𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓

Chapter 2

They stood in silence for a couple of seconds.

The boy folded his arms, letting his muscles ripple against the cloth of his shirt.

Kaida glanced at the floor.

She let out a chuckle, slightly awkward, but it worked to dissolve the tension.

The boy's cool exterior broke as he smiled at the stranger.

"My name is Elias, and yes, this is my workshop. I heard you mention how impressed you were, 'excellent craftsmanship', I believe you said."

Kaida simply stared back at him, a hint of a smile on her lips.

He was teasing her.

"Well, I really appreciate that. My father taught me everything he knew before he was conscripted. This is all him."

Elias looked around, his tone now earnest.

They both thought about the War then.

It was easy to forget that there was an ongoing feud between Norta and the Lakelands, declared due to disputes over land and resources.

A war started by the Silvers and fought primarily by the Reds.

The Reds would go and fight in battles for a Kingdom that treated them as second class citizens.

Kaida and Elias both thought it was ridiculous.

"Anyways, let's start from this corner, and then we can work our way around."

Elias gestured over to the far left corner, where he led her.

There on the worktop was an array of different armour pieces.

One in particular was a bronze plated shoulder piece that had been moulded and carved to look like the face of a lion, set in metal, but looking as though it could come to life and chomp off a finger at any time.

It looked ferocious but also wise, somehow.

Kaida picked it up, her fingers running across the spirals of the lion's mane and tracing the face down to the twisted mouth, lifted in a snarl.

"That right there is called a pauldron, made to protect the shoulder. It's a custom piece ordered from Archeon. I would never design a full armour, too time consuming. I only make a few custom lightweight bits. Practical, but still flashy."

Kaida nodded and set the piece down, then pointed to a plain silver item.

"And this, this is a gauntlet."

She stated matter of factly.

Elias grinned

"Correct."

He picked up the gauntlet and held it to his face.

"But if I remember how to do this correctly..."

His fingers traced the inner section of the gauntlet and then

Click. Sching!

A hidden blade sprung out from a concealed compartment.

Kaida let out a low whistle.

"Damn."

She already began to imagine how this could be used in a fight, or even better, used by a group of shadowy assassins sent on on top secret mission.

"I always struggle with getting the blade back in though."

"Hmmm. You could add a switch sort of mechanism, it would have to be very sensitive, but it could definitely work. Maybe even have the switch connected to a ring on a finger?"