The World Dragon's Heir

Dominic helped the Alator girl load the tools her family had ordered, and then served a few more bemused customers, enjoying everyone's shock at seeing him working the front counter of the smithy.

Pops had all the larger parts of the press made, and now he was working on all the hoses, levers and fittings that made it a functional tool.

That took up most of the workshop, but Dominic just wanted to make spears, and that could be done in the far corner.

"While you're at it, heat that forge and make me some tubing with a two centimetre inner diameter. I need it for the hammer, and it needs to be hot so I can bend it to shape." Pops instructed.

"Got it. Thick wall or thin?" Dominic asked.

"Make it thick. Those idiots are likely going to bash this thing half to bits, so I should make it as durable as I can. I've built it with a top loaded double-sided hydraulic ram, so almost all the machinery will be up out of reach when they're using it.

But that doesn't mean they won't find a way to break it." The Dwarf sighed.

Dominic chuckled. "Well, we're going to get the line started with making canning jars and lids, since we're waiting on the magitech orb team to be properly trained. So, they'll have some experience before they get into full production.

If they can learn to safely make jar lids, they can learn to make the cutouts for the magitech orbs without harming the tools.

Should we put a warning label on it to remind them not to put their fingers beneath the hammer?"

Pops laughed. "Already done. I stamped it into the frame so it doesn't wear off. I also put the cutting template on a sliding rack instead of a fixed bracket, so they can slide the whole thing free to load a new sheet, instead of putting the sheet under the hammer."

That would certainly be slower, but it would be much safer for workers with too little common sense or too little training.

Dominic started with the tubing, making the first batch so that Pops could make the fittings for it.

Fortunately, Dominic had a steady hand, and there were minimal variances in the pipe, so Pops would only have to do a quick check and milling of the pipe end to ensure it was perfect before he flared it to hold the fitting and bent it to shape.

Or, the other way around. As Dominic realized once he handed the first few to Pops.

It was easier to put the bends in, then slide the fittings on and flare the ends, then screw the pipe down. It was a deceptively simple process, but if your eye wasn't as keen as Pops' was, you would have to do much more measuring to get everything perfect.

While Pops fitted the pipes, Dominic made a few batches of spearheads, and then more tubing for the hammer.

The process left him plenty of time to finish his spears, and by noon he was ready to start upgrading the raw batches.

"You're getting good at that. A hundred spears before noon. You know, if we had a few more reliable Sorcerers, we could start a weapons factory." Pops joked.

"The King would love us. Or maybe hate us. Could go either way if we started sending out entire truckloads of weapons." Dominic agreed.

"We should start looking for adventurers, though. Once those soldiers that the Prince brought start to identify the worst areas for monster infestations, someone is going to have to clear them.

How long are they staying for?" Pops asked.

"One month. Just long enough to tour the expanded territory and check for Dagos Army remnants hiding in Cygnia territory. We've already found plenty, so they'll have their hands full.

That's why I'm making them better spears. They're a reserve regiment, so they didn't have the best gear issued to them in the Capital. The Prince asked that I do some upgrades for them, but not pistols." Dominic explained.

Pops sighed. "Let me guess, he doesn't want a whole group of untrained reservists running around with guns once they get home?"

Dominic smirked. "He's more worried about them harming themselves in combat with weapons they've never used before."

The old Dwarf laughed as he fit a tube to the hydraulic press.

"Well, that makes a lot of sense. There isn't time to train them how to work in a group and not end up shooting each other during an ambush or reinforcement mission. It's safer to let them use the spears until they get home if it's only one month."

Dominic nodded and started to set the spears over the forge to get them heated for their final oil bath treatment.

Pops was assembling the magitech pump for the hydraulic press as Dominic worked on the spears. They had just settled into a rhythm when a young Dwarven girl, in what Dominic guessed was her early teens, came in.

"Little one, what can we get for you? I'll pull it from the racks when I'm done this spear." Dominic called to the front room.

"I'm looking for work. My Ma stopped at the Baron Keith's place yesterday, and she's going to be working there, but they didn't have a spot for me." The girl replied.

Pops finished bolting the housing of the pump together, and then wiped his hands.

"You have any experience in the forge?" He asked.

"Well, no. But I worked in a magitech shop before we left Kinewen.

I am a Dwarf, though. How hard can it be to learn to sell tools in a forge?" She asked with a determined expression.

Dominic smirked at Pops. "She's got a point. Even I managed to learn to work the counter."

Pops winked at him. "Alright, I will give you a trial, and then we can decide if you're going to work out here. Grab me four of the three mil bolts with Stover nuts and the flashlight."

The little girl frowned as she went to the bin and began looking for the right size.

She got them on the first try, proving that either she knew how to measure, or she could read Pops labels. But the real test would not be getting the correct parts.

It was holding the flashlight.