7th of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd imperial era

"Why are you so insistent about that?" Newt's voice came out snappier than he meant to.

Dandelion blinked at the outburst, then slowly answered the question, aiming to de-escalate the conversation. "Because it will help you and because your body is better made for spearmanship than swinging swords. You should take those things into account over ancestry when selecting a weapon."

Newt seemed about to argue, to defend his ancestral weapon of choice, but stopped himself. Dandelion made it clear he didn't intend to mock his clan.

"You're using a staff, a peasants' weapon." Newt sighed, and Dandelion cocked an eyebrow but remained quiet. "You don't even wield a sword, so you naturally think it's a bad weapon."

Dandelion's lips curled up a fraction.

"You know, the blacksmiths' guild has a small chamber for testing weapons and armor inside their emporium." He motioned towards the glass building with his chin. "We can check how our skills match up."

Newt had a feeling he had walked into a trap of his own design, and that there was no way out of it. He nodded and followed Dandelion into the spacious ground floor.

Like everywhere else in Thunderbluff, a handful of people greeted Dandelion. Their hellos ranged from verbal to subtle nods of recognition, and Dandelion answered each, striding through the crowded marketplace.

"The rules when testing an item are always the same. If the customer demands a demonstration, then they must pay for any damages. If the seller wishes to demonstrate their wares' superiority and the client agrees, each side pays for the damage their equipment suffers. The weapons sold here are high quality and rarely get damaged, but armor naturally suffers nicks and dents even during testing."

Dandelion looked around. "This floor has common goods. If we have time, we shall discuss the matter of armor on the third floor, where I can show you different pieces and we can discuss their benefits. Personally, I believe it is too early for you to wear armor."

Newt relaxed. Dandelion didn't seem offended, even if he was taking him to a small enclosed space where he would probably beat him up.

I might still beat him. The last time he caught me by surprise, but with Granite Crust and Salamandra's Touch I won't lose so easily.

Besides, unlike the last time, Newt was intimately aware of Dandelion's prodigious strength and wouldn't fall after the first exchange.

"Hey Boulder, can we use the proving grounds?"

Boulder, a rather non-boulder, short stick of a man, glanced at Dandelions and nodded without a word, showing them inside.

Like Boulder, the proving grounds failed to live up to their name. The space was four by five yards, not enough room for a real spar, but rather a place where people could smash pieces of gear one against the other without interrupting the other shoppers.

Newt looked around. "How do we do anything here?"

Dandelion once more cocked an eyebrow. "Give me one of your swords. You have ten attacks. If you can make me move from my spot, you win."

Newt unsheathed his swords, handing one to the former townlord.

Dandelion twirled the blade once in his hand, almost scraping the ground, and shook his head.

"So unwieldy," he muttered before looking at Newt. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Newt suppressed his anger and lunged at Dandelion with a straight stab. Dandelion caught the blade with his, let the attack slide past him, then with a twist of his wrist locked the cross-guards together and yanked Newt's sword from his hand. The whole action went so smoothly, Newt felt like he had allowed Dandelion to disarm him.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"Again?" Dandelion threw Newt his sword, and the youth tried with a slash, only to lose his weapon again and again until his ten free attacks were up.

"Use your rock skin, I will riposte, or we can just quit this silly nonsense."

Newt wanted to quit, but Dandelion called his family's legacy silly nonsense. He started coating himself in Granite Crust when he realized he was acting stupid.

Dandelion's moves were graceful, almost free of force. If he started attacking, Newt knew the man could dispatch him easily.

"Fine, you know how to use a sword," he grumbled, and Dandelion smirked.

"Newstar, my dear lad, I am the best swordmaster you have seen in your life, and a very long time will pass before you might meet a better one, and yet I still fight with a staff, which is the main weapon of the Thundertitan royal family. And by the way, only three of the ten royal families use swords."

Dandelion paused, his glare drilling a hole through Newt.

"Now, can you tell me why a swordmaster fights with a staff?"

"You want to lull your enemies into thinking you can't fight."

"I swear I'll club you," Dandelion rolled his eyes before regaining his sharp bearing. "No, even novices can tell my proficiency, which speaks volumes about your skill. The reason I use the staff over the sword is that it leverages my strengths. For a skilled user, the staff is several weapons in one, as is the spear. Besides, the biggest advantage of spears and glaives is that against awakened saurians, swords perform too poorly. It is much like attacking humans with finger-long blades, it can be lethal, but you suffer reach disadvantages."

Newt thought of his battle with longclaws and was about to say that swords did fine against saurians, but Dandelion seemed to notice his objection.

"I am not talking about regular, non-awakened saurians. Saurians may be stronger than humans, equivalent of certain realm knights, but they will always lose, do you know why?"

Newt considered the matter for a second. "Speed?"

"Yes, reaction speed, and while saurians have instincts, they lack training and intelligence. Manabeasts, however, are intelligent, just as fast as awakened humans, and have a lot of combat experience. And then there is the matter of penetrative force. Creatures like frostworms have thick carapaces, a single-handed sword's thrust lacks stability compared to a spear." Dandelion kept talking, and Newt listened, inwardly admitting that the man was making sound arguments.

"And why is the staff better than a sword?"

"Sturdier and greater momentum, delivering much greater force. Most swords would break if I used them the same way I used the staff. And besides my personal preference, it's much better when fighting against multiple opponents."

Dandelion peered into Newt's eyes as he returned the borrowed sword. "I appreciate that you are considering my advice. You should try the spear when you have some spare time. Time you invested learning the sword was minimal, several moons of effective training. Besides, swords are great fallback weapons for spear-users, and learning to wield one is not a waste."

Newt nodded, confused by Dandelion's enthusiasm and pushiness.

"Come." Dandelion motioned him out of the room, introducing the surroundings.

"That over there is the guild's shop." Newt looked over, and like Dandelion had mentioned, the store had everything. Starting from nails sold by the barrel, through lumber axes, shovels, spades, and other tools, branching into weapons, armor, and fine tools required for other trades.

The space was huge, every inch of it filled with metal goods.

"That is the worst the blacksmiths' guild has to offer," Dandelion whispered. "Better goods are on the floors above, while the best goods, forged by the most skilled artisans, cannot be found here. You order them moons or years in advance and pay through the nose just to wait for their schedule to clear."

Dandelion chuckled. "The worst part is you pay half the manarium in advance, then another quarter when your project is up next, and you make the final payment when you pick up your item. If something happens to you and nobody comes to collect your order in a set amount of time, the artisan keeps it. Sometimes they even keep the manarium without lifting a hammer, if the customer dies before they make the specification."

"That's horrible!" Newt's eyes went wide in shock. He never knew blacksmiths were such thieves.

Dandelion moved his hand, making a so-so shake. "Other people get lucky too. If you know the right people, you can buy a finished item with a ten to fifty percent discount."

"Fifty?" Newt's eyes sparkled with manarium.

"Those are for extremely exotic creations, things a master blacksmith expects nobody needs and they want to get rid of. Things unsuitable for display and advertisement or which would be a pain to keep until the right customer arrived."

"Such as?" Intrigued, Newt could help himself. But even heavily discounted, a weapon suitable for his realm cost a fortune.

"Well, generally, a sucker, someone who lacks the brains or the experience to understand what they are getting themselves into."

"I was talking about the weapons."

"I know." Dandelion flashed a smile, then kept talking as he took the stairs up. "Such as weapons bearing crests of individuals and houses which got on a royal's bad side, such as tools for questionable practices, such as a weapon I plan to show you on the top floor."

"You plan to show me such a weapon? Is it good?"

"Oh, it is excellent. Perfect for the job it was made for, just not suitable for you." Newt waited for a further explanation, but Dandelion offered none.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.