“It is that loud? I never noticed it.” Sarey wondered as the sound of the hammer was quite noticeable. It was loud and even inside the house was not safe from it. Only in Zigmund's office was a kind of safe place, since it was far away and the robust door kept the sound away.
This did not stop her, though. She rather went inside to prepare some meal for herself. She thought of stretching herself, too. Her promise to Zigmund was something she wanted to try. For herself and Allan's sake.
1 hour, with the soon, following 2nd hour, that passed faster than one would guess. A loud noise was long gone for some time. Allan had already stopped with the forging. Sarey was reading some documents or the pages from 36 in her room before getting up to check on Allan.
Walking outside, Zigmund was nowhere to be found. He was probably in the town. Glancing into a stable wooden structure back in the courtyard, she was looking at Allan, who was sitting at the worktable. Facing him was a window that illuminated his work under his hands, but not as he needed it.
A longer-than-normal knife was under his work. He was carving something on its surface with a special type of carving tool. It resembled a needle knife. He pressed together all his fingers on the surface of the knife in a motion of doing something more advanced. He wanted to make it fancier for Sarey, and at the same time, try his detailing in hopes of not getting rusty.
Making some profound designs on the flat edges, he found it much harder than he was willing to accept, so he chose some ordinary designs. Waves and caricatures of trees were slowly taking place under his hands. He cut some samples of the design from the paper to ease his work. Pressing it across the blade to know what he was doing. It was only a brief idea he had, and it ended up being very effective.
In a longer time than he was making the knife itself, Allan finished his work on both edges. He also made fine designs of the waves etched into the wooden handle. It caused a better grip, and for the most part, looks nicer this way.
Allan wished to know the results. To see its beauty. All he could do was trust that what he made was worth the effort. His experience told him that he did, and even his feeling of touch.
Beneath his hand was a dark knife, made from one kind of ore he never worked with. It was something he heard Zigmund talk about. originating from the dwarven north. It had a darker sheen of silver with excellent properties for weapon making. It was made for forging. As for the dwarfs? He tossed it behind his head. Otherwise, he would sound like an idiot who didn't know any better. From the sound of it, it was a race, tribe, or nation of people in the north. Nothing like the barbaric people that Allan knew of from his own experience.
Other than that, the blade had a straight edge with clear lines of the sharpening and later, the design of the waves and trees as a finishing touch. It left some contrast with the engravings, although he did not see that.
Allan turned himself around, a meaningful smile on his face.
“How about coming closer? You don't see too much from that distance.” He calmly said.
Sarey has jolted away from her reverie while leaning by a window.She was already looking through the window for at least 10 minutes.
Jumping inside, she asked, “How long have you known that I was here?”
“I didn't. Well, I was right. See?” He happily answered as he pointed toward the table.
“You didn't have to make it so fancy. It will make me reluctant to use it.” She complained.
“I think you will destroy the table sooner than the knife itself. It is made from Dark Crentis, which your father described to me.”
“Y-you used that for this? DO you have an idea how expensive that is?” She exclaimed in shock.
“A little. Though, it is not bad to experiment with smaller knives. I would make sometimes similar to this later, so why not make something for you in this case now?” Allan excused his use of this precious material.
Sarey shook her head helplessly. In truth, she knew the answer before she asked.
“Anyway. This will last you a long time, I hope,” Allan said and lifted the knife in a direction of Sarey.
She was struck with a view of oceanic waves amidst the stormy sea with trees across the other direction.
“I engraved the fierce waves from my homeland with trees of wonders that are on the shores. How do you like it?” He asked proudly.
“Waves? They look magnificent.” Sarey marveled. She never experienced or saw them herself. Tricloud region is inland. Far away from the distant sea. She only heard and read about it. Water region across the horizon. Far away beyond the sight of the human eye.
“He is from somewhere where are such waves?” She thought to herself. Taking the knife to her hand from him, she found it a little heavier than the current knife she used, but this one was much better.
“Are you that proficient with such requests? I think this could be much more profitable and could cause your name to spread across the region. Royal families would buy such luxurious goods without a shred of hesitation. Be it from this region or not.”
“I am decent... We can consider it at another time. I sold nothing yet, so let's not build a house before even having any foundation.”
Allan knew that there were other things to do, and spending significant periods making such requests would cost him his time. It had its advantages and disadvantages, but his journey was more important than making a significant amount of money. At least for now. Considering the generosity of Sarey and Zigmund, he only wanted to pay them back for what they did to him. Although he did not know the exact amount, he might never know that, but it was true to his heart, so he went along with it.
“If you say so,” Sarey said after watching the edges of the blade close to her face. She wanted to ask more questions about his homeland, but she stopped herself in the end. There was no way to force him to spit the truth if he was not willing. Although she found it intriguing that he chose this design. Its meaning was for him and his nostalgia, perhaps?
“I am done with today. It is time for my exercises. Do you want to accompany me?” Allan asked.
“You never asked me before. Why now?”
“Just because. Things are faster together, aren't they?”
Sarey found his words strange, but she agreed. Accompanying him for a few sets of exercises was all she could do anyway. Although she was training herself long before Allan came to be. She was nowhere near his abilities. Sarey begrudgingly acknowledged that fact.
Before starting the exercises, Allan, with a help of Sarey, cleaned up the furnace and forge itself. Making sure the stuff was organized and there was no mess around, they left the building.
In a bit, with the light change of clothes, both of them were doing sit-ups by a tree. They did hundreds of sets each in a matter of minutes while Sarey was struggling to move along. Allan was not that kind to go along with Sarey, who was slower.
Earlier, he only asked in a fleeting moment. Thinking, that she would refuse, rather than accept.
Huffing and leaning toward a tree, Sarey was catching her breath. She felt her lower body and legs the most. She knew the reason for this from page 36. All exercises were explained with reason and effects by his choices. The correct form was mandatory, but she was unable to continue for a prolonged period of time. Though, those numbers were quite exaggerated since she increases them according to 36's standards.
Allan was finished before she caught her breath. With some rest afterward, he massaged his thighs and stretched his lower core and hips. The blood began to boil and the heated-up body was quite comfortable going through the motion of a significant number of exercises in a small amount of time. Allan had never done so many before, but through this work and workaholic nature he has, it was no surprise he would improve at tremendous speeds.
It was now time for push-ups. Sarey felt more confident about this. She was lighter than him and after working herself out. She had some muscles on herself, too. Ending the few sets, Sarey was not that far behind. Unfortunately, before she managed to go along, she felt the ache of her shoulders. She was not that trained after all, or it could be an issue of her body.
“You don't have to do this if you feel pain or tired. You told me that yourself, if there are some physical issues, it is better to rest up.” Allan said as he sat on the ground for rest between the hundred sets.
“I know. I know. It is a fate of us. Weaker people.” She helplessly sighed.
“I don't think you are weaker at all. What I would do without you?” Allan tried to reassure her a little. Speaking the truth, he believed in.
“That are some fluffy words but thank you for saying that. Want to do the running? I will beat you with that. I feel like my stamina improved after the last time.” She said with regained confidence. There was no need to remain in a worsened mindset. She was not that kind of person.
“Alright.” Allan agreed. Not thinking that she held an unfair advantage. After running across that track Sarey made for him, he knew every crevice of earth and trunk of a tree on his way. The unsteady environment involuntarily helped him regain his posture and sense of direction after running ever since. Sarey did not intend for that. It was more of a place that had enough room and was not far away.
Finishing the pull-ups alone, both of them moved outside of the courtyard in a direction that they were both familiar with. The rounded track was the same as usual. Allan began to jog around it, while Sarey moved further to the front, without politeness.
Steadily, they increased the pace. Sarey noticed the breathing Allan did for the first time. It was not that steady kind. To her, it reminded her of the method he used to calm himself as well as something from her memory, of her teacher.
“Was he doing this from the very beginning? I don't usually notice too many things. Is there something special about it? I wonder.”
Increasing the pace even further. Sarey was now winning with a few laps, but as she did not think of this, her stamina was not the greatest. The pace increased, and the environment posed an even greater problem to her than she thought, so her breathing got worse.
Looking behind her, Allan was steadily reaching her at the unchanging running speed.
“It is not even that long since he started. How flexible is this guy... really...” Sarey complained in her heart as he moved around her with his hand across the string of fate.