" Commander Rafat, welcome !" . says one of the guards .
" Thanks leaf " , says Rafat.
So whose this , one of the new recruits ?" asked leaf
"No no , he is the new blacksmith ."
"Welcome to the castle ,uhmm."
"Warob , he doesn't really talk " , Rafat answers for Warob .
"Welcome warob , grateful to have you here since we were in a real need for a blacksmith ." , says Leaf.
"but thankfully there isn't a big need for weapons right now ." adds Rafat.
" The king is waiting for you in the testing hall."
" that slipped from my mind , thanks Fael , come on lets go ."
Rafat hurried to the testing hall and warob followed . The castle has huge multiple hallways and rooms . The castle is beautiful from the inside . Both enter a big hall with multiple rooms and hallways , Warob stopped for a moment to look around but as he did he lost Rafat . Rafat didn't notice after some time , looking back and realizing , he is not there . I guess I will have to find him later then , I hope he doesn't do something wrong though, Rafat keeps on pacing . Rafat gets to a large double door at the end of a hallway opening it to see Warob standing there with the king . Rafat stood at the door for a moment , surprised and confused , how did he get here ?
"Oh Rafat come here" , says the king smiling .
Rafat approaches the king .
"This fellow is incredible ! where did you find such a warrior ?"
"Wait what ?" says Rafat .
"He passed the test with ease . He possesses such power and skill ." the king says with a laugh patting warob on the back .
" Sir, he was actually supposed to be our blacksmith ." says Rafat.
" He is a blacksmith , that's wonderful but seeing his performance , he is gonna be one of the upper knights , I would like for him to join us in the great hall . He is pure of heart , seems a bit lost but still kind and since everything is a bit peaceful right now , he could still work as a black smith until we need him ," says the king . "I took the test because you seemed to be coming late , but none of the others passed it . "
Rafat looks around to see candidates greatly injured. Golems shattered , the test proctors seem exhausted .
" send these candidates to the healer . Welcome to the castle Warob , if you have any questions , you can ask Rafat."
" Wait, how did you know his name? " asked Rafat .
"Magic users have a way of talking , well it's time for me to rest . " says the king and starts walking towards the door opening and closing the heavy door behind him without moving a finger.
"I guess you met the king , he is very wise and taught me a lot . Even though he is the king , he isn't even a crystal being , people loved him so much they made him the king . Also , congrats on your new position , the king seemed impressed , he appreciates people with great skill or knowledge . He uses magic to see what type of person someone is , so you can trust the people in this castle and you passed the test . I didn't expect you to be a warrior though . Also you're a magic user too! that is so cool ." says Rafat with a smile and excitement .
The darkness in the hood toned down for a split second , but Rafat is unable to see what is under . He didn't say anything about it.
"This is such a cool place, let me show you around ."
The test proctors took the candidates to the healer .
"Also how did you get here ? and I am really sorry for leaving you behind. I didn't notice that you weren't following me because you had no foot steps. I couldn't tell if you were behind me or not until I looked back . "
Warob gestures " no worries ".
"Thanks , so wanna see the castle , I can show you around now . "
Warob nods .
"Okay lets go " .
leaving the testing hall . Rafat shows him around hundreds of rooms, halls and hallways and multiple staircases that go up and down to the multiple floors of the castle . while moving through the castle they arrived at the healer's .
Rafat goes in first .
"hey Mayina , "
"Hello Rafat." says Mayina
a Tori , bushy leaf hair , wooden being .
She is busy treating the candidates . Glancing at Rafat , seeing a tall person with glowing eyes standing behind him , she is suddenly startled .
"Oh this is Warob. He is the new blacksmith , one of the upper knights now , Aaaand....he doesn't talk . And Warob , this is our healer Mayina . "
Mayina , intimidated by his look , she just looked at warob and nervously smiled then went back to healing the wounded.
" So what happened in the test , these people look like they came back from a war . they have deep wounds , it's taking me a while to heal them . " says Mayina as she heals a Othron.
I didn't take the test this time the king did , it was a bit too late ." as he was talking , his eyes fell on the wounded candidate . " Ore i didn't know you were one of the candidates , sorry , if I was there the test would have gone differently , since the king and I have a different approach. " says Rafat sincerely .
" It's all good man. I wasn't good enough to pass so I will keep training , the test was pretty tough , more difficult than I had expected it to be , but I think it's a good thing , it makes me want to improve ." said Ore .
As they were talking, Warob came from behind to the front . Mayina is healing Ore's leg . Warob approaches Ore , moves his hand over a wound on his arm and heals it .
Mayina is stunned by his technique and asks him ,"Wait , How did you do that , I have never seen someone heal that fast ?!" . Warob shows her the hand movement . Mayina repeats it on Ore's leg . Which heals him but still slowly . Ore thanks them both .
"Rafat, see you at the next test ." says ore
"Hopefully I will be there this time ." says Rafat .
They both shake hands and Ore leaves .
"I think we should also leave , Mayina has her hands full right now. It's better if we let her concentrate . also at this pace we wouldn't be able to fully see the castle , there are still so many cool things I haven't shown you . " says Rafat .
Mayina agrees saying they should go . while she starts healing the next wounded candidate .
" Well there isn't much more to see here and it's gonna take you a while if you wanna see the whole castle ." she comments .
"See you later then" says Rafat and leaves out the door , Warob waves and follows behind . Rafat paces around showing all the other places in the castle , the laboratory , library , the dining hall . "I don't really come here , I just go to the inn ." says Rafat . Then came the armory ," this is the armory , where everyone gets their equipment . And right next to the armory is the forge."
Warob enters the forge and looks around . The forge is almost five times bigger than his old workshop , complete with a variety of materials to work with , different metals , hammers of different sizes , a couple of anvils of varying sizes and complete with more tools than a person will ever need . As he looks around his eyes fall on a table filled with damaged swords , shields , armor and a variety of different weapons all in very rough shape .
"That is why not many people are willing to do this job , it pays really well but takes a lot of hard work and effort but i think you would be fine , right now there isn't a need for weapons so you can take your time on these ones . "
and right next to the forge is your room . "
sturdy wooden door beautifully carved . Rafat opens the door to the room . It is huge , a big soft bed , fancy chair and a desk . A book shelf on the side . decorated with beautiful carpets and lanterns . From the window they see the sun going down .
"I think you should rest , we have been walking around for so long and have seen all the important and cool stuff of this castle . It is the first time I have shown someone all of that in a day . I am also pretty tired . if you ever need me , my room is the first room down the hall to the right " says Rafat . Rafat walks out and closes the door behind him . big growls come from his stomach , he hasn't eaten yet . His face is getting a bit pale . He left his food in his room before entering the testing hall .
I am so hungry , I should have eaten when I had the chance to .
He makes his way into his room and starts devouring his food even though it is cold. He savored every bite of it , tears filling his eyes from the relief as the pain of the empty stomach starts to fade .