Titan sat on the porch of his house near Off-topic. It wasn't his favorite house, nor his favorite porch, but it served its purpose. He couldn't expect to be called in his throne world after all, and it was nice to be able to have visitors. He didn't get them very often, but it was nice to be prepared. He rocked his chair back and forth, his visor gazed lifelessly at the sunset on the horizon, pondering deep questions, like if there were any fundamental equations of the universe, a theory of everything if you will. A slight cough came from Warlock Holmes, who was leaning on the wall behind him. Titan smiled behind his mask, knowing Holmes had assumed he hadn't been noticed. He'd known the moment Holmes had appeared. Holmes coughed again, an exaggerated, harsh thing. Titan remained where he was, continuing to think, the steady creak of his chair comfortingly filling the silence. Finally Holmes' patience broke. "Titan, I require your assistance." Titan smiled at the thinly veiled annoyance in Holmes' voice. "Never the master of getting to the point, were you? Now, what can little old me do for you?" Holmes stood there for a second, looked around, and then whispered to him. "I need you to teach me." Titan was absolutely shocked. Warlock Holmes, genius and master of many things, needed to learn from him? He schooled his voice to show none of his genuine surprise. "Me, teach you? What could you possibly not know?" Holmes looked down at his feet. "I may have... missed the classes on smithing. This swordsmith challenge made me realize that I need to learn it." Titan smiled. "No worries, I'll teach you almost all that I know. There are certain trade secrets that I need to keep." Holmes nodded. "That's to be expected. I'll learn as much as you're willing to teach." Titan nodded. "It's settled then. Your first lesson begins now. You see that pile of wood over there? Get chopping." Holmes looked at the wood, then back at Titan, trying to tell if he was joking. Then he sighed and trudged over to the pile, beginning his slow massacre of wood. Titan smiled within his helmet. His master had made him do this same thing, and he had been looking forward to making someone else do it. ------ A few hours later, Titan walked over to the pile of chopped wood Holmes had created. He looked it over, noting the precise cuts for every block. Holmes would make a fine smith with that attention to detail. He walked over to where Holmes sat exhausted, trying to keep his laughter out of his voice. "I hope your ready for the next part. It only gets harder from here." Holmes' face took on a pained look, but he stood up anyways. Titan nodded his head at the wood. "This needs to go over by the forge. You have an hour." As he started to walk to the forge he paused and looked over his shoulder. "And Holmes? No using magic like you did with the wood." ------ Titan watched as Holmes placed the final piece of wood onto the stack, noting how he trembled a little when he sat down. He smiled, knowing that Holmes had just enough strength to begin smithing, but he'd need to train for that too. He walked over, dropping to a knee in front of Holmes. "The first lesson is over. You'll need to gain more strength before you can become more than an adequate smith of metal." Holmes opened his mouth to interrupt, but Titan held up his hand. "Metal is different than the materials you've been using. Sure, you can use magic to give you strength or even shape the metal, but using it as a crutch will result in shoddy workmanship. In order to forge well, you have to pummel the metal, gain its respect so that it willingly takes the shape you give it. Otherwise, the blade will shatter in true combat." He stood up, looking down at Holmes. "Rest for now. The straw in the corner is where you'll be for your apprenticeship. Tomorrow, we go on to the next lesson."