Aoth showed none of a Smithing Grandmaster's airs toward Prince Rex, the man who had made his success possible. Instead, he was deeply respectful.
Watching Aoth bow to him, Rex was immensely pleased with his attitude. This was the difference between someone he had nurtured himself and someone he had recruited outright.
Had this been a Smithing Grandmaster he had recruited, never mind bowing—even exchanging a few extra words with him would have seemed like a waste of time. Arrogance hardly began to describe such people.
It was precisely for this reason that every organization preferred people trained within its own ranks and rarely accepted or trusted outsiders.
Aoth might have shown none of a Smithing Grandmaster's airs, but Rex could not disregard his standing. He greeted him warmly. "Aoth, haven't I told you not to be so formal? Call me Rex. We're very good friends. Calling me 'Your Highness' makes us sound distant. There's no need to treat me like an outsider."
Rex was being so courteous entirely because of the prestige that came with Aoth's master rank.
Master rank was not something just anyone could attain. In Azeroth, the word "master" carried extraordinary significance. It represented something profoundly important.
Master rank applied not only to smithing, but also to other professions, such as skinning, engineering, alchemy, enchanting, and many more.
Attaining master rank in any of these professions was extraordinarily difficult. Thus, an unwritten rule had already taken shape in Azeroth: anyone who became a master held a status comparable to an Archmage among mages and would receive respect wherever they went. They no longer represented only themselves, but humanity as a whole. They had become treasures of humanity.
Being exempt from bowing before a king was the most basic privilege. Just like a Heroic Powerhouse, anyone with