"Barras again huh?" Eteri said as she glanced over her quest. Briefly, the young elf remembered how the last time she accepted his quest. She was sore for several days afterward and her arm hadn't forgotten the pounding she had to do. Breathing in deeply and letting out a sigh, she stretched out her arms as they ached in phantom pain. "Let's go!" She exclaimed to herself as she started to jog towards the blacksmith's place of work.

On arrival, the sorcerer found Barras pounding away on metal and already hard at work as she watched a bead of sweat roll down his face. "Hey Barras, ready to put me to work?" Eteri said with a gentle wave and a cheerful voice.

"Eteri, perfect timing. I need you to help out my assistant today but differently than last time." He gestured to his assistant and explained the details of today's assignment. She wouldn't be pounding on metal today, but constantly heating the metal for his assistant. He showed her the tongs and the proper technique.

An assistant for the assistant. The elf giggled at the thought and nodded at the instructions. The assistant lead Eteri to his station and showed her the tools necessary for the task today. He started hammering away on the metal promptly afterwards. At first, it was every few minutes the metal would start the cool, so she found herself using the tongs frequently to heat the metal. She would gently grab the cooled metal, hold it above the flames for a few seconds as the metal would turn from gray to hot orange, and then place it in front of the assistant again.

As the day went on, the amount of times required to heat got shorter as the hammer pounding on the metal increased. The sound of the metal ringing against the hammer was different when it wasn't her swinging the hammer. The sound was hollow and echoed in the room. Wiping sweat from her forehead, today's work was different than before. Her forearms were starting to burn and the air was becoming smokey with the constant fire use.

Eteri told the assistant she was going to step out for a second after returning the heated metal. Just a few steps and she was outside in the fresh air. Looking down at her arms, she noticed they were covered in soot. Patting her arms, the soot flew off causing her to cough a little. She took a deep breath in and then returned inside to finish off the job.

A few more hours of grabbing the metal with tongs, heating the metal, and placing it in front of the assistant. Barras come in at the end of the today to check on their progress. He nodded with approval and made a few critiques on the metal. Turning to the young woman, he thanked her for her hard work and gestured for her to follow so he can give her the reward.

WC: 504