You are not connected. Please login or register

Solidifying a New Style [Garret/Training/Plot]

2 posters

Go down  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Vardreth

Vardreth
Ω-Tier
Ω-Tier

Garret watched as Bahir found himself stumbling on his words, but made no comment. When the Fanalis mentioned that he had no shield to speak of, Garret smiled and nodded his head knowingly. It was then that the man performed a kneel before him. Garret recalled the unpleasant memories of what his foster father had hoped for him to become, and at what lengths the man went to ensure those dreams. Shaking his head and letting the memories scatter, Garret almost said something to the Fanalis... Yet the man got up on his own; he seemed fairly nervous, causing the blue magician to snort. "Listen, I might be helping you out, but I'm nobody special. Your subservience is wasted on me; I'm just a simple blacksmith. With a king like Lagi to follow, are you not insulting his position by showing me a similar degree of respect?" Garret's prior refusal for the show of respect wasn't enough to get Bahir to stop, but he figured that a more personal reprimand would give the man a stronger reason to not act in that manner.

His desire to assist in the creation was commendable, though. Garret closed his eyes for a moment and considered. "There are no worries about the tools, or location. Simply pay for the base materials, and I'll craft it for you. It's good for me to practice my true vocation, after all. I value the opportunity to make something meaningful for a student of mine. Now, let us head back to Remano." Garret nodded towards their horses, and made sure that both of them were mounted before leading the way.

The pace was moderate, and they would have some time to talk if they wanted to do so.




They arrived in the city, and Garret made his way to a stable and set the horse up for feed. Passing some coin to the stable-hand, Garret instructed the boy to keep good care of the horses until they came back. He nodded towards Bahir. "Follow me. We'll get the materials for you, and then you can watch if you would like or you can handle other matters. It won't be an extremely fast process." It would probably take two days, maybe a few extra, in order to get everything set up and completed. Either way, Garret lead Bahir to the blacksmith.




The man running the shop showed a bit of surprise as Garret walked in. "Ah. I thought you were supposed to be leaving Reim?" The tone was slightly quizzical, but did not seem to hold any ulterior motives besides genuine curiosity.

Garret grunted in response. "I'll be here for a few extra days, actually. More importantly, I need some materials... And the use of one of your forges for today and tomorrow... And the next day. The usual rate?" They discussed the specifics, and Garret requested some input from Bahir as well on a description and dimensions of the equipment. Soon, they would have everything they needed...




Garret worked hard, shaping the metal that would reinforce the shield while keeping in mind the overall shape that the wood would be in. Into the furnace it went, to heat up to the proper temperature. The Magician did not stop watching the furnace, only pulling the metal out when it showed the correct color. Maneuvering the chunk of metal with a pair of tongs, Garret immediately went to work by hammering the steel against the anvil. The protective blacksmith's apron kept the sparks from landing on Garret's body, and the gloves kept the hands free from the heat.

Yet the gloves did not always remain on. As the evening came closer, and the metal began to take on its true form, Garret removed the gloves so he could get a better feel for the steel that was shaping beneath his hammer. It was getting late, however, and so Garret informed the two, if both remained, that he would retire for the rest of the day and be back in the morning.

The next morning he began working on the wooden portion of the shield. His decision on how to handle the wooden portion was somewhat different from a normal wooden shield; shields made of wood were often individual planks brought together and reinforced to take hits. This one, however, was going to be carved directly from a block of wood. Grabbing a decent sized block, he began carving out the general shape of the equipment in question. As he finished its general shape, Garret began sanding the shield down to a smooth surface. its rounding would allow for strikes dealt against it to slide across, reducing the impact force of an attack. He hummed to himself, devoting himself to the work that was in front of him.

The wood was completed.

Garret immediately moved back to the metallic portion of the equipment. He continued with the inner braces on the shield, which would be hidden behind the massive wooden front. Making sure they met measurement, Garret often sized it up against the shield itself to confirm it was on the right track. Satisfied so far, Garret continued back with the plating, puncturing holes within it large enough for a nail to enter through. He created 8 such holes, and then created the nails that would go through the holes. Snorting, Garret couldn't believe how many nails he had made up to this point. The process was almost second nature to the magician.

It was then that he realized an unfortunate flaw in his plan; heating up and melding the pieces of metal together would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep it in great condition. Keeping a poker face, Garret looked up. "This should be it for today, I'm going to get some rest and come back tomorrow morning."

He left the shop.

But it was not tomorrow morning when he decided to return. At midnight, in the cover of Realm of Greater Invisibility, Garret came back into the workshop using the very same key he had been lent by the blacksmith to open up and begin working in the early mornings. With him, Garret carried the Exuro Staff of course. It was time to begin truly working upon the shield in a way he had never done with any other blacksmithing before.

Garret closed his eyes and went over the steps once more. First, he would place all of the equipment in the correct spots, ensuring each piece was interconnected. He set the nails against the holes in the plate, placing the plate dead center of the shield with one hand and activating The Magician's Sound Hammer with the help of his staff. The nails went in quickly and efficiently. Nearing the end, Garret activated another ability he had created by speaking to the Rukh; Magician's Blacksmithing Heat. The spell heated up small portions of the plating and the head of the nails and, combining the sound hammer from before, Garret was able to make the plate and the nails seamless.

But it didn't end there; the magician continued to sustain the spells and worked on the metal plating and handle on the interior. The nails met the metal on that side as well, and the entirety of the equipment started to become as one. If anything, Garret was a thorough individual. The metal itself was melded together magically, but the wood was a slightly different matter. Garret used Greater Wood Shaping. The wood molded in impossible ways; ways that a normal craftsman would never be able to achieve. Even so, Garret was careful to make sure the end result was subtle.

The wood gripped upon the metal at the very base, as if grasping it and holding it in. The actual nails within the shield itself were fit in within the most snug of settings, as if the wood had been nailed in perfectly. On the front, an engraving appeared for aesthetic sense; it was a lion.

The work was almost as exhausting as if he had done it by hand, but the actual effects of the work would have been impossible to achieve with just his bare hands. Once that was completed, Garret used a final spell; The Color of Life. It changed the pigmentation of the wood, coloring in the lion as a black lion and painting the remainder of the shield in a red.

It was completed.

Garret returned to his place of living, still under cover of the invisibility. There was one more thing he wanted to do, before returning to the blacksmith's. He took out his Magic Carpet and flew above the clouds, drawing out a thick senbon needle. Like a knife, Garret threw the object into the sky. The thing moved at an incredible speed before exploding. Garret nodded, satisfied with the Explosive Force and returning home to put away both his staff and his carpet. He immediately made his way back to the blacksmith's shop, and kept guard over the shield until the morning, when Bahir and the other blacksmith would be able to view the sight. During that time, Garret dozed off with the shield lying to his left...


OOC:

Word Count for Explosive Force: 2000+/1500

Abilities Used:

Ability Trained:

Items used:


──────────────────────────────────────────────


Bahir

Bahir
β-Tier
β-Tier

Bahir blinked as Garret scolded him. The young assassin attempted to keep the matter serious, as Garret had. The more he thought about it though, the more Bahir saw the opposite of what Garret was trying to get across to him. He knew that the man didn't like formal showings of respect, but in the fanalis's eyes, Garret deserved more of his respect than Lagi did. Garret had saved Bahir's life during the war on multiple occasions and was currently teaching Bahir how to be a better fighter. If there was any way to earn the respect of a fanalis, it was to best them in combat and help them improve. To top things off, Garret found out about the style of fighting that Bahir wanted to master and took it upon himself to assist him in attaining the means to accomplish this.

The fanalis nodded and stood slowly. "I understand, but I only mean you respect. I need to continue my study, it seems. The signs I was taught to show a man respect seems to give a subservient tone. That is not my intent. I show respect where its due, and at the moment, you are the most deserving of it." Bahir smiled at the man and nodded in response. The subtle mentioning of him being Garret's student didn't slip past him, but he didn't want to bring it into the light as he would have done when he was younger. The fanalis instead mounted his horse and proceeded back to Remano alongside Garret. The journey back he attempted small talk with the man, not wanting to speak of anything dealing with their training in their "down time."




Bahir's eyes went to investigating the blacksmith shop as they reached it. The fanalis hadn't stepped foot into a smithy before and was almost giddy about the ordeal. He silently inspected all of the materials, hammers, and forges in the shop. He was a little distracted while Garret and the man who owned the store spoke. It wasn't until Garret asked for his input that Bahir returned to the two men and spoke about the quality of steel and wood that he wanted to use in conjunction with each other. Then he started to ramble about leather straps and a handle on the interior of the shield. He wanted to make sure that he could feel confident with his equipment.




As Garret began his work on the shield, Bahir stood close by, watching the process first hand. He was mesmerized by the metal working that Garret showed such proficiency in. So this is a black smith at work. He thought to himself. The closest experience that Bahir has had to smithing would be his construction of his home out in the western front. Even then, all he did was use his strength to bend the metal bars to his will. There was no craftsmanship to whatever he was doing.

Hours passed by and Garret informed Bahir and the owner that he was retiring for the night. Bahir nodded and followed suit. The next day, Bahir didn't watch the man's process. Instead, the fanalis was standing outside of the smithy, working on his sword strikes. The fanalis finished with a downward cut, causing an indention in the ground to form and the wooden sword in his hands to snap. At this point, Garret opened the door to the smithy and emerged from the building once more. Bahir blinked at the man's announcing that he was done for the night and nodded. "I'll probably head home for the day. I'll come back tomorrow morning once you're finished."




The next morning, Bahir approached the shop at a casual pace. The young man had a feeling that the shield would be finished by the time he finished his rounds of the city and made it back to the shop. Which was true, thankfully. He arrived at the same time as the owner who let him into the shop. Walking through the door, Bahir noticed the shield laying next to his sleeping teacher. The fanalis crossed his arms and chuckled at the sight. "Oi, Garret! Wake up, sensei."
Training Count (Downward Cut): 560/500
Abilities Trained:


──────────────────────────────────────────────

Solidifying a New Style [Garret/Training/Plot] - Page 2 XhmcID2Solidifying a New Style [Garret/Training/Plot] - Page 2 ZvsP1Sc

Vardreth

Vardreth
Ω-Tier
Ω-Tier

At the sound of Bahir's words, Garret's eyes immediately opened and darted to the entrance. A sharp observer would be capable of glimpsing the high degree of alertness from the man, which was quickly hidden as his eyelids drooped in a seemingly tired manner. If it wasn't for the wideness of them from before, one would think that he was a tired man waking up from a long night's rest. Garret yawned; though it was partially forced, the wide-jawed yawn wasn't a difficult one to fabricate. Garret lazily scratched the back of his head, creaking his neck to the left and then the right after he did so. Carefully bringing the shield up to lean it against a counter, Garret stretched out as if working out kinks from his muscles and joints after the late night of work he had completed.

"Bahir." Garret nodded to the man, short with his words but not unwelcoming. As he did so, the shop owner approached the shield with a sort of reverance. There seemed to be an air of disbelief about the man.

"You... Who are you?" The man looked from the shield and up to Garret before looking back at the shield again. He walked to the sides, inspecting it carefully, and only elaborated upon Garret's questioning grunt of 'huh?'

"What technique did you use to complete this shield..? I... I've never seen anything like it..!" The man was bewildered, as he should have been. The shield had seemed to have simply been fused together in a masterful manner, and was sturdy to boot. Such a blacksmithing technique was limited to masters of the craft. "The woodwork... The metal work... This could rival the skills of Hakim." He looked back up towards Garret, a hint of wonder in his eyes. "Do you perhaps know him personally? Are you a student of his?" The man's questions were sharp, as if he had taken a personal interest in Garret's past at this point.

Garret shook his head. "No. I am simply a traveling blacksmith. I picked a few things up, here and there, along the way." Garret downplayed any praise he received from the blacksmith, while his thoughts ran wild in the background. Hmmm. Perhaps it may not have been wise to use my magic like this... But the quality of the work is so much better. I wonder... He recalled the words of his blacksmith teacher, Durrant; 'You have no talent, you know? You'll never make anything as good as Hakim.'

He had accepted those words at the time. His skills with physical labor were not as great as it could be, and his ability to forge was not the very peak. But with his magic assisting him, he could reach a stage of creation that those without magic could only attain through years of hard work and accumulated knowledge.

Returning to the present time after the short reminiscence of the past, Garret looked over to Bahir. "Well? Take a look at it. I made sure to keep it to specifications. I hope everything fits how you wanted it to be." Garret had kept in mind Bahir's request for materials, all the way to the point of the leather straps that the Fanalis had wanted. Garret did not feel the need to go over the quality of the equipment; the shield's quality would speak for itself.

While Bahir was looking at the shield the shop owner approached Garret. "Hey... Would you be willing to teach me how you did that? What techniques you used?" The man was awed by the product, and asked the question his mind already knew the answer to, but his heart refused to acknowledge until he had actually heard the answer.

Garret shook his head. "Sorry, but the techniques I use are difficult and take time to learn. I have had several teachers in the past, and it is thanks to all of them that I am able to do what I can. I appreciate the use of your forge, but please do not ask this of me again." Garret declined the shop keeper's request, trying to be as respectful as he could in the process while maintaining a firm stance in his refusal.

The man accepted Garret's words; in the first place, craftsmen weren't the kind of people who freely shared their secrets. Even so, the sight before him compelled him to ask anyway.

OOC:

752/1500 word count for training Fiery Blast.


──────────────────────────────────────────────


Vardreth

Vardreth
Ω-Tier
Ω-Tier

Garret spoke with Bahir for a short period of time afterward, making sure everything was set before heading off. "As you may have heard earlier, I will be out of the area for a while. I will be traveling in order to hone my craft as a blacksmith even further... And maybe I will pick up a thing or two on the way." Garret smiled one last time, waving to the two who were left in the blacksmith shop. He considered the comment he had made more seriously; perhaps it would be good practice to hone his skills as a craftsman during his travels, and learn more techniques...

There was one last thing he wanted to do before that, however; a visit to the Huang Place To Be. He had not seen Selene in quite a while, but that was not the reason for his visit; a "full course meal" to savor before he left was all Garret desired. It wasn't that the restaurant itself was high class, nor did they actually have such an option available. No, Garret intended on individually ordering a number of items on the menu and carefully savoring each. He returned to his room, and Yua had everything packed up and ready to go. "Let's go out to eat, before setting off on our journey. You've worked hard." He ruffled her hair playfully.

"Heheh... That sounds nice. Did you have somewhere in mind?" The look of exhaustion that seemed to permeate from her was replaced by a new wave of energy as she brought a bag into the bathroom with her.

Garret sighed in equal parts of exasperation and amusement as she readied herself for the afternoon out. "I was thinking the Huang Place To Be." He didn't feel that she needed to do anything special to prepare, but at the same time he knew that she felt it not only necessary but also an enjoyable thing to do. Shaking his head, Garret dismissed that topic from his mind and patiently waited in a chair.

Learning the location, Yua popped her head out and looked towards Garret with furrowed brows. "Just us two, right?" There was a concerned voice that came from her as she gauged Garret's reaction.

Confused, the magician nodded. "Yes, just us. I don't have any plans on asking anyone else to join us..." Though he didn't connect the dots, Yua was asking in order to ensure that Serene wouldn't be joining them. Though Garret enjoyed the restaurant long before Serene had become its owner, Yua was still slightly perturbed that it would be the location of his choice for their final meal before their trip.

Yua redoubled her efforts, just in case anything... came up. She wasn't fond of going there, but knew that it was one of Garret's favorite places and put up with it for now. When she was ready, she walked back out of the bathroom with a look of determination and satisfaction

Garret was stunned by her looks for a moment, with his heart suddenly racing in the next. "That's... You're... Gorgeous." Garret cleared his throat, looking away momentarily in embarrassment. "So, uh, ready?" It dawned upon him that they would not be very inconspicuous.

"Hmmm, do you plan on going in with that?" Yua rose an eye, looking at the somewhat plain clothing he wore.

Noticing the contrast between the two, Garret frowned. "I... I suppose you're right." Garret rummaged through one of his bags, taking out an outfit more fitting for the afternoon out. If she was going to go out like that, he did not want to embarrass either of them...




The two were on their way walking home, Yua leaning against Garret's right side. Both were satisfied with their food, though they had spent a long time eating the various things Garret ordered. A content smile graced Yua's face, which Garret admired for a time as they moved through the alleyways. Yua made a joking comment, and Garret laughed, only to be interrupted by a set of four thieves. Three from ahead, and one behind.

"Leave behind all your money, and we'll let you go without trouble." They were confident, which wasn't surprising considering the looks of the two before them; a rich couple, who probably didn't have much fighting experience. The group didn't seem like a weak group, either.

Yua's grasp on his arm tightened, though it was from anger and not fear. She was ready for a fight. Garret put a hand on her shoulder. "Let me handle this." Reaching into his sleeves, Garret pulled out 4 throwing needles. The movement alone was enough to get the three men in front of them and the one behind to start to move. Garret threw the three needles at the opponents to the front, turning and throwing the final and fourth needle towards the last. As he threw the final one a loud explosion and a blast of heat fell upon his back and Garret's eyes went wide. Shit! What was that!? Garret turned around and saw the buildings on both sides of the alleyway falling inward, and the men who were once there completely incinerated.

Faintly, he could hear the gurgling of the final thief as the man lay upon the ground, clawing at the throwing needle that had pierced his throat. ... When did that get mixed in!? Garret realized that the Fiery Blast was caused from one of the trick needles he had been developing - and it proved incredibly effective. Turning to Yua, he spoke quickly. "Yua.. We're gonna have to run. Sorry"

In return, she simply laughed. "So, after a relaxing early dinner, we get a side of excitement? Sounds like a fine farewell to me." There were times that Garret forgot she was a thief, and that while it may have started out of necessity she continued to choose it as her profession. There were other ways, but there was a certain adrenaline that it provided.

"I don't know if this excitement is worth it..." The magician referred to the stomach ache they were sure to get after running their hardest. It was quite a start to their travel out of Reim.

OOC:

[Exit]

Fiery Blast WC training: 1700+/1500
Ability Trained:


──────────────────────────────────────────────


Sponsored content



Back to top  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum