NOVEL WEB The dwarfs’ forge!
*Vol.1: Tales of a God.
Chapter 5 - The dwarfs' forge!
Hello there!
Please, enjoy the chapter!
Pov Thor.
"Learn to forge?... My nephew... Only dwarves, and their descendants, are assigned to the forges. We are Asgardians, we don't forge our weapons, we let the dwarves forge for us," said my uncle Loki.
And there was the thought of superiority... Foolish uncle, you have to think outside the box!
Thanks to my mother Frigg, affectionately nicknamed: the Encyclopedia, I realized something...
We cannot depend on the dwarves to forge our weapons forever! What if they decided to go back to Midgard Underground, called Nidavellir, and abandon us? They just haven't come back so far because they're afraid of being invaded by the Jotun led by Útgard... Because I found out from my mother what an idiot the Jotun race is, I wouldn't be surprised if they broke the peace and rebelled against the kingdoms, this will cause Asgard to go to war once more, and if Asgard wins the war? Odin is not recognized as a benevolent god in the books...
The Jotun have only been alive so far, as Odin's father, my grandfather Borr, made peace by marrying a Jotun, who would become Odin's mother, my grandmother Bestla... But if the Jotun break the peace? I do not doubt that my old man will retaliate, whether his mother is a Jotun or not... If that happens the dwarves no longer need to stay in Asgard, I must take advantage while they are here to learn from the best blacksmiths!
"Hum... Could you explain to me why you want to learn how to forge my son?" asked Odin curiously.
"I wish…to expand my abilities" I replied.
It wasn't a lie… But it wasn't the whole truth either; after all, I had some rather crazy ideas when combining magic runes with the dwarf forge, the first idea that came to my mind?
Living Armor!... Or something close...
Why not? I knew there was already a living sword, the famous Dainsleif! A cursed sword made by a dwarf named Dain who dared to mix runes with forge, was said that the one who unsheathes it must kill a man to have its scabbard returned, otherwise it will devour some of the user's life force!
Thank you Frigg-Encyclopedia!
Due to the emergence of such a curse, it was decided as common sense to no longer mix magic with forge... BUT I will not follow such common sense! I suspect that the dwarf Dain was too quick to make a legendary weapon that was on par with Odin's spear, as it was Odin himself who made the runes for his spear, so Dain must have missed the runes during the forge and that resulted in the curse on the sword... Dwarves were recognized for their talent in forging, not magic runes.
I won't make the same mistake!
So I will study runes magic and forge rigorously, and I had already started runes with my mother, it was time to learn how to forge.
"Hmm... As long as I think you're more of a warrior than a blacksmith... I don't think denying your wish is a good thing, as I feel you'll ignore it again if I deny your request," said Odin, with a sly smile.
... I will not deny the truth of these words.
"So… I'll support you –" Odin started to say, but I soon cut him off.
"Thank you, old man!" I replied hastily, already leaving the room.
"- BUT You must convince the blacksmith who will teach you, and don't even try to use your prince status... The dwarves don't care about that," continued Odin.
...Okay... This might complicate things a bit.
"...Right old man..." I replied, not so confident.
And then I left the throne room.
3rd Person POV (Throne Room)
"…Don't you think you're spoiling him a little? You're giving in to everything he asks for," Loki said as he crossed his arms, with an accusatory tone with a small smile on his face.
"Hahaha… Maybe you're right brother, but if he wants to stay strong in every way, and if it benefits Asgard… By all means, I'll spoil him as much as possible! He is one of the princes of Asgard, and as my beautiful Frigg is finally pregnant after centuries with my first child with her... I will support him so that in the future he supports his little brother who will be the future king... Just like you support me brother" replied Odin.
Loki didn't say anything, but he still had a smile on his face.
"If our meeting is already over, I will retire to my room... I would like to see how my beloved Frigg is doing..." said Odin.
"…Certainly brother, I would be a fool to keep you from meeting your beautiful wife," said Loki, with a playful smile.
"Thank you Loki, we'll see you in the next meeting," said Odin, already walking towards the exit.
As Odin left the throne room... He didn't see that the god Loki had lost the smile on his face, and his gaze had turned to an icy one.
Pov Thor.
I soon headed to the forge of Asgard, and into the building.
The first thing I noticed about the people working on it... was that its main occupants didn't even notice my arrival, or didn't care, they were all focused on their respective projects.
So these are the dwarfs? Hmm... Now... How to convince one of them to teach me how to forge?
I soon approached the closest dwarf.
"Um... Hey, can I have a minute of your tim-."
"Shut up brat! Can't you see I'm busy? Go find something to do!" shouted the dwarf...
He doesn't even look at me...
... But what a rude little bearded Yoda...
I frowned, but then addressed another dwarf...
Note to me... ALL DWARFS ARE RUDE!
I tried to talk to any dwarf, but I was always greeted with rude words, I had given up and was now sitting on a table... The reason?
If a dwarf answers me rudely again, I would explode... I think I'm having anger issues right now... So I decided to wait for some dwarf to finish or take a break from their work so I can have a civil conversation ... I guess? It was my best option after all, so I decided to wait until an opportunity presented itself.
Until I heard something behind me.
"…Get your ass off my workbench, kiddo," said a voice.
I turned and saw... A woman who didn't look like a dwarf at all... How do I know that?... She was taller.
"... What?" I asked confused.
"I said, 'GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OFF MY WORKBENCH!'" screamed the woman.
I soon got off the table.
As soon as I left, she placed a heavy-looking bag where I was sitting, and then opened it... I could see several tools; I recognized some by their appearance, but others... I had no idea of their purpose.
"What the fuck are you looking at, kid?" asked the woman.
Oh? I got caught snooping...
"Ah... I was just curious... That's all" I tried to explain myself.
"Curious? Hum... Are you a god, right? I can feel your divine energy... What are you doing here? Got lost from your mother's tits?" asked the woman with a mocking smile on her face.
For a brief moment... I thought about answering: 'Yes, I'm looking for another woman's tits right now, but yours won't do, they're too droopy'...
It was tempting…VERY tempting…but she was the first person on this pile of shit called a forge to talk to me for more than ten seconds. I think my previous attempts to talk to the dwarves resulted in my repressed anger of mine...
I sighed.
So I don't like to stall… Because I don't want to waste my time.
"I came here for training," I said with finality.
"Training? Does a god want to learn how to forge?" the woman asked in disbelief.
...
"Ha...haha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The woman just started laughing... I remained impassive.
I think I just wasted my time...
Pov Thor.
"Now that you've finished considering what I said as a bad joke... Can we talk about business?" I asked the woman impassively.
"Business? Aren't you too young to understand that word? You look like has the same age as my daughter Sif! I bet you haven't even tasted a woman's pussy, so don't talk about things you have no idea about," the woman scoffed.
This woman... I've never seen a woman so vulgar... And so insufferable... On second thought, I've seen it, but the queen of thorns is on another level.
"Look... You don't like me, I understand... The feeling is mutual, don't worry. But I came here for one purpose, and that is to learn how to forge from a dwarf; you, as much as you don't look like a dwarf, are in the dwarfs' forge and no one has come to question what you are doing here, which leads me to believe that... Or you've earned the dwarves' respect, which I think is unlikely due to my recent contact with the dwarves of this forge... Or are you descended from a dwarf," he said with a tone of finality.
"Oh? Congratulations! Mystery Solved!" said the woman, who started clapping her hands "Want me to make you a medal? I'll even carve on it: 'Captain OBVIOUS' on the back," she said sarcastically.
Ughh... Calm down Thor remember you need a teacher... Go to your happy spot and count from one to ten.
I sighed.
"I was serious about wanting to do business with you, I want to learn the forge...But no one had the decency to talk to me, so...What can I do for you to teach me?"
The woman kept looking at me... It looks like she's finally going to take me seriously.
"Huff… You're a persistent brat, I admit that. You are as stubborn as my daughter... And as stubborn as I was..." the woman reflected.
... Am I witnessing a change in the character's personality?
"As you pointed out... I'm the daughter of a dwarf... My mother died in childbirth... My father was devastated for quite a while, and he spent that time raising me... When I was old enough he wanted to give me his teachings, and the rest of my childhood I spent learning to be a blacksmith... My father passed away a few decades ago, his body was already weak, he was sick... That's why he gave me his teachings …" said the woman with a faraway look.
I feel like I shouldn't interrupt… So I was silent.
Soon the woman seemed awake from her thoughts and looked at me again... After some consideration, she opened her bag and took out a piece of leather with something written on it.
"Alright now... Let's make a deal, I'm in the middle of a project and I have two items missing to complete it, the problem is that these items are missing at the moment, and I don't want to pay for them for some search party to a non-dangerous quest... Bring me these two items and I'll teach you a thing or two, and I'll owe you a favor," said the woman, handing me the piece of leather.
"Yes!" I said.
I may have turned into a mere item hunter... But at least she'll teach me.
I looked at what was noted on the piece of leather.
"Hmm?... The tendons of a bear?..." I said in confusion.
But the second item... That's what ripped out the rest of my sanity.
"How the hell am I going to be able to collect a fish's breath?!" I questioned looking at the blacksmith woman in disbelief.
"…How do you think we make weapons capable of harming a god? With some cheap metal? No kid... I'll give your first advice to be a blacksmith 'make the impossible possible', me and the other dwarves live by that code," said the woman.
Still... These items are ridiculous, is it really possible to forge them?
The woman seems to have noticed my doubt as she raised an eyebrow.
"If you think it's a joke, it's not. These are the items I need, if you can't do such a task, go look for something else to learn from someone else... You can start by learning how to satisfy a woman," she said mockingly at the end.
"No…I accept the quest" I said.
"Good... So it's a deal then?" asked the woman.
"Yes… I never introduced myself, I'm Thor," I said, holding out my right hand for her to shake.
She looked at my hand for a while... before spitting into her right hand and shaking my hand.
"I'm Idhuna... Nice to meet you boy" said the woman, now called Idhuna, with a smile.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Pls, forgive me for grammatical errors!