Chapter 66 - Phrystol

Rynold whizzed past corridors and soon reached the very underbelly of the Tree.

He alighted as soon as he got the entrance of the forge. From the tour that he had the night before, the forge was the place for any sort of work orders and equipment needs.

Looking around, Rynold soon realized that most of the workers were dwarves. Some elves were seen here and there that mainly focused on tailoring while the dwarves were doing other miscellaneous things that require both muscle and technique in their work.

He continued forward and, as the forges and workstations lined up, took a quick left and went towards a path to a rather defunct door.

It was actually the only door that can be seen inside the forge area as the workstations were in open-air areas than enclosed spaces. They were too huge to have their individual and dedicated workstations anyway.

Rynold knocked on the door and let himself in. He couldn't hear anything from all the noise, anyway, so going straight in wasn't completely rude.

The door swung open and a shorter-than-average elf was sitting behind his desk. "Ah! My Lord, what brings you here?" he greeted.

"Just looking around," Rynold politely responded, "how are you, Phrystol?"

The elf's smile was wide as if he was really glad that Rynold had visited him. Phrystol was the head of the forge area and was in charge of all the workers outside of his door. Furthermore, he managed all work orders and construction requests that would arise.

"Never better, My Lord! The personal workshop that you've requested is well on its way. I've added a few touches and customizations that I think you would find useful," Phrystol welcomed Rynold with open arms and invited him to sit down.

Although numerous parts of the Tree found the new Lord as strange and even shown disdain, Phrystol was one of the few who had accepted him. It was his very polite and friendly nature that lead to this, but, at the same time, Phrystol knew that Rynold was interested in forging, and crafting had something to do with it as well.

Rynold sat down, his attitude towards the elf casual and calm as if he had acknowledged Phrystol as his friend. "Thanks," Rynold politely smiled and nodded, "I trust in your decision about these things."

The two casually chatted for a while like new friends but most of the conversation topics were revolved around crafting as a practice.

"I see," Rynold responded to the elf's teachings, "can I actually give it a shot later?"

He was referring to the techniques that Phrystol taught and was itching to get to work. Rynold wanted to give smithing a genuine and honest shot. The things that the elf had taught him had motivated him to work on something even further.

"Of course, of course!" Phrystol showed enthusiasm, "I can show you to my personal workstation in a few minutes, My Lord."

Rynold simply nodded in response and genuinely appreciated this elf's nature towards him. It hasn't been an easy ride so far, after all, and having a new friend that has a mutual interest was something he had missed.

"Hey, Phrystol," he called out.

The elf raised a curious expression, "yes, My Lord?"

"Where's X?"

Rynold had left his Mech Knight and entrusted him onto Phrystol for studying. In all of the years that he had worked with metallurgy and smithing before, the elf had yet to experience a Mech Knight that had gained sentience.

The Lord agreed, naturally, but without setting a few ground rules first that would ensure X's preservation and safety.

"Ah yes. The Mech Knight is currently on the testing grounds. There isn't enough headroom for it to move around in the work area so the testing area is the best place to keep an eye on it without disturbing the work that others are doing," Phrystol explained as he stood up.

"Not to worry, My Lord. The Mech Knight isn't in any danger of the sort. I shall bring you there now if you'd like."

Rynold stood up, smiled, and said, "lead the way."

The two left the room and walked through the forges once more. Along the way, Phrystol explained what some of the dwarves were doing; their projects seem to vary from small armor and gear to cannons and ballista. They were hard at work to protect the tree from invasion.

Not long, both of them reached the very end of a hallway and faced massive industrial doors. It was the entrance to the testing area.

Phrystol held out his hand and infused Mana towards the gate which then slowly swung open.

The testing grounds were a gigantic open area with wooden floors, walls, and ceilings. Rynold considered that wood might not be the best material to use when in a testing area but, then again, the Tree itself was magic.

Rynold saw X in the distance and, together with Phrystol walked to his Mech Knight. It was the first time that he had left X in an unknown environment and Rynold was curious about how things progressed.

"Hey, buddy," Rynold called out as soon as he was within earshot of the Mech Knight.

X turned to face Rynold and with the same mechanical voice, "Hello, Master," he replied.

Patting him on the shoulder, Rynold then proceeded to check on the Mech Knight's condition which seemed relatively unscathed. The term "testing" that Phrystol used seems to be a complete understatement.

"What did they do to you when I was gone?" Rynold asked the Mech Knight who was sitting on the ground.

X thought for a second before responding, "nothing, Master. I sat down here the whole time."

Rynold turned to face Phrystol and asked to confirm to which he nodded in agreement.

"How come you guys didn't do anything to test him?" Rynold asked.

The elf quietly scooted to the side and whispering in a low voice, "there wasn't anything to test, My Lord. The Mech Knight has capabilities beyond our understanding and we thought that observation would be the best way to go about it."

Looking back at X, Rynold considered that Phrystol may be right. There might be a sudden and dangerous development when they provoked X wherein responding could lead to violence. It was something that they shouldn't risk especially if they didn't want to offend the new Lord.

"Alright then," Rynold nodded and checked on X and his wellbeing once more. After a few moments, he turned to Phrystol and got to the task that he was rearing to get to.

The two of them, now along with X, walked back to the forges. Rynold constantly looked back at X, worried that he might have learned something different or obscure from his experience alone. As much as possible, Rynold didn't want to have X end up the same way he did.

But then... that was a story for another day.

For now, though, the three of them finally made it to Phrystol's personal forge.

The elf opened the door with a key that Rynold assumed he would only have a copy of. The door creaked and slowly opened and, at first sight, the whole room seemed to be pristine down to the very inch.

It was odd to find that on a workshop especially that of the man who's on top of his craft, but Rynold commended the cleanliness. The layout of the room seemed familiar, though, but there was some equipment that appeared to be relatively new and high-end.

Upon closer inspection, Rynold felt that he was back to the study that he had first encountered the remnants that the Mech God has left behind. Although the godly aura and the cobwebs weren't there, the workshop still exuded the aura of an experienced master in crafting.

From the Mana Crystal in the center of the room to each individual piece of equipment, Rynold soon realized that he may be in over his head.

He continued to look at the equipment that Phrystol used and it was then that he realized something. Just by using this equipment, Rynold knew that he spoiled the experience of a beginner. It was like a high leveled player giving god-tier gear to a newbie.

Phrystol activated the runes that started the fire. Enchant magic seemed to also manage to work on the bellows that maintained the same consistent level of heat. The equipment was doing a lot more for him than he originally thought.

"My Lord?" Phrystol called out after he finished starting up the workshop, "are you ready to get started?"

Rynold, with a serious expression, nodded in response.

The elf handed him a hammer to which Rynold declined the beautiful and engraved piece of equipment. There were Mana runes and lines that seemed to glisten in the light of the forge fire, Rynold decided he had a better hammer for the job.

So, without further ado, Rynold pulled the hammer that he had gotten before.