can keep going like this.”

Willow shook his head while he continued working. “Nah, I’m becoming a Wanderer, not a guardsman.”

The answer seemed to catch her off guard.

“I heard only geniuses or crazy people survive joining them, though? Why’d you want to join them when you already have an in with the city guard? Not everyone is that lucky.”

“My mentor, Miss Mu, saved my life and the lives of my family. Like how I felt the need to repay you, I feel the need to pay her back. Besides, I always wanted to be a hero of some kind, and this seems like the fastest way.”

Jimena laughed, but Willow could tell it wasn’t supposed to be a mean one.

“Ah, I see. You’re one of the crazy ones then.” She teased.

Willow smiled back at her. “As Miss Mu has told me, the powerful are allowed their eccentricities.”

Jimena raised a brow. “And you’re powerful?”

His smile grew wistful. “Not yet, but I’m working hard to get there.”