Chapter 22

Hammer swung the greatsword in a wide circle around himself then dodged quickly to the left and lunged back with the sword in front of him as though to skewer someone who had taken the position he’d just vacated. Sweat dripped down into his eyes, but he didn’t stop as he immediately reversed his stance and swung behind himself, trying to imagine himself surrounded by imaginary opponents intent on taking his life. Nameless was right as usual. He needed to spend more time on this, it used completely different muscles than he used when smithing and he was completely exhausted after barely a half hour of practice. He kept at it as he had most mornings for the past few months since he’d made his sword. He glanced down at the silvery steel he gripped firmly with both hands as it flashed in the morning sun. He’d really outdone himself if he did say so himself. Not that anyone else in town save his father could have waved the massive blade around as lightly as he did. Another half hour passed quickly enough as he practiced killing invisible enemies. When Nameless finally whistled him over he leaned on his sword, bent over, his lungs heaving like bellows.

“Come get a drink, bud!” Called Nameless from the door to his hut. “Not gonna do yourself any favors if you keep going til you pass out. Not like I can drag you out of the sun if you do.” Nameless set down a bucket of water, a dipper that Hammer had made him last year sticking up over the side. Nameless wrestled Dog away from the bucket where he was trying to get some for himself.

Hammer walked over slowly, wiping the sweat from his eyes. He ignored the dipper and drank straight from the bucket. He drank as much as he could and then poured half of what remained over his head to cool down, before setting the bucket in front of Dog who started slurping up the remainder happily. Hammer thumped the dog’s side a few times, getting some tail wags in return but no pause to the loud slurping. He put his back to the hut and slid to the dirt. With a loud contented sigh he said, “Thanks, Nameless. I needed that.”

“No prob, bud. Dehydration is the enemy when you’re working out hard like that. You can do yourself a real mischief if you push too hard for too long without water. You’re definitely improving though. Not flailing around the way you were when you first started. You’re beginning to look like you’re wielding a sword instead of waving around a big metal club. Not that you couldn’t kill people just fine with either, being as big as you are.” Nameless chuckled.

Hammer grunted in reply. “Well, sure, but you said I could be whatever I want to be in life, and I want to be a knight. That means I’ll need to learn to use a sword properly.” Nameless tossed him the sword's sheath, although it was a somewhat awkward throw, being as it was as tall as he was. Nameless had provided a nice piece of bear hide to match his cloak and had Norbert whip it together with Dog’s former owner providing the woodwork interior. Hammer’s father had even provided some brass work that really brought the whole piece together without adding much to the overall weight.

“Just wish I knew how to use one myself so I could teach you a few things. We’ll need to find you a proper teacher once we get to The Mountain. Only people around these parts that use a sword are merchants’ guards, and from what I’ve seen they don’t know shit about shit. You’re better off just practicing on your own as much as you can, you’re obviously improving doing it this way anyhow so no reason not to keep it up. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Stated Nameless sagely.

Hammer nodded thoughtfully. He’d never heard that saying, but the way Nameless said it made it clear he was quoting something. Hammer made a mental note of the phrase. He loved all the odd Namelessisms he’d picked up over the years. There was an amazing amount of wisdom that came out of Nameless’ mouth, seemingly at random, and he tried to remember as much of it as he could. It almost always came in handy eventually or at the very least was good advice.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Dog finished drinking and came and sat down next to Hammer, looking at him expectantly. Hammer obliged Dog by scratching behind his ears distractedly as he leaned his head back against the hut and looked up at the sky as he finally managed to catch his breath with a great sigh.

“Two more days til Harvestfest and then we leave town. Too bad we couldn't get some horses to pull a cart for us. It’s going to be a long walk,” said Hammer thoughtfully.

“Well,” replied Nameless, “Hopefully we can score some horses along the way. From what the merchants say, they’re more prevalent the closer you get to the mountain. Might even be able to get a rock horse that you’d be able to ride with a saddle. Otherwise, yeah, we’ll be rocking a cart or walking it.” He shrugged. “Still, we’re young. A walk won’t kill us, even a really ridiculously long walk.”

Dog tensed under Hammer’s hand and started growling low in his throat. Hammer followed his line of sight to see Nameless waving towards the woods and quickly spotted Knick making his way through the maze of pit traps, waving back. “It’s just Knick, Dog. What are you growling for?” asked Hammer as the dog continuously growled no matter how much Hammer scratched his head.

“Oh, he knows who it is,” said Nameless, amused. “He just never warmed up to Knick quite as much as he did to you. Might have something to do with Knick kicking the shit out of me on a regular basis while Dog watches.” He chuckled.

Knick finished making his serpentine way over and greeted them. “Mornin’,” he said simply before taking a seat on the ground a short distance from them, forming a triangle between them from where Hammer sat against the hut and from where Nameless casually leaned on his spear.

“I’d offer you a drink, but those great beasts there just finished off the last of it.” Nameless indicated Hammer and dog with a thumb.

“Nah, I’m good anyway. Had a beer with breakfast. So, we good to go mornin’ after Harvestfest?” asked Knick, curious, glancing between the two of them.

“Well, I’m all packed and ready to go,” said Nameless. “Just planning to take in a bit more coin over the next couple of days to max out my cash before we leave, but other than that I could go right now. How ‘bout you Hammer?” He asked, looking over at the large young man who was nearly as tall as he was while sitting.

“Hmm, I wanted to put the finishing touches on some armored gauntlets with attached bracers that I’ve been working on, but other than that I’m pretty much ready to go. Not that Father was happy to hear of my plans. He says I’m liable to get myself killed when I could just be a smith and make a good living while staying perfectly safe in Tiga.” He shrugged. “But once I’m fifteen it’s up to me, he says. He’s glad I’m at least planning to find a proper teacher on The Mountain. Says, if I’m going to do it, I should do it right.”

Knick nodded. “We can probably find a retired swordmaster up there, according to Grandfather. Won’t be cheap though. Probably cost at least a gold per lesson if he’s anything like Grandfather. I only have a dozen gold and twice that in silver.” He added apologetically.

Nameless shrugged, “Well, I’ve got a couple hundred gold saved up, mostly from gambling over the winter, but who knows what it’ll cost us to get there. Especially if we buy horses. With you guys making proper steel though, we can probably earn what we need if we can get our hands on a forge.” Nameless put a hand to his chin as he thought. “Worst comes to worst I’ll just steal whatever we need, or we can always try our hands at murdering people for money.” He nodded to Knick who nodded back happily.

“So dishonorable,” muttered Hammer, shaking his head.

Nameless snorted, “Honor never fed me a day in my life, and if stealing or killing will keep my friends breathing longer it’s not really something I’d hesitate to do, but if it makes you feel better I’ll just say I won it gambling or something. That make it a bit more palatable for ya bud?” asked Nameless, amused.

Hammer gave a long sigh, “Well not now that you told me that, it doesn’t.”

Knick laughed but added nothing.

Nameless smiled. Looked like nothing was going to get in their way from here on out.