Garnedell glanced up at that before nodding eagerly, “Yes, Joe.”
Joe nodded, “We’ll be back soon… just a quick talk.”
Zilnek stared at Joe intently as he nodded, but Kilniara simply smiled, “See you at supper.”
Joe smiled back, “Well… we should be back in the afternoon… not that long.”
Kilniara grinned, “OK.”
Zilnek’s reply was more measured, brought on by a sharp elbow to his side by Kilniara, “OK. Joe.”
Joe nodded to both, hiding his chuckle at their antics before heading out of the inn with Garnedell.
“What did you need, Joe?”
“Ah… nothing really. I just wanted to speak with you on… some things…”
“No errands?”
Joe grinned, “Nope… unless you consider talking with you my errand.”
Garnedell glanced up at him and smiled, “Thank you, Joe.”
“Well… I want to make sure you are doing well and just… go over how things are going.”
“My apprenticeship?”
Joe smiled, hiding his grimace, more uncomfortable to be considered any kind of master than the fact that Garnedell thought of their relationship that way, “Yup.”
Garnedell thought carefully, “Well. Things seem to be going well. I am happy.”
Joe smiled, “Then, is there anything you would like to add? Or, maybe do?”
Garnedell glanced up at him surprise, “Something to add?”
Joe nodded, “Yeah.”
“Anything?” Garnedell’s hopeful grin growing.
“Oh… you have something in mind?”
“I … just… maybe?”
Joe chuckled at that, “You know me by now. Just talk to me, Garnedell.”
Garnedell looked up with some worry, “Could… I know more about you… your plane? Just… more?’
Joe blinked in some surprise at that but nodded and agreed, “Sure. What do you want to know?”
Garnedell grinned, “Then… tell me about your clan, your people, your masters. How did you learn so much? Where is your clan? Who is your family? What does your father do? And your mother? How did you get so strong? Can you teach me? I… not your clan secrets, but… even something simple… Just… I want to know!”
Joe blinked, struggling to take in the torrent of questions, smiling at most of them and hiding his pain from the few that brought him memories of family lost. He stared at him for a bit before chuckling.
“That’s… a lot!”
Garnedell quickly grew abashed, “I’m sorry… is it too much?”
Joe shook his head, laughing softly, “Nope. Not at all. But… huh.. where to begin.”
Joe took time to consider his thoughts before picking one of Garnedell’s questions and starting in on it. Garnedell listened raptly, listening politely, but when Joe started asking if he had any questions, that opened the flood gate and the two were soon in a rapid fire Q and A session with Joe answer the questions as fast as he could.
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Joe found himself answering a few of the questions and as he continued, Garnedell’s excitement and interest only grew. This fueled Joe and he was soon simply relaxing and retelling of his personal past as well as more general history and Earth facts. Garnedell proved an avid listener, actively seeking out more information and simply being eager to listen to Joe and Joe found the ability to do so rather cathartic. They ended up walking and talking for a good half an hour and by the time Garnedell seemed like he was satisfied, Joe was smiling with a rather pleasant rush of emotion. It had been a long time when Joe was able to just talk about his past.
“So that is how you grew so strong?”
Joe chuckled, “I’m no stronger than any here. It honestly is simply skill from practicing so often.”
“But…” Garnedell then whispered and leaned in a bit, “your digits.”
Joe smiled, “I already told you how with that.”
“How? When? You didn’t…” Garnedell trailed off when he saw Joe’s sardonic grin and he grimaced, “Oh…”
Joe smiled, hiding his sigh, “It will be slow for you, but, just like me, you will explode and grow… amazingly more than you can believe.”
Garnedell looked up at him, his gaze less horrified and more thoughtful. He didn’t say anything and Joe wisely kept silent. He could already see that Garnedell was now honestly considering it, no longer rejecting the idea out of hand. In fact, he was rather certain Garnedell would do it and only needed to work up his nerve and for that, Joe was more than willing to give Garnedell all the time he needed. He felt both relief and pride for Garnedell and simply walked beside him in silence for a time until Garnedell looked up at Joe. Joe noticed and glanced back down and quickly noticed that Garnedell seemed to be pushing himself a bit and he put a hand on Garnedell’s shoulder.
“Garnedell. Think about it carefully. I can already see you are, but also make sure you are willing to commit to it. I don’t know why, but I can tell this is… a scary thing for you. You will need a lot of personal motivation to push through, but you will do well if you do. You may quit if you do not, so make sure you are doing it for yourself and not to please others… like me.”
Garnedell paused at that, then smiled, “Thank you, Joe… I really want to… just… a little more time? Let me think a bit more.”
Joe grinned, “Sure. No problem at all. Besides… we’ll have to be careful about you changing jobs a lot when you start this… so … we’ll have to figure something out with that.”
“You really think I will change jobs as many times as you?”
“You will. I promise. What I do is not a special gift I have. It is simply … knowledge I have, nothing more.”
Garnedell hummed at that and nodded, “It seems so simple.”
“Ha! Killing hundreds of monsters every day is simple?”
Garnedell grinned at that and looked up at Joe, “ You make it look simple.”
Joe laughed and the two fell into silence, continuing to simply wander around the town without any aim, enjoying each other’s company. The came upon a crafters street and Joe turned down it in curiosity, wanting to have something to look at besides the drab and dirty streets.
It was a wood crafters area, dozens of them all working on a variety of projects diligently while keeping an eye on the wares they were offering for sale out in the street. There was a beauty in seeing the work done before him as well as seeing the pieces displayed. A lot of the work was rather simplistic, even bland, the carpenters seeming to not care to put much effort into them, but he came upon a corner where several carpenters had obviously put significant work into their craft. There was nothing extravagant about the work. They were all simplistic pieces, but an obvious effort was put into them. Their joints, the way they seemed to almost be a single piece, the care taken to sand them; all of it pointed to a masters work.
Joe stopped and took a look, wandering through the oddly stacked items until he paused, looking at an odd piece he couldn’t quite figure out. While it was an oddity, that was unimportant. A portion of the piece was remarkably like a tonfa, and seeing it struck him hard. So… easy to make… this guy … obviously could do it, right?
He pulled up the contraption and turned to the carpenter bent over another piece. He hadn’t even taken a step when the man simply spoke out.
“Ninety bronze bits.”
“Wha…? Oh.. no. Could I commission a piece?”
The man paused at that, then returned to his stroke, finishing it before stopping and turning to look at Joe.
“Half first.”
“Fair enough. I desire a tonfa.”
“What in the nethers of Loki is a tonfa?”
Joe smiled and quickly began describing the weapon and offering the expected measurements, exactly as needed. He had the man measure his from his hand to his elbow with his measuring string, adding his best estimate of an inch, then showed him the appropriate length for the hand, blade, and elbow length. Describing the correct diameter proved more difficult, and when the carpenter found out it had to be a column, both in the length and upgright, he almost protested. Even after convincing, the man immediately warned the price would be extravagant, but still seemed willing.
Joe was more worried about the joint, but when he explained the need for strength and design, the man seemed unimpressed by Joe’s concern, waving it off. That brought them to the haggling and Joe soon paid half up front, amounting to a total of just about seven hundred bronze. A bit pricey, if Joe was to understand the local currency, but given how the man seemed to flip out about a cylindrical pole, Joe didn’t feel like pushing it and they soon were back out in the streets, the promised due date for the weapon just a little over two weeks away.
Joe was almost skipping down the street when they moved on, excited to have tonfa again when Garnedell looked up at Joe.
“What was that, Joe?”
“Ah… that? I asked the carpenter to build tonfa for me.”
“What is a tonfa?”