Alexi and Lacey headed from Daemonology towards Weapon Maintenance, their next class, followed closely by Vincent and Nathan. Alexi cracked her back as they walked, stiff from all their time sitting, while Lacey kept pace beside her, largely silent as she kept her gaze lowered. They exited the main building and stepped onto the winding path towards the smithy. Alexi had a feeling she knew what was bothering the other girl, but before she could ask, she was interrupted by Nathan.

  “So did none of you recognize our instructor?” He asked, fingers interlocked behind his head.

  “Should I have?” Alexi asked, turning to look back at Nathan. “Joshua told me that all the instructors here are veterans, but he looked pretty young.”

  “That would be because he is,” Vincent replied, sounding half-bored. “Gabriel Klavis is the youngest person to ever graduate from Lostvail, at only thirteen years old. He’s regarded as a prodigy in the Daemon-hunting world.”

  Nathan nodded enthusiastically. “It’s amazing that such a high-profile hunter is teaching us! We are learning from the best!” His excitement was quickly tempered, smiling turning into a confused frown. “Although, from what I heard, he stopped active duty after a family tragedy.”

  “You don’t say,” Alexi said softly, taking no joy in the revelation. She tried to push the thought down as they reached the entrance of the smithy, a small rectangular building with thick, black plumes of smoke rising from the chimney. The group was met with a blast of hot, stale air as they opened the door. The building was mostly empty, save for the stone staircase in the middle of the room, leading down beneath the ground. The sounds of metal clashing against metal echoed out from it, and the closer they got to it, the higher the temperature rose.

  “Well, I suppose the only way forward is down.” Shrugging, Nathan was the first to descend the stairs, with the others following close behind. The further down they travelled, the thicker the air became. Soaked with sweat in seconds, Alexi wondered what the point of showering earlier that morning had been as she felt her hair sticking to the back of her neck and face.

  “Well this…sucks.” Nathan gasped, pulling at the front of his shirt in a vain attempt to fan his chest. “How is it allowed to be this hot!?”

  “I…feel like…I’m dying…” Squeaked Lacey.

  Despite his silence, Alexi was happy to note that even Vincent was sweating uncomfortably in the heat, though he seemed to choose to suffer in silence.

  After what seemed like an eternity, the staircase finally reached a large stone arch, and beyond it, the forge. The main amphitheatre was sprawling, covering a good amount of distance beneath the academy grounds, a massive fire roaring in its centre with the same thick smoke they had seen outside rising into a sizable hole above them. It bathed the forge in a harsh orange glow, shadows dancing across the soot-stained walls. Anvils and steel tables were placed seemingly at random around the room, many of them covered in hammers, tongs, vice grips, and a mixture of finished and unfinished weapons. Alexi noted several tunnels that branched off the main hall, their passageways barely illuminated by the light of the fire.

  “Ah, there you are! I was wondering when you lot would make it.”

  The voice, low and gruff, called out from behind one of the anvils. The man hammering away at a white-hot piece of iron threw it into the cooling bath before coming out to greet them. He was a short, rotund sort of man, his bare arms coated in a thick layer of hair that did little to hide the numerous burns and scars. He wore a blacksmith's smock, and as he pulled off his thick leather gloves, he turned up to look at them all. His eyes were sharp, if not a little sunken in, his greying hair receding, and his face covered in soot. As he turned his gaze on Alexi, it took them a moment to recognize each other.

  “Alexi, my girl!”

  “Garoth!”

  The pair embraced, laughing for a long moment at the reunion, before finally pulling away. Garoth ran his hand through his balding head, shaking it. “Finally convinced that stubborn old goat to let you come, eh? And while I’m here, too!”

  “What are you doing here, Garoth? What happened to the shop in Hindstone?”

  She had first met Garoth in Hindstone, one of the southernmost settlements on the continent. It had been Garoth who forged Alexi’s sword when Joshua finally felt she earned it. It had been her thirteenth birthday, one of the few days she remembered fondly.

  “Ah, well, the Headmaster offered me a position here after Joshua sent him a letter. He praised the craftsmanship of the sword I made for you, apparently. He offered me a job on the spot, and I’d be a fool to refuse a chance to work for Lostvail!” He rubbed the stubble on his chin and laughed heartily. “Glad they can recognize quality when they see it.”

  Reaching behind her, Alexi pulled her sword from its sheath and presented it to Garoth. “It’s never failed me. Not once, Garoth. I’ve taken good care of it.”

  Garoth snorted and patted Alexi’s shoulder good-naturedly. “Well, you certainly won’t be the judge of that.” Turning away, he pursed his lips and whistled loudly. “Chloe! I got a job for you!”

  “Coming, Daddy!” Walking out from one of the connecting corridors was a young woman around Alexi’s age. While short and slightly plump, Alexi noted that the arm she wiped the sweat from her brow was corded with muscle. Her chestnut-coloured hair was tied up in a tight bun, and as she came up beside him, it was apparent how similar she and her Father were dressed. Her bare arms were covered in minor burns.

  “This is my daughter, Chloe! Chloe, this is Alexi. She’s the one I made that sword for.” Chloe’s eyes widened in recognition at Alexi’s name, before her gaze lowered towards the sword. She was upon it in a second, studying the blade intently with a look of awe. “I want you to run maintenance on it for me.”

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  Chloe stared at her father, shocked. “W-wait, are you sure, Daddy? This is your finest piece.”

  “That’s exactly why I want you to take care of it. If you’re going to take over the shop back home, you should be able to do this much. The rest of you.” Garoth motioned to Vincent, Nathan and Lacey, acknowledging their existence for the first time. “I will look at your weapons and run maintenance on them myself. An unmaintained weapon leads to a dead hunter one hundred percent of the time.”

  The three followed Garoth down one of the winding tunnels, leaving Alexi and Chloe alone in the main chamber. The pair stood awkwardly momentarily, Chloe staring at Alexi’s blade with respect and fear. She swallowed hard before nodding. “Right. Maintenance on the finest piece of metalwork my Father has ever created. No pressure. Come on, follow me.”

  Turning on her heel, Chloe reached a nearby anvil, gently placing the sword on top. Taking a deep breath, she began to look around her workspace, muttering something under her breath that Alexi couldn’t quite pick up. Her arms were well defined, and her scars were highlighted in the light of the massive flame in the center of the room.

  “You and your Father don’t wear anything to protect your arms?” Alexi asked, searching for something to break the uncomfortable silence hanging between them, and silently cursing herself for once again finding the most awkward subject to talk about.

  Finding a pair of sturdy, bronze goggles, Chloe strapped them to her head and slid them over her eyes. She sat in front of the anvil and began to examine Alexi’s sword, adjusting the settings on them as she moved her gaze from the pommel up to the blade. “My Father says that a smith must respect the flame. To respect the flame, you must first feel its wrath. The only times I’ve ever been burned were when I forgot that.”

  “Joshua told me something similar about my weapons. You must respect them, or they won’t hesitate to remind you why.” Kneeling to be at her level, Alexi watched intently as Chloe examined her weapons. She couldn’t help but notice the slight smile on her face.

  “Joshua is a man my Father respects. From what he’s told me, Joshua has come to him for weapons for as long as he can remember. Or he did when he was still able to make the trip regularly. I can see you’re someone worthy of respect, too.” Pulling away from the sword, Chloe tugged off her goggles and shook her head in disbelief. “She’s in fine condition. I’m used to seeing my Father’s blades come back chipped, so it's nice to see.”

  Alexi couldn’t help but puff her chest out proudly at her words. “Well, of course I do. While I use a revolver as a backup weapon, that sword is a work of art. Without it, I couldn’t even do my job.” Looking down at the sword, Alexi’s gaze softened as she reached out to run her fingers over the flat edge. “Besides, it’s precious to me. It represents Joshua’s trust in me. That I was finally ready to kill Daemons by myself.” As the words left Alexi’s mouth, her argument with Joshua the night before flashed through her mind, causing her smile to vanish. “At least, that’s what I thought.”

  A look of concern crossed Chloe’s face, chewing on her bottom lip as she glanced anywhere other than directly at Alexi. “Oh!” She said suddenly, making Alexi jump. “You use a revolver, right? I can take a look at it too if you’d like. I ended up psyching myself out, so the least I can do is check your gun.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it,” Alexi responded, reaching down to her thigh to unstrap her revolver. She placed it in Chloe’s hands, who gasped at how heavy the admittedly oversized revolver actually was.

  “This seems…wildly impractical.” She blurted out, studying the silver piece. “The kickback on this thing must be killer.”

  “Yeah…” Alexi sighed, rolling her left shoulder. “To be honest, I’ve got chronic shoulder pain because of it. It’s a use-case scenario sort of deal.”

  With a sound of disapproval, she began to take apart the revolver, paying special attention to the bullets, whistling. “When firearms were introduced as viable tools in Daemon hunting twenty years ago, it was only because smiths found a way to create large calibre rounds like these. The drawback seems to be potential long-term damage to the user over the years. I really would be careful how often you use this revolver.” Chloe looked up from the dismantled gun, a look of frustration on her face.

  “What’s up?” Alexi asked curiously, looking from Chloe to her revolver, concerned that something was wrong with the weapon. “I just cleaned it the other day; nothing should be wrong with it.”

  Chloe sighed, shaking her head. “No, that’s not it. I’m sorry, I just get frustrated every time I see one of these bone-breakers. We’ve hit a smithing dead-end in the last few years. The introduction of firearms has been a double-edged sword.” Passion was rising in Chloe’s voice, causing the former quiet volume of her voice to start to increase slowly. “I often wonder what if we pushed the envelope further? How can we innovate our weapons to make them even more effective against the Daemons? Go as far as to create a weapon strong enough to kill a Greater-” Chloe stopped mid-sentence, her face glowing a bright red as she looked at Alexi. “You’re staring at me.”

  “Sorry!” Alexi apologized quickly, enthralled by the other young woman’s fervent passion. She wasn’t even aware of how hard she had been staring or for how long. “I’ve sworn to kill as many Daemons as possible, so having more efficient ways of doing so sounds like a dream.”

  Chloe nodded, putting Alexi’s gun back together and handing it to her. “I hope to be as good a smith as my Dad one day. I’ll need to be if I’m going to take over his shop. That blade you carry is my benchmark for success.” Chloe, seemingly wanting to continue but thinking better of it, closed her mouth, chewing on her bottom lip. More silence hung between them for a few seconds. “Alexi, can I ask you a favour?”

  “Depends on the favour, but I’ll try my best,” Alexi responded, folding her arms across her chest as she studied the nervous smith.

  “If I can ever create something that surpasses my Father’s sword, would you promise to carry it into battle with you?”

  Alexi was admittedly taken off guard by the request. She looked down at the sword she had been carrying for five years now, the weapon that had become an extension of herself, and a symbol of the pride Joshua supposedly had in her. It was a blade that had never let her down, nor could she see that happening. While she could never replace it, eventually learning to dual-wield sounded interesting. “I’d be honoured, Chloe.”

  “Glad to see you two getting along. I hoped you’d make friends while we were here, Chloe.” The rumbling sound of Garoth’s voice cut through their conversation as he re-entered the main chamber, followed closely behind by Lacey, Nathan and Vincent. He seemed rather pleased with himself as he turned from his daughter to them. “Now remember what I told you lot, and I’ll tell you, Alexi. While this is technically a class on your timetable, you only need to come whenever you need maintenance done on your weapons. That being said, even if you do handle your own maintenance,” He gave Alexi and Vincent poignant looks, “I expect to see you at least once a week so Chloe or I can ensure you’re not going into any missions with faulty equipment. From what I’ve heard, you won’t need to worry about that for a little while.”

  Alexi smiled at Chloe, ensuring all her gear was in their place. “I’ll be around for regular check-ups anyway. I need to be a loyal customer to the new owner of your shop after all.”

  Garoth let out another hearty laugh, slapping Chloe on the back in fatherly fashion. “That’s my girl! A repeat customer already.”

  Chloe smiled gratefully at Alexi, her cheeks reddening slightly as she leaned into her Father. “I'll be seeing you around, Alexi.”