The Blacksmith

XVII

↜𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥↝

"Not a chance," Leona tells the three consisting of Jack, Grim, and [name].

The demigod let out a sigh, they were expecting this reaction as soon as Jack had offered them to stay at Savanaclaw during the three days of Azul's contract.

"You didn't even pause before answering," Jack sweat drops.

"No pets allowed in the dorm. They shed all over the place,"

"Says the furry," [name] mutters under their breath.

"First of all, I ain't no pet, second, I don't shed! Aren't you guys like, a billion times furrier than me!" Grim yells.

"This is about you, not us," Ruggie shrugs with a smirk.

"For one thing, our empty rooms haven't been cleaned in months. Dorm students use 'em as a dumping ground for their junk. Where are we supposed to put two extra free loaders," Leona eyes [name].

"Oh, I know! Why don't you just bunk with 'em in your room, Leona?" Ruggie looks up at the taller beastman.

The demigod ends up tuning out the conversation, not exactly caring about whatever the guys are yapping about. They lay their head on Jack's arm, they were tired and just wanted to sleep.

"...oys! C'mere for a sec!" [name] hears Leona yell. "Fight my dorm's students. If you win, I'll let you stick around as gophers." Leona smirks.

[name] eyes the three students, their head still resting on Jack's arm. They straighten their posture with a soft sigh.

At once, the three students charged at them. Closing their eyes, [name{ let their natural instincts take over.
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Leona's room was a mess. Thing were everywhere, nothing was placed neatly. It stressed the half-blood out slightly.

The lion beastman, as soon as he entered his room, went to his bed and fell asleep.

"He was out in three seconds!" Grim looks at him with wide eyes.

[name] shushes him and gently places him on the sleeping mat. They stroked his head until they knew he was fast asleep.

Quietly, they opened their bag, taking out Hephaestus's alter and a small pack of hard candy. Walking out to the balcony in Leona's room, they sat the tin on the ground.

Sitting on the ground, [name] lit a small piece of cloth, letting it burn for a second. Carefully opening the bag of candy, they place two in the tin.

"Hi," they take a breath. "I just wanted you to know from me personally, that your alter touching the ground back in Ramshackle was an accident, also please don't count right now the railing doesn't look the safest to put the alter on, I didn't mean to come off as rude to you, that's the last thing I want.

"Especially, after the gods have been so nice to me." A small tear falls from their eyes. "It's weird, back in my world the gods could care less about their demigod children. We have to prove ourselves if we want to find out who are parent is, some never do...

"Sometimes, I think about what would happen differently if the gods back home were as nice. Maybe then...never mind, it's in the past now." [name] wipes their tears before added two more pieces of candy.

The flame flickers brighter, a sad smile appears on their face. [name] turns their attention to the night sky, taking in the peace, their eyes begin to close.
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. [𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦]'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘺 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

"[name]!" A voice yelled at the sleeping demigod.

Said demigod only groans and shifts a bit in their sleep. When a hand tries to grab their arm, they swat it away rather hard.

"Ow!" The voice, who [name] can now recognize as Ruggie hisses.

"What did I tell ya, [name] doesn't get up easy!" Grim grumbles to Ruggie.

"Shut up," the still half asleep half-blood moved away from the noise.

The hyena beastman groans as he pulls [name] up into a sitting position.

"Jeez, for being so small ya sure are heavy..." he mutters.

"Muscles," [name] mutters back, now leaning their weight on Ruggie.

"If you have 'em then use 'em, we do spelldrive practice here so wake up!" A different says sternly.

[name] peeks an eye open to see Leona standing in front of the with his arms crossed, it looks like eh didn't want to be up either.

"I have no magic to use for it, leave me be," they sighed.

"If you staying in my territory, you follow my rules," the lion beastman growled. "Plus, one of the others found this," he throws something on the ground.

A clang rings through the room, the demigod looks down at the source of the noise. When they saw what it was, their eyes widened. On the ground was their spear. Although it was damaged and rusted, it was the same.

Immediately, [name] is heading to the bathroom to get changed. A large grin spreads across their face. This was going to be fun.
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The sound of metal clashing wasn't unheard. The dorm members of Savanaclaw just chose to ignore it as they went on practicing.

Everyone, even Grim, was exercising and playing the game. Well, everyone but [name] who was by away from the people, working on fixing their spear in peace.

Wiping sweat from their forehead, their smile never falling. This was the closest thing to actual blacksmithing. Instead of an avail their using a smooth large rock and their own fire to heat up the metal, but it was a nice feeling of similarity which brought the demigod comfort.

Comfort was needed, especially when they have a deadline hanging over their head. A bitter taste fills their mouth when they think about the deadline.

Now, [name] wasn't a stranger to deadlines and being under pressure. They dislike deadline though as they like to take time on things to make sure everything is perfect.

The hammer hits the spear a bit harder this time, a scowl taking over the once smiling face of the demigod.

Deadlines to them meant imperfections, messy work, angry, and most importantly, the feeling of fear.
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[name] and Grim sat with Leona, Ruggie, and Jack during breakfast. During this time Leona took initiative to make fun of the three.

This made [name] mildly annoyed, but they chose not to say anything.

"I'd get the ball rolling. Time is money after all," Leona makes brief eye contact with the demigod as he says this.
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A/N:
Sorry for the late update! I forgot it was Sunday lol