3rd day of Calid March, Season of Searing, Year 47 of Age of Steel
[indent=20]That was it. He was done. The dagger in his outstretched hand was pointing at the master weapon maker, Gylfi.
[indent=20]The man stared back at Arlen. The last hunt left Gylfi crippled, losing one arm. He couldn’t fight, nor could he make weapons anymore.
[indent=20]“So?” Gylfi asked, raising his eyebrows. He was sitting in the workshop adjacent to the back of the weapon’s shop. The sun outside scorching those who dared to step out of the shadows. Gylfi had the stump of an arm bandaged despite having more or less healed already.
[indent=20]Arlen nudged the dagger at Gylfi. “Well, it’s not much different from the previous blade. Just larger, really.” Young Arlen looked from Gylgi at the weapon before pointing the tip upward and inspecting it once more.
[indent=20]Gylfi huffed, twisting his upper lip. It was Gylfi’s new habit to show discontent. Something he had much reason for but little space to express.
[indent=20]Arlen sucked in his cheeks. What more was there for him to say?
[indent=20]So they stared at each other a little longer until Arlen dropped his hand to his side.
[indent=20]“So am I stuck with it for a little bit longer?” Arlen asked, dropping his shoulders.
[indent=20]“You will be stuck with it Arlen until you use that head of yours to start noticing differences. Because otherwise, you will never know the difference between a sword and a dagger. And I won’t have a mindless runt running around swinging it,” Gylfi answered, his eyes trained hard on Arlen.
[indent=20]“Maybe he doesn’t have a sword in him,” a voice carried in from within the house just before Thova stepped out, carrying a mace that was in dire need of repair. Its blade was chapped and there were scratches on the surface.
[indent=20]Arlen shot Thova a blazing look. Yet she just shrugged at him as she passed.
[indent=20]“Is that Maze’s?” Gylfi asked, looking at the weapon with wide eyes.
[indent=20]“Yep! His little one brought it in for him. Maze is in as poor a shape as his mace,” Thova answered laying the weapon down on a work table with a thud. “But he wants it fixed. And fast.”
[indent=20]Gylfi got up and walked over. His fingers touched the handle lightly and then the marks on the blade.
[indent=20]Arlen’s eyes dropped to the dagger in his palm.
[indent=20]Differences, he thought.
[indent=20]“We’ll have to fire it up,” Thova said.
[indent=20]“No. This is more about a full rework. I mean look at this. The blade will snap if we’ll do only cosmetic work,” Gylfi countered.
[indent=20]“Well, it’s not like Maze will be able to pick it up again and fight.”
[indent=20]Arlen saw Gylfi shooting Thova a stern gaze. “Whether or not he can is beside the point. Our job is to make the best weapons no matter what. Understood, Thova?”
[indent=20]The young Jastai woman reddened in the face and cast her face sideways. It was only recently that she reached adulthood and it was an even shorter while back that Gylfi took her as his apprentice.
[indent=20]“Well,” she broke the reprimanding silence, her eyes darting around. “I can definitely rework it. I can strengthen the blade by layering it, maybe adding a mix of two metals…” Her eyes moved to a stack of ingots on one side of the workshop.
[indent=20]Gylfi grunted in approval and ran his fingers over the weapon again. As far as Arlen knew, it was his work made specifically to Maze’s request.
[indent=20]Maze’s mace… Arlen remembered. He even recalled Maze’s raspy laughter when he first mentioned it.
[indent=20]“Right, Arlen. You scoot now. Go practice with the dagger.” Gylfi waved his hand at the young boy, walking back to his chair.
[indent=20]“The blade’s different,” Arlen then said quickly, standing his ground.
[indent=20]“Eh?” Gylfi huffed, partly in exertion as he fell more than lowered himself into the chair, partly trying to understand what Arlen just said.
[indent=20]“The blade. Dagger is shorter than a sword…”
[indent=20]Thova snickered in the background.
[indent=20]“...which means...” Arlen shot her a quick glance. She had her back to him, selecting the materials, but her head was slightly turned. “Which means that they are used differently in combat.”
[indent=20]“Alright,” Gylfi said in a measured tone. “Carry on.”
[indent=20]“Like right now,” Arlen said extending his arm again. He pointed the tip of the dagger at Gylfi’s chest. “I can’t reach you with a dagger. But if I had a sword…”
[indent=20]Gylfi’s lips twitched and he gave a slow nod. “What else?”
[indent=20]Arlen smiled. Heat surged through his body and determination took its hold. “The edges. This one has one sharp and one blunt edge. Swords have two sharp edges.” Arlen nodded a few times to himself. Bending his elbow, Arlen brought the weapon closer to his face once more.
[indent=20]“Not always, Arlen,” Gylfi countered.
[indent=20]“Huh?”
[indent=20]“Not all swords have two sharp edges. But carry on.”
[indent=20]Arlen took in a sharp breath. He would remember that. But right now, he had to find more differences.
[indent=20]He laid the weapon in his palm. His thumb caressed the metal like he saw Gylfi do.
[indent=20]Blunt edge. He felt the thickness of the blade.
[indent=20]Sharp edge. His thumb caught on it. “Ah!” Arlen’s hand jerked back. A drop of blood started swelling at the incision.
[indent=20]“Of course!” Arlen exclaimed. “The sharpness of the blade. That also decides what it’s for. Sharp edge to cut. Blunt edges to stunt.”
[indent=20]Thova snickered again and Gylfi tried to stifle a laugh. Heat rose to Arlen’s cheeks. “What?” He asked, his hand dropping back to his side.
[indent=20]They didn’t say. Thova was shaking her head, turning back to look straight at her work. Gylfi had a wide smile on his face as he rubbed his forehead.
[indent=20]“What?!” Arlen demanded, raising his voice. His gaze jumped from one to the other.
[indent=20]“Sharp edge cut, blunt does booboos,” Thova mimicked quietly, not bothering to hide it.
[indent=20]“Thova!” Arlen raised his voice turning to face her. Yet, she still carried on with her work. So the young boy took in a deep breath. He was so ready to have her. She had a tendency to ridicule him. She also knew that Arlen would not let it slide.
[indent=20]“Arlen,” Gylfi called out to him. The smile was still there, along with the spark of amusement. “Don’t mind her. She is just jealous of your smarts.”
[indent=20]Thova snickered again.
[indent=20]Arlen’s hand tightened around the daggers hold.
[indent=20]“Arlen,” Gylfi spoke again more levelled, steadier. “Don’t get discouraged.” Gylfi fixed Arlen with his gaze, wordlessly reminding the young boy about their discussions on fighting smart whether that was with one’s body or mind.
[indent=20]So Arlen took in a slow breath. And although it did not dampen the heat that was roaring through his body, it sure helped him focus on Gylfi alone.
[indent=20]The old Jastai nodded, approving. “Good. You had good points, Arlen. Some more obvious than others. And you listened. Which is also very good.” Gylfi tapped his thigh. “With the sharp and blunt side, it decides the use of the blade. For example, the main difference between a sword and a dagger is that sword is a cut and slash, occasional stab type of weapon. Dagger is a stabbing weapon mainly. So you will have to adjust your fighting style based on that.”
[indent=20]Gylfi then stood up and walked over to a pile of weapons that were waiting to be melted. It was a heap of discarded blades made in the workshop. Some were used and abused to the a similar state that Maze’s mace was. The owner either no longer wanted the weapon or died and no one else picked it up. The workshop took these in for a coin. There were also failed experiments.
[indent=20]From there the master weapon maker withdrew a thin blade as long as Arlen’s arm, with one sharp and an opposing blunt edge like the dagger he held. Arlen had not seen the weapon before. It was of strange colour, with dark streaks among the silver.
[indent=20]“This one is Thova’s try on mixing metals when she started.” The Jastai woman cast a look back, her lips pursing. “It’s...not usable to put it this way, but I won’t tell you why. I want you to figure it out.” With an expert flick of a wrist, Gylfi changed the hold from the hilt to the blunt edge of the sword and extended the hilt towards Arlen.
[indent=20]They exchanged the weapons and immediately, Arlen noticed just how heavier his new blade was. It must have shown on his face in a frown since Gylfi huffed and nodded.
[indent=20]“Now, your stance with a sword will also change. Square off a bit more. Center.” Gylfi walked around Arlen, moving the boy’s body as he spoke. “That’s it. Keep them knees bent. Good. Now try a swing.”
[indent=20]Arlen took in a deep breath. He saw others fighting with swords. He could imitate a move. Reaching the sword above his head and back, he slashed through the air. The weight of a sword unbalanced him. He didn’t expect it and before he could stop, the tip of the sword buried itself into the floorboards.
[indent=20]“Shit,” Arlen uttered, casting a quick look at Gylfi whose face was frozen in surprise.
[indent=20]“It’s sharp,” Gylfi stated the obvious as though his brain just managed to word the reality.
[indent=20]“Well, of course it is!” Thova chimed in, hands at hips, facing the two. “Just because it is not ‘usable’ doesn’t mean I’m gonna leave it blunt.”
[indent=20]Gylfi and Arlen looked at her somewhat dumbfounded.
[indent=20]“Alright. No. That’s good. If you are to train with a sword, you will need to do it in sparring. And there is no use in sparring with a blunt blade,” Gylfi concluded. “Now, get it out of my floor kid.”
[indent=20]Arlen fought with the sword for a while, making the mark in the floor worse with each wiggle.
[indent=20]“For crying out loud,” Gylfi uttered, reaching forward just as Arlen pulled the sword out. There was now a new addition of a gaping notch in the floorboards.
[indent=20]“Sorry,” Arlen apologised in low voice, lips pulled back in a grimace.
[indent=20]Gylfi sighed, his shoulders dropping. “What can I do. Just go practice elsewhere, alright? Come back when you’ve learnt about the sword.”
[indent=20]Arlen nodded, his face transforming in a blink of an eye. He was smiling. His eyes were alight. He just got his first sword! He was about to turn and dash when Thova called out to him. Suddenly there was something flying at his face. He dropped the blade to catch the thing.
[indent=20]“Don’t forget the scabbard, Zapling,” Thova said as though it was an obvious thing. “And enjoy your toothpick training.”
Also shoutout to Maaaaaaze, whatever happened to him anyway.