Ch 1: The apprentice

A constant clanging sound could be heard coming from a small house in the edge of a forest. Black smoke was rising coming from it's chimney.

"How is it?", a young man hammering at a mass of glowing red metal using an iron hammer asked.

"Hmm...keep going Surk", a muscular bearded man standing beside him said.

"Yes, Master Caim", Surk said as sweat poured down from his forehead.

"Oh right, tomorrow we are going to town. There's someone I have to meet there so I want to you to take care of buying our supplies while I go meet him.", said Caim as he checked the date of the calendar on the wall.

"Ok, I'll take care of it master", Surk said as he placed the blade of the sword he was forging back in the furnace.

"For now, just finish what you are doing and I'll start preparing dinner. Sigh, why couldn't I get an apprentice who knows how to cook", as Caim finished speaking, he sighed again and headed for the kitchen.

"...", Surk couldn't respond to what his master said since it was true. His cooking was terrible. The first time he made lunch for his master, it left an awful stench in the kitchen for two days. When his master tasted what he cooked, it gave him a stomachache that he had to spend most of the afternoon in the toilet. His master cursed himself for letting him cook and swore to never let his apprentice cook for him ever again. If it weren't for his skills in forging, his master would have certainly picked another apprentice.

After they ate dinner and his master went to his room, Surk went back and continued forging the blade.

"Ah, it's finally finished.", he said as he inspected the blade. The long silver blade was straight and the edges were sharp. It was thick around the middle and seemed to be heavy. As he finished inspecting the blade, he made a wooden hilt for it and made a strap for it on his waist.

"Oh, I almost forgot", Surk took the blade and placed it back on top of the anvil. Black smoke continued to rise from the chimney as the night grew late.

At early dawn, Surk woke up and found that his master was already awake and said,

"We'll be leaving early so get prepared quick"

"Yes master", Surk went back to his room, took a quick shower, and prepared for their journey to town.

The small house was located near the edge of the forest but it would still take around an hour to get to the town, Eril, by foot. As he had been an apprentice to the master blacksmith for over six months by now, he was already familiar with the path as his master frequently ordered him to sell the weapons his master forged to the weapons dealer in town.

When they finally arrived there, Surk saw a man suited in heavy armor walk towards them.

"Hey Caim, it has been a while. How are you doing? And who is this lovely young girl with you? Your daughter?", the young blonde man asked while smiling.

As Surk heard this, a vein throbbed on his forehead figuratively while he glared at the man.

"I see that you're as cheerful as ever, sir knight Cruz. And this lovely young person your referring to is my apprentice. When I first met him, I also thought that I would be getting a female apprentice. Hahaha!", said Caim which only made Surk more angry.

"Him? Oh! I'm sorry about that and what is your name?", Cruz asked.

"Hmph, it's Surk and master, can I go now?", Surk asked as he was still a bit surly about what they said to him.

"Yes, and be sure to get all the supplies that we'll need.", Caim said as he watched his apprentice sulking and walk towards the weapons dealer shop.

"Are you sure he'll be fine alone. There have been more thieves in town lately", asked Cruz.

"Don't worry, he can protect himself. By the way, what did you want to talk to me about?", asked Caim.

"Let's go someplace more private.", Cruz said as they walked deeper in town.

Note: This is my first time writing a story so there may be a lot of mistakes. I'm doing this as a hobby so comments would be appreciated so I can make some changes. I'll be posting the next chapter next week so look forward to it.