The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Receiving Rewards
The team stood in silence as Commander Ajax introduced their senior officer. Owen was a nightmare—literally. And while they didn’t know how Reid had managed to beat him, they knew it hadn’t been easy.

“Sir.” Reid stepped forward, requesting permission to speak.

Commander Ajax looked at him. “Yes, Fletcher?”

“With all due respect, sir, isn’t Owen a junior officer?” Reid asked.

“You’re right, Fletcher. Officer Owen here was a junior officer,” Ajax explained. “But he had already earned enough merits to be promoted. He just didn’t take it because, according to him, that would be ‘too much work.'”

“But he suddenly volunteered to be your senior officer, so I granted it” The commander concluded.

“Understood sir” Reid said and stepped back.

Commander Ajax then turned to the still sleepy Owen and said, “You can take over from here officer Owen, they’re in your care now.”

“Yes sir” Owen saluted before turning to the team, scanning their faces one at a time with his tired eyes.

“Let’s get started shall we” his words didn’t match his tired tone.

Commander Ajax nodded and stepped back, allowing Owen to take over but not before saying “Officer Owen will take you to where your new uniforms and rank will be issued.”

“And for your rewards, he’ll lead you to the Forgemasters so you can make your choice” He completed.

“Sir” Reid stepped forward again “I have a request”

Ajax looked at him with a raised eyebrow but still listened “go ahead Fletcher.”

“If you’ll allow it, I’d like to trade my reward for unrestricted access to the forge” He requested, he knew the chance of his request being granted was highly unlikely, but he decided to ask anyway.

“What’s the reason for that decision Fletcher?” The commander asked.

Reid sighed and said, “I believe my current lineup of forged beasts is satisfactory and forging has always been an interest of mine.”

He then proceeded to summon Rusty, Evo, Beel and Axie in their smaller forms. The Quartet quickly took their place on his head, making their selves comfortable.

Axie, who hadn’t been around humans much was curiously looking around at the new faces that were in the room.

“I see” The commander thought over his reply as he looked at the four summoned forged beasts perched on Reid’s head.

“I’m afraid I can’t grant your request Fletcher, the forge isn’t under my jurisdiction” Ajax Said but he added “but, if you can convince the old dwarf that runs the place then your request might be granted.”

The commander’s voice took an annoyed tone when he mentioned ‘the old dwarf’.

“But good luck with that, that frog is as stubborn as a mule” this was the first time team 7 heard the commander speak in such a tone and it surprised them. As for Owen, whether he was surprised or not was unknown since his face just looked sleepy.

“Whether or not you succeed in convincing him, your reward still remains, and you can receive it whenever you are ready” He left the barrack after he said that, leaving team 7 with their newly appointed leader.

Owen let out a long yawn as he stretched his arms above his head before he lazily regarded them “Alright, let’s go get your ranks updated and your new uniforms issued”

“For someone who volunteered to be our senior officer, you don’t seem excited about this” Clara commented, her arms crossed.

“That’s because I’m not” Owen answered “I prefer staying in bed until I have a mission because all this is just too much work.”

“But your leader here and his forged beast is interesting, so i decided to volunteer for this position because I think he’s just what i need” He finished as he pointed at Reid and Nyx.

The group went silent after they heard his words and Lisa muttered “again?”

Owen didn’t understand why they suddenly went quiet, so he just told them to follow him as he walked out of the officer’s barracks.

Clara moved closer to Lisa as they walked and whispered “I think you have a competition” which caused her to blush.

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Updating their ranks didn’t take long since they just had to present their watches on which the update was done, granting them access to more facilities.

They were currently headed to the forge.

“So… about this dwarf the commander was talking about, what’s his deal?” Marcus asked.

“He’s not an actual dwarf, just extremely short just like his temper” Owen replied with a chuckle “but never mention his height,”

“We’ll keep that in mind” Reid answered as they continued forward.

“Anyway, he’s the best forgemaster we have, capable of even forging platinum tier beasts and also the first person to successfully annoy commander Ajax and get away with it” Owen continued.

The team exchanged glances. Someone was able to make the scary commander Ajax annoyed and also had a temper didn’t sound reassuring.

A few minutes later they arrived at what looked like a weapon’s shop instead of the normal barracks that filled the military based.

A plaque hung above the door with the writing “F*ck Off If You Have No Business With Me” instead of the name of the shop.

“That’s welcoming” Lisa commented as Owen tapped his ID on the small screen beside the door.

{Welcome, Senior Officer Owen} a voice came from the screen as the door clicked open.

They walked into the shop that was pretty dark even though the sun had risen. It was kept light by some soft colored, hexagon shaped lights that hung on the ceiling.

The shelves were all empty save for a few weapons and beast cores. The main counter was empty except for the blue holographic screen and with no one manning it.

“Where is the old man, Ember?” Owen asked to seemingly no one until a reply came.

{The master is currently in the forge, and I’ve already informed him of your presence} the voice came from the hologram on the table.

A minute later, a door at the other end of the store opened and a bright white light spilled into the store, almost blinding the quartet.

They then noticed what seemed like the shadow of an extremely tall individual on the floor as the person slowly approached. The store’s floor shook with every step the person took as if a giant walking.

The group looked up, expecting a height that matched the rumbling that the individual’s footstep and shadow suggested but even after a few minutes, they saw no one.

“Where do you think you’re looking, you idiots?” a gruff voice came from-

Below?

The team looked down and immediately understood why the commander called the man a dwarf. If fantasy creatures like elves, dwarves etc. existed, the four would be convinced that the man standing before them belonged to the dwarf race.

Standing at 4’5″(135 cm) with bald head, thick dark brown beard, tanned skin, dark brown eyes and a muscular build was the forgemaster. He wore a dark jumpsuit, an apron, gloves and boots.

On his bald head rested what looked like goggles and around his waist was a brown utility belt.

“What are you looking at?” his gruff voice came again, snapping them out of their stunned silence.

Owen spoke up in a tired voice before they could say anything “good morning, Garrick”.

“You’re here too Owen; shouldn’t you be asleep at this time?” the dw-Garrick turned to Owen and spoke.

It wasn’t early since the sun had already risen but Owen was known for spending his entire day sleeping.

“I wish” Owen sighed “but I’m a senior officer now and these five are under my command so I had to be up early”.

His tone suggested that he was forced to accept the position, but Garrick knew better.

“So, you finally decided to accept the promotion” he said as he moved to his counter.

“Yeah, turns out this kid is a lot interesting than sleep” Owen said as he gestured to Reid causing Garrick to glance at him.

“That so?” he said as he turned back to Owen “Now, tell me why you’re here”.

“I’m here because commander Ajax promised these five gold-tier forged beasts of their choice” Owen answered and Garrick immediately frowned.

“Did that idiot do this just to annoy me?” Garrick asked in a sour tone “and why the hell did he not inform me of this?”

Owen and the five stayed quiet as Garrick continued grumbling for a couple of minutes before Ember spoke up.

{You might want to calm down master, the commander sent you an email which you refused to read even after I informed you that it might be important} She said, and Garrick went quiet.

“Who the hell reads emails?” Garrick shouted out again but sighed and turned to the five “Choose the forged beasts you want and leave”.

The hologram on the counter changed, showing different types of forged beasts which the three could scroll through.

“Are you not interested in choosing your forged beast?” Garrick turned to Reid who hadn’t approached the counter with the rest of his team.

“No sir, I have another request” Reid respectfully said.

“Normally, I would have said no without hearing your request” Garrick said “but since you seem like a good kid, I’m willing to hear you out.”

“Thank you, sir” Reid said “I would like to be allowed access to your forge lab.”

Garrick took a pause, not expecting the request. He expected Reid to maybe request for a cool looking weapon but access to his forge was an unexpected request.

“Look around kid” Garrick “do you see anyone else here?”

Reid shook his head.

“Exactly, I do not like people randomly coming in and out of my shop” He paused “and you’re asking for permission to enter my forge lab?”

“Yes, sir” Reid simply answered, keeping his respectful tone.

“No” was Garrick’s final reply.