Later, Martin left his homeland and drifted from one capital to another. At last, he found work as an apprentice in a smithy, running errands for the master smiths to earn his living.
It was a commercial smithy, and the masters were all hired by the owner. As an errand-running apprentice given room and board, he naturally learned little of any real skill. His monthly pay in livres was barely enough to buy a few drinks.
Such poverty and tedium were more than most people could bear, but Martin thought nothing of them. Instead, the hard labor each day brought him some inner peace and kept his mind from wandering. His occasional drinks at night lifted his spirits as well. His days passed slowly, while his life flowed swiftly away like water.
Three years passed in a flash. At twenty, Martin thought this was all his life would ever amount to, until one afternoon, he happened to meet White as he passed by. White took an immediate liking to him and led him away from the smithy.
From then on, Martin lived and studied under the master who had given him a new life. Five years had passed since then.
A glimmer of moisture shone in Martin's cold, stern eyes as he recalled the past. After a brief lapse, he forced those emotions down with reason and focused all his attention on the door before him.
He pressed his palm against it, as though saying, Tonight will be my chance to turn my life around.
He knocked on the door again. His fingers ached slightly as a low tapping sound rang out, and he estimated that this alloy iron door was about a foot thick.
The rock-solid iron door had three locks, one at the top, one in the middle,