“Hey! You’re Barras right?” The half-oni marched into the swelteringly hot forge, grateful that she had swapped her heavy armour out for a pair of trousers and a long sleeved short. The heat of this forge would have simply been the death of her otherwise but that was besides the point. Before her stood Barras, a muscular giant of a man, sporting the short and scruffy hair one might expect from a man who devoted his life to the forge. The blacksmith looked up from his work, having been hammering a sword into shape, before getting back to work. He absolutely could not pause this. That would ruin the blade.

“My assistant pulled an arm muscle, the poor lad. Grab some gloves and an apron. Then get a hammer. You’re hammering metal out flat for me. Make sure it’s not too thin but not too thick. The lad will give you some advice.” Barras’ request was a simple one, followed up by him dunking the finished sword into a giant barrel of water, a vast amount of steam escaping as the metal rapidly cooled. Was that everything? It was not exactly the kind of work Kaida really relished doing but hey, she needed money and this was really the only kind of work open to a random no name foreigner from some distant land.

“Alright.” The half-oni’s reply was curt and to the point, punctuated by her just getting to work. She snatched up an apron and a hammer, slipping them over her clothing before taking up the hammer. She stood before the anvil, hammer in hand and awaiting the metal. Barras’ assistant pulled a simple iron ingot from the flame and placed it down upon the anvil. The half-oni immediately pulled her hammer back and brought it down upon the heated ingot.

She swiftly got into a rhythm, a habit, of hammering on the steel. Up and down, up and down, up and down. The ringing of a hammer on steel filled the smithy, taking up the space and adding to the ambience, creating music of a type. Ring. ring. ring. The hammer on steel melted into the ambience of the forge, blending with the crackling of the fire and the roar of the furnace.

One ingot, two ingots, three ingots. The hours passed by, day turned to afternoon and afternoon to evening. Each flattened ingot was handed from one anvil to another, passed from the half-oni’s hands to the hands of Barras who, true to his career, fashioned each ingot into the blade of a sword. The trio of Barras, his assistant and of course Kaida ended up getting a rather nice tempo going, a cadence of efficacy but like many things in life it would have to come to an end.

The sun was setting and simply put, it was time to wind down. The fires were extinguished, the forge slowly quieted down, its cinders simmering away at the bottom of the fire pit.

“Good work. You’re not half-bad at this. Catch.” The blacksmith threw a simple pouch of coins towards Kaida, which she easily caught, before nodding at her.

“Hah! Of course. I’m the Greatest Under Heaven.” With unwavering confidence bordering on pure egotism, Kaida made her boastful claim before taking her leave, smiling to herself all the while.