It didn't take long for Theron to find what he was looking for upstairs.
With the exception of a small dining table, two chairs and a couple of cupboards next to the walls, the only other things on the floor were three doors: one left, one right and one ahead.
The one ahead was a bedroom. A simple one, with just a bed, a bedside table and a wardrobe. To the door on the left, he found a room full of shelves; many different metals, ores and other materials were on them. Behind the last door was where he found a storage room and what he was looking for.
Discarded in a corner were a dozen buckets, while on top of a four-tier long shelf he found many pieces of cloth. Taking two buckets for a start and as many cloth pieces he could carry, after dusting them off of course, he returned downstairs.
He needed to make the trip upstairs and back three more times to get the necessary number of buckets he required. After half filling one of them with water from the tab, he had everything ready and was good to start.
The process of cleaning the items from the quenching oil residues and long-seated dust was a difficult task to accomplish and one needing his absolute focus at that, but doable, nonetheless. Even when later that morning, the blacksmith's nephew, Bryan came in to start his lazy work of sitting behind the counter, Theron ignored him after a simple greeting and carried on with his cleaning job without losing his focus on it.
By the end of his first day at work, at mid evening when Frank came to pick him up, Theron had polished more than half of the scattered piles on the floor and temporarily organized the cleaned items in the available buckets according to their type.
Miscellaneous items like travel bags' buckle fasteners, door hinges and similar others were split into three different buckets depending on where they are used for, while small outfit accessories like belt buckles or even battle gear like knee protectors were kept separately in others.
While the cleaning denied him the chance to observe any blacksmithing during the day, the repeated clanging melody that was produced kept his soul adequate company.
With the other half of the pilling items to sort out tomorrow, a now working Theron returned home with Frank, physically exhausted but satisfied even so.
After a good rest and a night's sleep, Theron was accompanied once again by Frank to his work for his second day, and just like the day before, he dedicated the day to finishing the cleaning and temporarily organized the remaining items in the buckets just the same. A quick but thorough mopping of the floor later, the shop's floor was spotless without a speck of dust on sight.
Thus, the second day of his first job in this life came to a satisfying conclusion as well.
The days that followed kept him busy with different chores in bringing the workshop to a clean and organized state. From the store part at the front to the workshop at the back and the two storerooms upstairs, all passed by the expert hands of Theron.
And he didn't just clean. After requesting Derion to order many wooden planks, he even made simple cupboards with drawers to put the cleaned items of the former piles in.
Although Derion didn't even put the cleaning and organizing of his workshop in his mind as something that needed to be done, that didn't stop him from being pleased by the end results.
The days turned to weeks, and Theron kept the workshop in optimal state with minimal effort. He even had the time to watch Derion work and analyze his techniques. It wasn't long before Derion took notice of that, but he didn't care about it to stop him from doing so.
When Theron eventually asked him for tips and advises on blacksmithing, a few weeks on the job, he was more than happy to satisfy the kid's curiosity.
As a matter of fact, that curiosity for his profession was the primary reason why he offered the kid the job in the first place.
It was long overdue in his thoughts to have an apprentice to learn his trade, and since his nephew unfortunately didn't have the talent for it, he decides to take somebody outside the family. Theron happened to walk in his workshop that day and he could see in the kid's eyes the interest he had in blacksmithing. It was time to test if he had the talent for it too.
During the few months that followed his decision, Theron demonstrated that he indeed had what it took to be a blacksmith.
Derion started testing his resolve and endurance by giving him small assignments, like keeping the furnace on and its flames strong by continuously supplying charcoal to the fiery beast or polishing the battle gear and blades Derion forged with the grinding wheel that was next to the table, on the left side of the room; an equipment that Theron missed to spot it on his first day.
And Theron didn't disappoint Derion's expectations of him, after all.
Although he, with his young and small body would be tired and sore at the end of each day at the beginning, soon his body was gradually refined and toughened up from the searing heat of the room and the heavy lifting he constantly performed, adapting to the demanding chores and the harsh environment as a result.
Derion of course saw Theron's exhaustion at the beginning, but he didn't care about it or gave easier tasks to Theron. What mattered to him was if Theron could overcome the adversity or be defeated by it. When he saw the kid keep improving instead of collapsing, it pleased Derion greatly. The kid's tenacity and perseverance affirmed him of his choice to take him as an apprentice.
When Derion eventually asked him to be his apprentice, Theron didn't have to think twice for even a fracture of a second, agreeing with it immediately. That was what he wanted anyway since taking this job.
Since then, Theron changed the way he addressed Derion from mister Bronz to master Bronz, showing him the respect he deserved as his teacher.