Chapter 585 More of a Warrior
For now, Eisen followed the Dark Elf together with the four other Originals, the man that led the group here, Hephaestus, as well as Denmir, as he was now the lord of this island's central town. The others stayed in the front of the workshop talking to some of the people there and just looking around or trying to figure out what these people knew. In particular Eisen's two apprentices were quite curious, as they still didn't have too much experience with craftsmen other than Eisen.
The room beyond the door that the Dark Elf brought them to was rather small, something like an office for the bit of necessary paperwork probably. Mostly there seemed to be notes about things like comissions or material orders here, but there also seemed to be information about the people living in this place. This Dark Elf really did seem to be the head of the village right now.
The Dark Elf slowly sat down on one of the chairs and offered the other ones to everyone standing there. But in the end, only Eisen, Hephaestus and Denmir actually sat down, since they were the more 'central' parts of this conversation, or at least that's what everyone figured would happen.
"It is a true honor to be able to see you again." The Dark Elf pointed out, and the moment that he did, the Guard-Captain that had led them here looked at him with confusion, "Asmond, what is the meaning of this? Who is this man?" He asked, and the Dark Elf slowly turned his head toward him, "A person you shall never anger or harm, you understand?" Asmond pointed out, but before the guard could become too nervous, Eisen simply laughed it off.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to make enemies with anyone. And your intentions weren't bad and you were just trying to protect the townsfolk, so it's fine." The old man replied quickly, and then turned back toward Asmond, "Either way, I have to say, I'm rather surprised to find a former apprentice of mine here." Eisen said, and Asmond quietly laughed.
"I am sure you are. Presumably, the town fell before you lost your memories, so there was no real way to anticipate something like this." Asmond added, "But well, why exactly are you here? Do you require our help in taking back the town?"
"Ah, no, we've actually already done that. The town is now part of our country again as well. This Dwarf here is the current Lord of the town." With that, Eisen slowly held his hand toward Denmir, who was smiling lightly in front of this old, obviously skilled craftsman.
Asmond stared at Eisen for a few moments to figure out if he was serious or not, and then simply started to laugh loudly, "Haha, as expected of you. You always do things nobody would be able to anticipate. So in the end, you came to wish to ask us to come nad return to the town?" The dark-Elf inquired, and without having to hesitate or wait, Eisen nodded his head, "Yes, that's exactly why we're here, actually. We need your help in returning the town to what it used to be. We already have a rather high amount of manpower, but it's brutish manpower, so there aren't many people with the kind of skills or expertise that we currently need. We do have four Grandmasters of their respective Occupations, but that's not necessarily enough right now."
Asmond slowly turned toward the dwarf that was sitting next to Eisen, and then slowly nodded his head in satisfaction, "It's that young man, I assume?" The Dark-Elf asked, and Denmir quickly replied, "Aye, one of'em is me. I be a blacksmith by trade." Denmir pointed out with a lightly smug expression and Asmond smiled broadly.
"I see, I see! I have to say, becoming a Grandmaster is quite impressive! We currently have about six or seven of them in this town ourselves. Two of them are blacksmiths. Would you be interested in comparing your skill to them?" The Dark Elf asked, and Denmir widened his eyes a bit, "Ya've got blacksmithing grandmasters 'ere as well?"
"Haha, of course we do. This is the island of the god of craftsmanship, blessed by the presence and leadership of the greatest craftsman in existence." Asmond pointed out. Eisen slowly turned his head toward the Dark-Elf as he was speaking, and had to just lightly frown. Overall, he seemed to be laughing and trying to be lighthearted abotu this. He was smiling, his general body language showed amusement, and the crow's feet at the sides of his eyes wrinkled up a bit.
But nonetheless, the actual stare that Asmond was giving Denmir was anything but humorous. It was more of a glare than anything, as if he wanted to somehow test Denmir right now. And it seemed to be working, since Denmir was slightly shaking right now. It did make sense, really. The highest number of Grandmaster craftsmen ever seen living in the same town at the same time, excluding the period of time that Denmir, Folmirra, Jekyll and Mororm lived in Melroe, was two. And it was in the capital of the dwarven country for a few years.
Melroe was a special, extraordinary place to Denmir, so hearing that there were nearly double the grandmasters here, not to mention two of them that shared his occupation, would make anyone nervous. Especially if there was someone like Asmond exposing him to such an intense, eery presence.
Seeing that, Eisen snapped his fingers in front of the Dark-Elf's face, "Please stop with that, please. I acknowledge his skill, Asmond. Trust me on this one. You don't need to test him with a skill contest." Eisen pointed out. A few moments later, after thinking a bit, the Dark-Elf nodded his head.
"Of course. If that is the case, I apologize for being rude to-" Asmond started, but to the surprise of not only him and Eisen, but also the others, as they also understood how serious things like jealousy were, Denmir had a slightly different opinion, "Why'd we not have that contest? Aye, I will face off against'em as many times as they want, this old dwarf ain't going to lose." Denmir pointed out with a broad grin. Eisen looked at him with surprise for a few moments, before he just started to laugh loudly.
He should have expected that. Denmir wasn't nervous about being told something like this, but rather, he was simply excited. Glad that the dwarf was feeling that way, Eisen turned toward Asmond, "You heard him. We can have a competition. But it won't be one that will put the leadership of the town on the line, if you're hoping to turn it into something like that. There are multiple reasons why we made him Lord, and it wasn't just related to him being an amazing craftsman. It's an important skill to hold for a town like this, but it was an unanimous decision made by me and these four. They hold slightly different values to me. That should be enough to vouch for this decision." Eisen explained, and Asmond simply looked back at the old man that used to be his teacher in thought.
"I see… I understand. That is truly something that I had not considered so far. Once more, I apologize for being rude." Asmond pointed out, but Denmir slowly shook his head, "Ah, don't worry 'bout it. I know that I may not seem like I'd be a good Lord, but it's the task I've been given by everyone." The dwarf explained, and Eisen slowly chuckled.
"Exactly. Denmir is a great blacksmith, there is no doubt about that. I would say that when it comes to smithing, he and I are rather evenly matched." Eisen pointed out. There were definitely some weird undertones to saying something like that, but everyone here in this room understood that it was meant as an actual compliment, and understood it as such. Especially Denmir simply stared back at Eisen with a broad, awkward smile after hearing that, despite being a grown man with a wife and children.
The only one that didn't understand why Eisen could so freely say something with such narcissistic undertones without anyone minding was the man that led them to this workshop in the first place. He slowly stepped up to Eisen and placed his hand onto his shoulder to try and pull him around. But of course, due to Eisen's overwhelming physical strength, it was like trying to twist a boulder around on the spot.
With a bit of frustration, the man simply continued while trying to act as if he didn't care or this was intended and slightly stepped in front of Eisen so that he could look into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I don't care who you are! Even if you may be Asmond's former teacher, but that is no reason to feel superior! Asmond was taught by many so that he could truly expand his skills, as well as their range and usability! Superior specialists in their fields, private craftsmen to kings, and above them all, the great one that peaked! The honored individual, Eisen! It doesn't matter if a man such as you taught him, a person that merely acts as an envoy for a country would never be able to compare to Asmond's greatness!" He exclaimed with true passion, and everyone in the room was completely and utterly silent.
Eisen himself placed his face into his hands in frustration, while Brody and Jyuuk were trying their hardest to hold back their laughter. Hephaestus didn't even try, he simply let out a loud wheeze in response to hearing that utterly unnecessary speech.
Confused at everyone's reaction, the man added, "I-I mean, am I wrong? Just look at him! Especially his right arm, look at how scarred it is! By the gods, he's even missing a finger! It doesn't matter what he's wearing, it's obvious that this man is more of a warrior than a craftsman!" The man exclaimed, and Eisen immediately raised his head and stared right into the man's eyes. It wasn't that this statement was inherently insulting. Being a warrior wasn't anything bad, Eisen greatly respected people like Brody. But Eisen just wasn't a warrior. Sure, he knew basics, and he did make use of his sword sometimes, but usually in just rather sloppy and rough ways. He simply wasn't a warrior. And that's why the statement 'more of a warrior than a craftsman' was insulting to Eisen.
Being lesser at his only true passion that Eisen dedicated his life to, than something about which he didn't know much more than the basics. That was insulting. And it seemed like the man noticed that Eisen was feeling this way as well.