The Rise Of A Porter

"You're blind?" Arnold asked Dani while scratching his temple, "What the hell are those eyes for then?"

"I am not blind!!!" The midget dwarf threw a fit, "It's a condition I suffer through. After working in the forge for more than 6 hours, my vision gets limited. As a result, I can only see the things in front of me and not sideways."

"Ah... so that's why you could see me and not Tiamut or her attack. As weird as it is, it kind of makes sense, hu... huhu-" Arnold tried to stop, but couldn't hold himself back and started laughing again.

He wasn't alone either.. Soon all of his summons were laughing as well. No matter how much they tried, they could not get the image of an uncaring, free-spirited Dani being blown up by Tiamut's attack. It was simply too funny for them to control themselves.

"You better stop laughing or else I will stop forging weapons for you delinquents!!!" Dani screamed so loud that even her face turned red.

She did not have any right to stop Arnold from laughing, after all, he was her master. However, she did not have any problems in rebuking the others. As she was just bound to serving Arnold and not the rest of his army. If she was helping them by making weapons for them, it was due to kindness...

Or so she hoped everyone to believe. In reality, if Arnold ordered her to make a weapon for someone, she would have to do it because it was her master's wish. But even then, she could refuse the request from the others if Arnold didn't intervene.

However, her screaming voice seemed to have pickedbArnold's attention and he raised his hands to make everyone stop laughing at her. It looked like it would take some time for his newest summon to adjust to the environment they lived in. He then turned towards Alice and nodded.

She immediately understood what Arnold was asking of her and took Dani back inside while the others stayed there. Arnold knew his summons had no bad intention while laughing at Dani. Even he laughed at her reaction but maybe Dani, being a dwarf, didn't know what humour was.

"You guys can continue sparring." Arnold instructed his summons before rushing inside, "Woah, I certainly didn't expect her to react this way. Well, I guess we took it too far this time. However, thanks to this incident at least I got to know about her eyesight problem. Let's see if Alice can help her out not. If she couldn't, well then I'll have to do something myself."

***

A few moments later Arnold entered the forge once again and saw Dani hard at work. Alice was by her side and appeared to be using some kind of ability on her. Arnold did not disturb them and stood quietly at the entrance of the and watched the two of them work.

"How do you feel now?" Alice asked Dani.

"It's good, I can see without any issues," Dani replied in her chirpy voice.

Arnold could sense her happiness from all the way where he was standing. He was glad Dani was doing good, but they were on a clock. He had to make sure whether Dani managed to create a sword for Tiamut or not. He decided to go in and ask her about it and Dani was more than obliged to show him the result of her hard work.

Dani handed the golden longsword to Arnold with a smug look on her face. She had poured her heart and soul into making this weapon and made sure it would be one of the best swords his master had ever wielded.

She tried hard to unravel the emotionless face of Arnold while he absentmindedly swung the sword. However, she couldn't do it. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn't get a hold of what Arnold was thinking. Her anxiety shot through the roof. She had imbued the entire thing with mana, making it the perfect weapon to cause both physical and magical damage and yet she did not get praised for her efforts.

'Maybe master is speechless from my craftsmanship.' The smug look on her face reappeared as she thought of that.

"It's good." Arnold finally said, "However, it could have been better."

"What!?" Dani could not believe it, her masterpiece was not good enough for her master?

"Don't take it the wrong way. You made it much better than I thought you could. However, I have a secret weapon and that would give me an edge over your creativity." Arnold smiled and used Enhancement on the sword.

The following moment, the sword suddenly started glowing. By the time the bright light faded away, Arnold was holding a completely different sword. The blade of the sword was no longer golden as it was before by crimson as if it had been bleached with blood. Even the handle of the swords had changed and was now shaped like a three-headed dragon. All three heads were perfectly wrapped around Arnold's arm.

"What do you think about this?" Arnold handed the weapon back to Dani and smiled.

What Dani did with the materials he had given her, was praiseworthy indeed. However, if Arnold was to praise her for everything she created, she might end up losing her motivation to create something better than she did before and would get complacent.

Honestly, it would have been a shame to see her go down that path thus, rather than praising her directly, he showed her something that would drive her motivated side to keep forging weapons until he was forced to recognise her worth.

"H-How did you do it? The stats on this item... they are unlike anything I have ever seen!" Dani's eyes were shining like the brightest stars in the universe, "Master! Master! Teach me the trick!!!"

"I will teach it to you when I think you deserve it." Arnold smiled and patted her head, "Till then, keep working hard and create something even I can't. Once you do that, I'll tell you anything you would ask of me. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, master! I promise I will force you to acknowledge my work!" Dani excitedly punched the air after handing the sword back to Arnold.

"I'll look forward to it then!"