"I didn't know humans had Loremasters. There was a human Chamon Mage at the battle in the Ward of Rain, just had a staff. Good with the metal, though." He gestures demonstrably and a few slivers of silver shoot out of his outstretched hand, peppering the path ahead. "Most of our metal-Mages are smiths, not fighters."
"There are two metal-Mages I work with that will be joining me here, and both are also fighters. One archer, one with fists."
"A fist metal-Mage?" He considers that for a while. "That must be interesting. I would like to meet them."
Re-reading the update for a dozenth time, I've been considering this line. Kadoh says that most of their metal mages are smiths, not fighters, and Mathilde describes Max and Johann as Fighters.
This is true, they are fighters. But I think that Mathilde also failed to mention that they're also smiths. Max is obvious, he's a blacksmith and your stereotypical artiste who glorifies the art of craftsmanship and seeks "True Transmutation". Johann is less obvious and requires some reframing, so bear with me here.
Johann is incapable of reaching certain aspects of Chamon, including Alchemy, the most prized art of his order. He focuses almost entirely on being puncher supreme, and he isn't exactly the most academic person. He isn't like Adela, who makes crazy inventions with her engineering, despite him having enough knowledge of engineering to consider reverse engineering Skaven tech. He isn't like Max, who places craftsmanship above all else. But there is a weapon that Johann's been forging for a long time, and that is his body.
I was at first confused at the Order of the Pick. Grungni, the Father of Dwarfkind is a Miner and a Craftsmen. His greatest deed was creating the Throne of Power and the Rune of Azamar. Why is one of his orders focus on fist based martial arts? But the description of their order in the Dramatis Personae is that they seek not to emulate Grungni himself, but his pick. And then it hit me.
The Pick, like all Dwarf tools, is both a tool for utility and a weapon in times of war, and the Miners still use it as their standard weapon. The Order of the Pick are craftsman, and the tool/weapon they're forging is their own body. And who better to exemplify that than Johann? The man who literally Gilded himself, risking his life and limb to overcome his limitations and forge his body in a crucible of fire. It backfired at one point, permanently blinding him, but such is the risk when one tries to create sometimes. Some people lose their fingers or their ears, and Johann happened to lose his eyes in his pursuit.
The point is, while I understand why Mathilde chose to emphasize that her Goldies are Fighters, they're just as much smiths as they are combatants.
