Chapter 7

"Whom did I offend?! The last time I felt similar pressure was when Master was angry! Was the owner really that guy?! But he admitted that he was just a handyman." Thought the woman.

The shadowy figure walked closer to her and pointed the sword at her.

"Wait... I will deal with her, don't worry about it." Shouted Fer, who just flew out.

She travelled over to the woman and landed on her head, and sat down. The wolves and the girl just stared at her, and they were stunned to see her.

"Now then... Let's start... Who the fuck do you think you are doing?!" Fer started the interrogation.

The girl was unable to move and was pushed down to the ground with so much power that although she tried to speak, Fer could not understand her.

"Who are you, little guy?" Lodié spoke up as she looked at Fer.

"You could see me as Tom's new servant... Or something like that." Replied Fer and crossed her arms.

The shadowy figure walked over to the girl, and grabbed her hair, forcing Fer to move away, so she rushed to the girl's shoulders and sat down there. As the intruder was lifted by her hair, the shadowy figure brought the cursed weapon close to her throat.

"P-please... I-I am begging you... Please don't kill me! I-I was..." Cried the woman

"You disrespected our master!" Declared eh sword as it started glowing with purple colour.

"I...I will apologise as soon as I see him! I will..." continued crying the girl, but she was cut off.

"Poor girl, your father ordered you to come here to find who managed to pull that cursed sword; yet the first thing you do is offend the one who you were meant to find... I wonder... How would your father react if he learned that you not only fucked up but made a powerful enemy?!" Fer said with a smug smile on her face

"W...W...How..." Uttered the girl with widened eyes.

"Now then... Let's play a game, shall we?" Fer continued.

She flew over to the intruder's eyes and, with a smile, touched her forehead.

"Sorry, but I have no choice but to follow orders in order to survive; you should never have messed with Tom!" Added Fer after she pulled her hand back.

The girl slowly closed her eyes and lost consciousness. Moments later, Fer flew over to the house made for the wolves and sat down on it. Everyone quickly looked at her.

"What? I just made sure that you don't kill her, and at least she learns her lesson!" Fer Declared and crossed her arms.

"Who even are you?! I haven't seen you yet!" Questioned Doli suddenly, who was still carrying Elnin on his back.

"My name is Fer... And as you can see, I am not exactly a fighting guy; I am better at illusions... That is why I knocked her out; she is currently seeing quite GREAT nightmares." Fer said as she leaned back a bit.

Meanwhile, Tom was sitting next to the tree he had previously cut down and used for the wolf house.

"I wonder... How sturdy are these woods? Will they be strong enough to be used for prosthetics? Worst case scenario, I burn it if it's not good enough... At least I can use it as a first prototype..." Mumbled Tom.

He placed the knife on the log he wanted to use for the house and then walked over to the cut-down tree. He proceeded to cut down a slimmer part of the tree.

"I might be able to bring home smaller parts of the tree and then start chiselling and carving it into shape... But then again, I will need some sort of nail or screw... A nail is a more realistic option..."

"I wanted to test that red stone's temperature... Maybe it has the capacity to melt, or at the very least heat metal up so that it is formable..." Tom Thought.

A few minutes had gone by, and Tom managed to cut off a relatively small portion of the tree. He quickly put his axe down next to the knife and tried to lift the piece of wood. Although it was pretty heavy, he managed to lift it, so he began walking back home.

"I thought I would need to use the knife... I will just bring it back in the next round." Mumbled Tom.

Once he got back to the garden, he looked around but couldn't see anyone, so he instantly headed to the forge and dropped the wood.

"It seems the others are playing..." Tom Mumbled, and he slightly stretched his back.

The first thing he did was go to the storage room where the ores were and grab a sizable chunk, and then fetch the red stone. In the smithy, he dropped the ore onto the ground and kneeled down.

"What kind of ore is this? I hope it is something usable." Tom Mumbled

He scratched his head and quickly grabbed a tong and a hammer; he placed the hammer onto the anvil and used the tong to grab the chunk of ore. Then he took a deep breath and pointed the red crystal flame at the ore. He carefully walked back to the anvil, keeping the ore as far away as he could. The tongue of fire wrapped around the chunk, and soon the flame changed colour. The crystal and the flam both gave a slightly blueish glow, and then the surface of the material started cracking.

More and more cracks appeared on the surface, and suddenly it turned to dust and fell down onto the anvil. The chunk of ore now started to change colour slowly, and soon it was red.

"Wow... It really is a magical world... Now that I got here, there is just one problem... How am I going to turn it into anything?! I don't think... Wait... "

"Maybe... If it heated up this quickly, it would be able to melt it... Then I might be able to cast it... But I'd need to make some casting shapes... Erh... It would have been so much easier in my modern day!" Tom Mumbled and gave a loud sigh.

He quickly pulled away the red crystal from the ore, and he placed the now heated ore onto the anvil.

"I am here, sir! I managed to figure out how to get what you wanted, but it will take some time to get enough! So, is there anything I can do to help you?" Fer shouted.

Tom turned around and noticed that Fer was flying towards him quite quickly but managed to slow down; she stopped next to Tom and carefully sat down on his shoulder.

"Sir, you have such comfy shoulders!" Fer complemented Tom with a broad smile on her face.

"Please drop the sir... Just call me Tom... That is too formal for my taste." Tom replied with a slight smile.

"I see... Alright then, Tom. What can I help you with?" The tiny girl asked, and she slightly leaned onto Tom's neck.

"I was thinking... How strong are these crystals, and how much heat can they produce?" Tom asked.

Tom raised the crystal, which was still emitting fire. The girl's eyes widened, and she quickly rubbed her eyes. It was the time when she noticed what Tom was working on.

"What the?! How..."

"To use a fire crystal with such ease at such a great proficiency... He is truly a monster among monsters... He is able to exert this much power without even concentration?! I would barely be able to create a flame the size of my palm... Even that would require everything I have and would not even be able to ignite many things..."

"These magic stones are so useless, as they require great power to be utilised, and a simple spell can yield much greater effects..."

"And now that I look at it... The piece of ore he heated up was a common cheap Magic iron... Which is one of the worst materials... Yet he enriched it with such pure and dense magical power... I don't know what he wants to use it for, but it will most likely be a mighty weapon! It is..." Fer thought.

"Hey... Earth to Fer... Are you there? Say something!" Tom said and gently touched the little girl's head with his finger.

"S-sorry... I was just lost in thoughts... Unfortunately, I don't know how hot this one can get, but I am sure it is very hot... It would have no problem melting that material if you wanted to..."

"Also, they are very sturdy and durable... Technically, the only thing that can damage them is another crystal... If you were to make a knife from one, I am sure that you could even cut that piece of material AND the anvil into two without the edge of the blade getting any duller!"

"They are widespread, but they have quite a few drawbacks other than the difficulty of working with them... They have a habit of having an effect on one another... Crystals with opposite colours tend to repel one another. And the power of the repulsion depends on the size difference and many other tiny factors." The tiny girl explained with a smile.

"I see... Thank you!" Tom replied.

"Oh, and one more thing... I forgot to add something... These crystals and their power is not set in stone, as they are magical tools, and you are able to modify them after some practice... Like you could decrease the flame or increase it." Fer added.

"How convenient... By the way, what happened to that girl who just barged in?" Tom asked.

"Don't worry about her... She is fine; I will inform her that you have returned; she wanted to apologise for not believing you." Fer said quickly and then flew out of the forge.

"Well, this was useful... I think I have an idea of how to progress... Also, what are these drawbacks? Although I barely used this one, it is such a great and convenient little gadget..."

"Fer said that I can control its flame? Let's test that theory... Imagine it has a tiny but mighty flame at the tip of it..." Tom mumbled.

Moments later, the flame started shrinking, and just as Tom said, it turned into a tiny flame. Tom smiled as he noticed that it worked and then walked back to the now cooler but still very hot material. He slowly brought the flame close to the material, and it almost instantly melted, so he quickly retrieved his hand.

"Wow! It could even be used for welding, but I would need to master it first... Now then... Let's make some nail-like objects!" Tom thought and slightly smiled.

After grabbing the ore with the tong, Tom started heating it again with a larger, less concentrated flame. Once it was red, Tom quickly dropped the red crystal, grabbed the hammer and was about to hit it with the hammer, but the door suddenly slammed open, and the intruder rushed in. She kneeled down and slammed her head to the ground.

"Sir! I made a huge mistake and didn't realise who..." The girl uttered with teary eyes.

Tom, however, Started hammering the metal without even looking at her. With each hit, a powerful burst of magical power was released. The girl gritted her teeth as she was unable to breathe after each explosion.

"What... is he doing?! To release such powerful energy from simply hitting that metal... I really did misunderstand him... I angered him so much that he wouldn't even listen to me..."

"Sorry, father... I have failed you! You asked me to do an easy task, but I managed to fuck it up really well... Your useless daughter will most likely die here." The girl thought.

"Com back tomorrow... Then we can talk... I am busy."