Chapter 115 Laying Down The Foundations "It's fine, Bruno," Thirteen said to the Ogre that was feeling down because he had turned the Iron Ore into scrap metal. "You'll get used to it soon." Hammering sounds resounded inside the boy's workshop as Cristopher and Brutus also pounded on iron ore with the hammers they held in their hands. Why were they doing that? Thirteen was teaching them how to do Smithing. Of course, he didn't expect the three of them to be proficient in a very short period of time. Even his father, Gerald, took years before he became a decent crafter. Since that was the case, why was Thirteen telling them to do Smithing? The answer was simple. He didn't need to create quality goods. He just needs to mass produce usable items for their hunting party, like arrows for bows, and bolts for crossbows. These things were easier to do because all he needed to do was create moulds for them to be mass produced. Brutus had shown exceptional skills in adapting to things, which might have contributed to him having the Evolver Ability. He was a unique Troll to begin with, and seemed to be a Prodigy within his race. Because of this, he was able to follow Thirteen's orders without fail, and was starting to become fairly decent in forming moulds for the items they needed to craft. What the boy didn't know was that, when he was still alive, Brutus was already fascinated with making his own tools, and weapons. He had tried to carve weapons from monster bones in the past, and although he failed a lot, he still managed to make a somewhat decent weapon. Unfortunately, that weapon of his broke when he went out hunting in the desert. Because of this, he used the wooden club he had before venturing out again. That was the last journey he made because he died when he arrived at the Oasis to drink some water. Fortunately, he was Cristopher's first Brute Monster, allowing him to gain the Evolver Skill, and further grow into a more powerful Troll. "Master, must I really do this?" Cristopher asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Brutus and Bruno can handle this on their own. Why must I also do Smithing?" "Because you didn't train that much in the Leventis Family," Thirteen replied. "The most you did was a bit of survival training. You lack strength and stamina. Smithing is a good way for you to build up your muscles. Now stop talking, and start pounding." Cristopher sighed but did as he was told. The chubby boy was tasked with pounding an iron ore until it took shape. Norris had asked his connection to build a simple forge for Thirteen, and the latter paid for it for 2,000 Silver Coins. He also purchased 1,000 Silvers worth of coals, which would be used to heat up the forge, so they could start smelting metal. Thirteen also bought ready-made smithing tongs and pliers to complete the process. Bruno wielded the Adamantine Hammer, while Brutus and Cristopher wielded steel hammers. But, they didn't just randomly swing their hammers as they did their forging. No. Thirteen was teaching them the proper forms of Blacksmithing, paving the way to building up their foundations in learning the Divine Technique, Hammer for all Seasons. This was the same Technique that Gerald possessed, but instead of spending decades to perfect the technique, it only took him a few months to become proficient in it. The seven-year-old still needed to talk to the Laplace Demon, and The One, if it was possible for them to allow him to impart his Divine Techniques to other people aside from his family. Although it was a long shot, he planned to use this incident as a way to make them compromise. Since that was the case, Cristopher, Brutus, and Bruno, would learn the Martial Technique faster once they mastered the basics, and built a good foundation for it. Also, he was thinking about the future. Unlike Brutus, who had the Evolver Skill, Bruno had lost his ability to Rank Up after he had become an Avatar. Thirteen teaching him how to do Smithing was him being considerate of the Ogre, and preventing him from feeling useless when Cristopher surpassed his Rank. Although it might be cruel, that was the fate of Avatars. Once they were no longer useful, they would either be sold or traded to other people, because their owners left them behind. At least, if Bruno mastered the Hammer For All Seasons up to the Intermediate Rank, he would still be able to become useful as a Monster Smith. If the Ogre focused all of his attention in learning Blacksmithing, then it was not impossible for him to become a Divine Blacksmith, capable of crafting Mythical, Legendary, and Divine-Ranked Equipment in the future. 'Judging by Cristopher's character, I'm sure that he will not throw Bruno away,' Thirteen thought as he watched the chubby boy pound the chunk of metal into random shapes as his training. 'But, he is still young. His mentality can change once he witnesses the cruelty of the world.' If Cristopher didn't really need Bruno anymore then Thirteen would ask him to give the Ogre to his Father. Since he planned to have Gerald focus on crafting, having an Ogre as an assistant would help him tremendously. 'An Ogre Smith… Bruno will probably be the first of his kind in Solterra to get such a profession,' Thirteen thought as he looked at the Ogre who had a determined look on his face as he continued to swing the Adamantine Hammer, over and over again. There were only five days remaining before the Auction started. Thirteen had already made peace with the fact that there was a possibility that he wouldn't have enough funds to bid for the Five-Leaf-Clover. His priority was survival, so he planned to use his funds to bid for the Chad Skunk, which Norris would send to the Auction House. Currently, he only had 59,000 Silver Coins. He could increase it in a short amount of time if he visited the Dueling Arena, and the Gambling Den. However, he was currently banned from doing so. Of course, he could send one of the slaves that Rianna had freed to bid for him, but he didn't want to break Raldo's trust. The Dueling Arena and the Gambling Den was the business of the City Lord. Since Raldo was working with such an individual, it would be bad to make an enemy of him. Besides, he had a feeling that they would be staying in Gronar City for a period of time, so antagonizing the City Lord was not something they could afford to do at this moment in time.