Hello everyone again! I was looking through the game posts and it seems no one votes anymore, so lets close the game and announce the winners!
If I am ok with numbers we get a tie of Life and Void, with a bit of a head bashing I declare Life as a winner!
In ranged weapons category we get a landslide victory for the composite hunting bow!
In hand weapon category I relented to the multiple wishes of readers for a Saber! Though normal sabers are present in the world(Pst. spoiler. westerners have it) saber is a bit out of region here, so I made some digging and found a match - Szabla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szabla#mediaviewer/File:Szabla_budowa.svg)
Now like always thanks for reading, comment, review and most importantly explain why all of you like Saber(Weapon)?
(Must confess I too like strong willed blond haired average busted airheaded innocent maidens :D)
PS. To Nekosama - JUDGE is a bit mean fun loving trickster, while Hitogami is a DICK. I hope you are satisfied with the answer, thanks for reading :D
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I meet him again, my mortal enemy, on this field of battle.
Having my weapons at the ready I watch him for any opening he might have.
He is mocking me, no stance, arms held open wide and that look on his face - how mortifying!
Well it's true, that in the two months we have been doing his dance of death not once have I been able to make him fall in defeat, and he gives no finishing blow either, I have been looked down upon.
How did it come to this? Lets start from the beginning.
***
I am already two and coming in my third year now! It is time for the advanced training to begin.
After the initial start of my training last year, training with my father was mostly about constitution and agility:
First were the light athletic stretching exercises, ways to move my body in ways I never thought possible, according to my father these exercises must be done in childhood, usually at third year, later body start to get ever more rigid, and it's harder to complete this part of exercises.
After that came the height jumping exercises, basically, how high can you jump up from a standing position, this however was cut short when I landed with my whole body onto a chair crushing it and getting several nasty bruises.
Mother was furious, I got a great scolding and father was forbidden from their night games for a week. This is the first time I saw fathers face twist in despair, then he fell on his knees in slow motion. I will [skip] the begging and crying that came after.
With my injuries gone and weather getting warmer our training was moved outside. It was running, later more running, and then till now even more running.
At first I was made to run in the yard around the house, which was a bit traumatic recalling my previous experience.
Later we moved the running to the gravel roads of the outer town.
After that came the cobblestone streets of the town center and the main road going south of town.
When the weather started to go colder again, mother fearing me getting sick again stuffed my in many layers of clothing, I felt like a Matryoshka doll(Note:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll).
In this cold and wet weather till it started to snow heavily I ran as follows - first around the town on gravel roads along the inner part of the outer wall, then from the main town gate on the main cobblestone street to the town center, after returning home around the house 10 times, all that without stopping at marathon speeds, with the 10 laps around the house at top speeds to exhaust all the stamina that was left.
On the mother front I learned the spoken language without the ever helpful Mr. Translator, the written language - it was much like a Latin alphabet in use, but instead of letters there were rune symbols, it also had no , or . If one was to write a sentence it would go like this: I-came-home-yesterday ; single sentence words would be connected by a -, while the end of a sentence marked by a gap.
Seems the writing system was taken from the dwarves and the spoken words from the elves, both changed and adjusted to make the Common Language, a language spoken by all humans, the most populous race in Mortal Realm.
Next came knowledge about this country, named Valvinar Kingdom by the way. Country proper is made of 13 districts and the size is comparable with Germany+Belgium+Netherlands and a vassal Duchy a bit bigger the Czech Republic. Their flag is 12 five pointed white stars in a circle on a blue background with a white spiky star in the middle, I almost felt like being at EU.
Those districts are:
Schattenir
Waldir
Felsigir
Verschneitir
Orkanir
Spitzeir
Kahlir
Grubeir
Flussir
Kusteir
Grubeir
Hugelir
Ebenenir
The country itself is situated in a rather favorable place, the whole western border is an enormous Lirmant mountain chain inhabited by Iron Dwarves underground and Mountain Giants in mountain valleys, as such impassable to enemy forces(Both the dwarves and the giants make up Lirmant Federation and is a trade partner of Valvinar).
Whole eastern border is a coast of Grey Sea, which in turn is almost an inner sea of allied powers so is rather secure(Valvinar it seems is in a Tripartite alliance with Wood elven Faleen and Eastlander Mariler Kingdoms that are south-east and east hugging the Grey Sea).
Problems start with the north and south.
The southern border is a long Orthros river that goes from Lirmant mountains to the Grey Sea with the place where the sea bends east being the short but high Cintros mountain chain and the place of vassal Cintros Duchy which borders Faleen Kingdom further south-east. Beyond the river are less than welcome Wildlands with a mess of human, beastmen and orcish races.
Now comes the north, it is also mostly covered with a long Mudrim mountain chain with two passes, The mountains also contain dwarven inhabitants, all subjects to the City-State of Mudrim-Dolim. First one is the coastal pass between the Mudrim mountains and the Grey Sea, and the second one is the valley between Lirmant and Mudrim mountains, the place I live - district of Verschneitir.
Actually it seems that the climate zone here is much milder than I thought, even the territories to the north have gentler weather, these storms and snowfall seem to happen because we are in between two tall mountain chains that herd all the bad weather from the north down this pass.
While we did not talk about other regions I got Index about ours.
New Index! (Rank:F)
Valvinar Kingdom- Verschneitir
Verschneitir is the north-west most district of the country, and is often attacked by Krom barbarians from the north. For that reason one of the most powerful Valvinar units was created and is stationed in this region – Red Bear Legion.
Region is ruled by the Barin, noble house of the Bear, whose current ruler is Ansgar Barin supreme commander of said Legion.
Conditions in the district are harsh; being in between of two mountain chains – Lirmant and Mudrim - brings casual snow storms.
District is rocky and barren with few small forests, covered in snow, but is rich in precious stones, minerals, and is vital for travel between northern and central Oilain by land.
People are much like their home, grim, stern and of few words, but are loyal to their duties, friends and patrons to the death.
SP Increase! +1 SP
After celebration of my second birthday was the annual 'Further training meeting'.
"Egil, you improved your knowledge of the world much during last year, so I thought we will learn etiquette until spring and move to my specialty - alchemy. We unfortunately cannot learn it now as I have just enough herbs to mix medicines and potions and can't spoil any for training purposes, many of them will grow and bloom in spring so it's only few months of time to wait."
Finally something I have recollection from my previous life, after all I was part of a botanist club in my university days, this make me exited enough to suffer through the boring etiquette lessons.
"And we will move to more practical battle lessons, that is using a weapon."
"Hurrah!"
After the breakfast is over father pushes the furniture to the side of the room like always, then he goes near the fireplace and rummages through the firewood stack, taking the most gnarled and rough piece, giving it to me.
"Now swing it"
This branch is rough and full of splinters, gnarled and far from straight, I look at him, but father says nothing more, so I swing it.
I was swinging it for the whole training time without stopping, splinters dug into my hands and thick end was the worst to have a grip on, making me drop the branch down more than a few times. Every time I dropped it father would make a grim face.
This continued for three days, on the fourth he brought a fresh one from outside, it was thicker, just as gnarled and crooked as the last one if not more, furthermore it was freshly cut, covered with greenery, sap and wet all over. I was dropping it that much more often. Father still made the same grim look every time.
It took me five more days of swinging till I snapped and enraged asked that the point of this 'exercise' is.
"When in battle you will have to fight in many disadvantageous positions, your hand might be injured, you might have lost your gauntlets or your battle gloves might have ripped, it might be raining outside or your weapon might be damaged, maybe you grabbed an unfamiliar weapon or tool to defend yourself. If you lose your weapon, you are a dead man, even a beginner combatant can kill an unarmed master swordsman. This training is all about surviving."
I was speechless.
"Every time you dropped that branch you gave your enemy plenty time to kill you few times over, even in the case you drop it you should find ways to pick it up as fast as you can while keeping your enemy in sight at all times."
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
His words touched me to the core, that right, battle is just a pretty name of killing others any way possible to ensure your own survival, I was committing the same mistake that sent me to the grave last time. I took my eyes off that drug pumped rat to look for a cigarette, giving him time to mortally stab me, I will NEVER commit this mistake again.
"Ohh, that's the look of a warrior you have here, no posh nobleman who duels for his inflated pride or honor." Father sounded impressed with the resolve in my eyes.
This training goes on until spring.
Mother on the other hand was showing her craft as herbalist, though to me she was definitely more like an alchemist.
First are the tools of trade - Mortar and Pestle, Alembic, Retort, Calcinator.
The process itself is free to interpret as you wish, experimenting may prove different results, but the critical part is testing. Going through the process step by step is a bother, it also contains much technical terms so I shall [skip] it for the sake of everyone(Me and Mister Translator).
The testing part is NOT trying it yourself, thanks the gods, but is the last part of preparing potions, by pouring the mix into purified mana infused water.
The result can easily be known by the color of the finished potion:
Red - Health recovery
Blue - Mana recovery
Purple - Health and Stamina recovery
Green - Weak Poison with hindering effects(from diarrhea to paralyzation)
White - Cure potions(mostly against poison)
Black - Deadly Poison
Colorless - Failed mix, no effect
Unfortunately this craft is definitely stationary, all those apparatuses take all the dinner table worth of space and few are made of glass, as such impossible to drag around too much without the risk of damage.
***
With the arrival of spring father took me to his armory.
"Now we will practice the use of real weapons, I do not acknowledge the use of wooden training weapons for it makes one forget that a weapon is a danger for the user too."
Beside his armor whole walls were covered with many different weapons, many types of swords, axes, maxes and more of other exotic kinds of weapons.
One section of the wall attracted my attention most, it was behind the armor stand and seems to be used most often.
"What are those?"
"Haha, so you have an eye for gear like I thought, those are the weapons I presently use in battle."
"Normally usual gear for regular footman army corps of Valvinar is a longsword, a kite shield and a small crossbow to use in close combat before charging and a suit of plate armor, while the district noble house guards have longsword, a spare shortsword an oval wooden shield and a shortbow, they wear a bit lighter chain armor shirts. Our Red Bear Legion is not that different besides this special suit of armor, but my weapons are a bit special."
"My father died in battle then I was just 7 years old, so my grandfather took me under his wing. Our Tamm family is actually a side family of the district rulers the Barin, and my grandfather was an especially appreciated commander on national level, so we traveled a lot. That is one of the reasons I posses no formal swordsmanship style, I practice that I call Battle-Sword style, it is simply just a way to kill your enemies most efficiently without harm to yourself."
So not only we are a side family of high nobles, but you are a dual wielding Mugen in chaos armor too.
(Note:Mugen(redshirt)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzErUBYQZpI Chaos armor(without horns)http://i.imgur.com/9lmMH.jpg
"This sword I found when we raided a bandit hideout in ancient ruins to the south" Father shows me a sword almost identical to an ancient roman gladius.
"This one is a rarity, an ancient Westerner sword from the time these land were theirs, i don't know how old it is but this sword is enchanted with wind properties, it cuts a little bit further than it should reach, and enchanted weapons don't age or rust." I got confused.
"Are these lands not the home of us Northlanders and not Westerners?"
"Haha, yes now it is, but that is only from 3rd Era, before it, all present day Valvinar was only a third of an enormous ancient first empire of westerners - Cevia. It was destroyed by monsters and later finished by dragons, only few holds of resistance were left when our ancestors led by Valvinar the Great invaded from the north and made this land our own."
Ookay, now I know why we are not in the north of the continent but still call ourselves Northlanders.
"And this one?" I show the other weapon on the wall. It looked like a broadsword(Walloon Sword).
"This a trophy of war I looted from a Krom chieftain that earned me that star and present rank." My father nodded to the armor indicating the creamy star on the chest.
"Krom barbarians posses little technology except in weapon production. Generation upon generation they try to breach through this valley and invade the rich lands to the south, so even if they are clad in simple fur or leather armor, to defeat us in battle they have to breach our heavy armors. To do that they use good quality axes, maces and trusting weapons to damage the weak joints. this is one such weapon, with it you can end the life of an armored opponent in two trusts, I kept it because I can put an end to their leather clad warriors in one thrust." He says smiling. That's not a thing you say to a young child, it seems I am already treated as warrior material by my own father.
"With these weapons I had to adjust my fighting stance to accommodate a long thrusting weapon supplemented by a short slashing weapon that can stab them in the guts too, it would be impossible to adjust if I had learned one of the official longsword/shortsword styles of Valvinar."
"Enough of that, for your small frame we should start with a shortsword as a main and a dagger offhand, then you grow up you will outgrow these weapons and will able to change them to something more to your taste."
I take the two weapons I'm my hands, heavy, even heavier than that wet stick I had to wave around.
"Now lets go, others should be making final preparations in the yard."
"Others? Final preparations?"
"You'll see soon."
After coming to the yard I see a group of buff people, the exclude pure power and confidence, dragging a log with two short thick branches on the sides.
"So tis's commanders son, smaller than ai thought"(Note:Writing intentional, he talks strange :D) Says a small humanoid, he is the size of a child, almost half my fathers size, but has a beard that reach the bottom of his belly, his muscles are so developed it seems like they are cracking with his every move.
"Son, this is a combatant under my command and the blacksmith that made my armor, an Iron Dwarf by the name of Grundum. Grundum, this is my son Egil."
"Heyya boy, you pops shur lov ya, we had to serch da woods for da whol night until he found da blasted tree, demolished 2 raidin' parties of shitbeards till then and had to drag da basted log back to town, half of da boys were down from exhaustion."
I got a bit confused by his way of talking but got the gist of it, looking to father with appreciation, he averted hi gaze a bit.
"Hyahya, Baldr got embarrassed!" shouted another man, he was huge as a bear and as hairy as one, was he some sort of beastman, no his ears are human.
"Shut it Strom!"
As I watched man called Strom single handed took the log of about 3 meters high and as thick as a man and held it vertically, while Grundom went up the attic and climbed the roof carrying a maul whose head was twice the size of mine and made in resemblance to a ram.
"Oh weh go laddies!" The dwarf shouted and jumped swinging his maul to hit the log.
*BAM*
An enormous sound shook the house, the log went halfway into the ground. Well granted ground is wet and soft because of the melting snow, but still to bury such a thick log 1,5 meters into the ground with one swing without splitting it... Just how much power and skill with that maul this midget has?
"Our work is done here commander, all the unit is awaiting you return to active commanding duty, heh, it lacks a bit."
Strom goes inside like it was his own house and returns with a piece of coal from the fireplace.
"Something like this... done!" He draws a face in the place were head would be on the log, now it looks like a logman with a stupid face and wide open arms.
(Note: like this http://www.gophoto.it/view.php?i=http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp11289264.jpg)
After that they went away.
"Father are you going somewhere?"
"Son, I made this training dummy for you to train because after your third birthday I'll have to return to active duty in the fortress to the north, you will remain with mother here and learn many more things from her, until now I will instruct you how to use weapons correctly."
After that he taught me how to use footing on soft or slippery ground, what parts of enemies to strike and how to do it efficiently, and many more things. From that day Mr. Logman was my sparing opponent.
And that's how we come to our present confrontation.
"Egil come here" I hear mothers call, damn and then I was about to finally win this round... [In your dreams] seems to say his expression, a bit deformed from the multiple stabs and hacks made to it.
"Coming mom"
"Egil remember you asked me about Beata a while ago, it seems she returned to town today. She is very knowledgeable, if you want we could visit her today while she is still here, she travels a lot you see, another chance might not come for a while."
"I want to go, lets go, lets go!!" I shout as loud as I can, to meet an Ancient elf is to open a chest of knowledge, I must squeeze her dry of anything of value, magic in particular.
"Very well, lets bath you of your sweat and change your clothes fist"
[I can't wait to meet her.]