"Let's go back, mom." Theron gently urged while offering his hand for his mother to take it, in a bid to reassure her even more.
"Mhm, little Teri. Let's go." seeing her little boy displaying such initiative and consideration for her, almost made Alicia break into tears again for how good a son she has.
Taking Theron's adorable hand in hers, they began moving once again towards the way back home, leaving that general goods store behind.
Theron, who had already left the matter of the leather tool case behind him, was content just walking with his mother towards their home, believing that Alicia left the whole thing behind her as well, but Alicia didn't, not entirely at least.
She was a stubborn and a strong-minded woman, especially for matters that concerned her son's interests and future. For example, in this particular case, even if she didn't have enough money on her to buy that whole set of tools right now and had already promised Theron nor she or Frank will buy it for him, she had enough on her to buy him a couple tools which were sold separately. And she had the perfect place in mind to procure them from.
Oblivious to the glint of determination in his mother's eyes, Theron walked with her just the same, unaware of the fortunate opportunity that was waiting for him.
Just ten minutes later, Alicia abruptly stopped walking, surprising Theron quite a bit as he thought they were supposed to be going home. Turning his head towards Alicia, ready to ask her why she stopped, Theron was met with the imposing front of a blacksmith workshop.
It was probably one of the blacksmiths they had passed when they were going through the market for the grocery store, but due to the many people on the streets blocking it, he didn't spot the various differences it had from the others.
Contrary to the other buildings around it, its walls were split into two sections, with the lower one made of big blocks of solid, ashen colored stone for the building's foundations while the top part was formed with large square sheets of metal that were seamlessly fused together.
Its double bulky doors and windows' frames were also all made of thick and compact metal. If the doors were any bigger than they already were, someone might have confused them for a castle's gates.
The fortress-like blacksmith workshop stood between the other buildings like an immovable and impenetrable metal giant. Dark shades could sometimes be seen on its alloy walls waving about as it was drawing in the dull yellow light from the nearby lighting poles with its tempered grey metal. The only thing moving on it was its hanging sign of a hammer striking an anvil that produced a screeching sound every time it swung back and forth.
Any other normal child in Theron's shoes would have probably peed its underpants by now, but that was not the case for him.
The alloy walls reminded him of his past life's infrastructure, bringing forth mixed feelings at the same time. What prevailed from them though, was only the unquenchable desire to see what this metallic "fortress" hid inside. The reason why Alicia stopped here has long being forgotten by him.
His feet were about to move on their own from his growing desire to go inside, when thankfully, Alicia beat him to it when she moved and opened the bulky door first.
*CLANG!* The moment the thick alloy door opened, a loud, resonant sound invaded their ears. The vibration of the sound shook Theron's young body to its core, as if his very soul had resonated with it.
*CLANG!* Five seconds later, another one sounded. And five seconds after that, another.
The rhythmic and constant sound of metal impacting against metal kept resonating within his inner depths, sounding like a heavenly melody to his brain. He didn't even notice when Alicia walked further inside the shop and brought him in front of a counter.
The shop inside looked different than its exterior. The inner walls were of light beige wood, hiding behind them the alloy ones while at the same time they absorbed the clanging sounds of blacksmithing, preventing them from reaching outside.
Various cold weapons were securely hung on them, while on installed, sturdy brown wooden shelves small battle gear were placed. Beneath them, on both sides of the floor, which was made of smooth stone bricks, and at its middle, table showcases stood, holding inside them more expensive items.
The rest of the floor though was not spotless as the shelves and display showcases were.
Small heaps of various and different pieces of metallic gear, weapons and armaments were everywhere around with no apparent plan in their placement, as if they were randomly formed with time by the pieces of products thrown on the floor.
Some of them were even a bit loose with some items on them having rolled off. Theron was really surprised he hadn't trip on any of those when they passed them earlier during the moment he was distracted.
If those heaps of "thrown" products weren't enough, the floor was also smudged black in some places by soot and traces of ash. Most of it must have come from the unpolished pieces on the floor that probably came here straight from the forgery.
Many of those smudges oddly resembled the shape of a boot's footprint and were forming a beeline path towards the back of the counter, where a door to another room was wide open.
As if opposing the filthy state of the floor, a shiny plating armor was on a display stand in front of the counter, on their right. It was dwarfing Theron with its height as he listened at Alicia talking to the shop's salesman; the rhythmic clanging melody was still present on the background, never having stopped or missed the five seconds interval.
Drown by the melody once again, Theron absentmindedly leaned to the right. His feet practically glided on the stone-bricked floor as his line of sight moved directly in front of the open door and aligned with what was beyond it.