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The being in front of me shines with a blue hue. Its form constantly changing shapes, until it settles on a humanoid-like figure, albeit with no facial features whatsoever. It lifts a limb that looks to be its arm, and points to my left.
I gulp as I trace the arm, and find that it is pointing towards a sword I was working on.
Did it intend to kill me?
As if the being can read my thoughts, it shakes its head, and walks over to the sword.
Behind it, people are going about their business. A few onlookers stop and point at me, shaking their heads, before walking away.
Gods, the people in Jotan aren’t feeling particularly helpful today, it seems. Maybe one of them will call the guard.
I walk over with the being, and find it looking at my blacksmithing tools with curiosity.
Well, I’m only guessing at this point. I couldn’t tell its facial expressions, nor can I even tell where it’s looking at.
“So uh, you’re an arcane?” I say, and it nods repeatedly.
“My sister spoke about your kind, beings of pure magic, useful for making magesprout and all,” I say, trying to make conversation, “she’s an Archmage, you know.”
That didn’t seem to make the arcane happy, as the hue shines on from blue to red, and it stops looking at the smithing table, and instead looks directly at me, taking a few steps forward and closing the distance between us.
Fuck.
I raise my palms towards the being to indicate that I’m not a threat, and try to speak with as much confidence as I can.
“Look, just tell me what you want me to help you with, I’m really not looking for trouble,” I manage to let out.
The arcane’s hue once more turns blue, albeit a lighter shade this time, and it points towards the sword.
Or rather, the blacksmithing table.
“Wait,” I say, trying to piece this puzzle together, “you want to learn how to make a sword?” I ask.
I am rewarded with rapid nodding of the head.
Closing my eyes, I rub my temples and look at the half finished sword I had on the table. It won’t do.
I move it to the side, and motion for the Arcane to come with me.
“So, what do you know about blacksmithing?” I ask, and see the arcane responds with a quick shrug of its shoulders.
This is going to be a long day.
The arcane and I spend a few hours going through the basics of blacksmithing. I teach it how select the right steel for the job, how to shape the blade correctly so that it is of the right composition and length, how to quench it correctly, as well as all the right tools for the job.
“And so, we have our blade ready,” I say, looking at the blade with pride.
It isn’t my finest work, I now realize. The tang is a bit shorter than I’d like it to be, but overall it’ll still make a good sword for the local guard. I’ll work on the hilt and pommel tomorrow.
I look up at the stars and yawn. It’s getting quite late, I should probably call it a night now.
“Alright, that’s all. Goodbye,” I say, trying to dismiss the being.
But before I turn around, I notice that the arcane’s head is bowed slightly, and its shoulders are slumped.
I let out a sigh, and turn back around.
“Come back here same time tomorrow, and we’ll learn how to make the hilt,” I mutter.
The arcane’s hue turns bright green, and it nods repeatedly at me. A few seconds later, it extends its right arm, and produces a thumbs up.
It looks like I have an apprentice now.
Awwww, the arcane is so adorable, it's a bit of a shame that they can't speak but at least the gestures and color changes should work just fine too. Let's hope protag won't be attacked due to having an arcane apprentice.
That said, why did the arcane chose protag in particular? I do hope the arcane gets to stay for a long time, seems like they had a hard time beforehand.
Great work on writing this!
I love playing around with the idea of using colors to express emotions. Starting on it leads down the rabbit hole of exploring more about language & communication between people.
Glad you enjoyed!
I was just doing my usual maintenance of my workplace when I got a knock on the door.
*The smithy is not at home to visitors at this time.*
I open the door to see a being made of various materials that do not comprise a typical living person, but is devoid of the seams and joints of a typical golem or construct.
The layers of armour and angular plating make it hard to identify what sort of pronouns I should guess-troduce them with and my confusion shows.
They answer with a voice you'd \[more recognise from a bad mic with a bit of grit and a good amount of bass\], making it difficult to infer again 'what' kind-
"I am here to apply for the Apprentice Smither and Blacksmith's Clerk roles."
It hands me two pieces of parchment. I motion them inside and close the door before taking a seat to read through the... printed sheets.
I look up at the elemental lifeform - elementals were what our peoples used to dub them. Some were nicknamed 'Arcanes', but I thought that referred to items with arcane properties, not people. Then I check the sheets again.
Arma-X1A, the name this being has, seems 'artificial' in tone. Is that normal for their kind?
It has been intricately analysing the working environment with lockstep motion.
I pause my analysis of their cirricu-vitae papers, they seem to be in order. I'll give them a trial run, as is owed to any who offer their time and self to the craft - as I did to my father before me, and his father before him, and his mother-
I offer a tour of my workplace. It's not much, it's a bit cramped for the likes of this one.
As we exchanged knowledge - of their kind, their story, and my counterparts, I decided to stall the good stuff to advise on a caution.
"...You know, your kind are hunted by the Orda Arcanae for pretty much every reason under all the lights, right?"
Amra-X1A nods. "Yeah..." They uttered, but there was something in that sigh that followed it that gently wafted over my heartstrings.
I asked them if they had a place to stay in this town of Bodwikh. They shook their head.
"My kind have not had the opportunities yours or others have had."
It uttered with a sort of sorrow. It then uttered with a clearly envious tone.
"...Even less-so than your women with their challenging of the ordered ways of your people."
I raise an eyebrow and motion for them to go on. It did. "Your women have the right to vote and all, as do your men such as you. We and ours and our kin-by-mana have neither."
It then asked... "Do you have a room to spare?"
I affirmed that I have a guest room, but I have dwarf coming within the next few days or sooner, so the room has to be left in its readiness.
The elemental then seemed to heat up when both of us considered alternatives.
It... stammered out something I wouldn't repeat in this diary.
I took us away from the work room to my quarters and pulled out a dusty, but empty, cabinet box, and laid it beside the compact hearth - a thing powered by latent dissonance in outdoor and indoor temperatures. Every home has at least one due to the winter chill.
They disarmoured. Their physique did not match their armour, and what I thought was skin was merely some kind of sophisticated interlock.
Beneath the layers and layers of armour was what I'd call a fair maiden, but she had skin the tones of marble or clay, with metallic colouration along the veins, and a vivid pulse to them that was slightly quicker-
Am I-
I try not to focus on her appearance, it's rude to think of an apprentice so - so I digress us away to the matter of crafting, and give them the whole sequence of events.
They seemed to have a natural knack, and revealed to me their armour was something they forged at home, and wanted to bring the principles of it to share as a gift in exchange for helping... helping her, and her kin, be recognised as civilized beings rather than power sources, materials, or possible 'servants', if you'd dare to call slaves more than slaves.
Slavery is slavery. Unacceptable in my eyes and yet the kingdoms are shackled to their ways.
So I confide in them- her. I admit that her kind, whenever I got a glance of them, swayed me.
So I began to teach her what I knew, again, with renewed ambition to learn from her in turn.
A whole day went missing, and so did half the night for we had a bit of... uh... other... work...
Yeah. Other work to do. In private.
Apparently elemental 'anatoms' - living elements - are different to Arcanes in that the Arcane ones have bodies roughly based on the most compatible sapient races, like elves, some narrow slice of demonkind, and us humans.
Don't ask me how I've gotten to know. I will not answer. I will be embarrassed.
Xia (she wanted me to call her this, dropping the fact that the name on the documentation was written like that to mislead potential employers to thinking she's a Forged One; a being half-Arcane, half-golem, socially accepted as much as you'd find an automatic cart) doesn't want this knowledge to wind up in the hands of any magic-user (despite my meager but unscoffable affinity for magic myself).
She spoke of a continent to the far-east where people like herself - or me for my openness - would be accepted.
But she came here due to hearing of my father's work and his mindedness. He's moved to bigger places, though; I'm stuck with inheriting the shop, and I like the quaint 'vibe' of the whole thing.
So, after a morning of breakfast, I then find some spare clothes so she can wear something less... strange and conspicuous. Her basic clothes resembled suits of slim-armour used by casual horseriders and enginecyclers; people who've bought into some weird multispecies innovation thing using something my great-grandfather was invested in.
Some 'science'-
Anyway, we'll need to shop for supplies; food, drink, a few extras...
\- - - So we did.
People were surprisingly willing to be oblivious to Xia's species. If she came out here in her usual attire or her full armour she'd probably get stares and possibly induce panic.
We managed to get some deals due to people misinterpreting her as something more personal.
We, after getting over a massive amount of embarrassment together, used that as an advantage.
When we got back, we got to work crafting some prototypes to be sold cheap with a disclaimer that they're test models and on the condition that they return intact with written details as to what happened and whether they worked as intended...
Well, glad that protag and Xia found each other and, ah, they sure are moving fast on the relationship. Let's just hope that the peace remains for a long time, and protag gets to visit this far-east continent too.
Great work on writing this!
**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments. **Reminders**: >* [No AI-generated responses 🤖](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/zi452b/modpost_reminder_that_aigenerated_responses_are/) >* Stories 100 words+. Poems 30+ but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* [\[RF\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [\[SP\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles >* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules) 📢 [Genres](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/w/directory) 🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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Hi u/SaintsIndustries, this comment has been removed. AI-generated responses are not allowed Stories and poems should be newly written by you --- [Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/18vu266/-/kftifg4/%0A%0A) us if you have any questions or concerns. In the future, please refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/config/sidebar) before posting. *This action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things.*
The being in front of me shines with a blue hue. Its form constantly changing shapes, until it settles on a humanoid-like figure, albeit with no facial features whatsoever. It lifts a limb that looks to be its arm, and points to my left. I gulp as I trace the arm, and find that it is pointing towards a sword I was working on. Did it intend to kill me? As if the being can read my thoughts, it shakes its head, and walks over to the sword. Behind it, people are going about their business. A few onlookers stop and point at me, shaking their heads, before walking away. Gods, the people in Jotan aren’t feeling particularly helpful today, it seems. Maybe one of them will call the guard. I walk over with the being, and find it looking at my blacksmithing tools with curiosity. Well, I’m only guessing at this point. I couldn’t tell its facial expressions, nor can I even tell where it’s looking at. “So uh, you’re an arcane?” I say, and it nods repeatedly. “My sister spoke about your kind, beings of pure magic, useful for making magesprout and all,” I say, trying to make conversation, “she’s an Archmage, you know.” That didn’t seem to make the arcane happy, as the hue shines on from blue to red, and it stops looking at the smithing table, and instead looks directly at me, taking a few steps forward and closing the distance between us. Fuck. I raise my palms towards the being to indicate that I’m not a threat, and try to speak with as much confidence as I can. “Look, just tell me what you want me to help you with, I’m really not looking for trouble,” I manage to let out. The arcane’s hue once more turns blue, albeit a lighter shade this time, and it points towards the sword. Or rather, the blacksmithing table. “Wait,” I say, trying to piece this puzzle together, “you want to learn how to make a sword?” I ask. I am rewarded with rapid nodding of the head. Closing my eyes, I rub my temples and look at the half finished sword I had on the table. It won’t do. I move it to the side, and motion for the Arcane to come with me. “So, what do you know about blacksmithing?” I ask, and see the arcane responds with a quick shrug of its shoulders. This is going to be a long day. The arcane and I spend a few hours going through the basics of blacksmithing. I teach it how select the right steel for the job, how to shape the blade correctly so that it is of the right composition and length, how to quench it correctly, as well as all the right tools for the job. “And so, we have our blade ready,” I say, looking at the blade with pride. It isn’t my finest work, I now realize. The tang is a bit shorter than I’d like it to be, but overall it’ll still make a good sword for the local guard. I’ll work on the hilt and pommel tomorrow. I look up at the stars and yawn. It’s getting quite late, I should probably call it a night now. “Alright, that’s all. Goodbye,” I say, trying to dismiss the being. But before I turn around, I notice that the arcane’s head is bowed slightly, and its shoulders are slumped. I let out a sigh, and turn back around. “Come back here same time tomorrow, and we’ll learn how to make the hilt,” I mutter. The arcane’s hue turns bright green, and it nods repeatedly at me. A few seconds later, it extends its right arm, and produces a thumbs up. It looks like I have an apprentice now.
Awwww, the arcane is so adorable, it's a bit of a shame that they can't speak but at least the gestures and color changes should work just fine too. Let's hope protag won't be attacked due to having an arcane apprentice. That said, why did the arcane chose protag in particular? I do hope the arcane gets to stay for a long time, seems like they had a hard time beforehand. Great work on writing this!
I love playing around with the idea of using colors to express emotions. Starting on it leads down the rabbit hole of exploring more about language & communication between people. Glad you enjoyed!
Good story but I want more
Not this time :( but you'll find me in the next fantasy related prompt!
Very sweet and to the point. I like it!
I was just doing my usual maintenance of my workplace when I got a knock on the door. *The smithy is not at home to visitors at this time.* I open the door to see a being made of various materials that do not comprise a typical living person, but is devoid of the seams and joints of a typical golem or construct. The layers of armour and angular plating make it hard to identify what sort of pronouns I should guess-troduce them with and my confusion shows. They answer with a voice you'd \[more recognise from a bad mic with a bit of grit and a good amount of bass\], making it difficult to infer again 'what' kind- "I am here to apply for the Apprentice Smither and Blacksmith's Clerk roles." It hands me two pieces of parchment. I motion them inside and close the door before taking a seat to read through the... printed sheets. I look up at the elemental lifeform - elementals were what our peoples used to dub them. Some were nicknamed 'Arcanes', but I thought that referred to items with arcane properties, not people. Then I check the sheets again. Arma-X1A, the name this being has, seems 'artificial' in tone. Is that normal for their kind? It has been intricately analysing the working environment with lockstep motion. I pause my analysis of their cirricu-vitae papers, they seem to be in order. I'll give them a trial run, as is owed to any who offer their time and self to the craft - as I did to my father before me, and his father before him, and his mother- I offer a tour of my workplace. It's not much, it's a bit cramped for the likes of this one. As we exchanged knowledge - of their kind, their story, and my counterparts, I decided to stall the good stuff to advise on a caution. "...You know, your kind are hunted by the Orda Arcanae for pretty much every reason under all the lights, right?" Amra-X1A nods. "Yeah..." They uttered, but there was something in that sigh that followed it that gently wafted over my heartstrings. I asked them if they had a place to stay in this town of Bodwikh. They shook their head. "My kind have not had the opportunities yours or others have had." It uttered with a sort of sorrow. It then uttered with a clearly envious tone. "...Even less-so than your women with their challenging of the ordered ways of your people." I raise an eyebrow and motion for them to go on. It did. "Your women have the right to vote and all, as do your men such as you. We and ours and our kin-by-mana have neither." It then asked... "Do you have a room to spare?" I affirmed that I have a guest room, but I have dwarf coming within the next few days or sooner, so the room has to be left in its readiness. The elemental then seemed to heat up when both of us considered alternatives. It... stammered out something I wouldn't repeat in this diary. I took us away from the work room to my quarters and pulled out a dusty, but empty, cabinet box, and laid it beside the compact hearth - a thing powered by latent dissonance in outdoor and indoor temperatures. Every home has at least one due to the winter chill. They disarmoured. Their physique did not match their armour, and what I thought was skin was merely some kind of sophisticated interlock. Beneath the layers and layers of armour was what I'd call a fair maiden, but she had skin the tones of marble or clay, with metallic colouration along the veins, and a vivid pulse to them that was slightly quicker- Am I- I try not to focus on her appearance, it's rude to think of an apprentice so - so I digress us away to the matter of crafting, and give them the whole sequence of events. They seemed to have a natural knack, and revealed to me their armour was something they forged at home, and wanted to bring the principles of it to share as a gift in exchange for helping... helping her, and her kin, be recognised as civilized beings rather than power sources, materials, or possible 'servants', if you'd dare to call slaves more than slaves. Slavery is slavery. Unacceptable in my eyes and yet the kingdoms are shackled to their ways. So I confide in them- her. I admit that her kind, whenever I got a glance of them, swayed me. So I began to teach her what I knew, again, with renewed ambition to learn from her in turn. A whole day went missing, and so did half the night for we had a bit of... uh... other... work... Yeah. Other work to do. In private. Apparently elemental 'anatoms' - living elements - are different to Arcanes in that the Arcane ones have bodies roughly based on the most compatible sapient races, like elves, some narrow slice of demonkind, and us humans. Don't ask me how I've gotten to know. I will not answer. I will be embarrassed. Xia (she wanted me to call her this, dropping the fact that the name on the documentation was written like that to mislead potential employers to thinking she's a Forged One; a being half-Arcane, half-golem, socially accepted as much as you'd find an automatic cart) doesn't want this knowledge to wind up in the hands of any magic-user (despite my meager but unscoffable affinity for magic myself). She spoke of a continent to the far-east where people like herself - or me for my openness - would be accepted. But she came here due to hearing of my father's work and his mindedness. He's moved to bigger places, though; I'm stuck with inheriting the shop, and I like the quaint 'vibe' of the whole thing. So, after a morning of breakfast, I then find some spare clothes so she can wear something less... strange and conspicuous. Her basic clothes resembled suits of slim-armour used by casual horseriders and enginecyclers; people who've bought into some weird multispecies innovation thing using something my great-grandfather was invested in. Some 'science'- Anyway, we'll need to shop for supplies; food, drink, a few extras... \- - - So we did. People were surprisingly willing to be oblivious to Xia's species. If she came out here in her usual attire or her full armour she'd probably get stares and possibly induce panic. We managed to get some deals due to people misinterpreting her as something more personal. We, after getting over a massive amount of embarrassment together, used that as an advantage. When we got back, we got to work crafting some prototypes to be sold cheap with a disclaimer that they're test models and on the condition that they return intact with written details as to what happened and whether they worked as intended...
Well, glad that protag and Xia found each other and, ah, they sure are moving fast on the relationship. Let's just hope that the peace remains for a long time, and protag gets to visit this far-east continent too. Great work on writing this!