Only after the three Baratheon brothers had ridden off did the Gold Cloaks relax their vigilance. The king's splendid procession headed for the Great Sept of Baelor, while the stream of common folk, including the apprentices, moved away from the white sept.
"Stannis, what are you thinking about?" Renly spurred his horse forward and asked his second brother, who was lost in thought and nearly bald.
Renly was always frivolous and naturally couldn't be close to his stern and stubborn elder brother. Stannis was too rigid and not handsome enough.
"Nothing!" Stannis waved his hand dismissively, but seeing Renly's face, he was taken aback. He thought he had seen a tall boy in the crowd, who vanished in the blink of an eye. The boy's appearance, build, and demeanor were strikingly similar to the young king and Renly.
Edric, who had been fostered at Storm's End and had disgraced Stannis, seemed more like a blood brother to that boy.
"I've never outdone Robert at anything!" Stannis said with a self-mocking smile— in power, looks, charm, and even in the number of children.
"Must have been my imagination. But why are Robert's three legitimate children all blond, lacking the Baratheon traits, while the bastards all have dark hair?" Stannis suppressed his doubts and continued with the procession. He knew there was another of Robert's bastards, a girl, at the Eyrie in the Vale.
Maybe he could ask Lord Jon.
The redistribution by King Robert had already sown the seeds of chaos. Renly had effortlessly gained Storm's End and grown close to House Tyrell, while Stannis was left with the desolate and barren Dragonstone.
If a man were always resentful, he would always be suspicious. Stannis was just like that. He had always been discontented with the way King Robert treated him, unable to compare with the queen's kin or with his younger brother Renly.
"Come on, kids, it's best not to get close to the king's Gold Cloaks. They're not in a good mood!" Tobho Mott also led his apprentices back to the forge along the same route.
"Those knights are so dashing. I saw Barristan. It seems Ser Jaime the 'Lion' didn't come this time!" The king's procession, like a river of steel, had already moved far away, but one apprentice still said enviously. Compared to blacksmiths, knights were more dazzling and more popular.
"Lion, you probably forgot that this Lord Jaime has another nickname!"
"Shut up, boy, watch your tongue. I don't want any trouble!" Tobho suddenly became very stern, covering the boy's mouth.
There were too many big shots in King's Landing. Only by minding your tongue could you live longer.
The red-cloaked Lannister soldiers were everywhere in King's Landing. The Lannisters had been operating in the capital for two generations and were not to be trifled with.
"Put away your knightly dreams, apprentices! To become a fine knight, you need at least a hundred golden dragons. It's a fair price. Do you have that kind of money?" Tobho ruthlessly shattered the boys' knightly dreams.
Finding a drill instructor, forging armor, and the knighting ceremony all required golden dragons. For ordinary blacksmiths and landless commoners' children, being a blacksmith was tough and tiring, but at least it could make ends meet.
Gendry looked at his companions, who still had that feeling of having their dreams crushed. The knightly fantasy and the reality of being a blacksmith— that's life.
Tobho felt that there was indeed one hopeful among these apprentices.
Looking at Gendry beside him, who was tall and strong, and handsome, but unfortunately had a very tricky identity. There was also some envy in Gendry's deep blue eyes, but he was much calmer than the other kids.
"The king is no longer young. He's like a wild boar now. It's a good thing this boy hasn't noticed his resemblance to Renly," Tobho thought to himself.
Gendry didn't have too much halo worship for knights and kings. He just envied this kind of free life, not like his own, living in fear. Now, King's Landing was a mess. It was hard to avoid being implicated if you stayed in King's Landing. You needed a good way out.
"Kids, any country blacksmith can make a suit of armor. But why is our price higher? Because what I make is art. My craftsmanship is the best in King's Landing. When Tobho was in the mood, he would impart some of his blacksmithing experience to the apprentices.
"So you not only need to know how to forge iron, but also how to communicate with those lords and understand some human relations. Know some writing and language, some math, and drawing. Then you are a blacksmith who can sell at a high price."
Gendry nodded in agreement. No wonder Tobho was the best blacksmith in King's Landing. He knew how to tell his story. The ironware material was the same, but to sell at a high price, you had to please those nobles and lords.
But Gendry knew Tobho wasn't telling the whole truth. Tobho's two most impressive skills were, first, infusing color into fine steel.
In comparison, painting and glazing were just child's play.
The other was his technique for working Valyrian steel. It was more like recasting than forging. However, Gendry was a bit curious because the people of Qohor valued their techniques highly. Those who stole and leaked them would have their arms cut off.
"I probably can only learn glazing and painting among the levels of blacksmithing. Those two top skills, Tobho won't pass on, let alone if I stay here for seven or eight years, I might have a chance to peek at the core technology. It's too unrealistic."
Gendry still liked Tobho's way of training apprentices because he was a top weapon master. Although it was still the monotonous life of forging iron, Tobho would also have someone teach the apprentices other skills, such as math, language, and drawing.
Without a sense of aesthetics and artistry, you really couldn't become a first-class blacksmith.
Gendry eagerly absorbed this knowledge so as not to become illiterate and unable to find a place to eat. A blacksmith apprentice, a technical talent, is always in demand.
Although Gendry couldn't yet compare with the education of noble sons, who learned languages, literature, arithmetic, music, and history, as well as specialized knightly education in swordsmanship, horsemanship, and archery.
But it's only temporary. There will be a day when the fish will enter the sea.
"Clank! Clank!" Gendry threw an iron sword into the cold water trough, making a hissing sound. Today's task was over.
The sword looked neat and beautiful. Although it was not the best, it was above the level of a country blacksmith.
"Phew!" Gendry took off his leather apron, revealing his muscular arms. Day in and day out, maybe tomorrow's ironware will be better.
The workshop was like the mouth of a fire-breathing dragon.
Gendry could only feel the scorching heat of the flames. It was indeed one of the three most bitter jobs in life. He touched his soot-blackened short hair, and suddenly a panel appeared in front of him.
[Gendry]
[Bloodline: Stormblood (Activated, Awakened 30%), True Dragonblood (Not Activated), First Men Blood (Not Activated), Rhoyne Blood (Not Activated), Greenhand Blood (Not Activated)]
[Talent: Bastard Vigor (Descendants of the stag are tall and strong, with many children, and give birth to offspring with black hair and blue eyes)]
[Skills: Blacksmithing: Mastered, Drawing: Mastered, Mathematics: Mastered.]
Gendry looked at his bloodline, which had almost all the buffs stacked. If he wanted to escape King's Landing and find a place to settle down, it didn't seem impossible now.
Gendry knew that many of the bloodlines came from the marriage of ancestors and Princess Rhaelle Targaryen.
Princess Rhaelle's father was the commoner king Aegon, and her mother was from House Blackwood. Her grandmother was from House Dayne, and her great-grandmother was from House Martell.
Gendry looked at those bloodlines, which generally had corresponding magic.
True Dragonblood might be able to control dragons and fire, and Rhoyne Blood could manipulate the waters of the Rhoyne River, the water wizards of the Rhoynar.
Although now, only the Stormblood was glowing, the other bloodlines were in a solid gray, showing that they were not activated. And only Bastard Vigor had been activated among the talents.
Gendry no longer felt lost. He had the biggest trump card and still had the hope of changing the world.