*Clang!* A middle-aged man with a wild bushy beard, brought down his hammer on an anvil that had green glowing lines running across its surface.
A turquoise rare grade mekron crystal was slotted in a groove at its center, clearly providing energy across its metal body but for reasons unknown.
*Clang!* Sparks were created and flew around with each strike of the hammer.
Both the hammer and anvil, along with the item between them, vibrated with each fall of the hammer; their metal bodies singing a resonant sound as to declare the connection they shared.
*Clang!* The man was bare-chested as he kept swinging down the hammer. Sweat from the surrounding heat made his bronzed skin gleam like real metal, while the flames from the enormous furnace next to him cast his forging shadow across the far back wall.
His wild bushy beard showed him to be a reckless fellow, as keeping it so uncontrolled and untrimmed in such fiery environment was a flammable risk, ready to be ignited with just a flying spark.
He didn't seem to care at all though. His eyes were glued to the piece of metal he was striking with the hammer, and his thick brows were knitted in deep focus.
*Clang!* Each strike was full of confidence and true on its path, not diverting the slightest from the beginning of their descent.
Without even realizing it, Theron was putting immense strength on his little arms while his palms with his tiny fingers were grasping the edge of the counter, getting white from the pressure. His feet were tiptoeing as he was unconsciously trying to have as best of a view of the crafting process as he feasibly could.
This part of the historical forging process, the striking and forming of the metal, was happening right in front of him and it was so captivating, Theron could not divert his eyes from it. The golden hue in their light brown rings seemed to glow and ever so slowly - almost undetectably - it begun expanding, overtaking the brown color and replacing it with its golden splendor.
The golden hue's invasion over the brown iris was of course happening outside of Theron's knowledge. He couldn't even begin to describe what he was feeling at the moment, let alone being aware of the change happening to his eyes.
Although he had never done or tried anything looking so simple on the act but in truth so complex in its finer workings and at the same time so physical demanding, his engineer's soul stirred from the display and his young heart pounded with each strike.
Oh, how much he wished and prayed to whatever god was idly watching right then, for him to learn how to forge and be in that middle-aged man's position, hammering away at the soft formless metal, morphing it to the shape he wanted and making something new!
Because that was it. The only part that was missing from his past life's engineering job. The creation of what he needed, when he needed it and exactly to his specifications!
There would not be any more frustration waiting for the items he wanted to get ready and delivered. No more receiving parts with the wrong dimensions and specifications, and no more restrictions on what he built!
His daydreaming was so intense, his consciousness could be said to have been detached from his physical body. He wasn't aware of his surroundings anymore, and his vision was in most part impaired by the illusions of his wishes. Only the rhythmic clanging melody that was resonating with his soul remained constant.
*Clang!* Suddenly, after one more strike with the hammer, the middle-aged blacksmith abruptly turned his head to the left, and his piercing gaze met with that of Theron's, immediately shocking him out of his fantasies.
Almost instantly with his senses regaining their focus in the present, the golden hue in his eyes retreated fully. It abandoned its conquered lands and subsided to its former inconspicuous presence.
But its fleeting presence didn't escape the gaze of the blacksmith, for he managed to notice the golden glow for the split second it took to vanish.
Nevertheless, due to his distance from Theron, his eyes misinterpreted it as the sparkle of deep interest and fascination that manifested in the boy's eyes. Ironically, what he confused the golden glow to be wasn't false at all! Theron's eyes "oozed" with his desire to learn the forging technique and use it himself.
With his clear vision back, Theron saw the bearded blacksmith leaving his hammer on the crystal energy powered anvil and dip the red-hot metal in a vertical tube with the help of tongs.
A shroud of white steam poured out of the top of the tube and rose to the ceiling. Only after that did the blacksmith place the piece of metal he was working on on a table on his right, taking a towel instead.
Sloppily wiping the sweat off his face and torso, he unhurriedly started walking towards Theron with his heavy steps, all the while his piercing gaze remained fixated on him.
Around then, after what seemed like forever, Theron could also finally hear Alicia's voice again as she was trying to haggle prices with the shop's salesperson.
"So, one chisel and one hammer are worth 36 black krestal?" Alicia asked. She wasn't familiar with these tools' standard prices and so she was trying to confuse the salesperson with her questions while at the same time analyzing his responses to find out if he was trying to cheat her or not.
"Y-Yes... dear customer." the salesperson answered with a stutter. "16 for the chisel and... 20 for the hammer." he continued amidst pauses.
He was starting to feel short of breath and nervous. The customer before him kept asking him questions about the products and their prices back and forth for the past five minutes! Gradually he was beginning to feel tired and exasperated too from answering the constant questions that kept getting harder and trickier, reminding him of the time he was doing his final exam on school, when he was afraid of being wrong in just a single one of them.
"What if you add two boxes of nails worth 8 each? Will there be a package discount for all of them or will you charge them as they are?" Alicia calmly asked.
"..." 'What package deal and what discount is she talking about? Do we even provide discounts?!' The salesperson was about to lose it. Alicia though wouldn't let him off, even if he seemed ready to faint.
Thankfully, and very lucky for him, the bearded blacksmith reached the open door just in time to unintentionally save his poor employee from further torture.
'Thank you, unknown gods above!' he cried from inside in absolute relief.
Alicia and the rescued salesperson watched the bearded blacksmith as he approached the counter without even sparing them with a single glance. He only stopped when he was just behind it and right across from Theron.
He never stopped eyeing Theron from above with his intense stare, not in the couple seconds he stood there in silence, nor when he finally opened his mouth.
"Oi, kid!" his heavy baritone voice echoed out and sliced through the silence.
"Yes?" Theron answered almost instinctively.
In front of him was someone expert on the amazing art of blacksmithing, an artisan kind of idol for an engineer like him. It was reasonable for Theron to be a little absent-minded.
"Are you interested in being my store's, and in extension my workshop's, shop assistant?"
"YES!" Theron immediately blurted out! His thoughts on the matter only coming a second later.