บท 1: Interview With A Legend

"Hello, Mister Joyce. My name is Samuel Morgan, we were talking on the phone last week." After entering into the hot smithy, a young man with short, dark blonde hair and glowing blue eyes walked up to a man standing in front of an anvil while he was still hammering down onto the hot metal in front of him. The man, Benjamin Joyce, turned around in surprise and layed the metal down with his tongs and began to smile.

"So you're the kid I'm supposed to meet today? Sorry, I'm working on a little project of mine." Apologizing with a bright smile, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and arms using the towel he always has laying somewhere around himself if he should need it, and then took off his ear-protectors.

The young man called Samuel loosened his tie and took off his suit-jacket to cool himself off in the searing hot smithy. In any other setting, people might have found this to be rude or unprofessional, but the Benjamin knows how hot it can get inside here. So, without commenting on his action he extended his hand to shake his guest's.

"Don't worry about it, Mister Joyce. Your skill in different crafts such as blacksmithing is the reason I'm here after all." Laughing slightly, Samuel opened his suitcase on a nearby table and took out something that looked like a contract to Benjamin, laying it out together with a pen,

"Before we start with the interview, it is necessary for both parties to sign a non-disclosure agreement. For once it is so that you will not spread the information that you get from us. It also protects the secrets of your craft that you may tell me today, so that no member of Prime Industries may tell someone outside the Company. Either way, the information will be handled on a need-to-know basis, so the spread will be minimized. Do you have any questions?"

Since this wasn't the first time in his life that he had to sign something, Benjamin shook his head and grabbed the contract, reading through it meticulously.

After a few minutes, he gave a slight nod and took the pen, then looked over at the young businessman.

"Where do I need to sign?" In response to his question, Samuel began smiling softly. Benjamin figured that he was simply happy for making it so uncomplicated.

After he pointed at the different spots where his signature was needed, Benjamin signed the contract without any complications. Afterward, Samuel did the same, thus completing the non-disclosure-agreement.

"Alright, Mister Joyce. Should we start the interview now?" Samuel asked and took out a tablet as well as an electronic pen to use for writing from his suitcase. Benjamin nodded while keeping up his soft smile and pointed at a door leading out into the backyard of his house where his smithy was set up, "Let's talk outside. The weather is beautiful today." He suggested while opening the door and walking over to a table, then sat down on one of the wooden chairs, motioning Samuel to take a seat on the other.

Samuel looked through the first few questions he noted down and began to speak, "The first section will be-"

"Ah, sorry! Young man, do you want something to drink? Some water, lemonade? A cold beer?" Noticing that Benjamin forgot a basic part of a host's etiquette, he stood up and walked up to the glass sliding door leading to the kitchen. Sighing loudly but knowing this old guy will leave either way no matter what he says, he nodded and asked to get some water. Benjamin himself grabbed a bottle of beer and opened it up before walking back outside.

"Alright, now. What I was saying, the first section of the interview will be made up of personal questions. Is that fine?" Samuel asked and looked at Benjamin with a soft, professional smile. Since he seemed like quite a good lad, Benjamin decided that he didn't mind telling him and nodded.

"Thank you. What is your full name, Mister Joyce?"

"Benjamin Theodore Joyce. My first name is that of my grandfather fatherly side and my second name that of my grandfather motherly side. Something like a family tradition. My own grandchild's name is Benjamin as well, haha. Would you like to see a picture of him? He just got out of elementary school! Here, I have a picture of him in my wallet!" Excitedly Benjamin stood up wanting to grab his Wallet from his Jacket inside, just when he noticed that he was trailing off.

"Sorry, sorry. I tend to trail off like that sometimes when I'm passionate about something." He apologized and began to laugh embarrassedly.

"Don't worry, Mister Joyce. I'm very close to my grandfather as well." With a soft smile, Samuel looked down at his Tablet and noted something down. It seemed like he noted more than just Benjamin's name, however.

"How old are you right now, and at what age did you find your interest in different crafts?"

The aged Blacksmith leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his beer while he thought, but soon enough remembered when exactly that was, "Right now I'm 66 years old. We were a family of blacksmiths for generations, sadly I'm the one where that tradition stopped. I practically grew up in a smithy, knowing how to properly work with Iron before I could spell. And that's not an exaggeration. I spent a whole month trying to make the perfect Paper Knife for my father when I was just a little boy of five years. Sure, I did get a lot of help from my father's apprentices, but I still like to think I did most of the work, haha." Floating in a nostalgic feeling when thinking back on this, Benjamin smiled deeply.

"I see. And what about other crafts? I was told you are also very proficient in things like leatherworking, tailoring, and even meddled in some eastern herbalistic lines of work for a while?" Samuel asked his interviewee and continued writing down his notes.

"Ah… I dropped out of high school when I was 16 to officially become my father's apprentice, and just when I finished it my old man died. He overworked himself because of the stress from many of his other apprentices stopping to work in the profession. After he died, I decided that journeying around the world might be a good idea, since all I knew was in that small, crammed smithy. Until that point, I never even left my hometown. I first traveled through the United States to expand my general knowledge or how to be independent. I worked with some other blacksmiths and refined my techniques even further. But at some point, I began to wonder. Is blacksmithing really the right thing for me, or was that a choice made by my heritage before I was even born? Thus, I left the country and traveled across South America. Mostly on foot, or on boat when necessary, I even spent time with some recently, at the time, discovered tribes and learned how to connect with nature. I learned different Mexican and Carribean cuisines as well while I was at it, working with natural ingredients most of the time.

After a year, I went over to Europe, and in France met a talented tailor who I worked under for another whole year, and then continued traveling through Europe, picking up as many tricks on traditional crafts as I could. I even lived with a hunter for a month, who showed me how to properly work with leather of an animal you hunted yourself, and how to get the hides without damaging them too much.

When I was in my mid-twenties, I finally went on to Asia, where I learned about a whole new perspective on the crafts I knew about before. Completely new blacksmithing and tailoring techniques, cuisines that I had never eaten before. To my simple mind that thought it got to know all there was to know in the world this just showed that you can always keep growing, no matter what you do. There, how you already mentioned, I also learned about herbalism, although I had gotten to know the basics from areas like the United Kingdom or central Europe already."

Benjamin explained in as much detail as he could muster without being completely useless for the rest of the day from reminiscing big parts of his whole life.

"That's something that many young people dream of nowadays. I myself also always wanted to travel the world like that since I was a child." Samuel pointed out with a big smile.

"Don't worry about it, lad. You're still young! You can do whatever you want with the rest of your life! You're not an old geezer like me, haha." With a soft laugh, Benjamin took another sip of his beer and waited for Samuel to continue the interview.

"For saying that you are an old geezer, your body is still one that many people my age would love to have." Samuel smiled softly and then looked at his Tablet again to read through the next question, "This was basically all that the first part included. Since you explained many things in such detail, I was able to skip some of the questions. Now, for the second part. This will be you explaining the mindset you have when you are inside this smithy or committing to any other craft. What makes you want to continue it? What does the profession itself mean to you? These kinds of things."

After Samuel began explaining what the second segment of the interview will be about, Benjamin thought about it for a while. What do the crafts mean to him? It's simple, really.

These crafts, especially Blacksmithing, the thing he grew up with, means everything to him. He never was a book-smart man. All he was ever good at was slamming his hammer against metal. Others relied on their brain, while Benjamin relied on his hands. Sure, he gathered a lot of experience in life that may make him seem 'smart', but deep down he knows that he's a handyman. But that doesn't mean that Benjamin only does this because it's the only thing he can, he genuinely loves it. Exactly the fact that he can only work with his hands makes the importance and his reliance on different crafts so strong. It makes him feel like he has a purpose in life as long as he has something to do with his two hands.

"I'm already long beyond my prime, you know? These days I may have other things to be proud of, like my grandchildren for example, but even then it still calms my mind to just be in here. It reminds me of easier days." Benjamin finished his monologue on the importance of Craftsmanship in his life, even bringing some tears to Samuel's eyes.

He wiped his sleeve across his face to wipe them away, smiling softly at this speech, "That was truly inspirational, Mister Joyce. Now, I think that was enough for the second phase. Lastly, I will need to record the process of you working. I brought a number of heat resistant cameras so I can set them up in the Smithy as well, effectively recording complete 3D images of you. It would be a great help having you explain different techniques by showing them to me as an example." The young man explained at last. Nodding with a smile on his face, Benjamin emptied his bottle of beer and stretched slightly.

"Let's go, lad. I'll go and prepare the materials, and you do your tech whatchamacallit."

"Thank you, Mister Joyce. I'll get right to it!"

And like that, for the rest of the day, Benjamin taught Samuel all of his tricks and techniques related to blacksmithing, Tailoring, Leatherworking, Herbalism and other smaller details related to other professions.

After sitting down in his car, sweating profusely after spending hours in this extreme heat, Samuel stares silently at his tablet, muttering out a single thing.

"So this is what a Legendary Craftsman is like, huh?"