The Witcher: Elemental Lords

The back kitchen.

The kitchen of Old Ke's blacksmith shop was a separate large room.

Upon entering, one would see a long table.

Several basins were placed on the long table.

Two large basins held white flour dumplings and rice, while two small plates held large bowls.

The remaining items were several pots containing vegetables and meat dishes.

However, at this moment, Dole saw that some dishes were for the apprentices and some were for the masters, with specific labels.

He looked and felt like crying; he had no meat dishes, only vegetables and rice dumplings.

But having rice was already good.

After eating vegetable dumplings for several years, he had almost forgotten what rice tasted like.

When did he start forgetting?

It seemed to be when his parents passed away.

Thinking of this, he felt a slight sadness in his heart.

Were his parents doing well in heaven?

Was it a good place?

Alas!

Feeling Dole's low mood, Verrick patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't overthink things.

Only when you are full do you have the strength to work.

Come, eat."

He took two bowls for Dole and went to the front to get rice first.

There was only one chef in the kitchen, and seeing Dole come over, he smiled and said, "A newcomer has arrived.

Why do you look a bit familiar?"

Dole raised his head and said, "From the slums, living right next to here, used to come here often to play."

The chef suddenly remembered something, nodded, and didn't speak.

He pointed to the large pot of meat dishes and said, "Since it's your first time, you can take some meat."

Dole was immediately grateful; he was practicing martial arts and needed to eat meat, but recently he had been eating only vegetables, and his nutrition couldn't keep up.

"There's plenty of rice and dumplings; eat as much as you can, don't worry about not getting enough," Verrick said, handing the rice spoon to Dole after filling his own bowl.

…

The eating area was very casual; you could eat anywhere, but generally, the blacksmiths would take it to the forging furnace to watch the fire, preventing the temperature from dropping too low, otherwise, it would take time to start the fire again later.

After a good meal, Dole felt extremely happy.

Being full was the life of a human.

He decided not to go to the mine.

He would work here, even if it meant earning one copper coin less per day, because he could eat his fill.

For Dole now, being able to eat his fill was the most important thing, as it related to whether he could become a qualified warrior in the future.

If he could become a warrior, who would want to be a miner?

Thinking of this, his mind became active, and he tentatively probed Verrick's intentions while eating.

Verrick wasn't the boss and couldn't say much.

He could only talk to him about daily matters.

After all, there were many blacksmith shops in Domon City, and they were always short of apprentices.

He could only say that as long as Dole came every day, he would definitely have food to eat.

Hearing this, Dole was very excited, and he worked harder in the afternoon, which made Verrick very pleased.

Verrick sighed; children from the slums were easy to please; giving them food made them work so hard.

Domon County was located in the north-central part of the Northern Kingdom, geographically leaning towards the north.

Although the weather warmed up at the end of winter, it was still cold.

It rained for three consecutive days, and by the third day, the temperature had dropped to an extreme, feeling like winter had arrived.

On the third morning, Dole was awakened by the cold.

The blanket he was covered with was as good as nothing, and he shivered all over.

Looking at the sky outside that had already brightened, he rubbed his hands and greeted Aldo before heading out.

The blacksmith shop was warmer; as for Aldo, there was no need to worry about him; his fur was so thick that the temperature had almost no effect on him.

Aldo looked at Dole's departing figure, finding it somewhat amusing.

Weak humans.

He had been living comfortably these past two days.

He went to find mineral veins a few nights ago and actually found two more.

Although it was raining, what did it matter?

After absorbing the magic crystals, he could also conveniently eat some wild game in the mountains.

Tsk tsk, this little life was not bad.

Compared to Dole, his life was much more enjoyable.

However, he also saw that Dole had found work at the blacksmith shop, and with his conditioning at night, it was passable.

Dog Aldo had thought a lot these past few days, gaining some understanding of the entire human race and even the entire Northern Kingdom through Dole.

Today the rain stopped, and the morning temperature was very low.

Some of the ground even had some white stuff on it.

Dole came out of the slums, walked along the small ditch, and arrived at the blacksmith shop without even washing his face.

At this time, the blacksmith shop had just opened, and the apprentices were starting to clean up and start the fire.

Everyone greeted each other, and Dole also began to prepare.

When the flames of the forging furnace rose, he felt a little warmth, gradually entering his body from the outside.

His body gradually warmed up, and while pulling the bellows, he looked around.

He was looking for Verrick's figure; Verrick hadn't come yet at this time today.

Just then, Hagge came out from inside and shouted to Dole from a distance, "Dole, Verrick is sick and won't be coming today.

You'll be with Prado today."

Dole was stunned.

Prado, didn't he have apprentices?

Prado was also a second-level blacksmith, with two apprentices, Eric and Yudo, who were older than Dole.

If he was added, wouldn't that be three apprentices?

Dole was a little dazed.

Seeing Dole dazed, Hagge shouted again, "Just go when you're told.

Are you afraid you won't get food or wages?

What are you spacing out for, you little brat?"

Scolded, Dole quickly nodded and said, "Yes, Hagge, I'll go right now."

He put down the bellows, scooped some water from the nearby pool, and poured it on the newly burned red flames.

As a puff of smoke rose, the flames gradually extinguished.

After doing all this, Dole came to Prado's forging furnace.

Prado looked at Dole and smiled, "Although you're young, you're quite strong.

You'll be pulling the bellows today; I have a lot of work today, and Eric and Yudo can't handle it."

Dole didn't care who he was with; he had only been with Verrick for two days and had developed some feelings for him, and he felt a little uncomfortable that he hadn't come.

After hearing this, he nodded and smiled honestly, "I'm just begging for food; I hope Prado doesn't mind me."

Eric and Yudo next to him laughed at the same time, "We're all begging for food here."

Prado nodded and said, "Our blacksmith shop's task today is to forge eleven steel swords, requested by the city lord's guard.

We four second-level blacksmiths will each make four, or rather, I'll make three, but I'm making them for the city lord's squad leader, which requires more refinement and may be slower, so I'll have to trouble you three to help today.

Dole, the heat must be high enough, do you understand?"

Regardless of the level of the blacksmith, one could at most produce one piece of ironware in the afternoon, and about three a day.

Moreover, the higher the level, the more refined the forging, which actually makes it slower.

Second-level blacksmiths forging second-level ironware could generally easily make three to four pieces a day, and even five if some processes were reduced.

However, third-level ironware, regardless of the weapon, would at most not exceed three.

If one wanted to forge four, they would have to work overtime to complete it, so when Prado said this, Dole knew that he might need to put in a lot of effort today.

Sure enough, from the beginning of the forging, everyone didn't stop.

Dole's hand holding the handle of the bellows hardly stopped; this work lasted for a whole day.