Accidental Duelist

by Jamie Davis

  "I'm not here for sharpening services. I was looking for someone and hoped you could help me."

  "I'll try," the smith said. He walked to a bucket and lifted a ladle to take a sip, pouring the remainder over his head to wash the sweat away. "Who are you looking for?"

  "Do you know Grandma Gerald by any chance?"

  "Yes, she's my wife's mother. Why? Is everything alright?"

  "Oh, yes, she's fine. My name is Cari and we traveled together here to Morton Creek and she left me a few hours ago on her way to your home to visit. I assume she's already there."

  “What can I do for you, then. Did you forget something in her buggy?”

  "This is a little embarrassing but I am having a little trouble and hoped Granny might be able to help me out. She's the only person I know in town and I really could use a friend right now."

  Cari struggled not to cry. Heroes in the stories never cried and she was determined not to be the first. She could imagine the way the bards would play that up fifty years from now if anyone ever wrote a story about her like they had her father. "The Tears of Crying Cari," they'd call it.

  The thought of it actually made her chuckle and brought a smile to her face. It reminded her she wasn't the sort to hold a pity party for herself.

  The smith must've noticed some of the war of emotions playing across her face because he waited until she met his eyes again before he spoke.

  "Don't worry, miss Cari. If you were kind enough to keep Granny company on her way here to visit us, then of course we'll try to help you. My son and I will be happy to take you there, only we are backed up on an order of swords for the baron and we have to finish two more blade blanks before tomorrow so we can have the full order done by the end of the week."

  "I understand. I'm not a smith but I know my way around a sword. Is there something I can do to help you and your son?"

  "I'm Heath Fletcher and this is my son Sterling. Let me think for a second and see if there is something with which you might help."

  "We have hilts to assemble, father. Could she help with that?"

  Heath snapped his fingers.

  "An excellent idea, son. Cari, you look like you understand the heft of a blade and how balanced it must be. Would you be able to assemble the hilts and add lead shot to the pommel blanks until the balance for each blade is right? Then all I have to do is melt and pour the proper amount to fill them tomorrow to finish the hilts with leather wrapping for the grips."

  Cari smiled. This was something she'd enjoy doing. She loved handling swords of all types. It looked like they were making sabres and she'd trained on them with her sword instructor at home.

  "I'd be happy to help out. If Sterling can get me started, I'm sure I'll be able to get the job done for you."

  "You heard her, boy. Show her how it's done and we might get out of here before midnight tonight."

  Sterling smiled at the thought of finishing early and Cari followed him to a table where he showed her how to fit the two wooden halves of the handle over the tang extending from the blade. Then he had various sized lead rings to fit over the end and finally a hollow steel cap for the pommel that she could fill with small lead balls until the balance was right for the weight of the blade.

  "You try one while I watch," Sterling said.

  Cari started assembling the pieces under the boy's watchful eye and soon she was holding out the blade, tilting the tip forward and side to side, testing the balance. The steel pommel cap wedged over the wooden grip tight enough not to fall off while she tested the counter weights inside. It was just a little heavy in the hilt.

  She set the blade down and popped the cap free to remove a few ounces of the lead balls. She reassembled the hilt and pommel and hefted the sword again. It was perfect this time and she smiled and handed it to Sterling.

  He stepped back and took a few practice swings. Even for twelve, you could tell he worked in a smithy. His young muscles managed the heavy saber well.

  "That is perfect, Cari. I think father is right. You'll be perfect for this job. Go ahead and do another. I'll go back and help him at the forge so he can work faster."

  Cari was happy to help out and she felt like she was accomplishing something on a day full of disappointment.

  * * *

  New skill acquired - Bladesmith

  * * *

  The acquisition of a new skill, along with the crafting of the hilts and pommels took her mind off her troubles. Cari lost herself in the task until she'd completed balancing all thirty finished saber blades with their hilts and pommels. She had a huge grin on her face as she finished the job. This was satisfying work and helped center her mind.

  Heath came over from the forge as she laid the final blade on the table after testing it one last time. He picked up a few and tested the weight and heft of each in turn.

  "You've done well, Cari. And you've saved Sterling and me a great deal of work. Come, it's time to go home. If you'd like, you can come back tomorrow and help some more. I can pay you, especially if it helps me get the swords completed early. The baron will pay me a bonus for that."

  "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, Heath. I'd be happy to help. I like to work with swords and it interests me to see how swords are made up close in this manner."

  "Wonderful! It's settled then. You can work for me until this order is finished and if you like it, we'll see about what you can do after that. For now, though, you're coming home for a late supper."

  "I'd like that very much." Her stomach growled at the mention of food. She hadn’t eaten since the breakfast Granny brought from the inn that morning.

  She helped them close up the smithy and then the three of them walked through the nighttime streets of Morton Creek until they reached the Fletcher's home. It was a two-story stone cottage with a small fenced-in area with a garden and chickens running loose. It was only a few minutes’ walk from the smithy.

  Cari followed them through the gate, careful to close it behind her. They were just about to enter when the door opened and a woman about her mother's age stood inside the door holding a toddler on her hip.

  "Oh ho, did you bring another stray home with you, husband? Or do you think I'm the sort to let you take another wife?" Cari was about to take offense until she saw the broad grin on the woman's face.

  Her husband had dropped to one knee.

  "My fair Becca, how could any woman take my heart when you already hold it close to your own where it truly belongs."

  Becca laughed and reached out to rub her fingers through her husbands sooty hair. "Get up you fool and come in here. I've been holding a pot warm just for you and Sterling. Tell me who your friend is?"

  "I'm Cari, Cari Dix, ma'am. I stopped by the smithy and -"

  "Cari, my dear?" Grandma Gerald must’ve heard Cari’s voice and pushed past her daughter to hug Cari. "What are you doing here, dear? Is everything alright?"

  "My friends had already left the town for their journey west and I didn't really know anyone else in town, so…"

  "Aren't you a clever girl. Becca this is the young lady who kept me company on the trip here."

  "So I gather," Becca said. "Well, come on in. There's plenty of food and we can find room for you to sleep on the floor somewhere. I'll not put a stranded traveler out on the street. Lord knows I wasn't raised that way."

  "No, you were not," Grandma Gerald laughed. "It's good to see your hospitality lessons took hold."

  Cari followed everyone inside, and before long she found herself feeling more like a long-lost family member than a guest in their home. After a dinner of roasted pork and fresh bread, they all sat by the fire and Cari listened while Granny shared stories of Becca's childhood, before she settled down on a pile of blankets on the floor near the fire.

  It wasn't as soft as a real bed but it was the closest she'd been to feeling at home since she came to Fantasma. Cari would never admit she missed her parents, but it felt good to be fussed over by a mother-figure. She closed her eyes and f
ell asleep without feeling alone in a strange world for the first time in almost two weeks.

  Chapter 21

  The sharpening wheel spun with a smooth continuous action as Cari's foot worked the wooden pedal up and down. She lay the saber's blade at an angle on the spinning stone, running the edge across the abrasive wheel, honing it to razor sharpness.

  The work gave her a sense of satisfaction and each new skill of sword making she'd learned over the last two weeks working in the smithy added to her Bladesmith level on her character stats. Cari had reached level four in that skill already and she started noticing something unusual sometimes when working.

  It happened again while sharpening the current saber blade. An orange glow formed along the blade edge as it ran across the stone, darkening in color to a deep umber as she watched. The problem was, she had no idea what it meant.

  She'd asked Sterling if he could see anything unusual when it happened before. He stared at the blade on which she was working and shook his head. She told him it was her imagination and went back to work.

  This time, instead of ignoring it, as she'd done before, Cari focused on it and tried thinking about a game menu while she sharpened the sword.

  * * *

  Crafting Menu: Bladesmith

  * * *

  Enhanced blade - damage

  Enhanced blade - speed

  Enhanced blade - durability

  * * *

  Well, Cari thought, that was new. Selecting the speed option, she continued to hone the edge, paying attention to the areas highlighted by her new skill. Eventually the entire blade took on a slight green glow while she worked. The magic started happening before she knew it as the steel itself transformed under the grinding wheel, thinning and elongating until a good deal of the weight had been removed.

  She had no idea where the excess metal went but when she was finished; she had to go and re-balance the grip and pommel. The resulting blade was lighting fast in her hand as she went through a training routine with it.

  Cari focused on the blade in her hand and brought up the inventory listing for it.

  * * *

  Saber of Speed - +1 to hit, +1 defense

  * * *

  She smiled. If she could make magical swords like in the stories, it would be totally awesome. Cari decided to try again with another of the pile of swords she had to hone.

  Again, she started her normal routine working the edge of the blade with care. The orange glow returned and deepened as before. This time, she selected the damage option.

  The blade's glow turned crimson and Cari's field of view where the blade met the spinning stone zoomed in. She could see the edge in much finer detail now, especially the beveled angle of the sharpened edge.

  There was a geometric pattern represented by various shades of red along the sword's cutting edge. By focusing on each area in turn, Cari saw a change in the angle. Now she understood what she was seeing.

  A blade with a double bevel to it not only cut better, it stayed sharper longer between honing. The glowing red showed the perfect angle for this particular piece of shaped steel. Cari set to work matching her grinding angle to the guidance given by her newfound ability.

  Once again, she created a higher quality blade than originally planned. She checked the blade's description in her inventory while holding it.

  * * *

  Saber of Sharpness - +1 to hit, +2 damage

  * * *

  A third try while activating the durability function in the new crafting menu caused the whole blade to glow blue. She used the glowing indicators as a guide once again changing the shape and composition of the blade in subtle ways. The result was a much stronger blade suitable to battering through even the toughest armor.

  * * *

  Saber of Strength - +1 damage, +2 vs. armor

  * * *

  Cari tried the swing and the balance of each blade again, making fine adjustments to the balance on the grip and pommel in light of the changes she'd wrought. When she was finished, she beamed with pride at what she'd done.

  "Heath, could you come here for a second?"

  "What is it Cari? Is there a problem with that blade?"

  Cari handed the smith the blade enhanced for speed.

  "Take a look at it and tell me what you think. I, uh, tried something new on it when I honed the edge."

  Heath peered at the edge, running his thumb across it, a grin appearing on his face. The grin deepened when he took a few practice swings and then lunged forward with it.

  "This, this is amazing. How did you do this? It's as if you created a new, lighter alloy from the steel I forged."

  Cari didn't know how to answer. She honestly didn't know what she did from a technical standpoint or how she could teach it to someone else unless…

  "I don't know what I did, Heath. I saw something as I was sharpening it and tried to just go with the flow. Maybe if you sit down and sharpen while I watch, I can show you what I did while you do it yourself."

  "Cari, if you can show me what you did and I can replicate it, I'll be able to do something no one else I know can do. This blade is like one of the swords from the legends the bards tell of when they come to town."

  "I'll try. Sit down and pick up one of the fresh blades."

  Heath sat on the bench in front of the sharpening wheel, picked up a saber blade from the pile next to him and started working the pedal until the wheel spun at a steady, constant speed.

  He looked up at her, holding the blade edge just above the stone. This was the moment of truth. It would either work a transformation like she'd been able to do or nothing would happen but the creation of a sharpened saber with normal qualities.

  "Lay the blade on the stone and kind of let your mind relax so you're looking at it but looking past it at the same time. You need to find the zone."

  "The zone?"

  Cari winced. She didn't have a better word for it.

  "It's a technical term. Just do it and then tell me what you see after a while."

  Heath started honing the edge, expertly grinding away small amounts of metal while shaping the blade. He worked faster than she did, but he was the master smith after all.

  She saw his face the moment it happened. The orange glow started along the edge as she'd seen before but this time, his eyes widened. He saw it, too.

  He started to turn away to look at her.

  "No, don't stop, keep going until it turns the color of light brick orange. When it does, I want you to think about what you'd like the blade to do. There are three options: Speed, Cutting power, or Durability. I chose the speed option on the blade I showed you. Use that as a guide."

  Heath continued to sharpen the edge as the orange glow deepened just as before.

  "Now, think about the type of enhancement and continue working the blade until you're finished."

  The blade started to glow green, just as it had with her and Heath got the smile of a kid on Christmas morning as he moved the sword across the stone. His blade changed even more than hers had and when he finished, he held up a sword with a slightly different quality than hers.

  * * *

  Skill taught successfully

  Skill level increased to Master Bladesmith

  2,100 experience awarded

  Level Up!

  * * *

  She held out her hand to try the blade and he gave the saber to her. She focused on it.

  * * *

  Excellent Saber of Speed - +2 to hit, +3 defense

  * * *

  Damn, he did even better than she did and on his first try. He was the master smith after all. Of course it made sense he'd be better at this than she was. He probably saw possibilities she couldn't, even at her newly raised level. She handed the blade back to him after a few practice swings.

  He took it and held it up in salute before going through a whole routine with the sword.

  "Cari, this is the finest thing I've ever crafted. How is it you are able to do this, to te
ach me this?"

  "If I knew for sure, I'd tell you. I can tell you this. I think if you experiment, you'll find you can work enhancements like this into anything you make in the smithy. Now that the door is opened to you, you should be able to do anything you can dream of."

  "Have you tried this new skill on your modified rapier? It's a fine blade made of an alloy I've never seen before but perhaps you can enhance it as well. While you do that, I'll fetch Sterling. He can finish the honing. The remainder of the blades are for the baron's men-at-arms. They need only normal edges ground into them."

  As Heath left to get his son, Cari thought about what he suggested. Her sword was as much a part of her as her arm. She didn't want to do anything to it that might destroy its quality. Still, applying this new technique could make it even better. She fetched the sword from her belongings and drew it from the scabbard.

  The long, thin, blade only had a cutting edge along the last third of its length. This lent it strength and versatility as both a piercing and slashing blade. She wondered what enhancements she might prefer.

  Considering her personal stats, Cari opted to try to enhance it for speed. Sitting once again at the wheel, she started to hone the edge, careful to maintain the alloy's quality and dual-angled edge. The orange glow began again and changed to green when she chose "enhance for speed" from the menu.

  She followed the glowing guides, making subtle adjustments to what was already a very quick sword blade. She could see how what she did removed small amounts of excess weight while maintaining and even enhancing the blade's strength.

  When finished Cari stood and took a few practice swings. It felt quicker, more nimble in her hand. She checked her inventory. Before it had been listed as a "fine quality rapier."