Brian lunged forward. His weapon lashed out over his head, a devastating attack aimed straight for the enemy's face. Ylva put up her own implement to block. The strength of the blow took her off guard. Her elbow and wrist braced against the impact, but couldn't hold it fully. The attack came inches from hitting her face. But there was no danger. These were wasters—wooden training implements—not real weapons. Ylva's was an arming sword. Brian had more of an axe to simulate his warhammer.

"Very good," Ylva said, disengaging. "That's your best attack so far."

"Thanks," Brian said.

Ylva smoothed some sweat damp strands of black hair from her forehead. "It's not good enough, though."

The shieldmaiden lashed out with a stab to his throat. Even with the Gift of Knowledge guiding his hand, Brian didn't see the attack coming. The point of her wooden weapon caught him straight in the Adam's apple. The pain which shot through his neck was nothing compared to the momentary horror of being unable to breath. Brian's hands flew to his throat while his knees gave out. He fell to all fours, coughing and spluttering.

Ylva extended a hand to him. He noticed it, but remained where he was to catch his breath and maybe sooth the rasping cough in his throat. When the pained hacking stopped a minute later, he grabbed the offered hand. Ylva helped pull him to his feet.

"How did you do that?' Brian asked, idly rubbing his neck.

"Speed and placement are just as important as strength. A well-aimed shot can cripple a man without much effort," Ylva explained.

"Okay, but you still hit me pretty hard," complained Brian.

"Well, it's important to combine all three," Ylva said with a smirk. Brian rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, lets reset and go again, one more time."

Brian took a few steps away from her and turned to face down his opponent/teacher. He assumed the stance she showed him, left side out with the wooden axe held behind his neck.

It had been one week since their last job, one week in Exandria living the life of a normal guild member. In that time, Brian had plenty of opportunities to reflect. He remembered the hard time he had against the rats back in Isalda's basement. He could hardly hit them, and when he did, the blows carried little impact. That was when he realized something very important. The Gift of Knowledge gave them the ability to use their equipment, but did not instruct them on the best ways to apply those skills. He knew how to use a warhammer, yes, but not how to fight properly with it.

That was where Ylva came in. Brian remembered the couple of times she mentioned being a HEMA instructor. Who better to teach him the art of combat than someone who taught people how to fight for a living? Ylva had been more than willing to help, and even ran off to ask Therdin for training tools before Brian could set a time and date for the lesson.

That was how he found himself in the girls' room, facing off with a beautiful woman who was currently kicking his ass. Tiffany had vacated the moment the two of them told her about what they wanted to do, so they were alone together in the room.

"Whenever you're ready, Brian," Ylva said.

Brian let instinct take over as he came forward. An ethereal force guided his hands to the easiest strike available from his stance, a diagonal downward swing from the right. Brian learned a while ago this unseen assistance was the Gift of Knowledge. It didn't tell him what to do, but instead aided his motions when doing something with his new skills.

Ylva blocked with a hanging guard then flipped her wrist around for a quick cut. Just like she taught him, Brian caught the blade in the hook created by the head of his own weapon and its haft. He put all of his strength into a broad drag. Ylva's sword was caught up in the motion. It flew from her grip and clattered against the right wall, bouncing with enough force to clear the bunk bed.

Brian did his best to combo into another diagonal right. Ylva used both hands to deflect the blow with his momentum, then lashed out with a backfist. Brian faded back from it. He came forward overhand. This time, Ylva caught his wrist well before it reached her, again with both hands. She pulled backward and down while wrenching her whole body around. Brian's contact with the floor failed him. He ended up face-down in the wood, a bump already forming on his forehead. Ylva skittered away to recover her weapon.

"Up!" She commanded.

Brian did as he was told. They squared off for a moment, before he opened the bout again. He tried an attack from the other direction, but Ylva's defense was impeccable. She blocked high, then dropped her guard to swing up into his ribs.

Brian absorbed the attack. He made an attempt to capitalize on her low guard to swing at her temple. To his sheer amazement, he actually managed to hit. Ylva took the blow, allowing it to turn her head a bit. Brian gasped. It was his first time hitting a girl for any reason. He was about apologize when Ylva gave him an evil grin. She lashed out with a chop that Brian barely managed to halt.

He tried to retaliate, but was blocked. Ylva, however, could not be stopped. She repaid his head strike with one of her own. She then immediately drew back into a defensive posture to block his follow-up. Her next swing cracked across the fleshy part of his right shoulder. A pain took him so great it numbed that entire side of his body for a second. She really wasn't holding back. Maybe that one hit finally managed to earn Brian a bit of respect? He was simultaneously honored and terrified. He wasn't sure his body could handle another hit like that.

Instinct told him the best thing to do when trying to avoid an attack was launch one of your own. He tried to slash across his body, but Ylva blocked it with almost zero effort. She slid her weapon along his into a deep stab. Brian quarter turned to avoid the point. He struck down at her exposed face, but couldn't get through. Ylva went for a straight downward slice, which Brian blocked.

He took a small step back, impressed he'd actually managed to exchange with her a bit. They'd been at this for a couple hours, now, and this was the best he'd done so far. Maybe her instruction, with a bit of arcane help, was setting in.

With newfound confidence, he assumed his stance and struck at her. He swiftly learned this confidence to be misplaced when she defended. Brian checked himself just in time to block her counter horizontal swing. He tried to thrust up at her face, but the attack was slow and clumsy with a weapon not meant to stab. She dodged back from it.

Ylva thwapped him across the face with such force that he spun a quarter rotation and fell onto the bed. He caught himself against its edge, yet couldn't dislodge the pain in his head. It felt like he had a migraine and he could've sworn the room looked a little darker. Distressing, was all of this, for he heard Ylva approaching his defenseless form.

"Yield!' He blurted, waving an awkward hand behind him. "I yield! You win."

"You okay?" Ylva asked from behind him. "I hope I didn't hit you too hard."

"No, I'm good." Brian turned over and slumped to the ground, back against the bed. "I mean, you rocked me a little but I asked you not to hold back, so I'm good."

"Good," Ylva smiled. "But, I think that's enough for today." She sat down next to him "Training with tired muscles makes you weaker, not stronger."

"Really?" Brian questioned. "How does that work?"

"If you're tired, you can't maintain the proper form or use the right technique, and that makes you pick up bad habits."

"Makes sense," Brian shrugged. "I never really thought about it that way."

"That's why you're the student, and I'm the master," joked Ylva.

"Yes, Sensei." Brian went along with it.

"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Ylva said.

"Please, no."

"Too late!"

"Dammit." Brian dramatically deflated. Ylva chuckled at him. "Thanks for training with me."

"You're welcome, for the third time," Ylva said. "You're doing really well, just need to work on strength and speed. Those will come with time."

"Yeah, well, don't praise me too much. It's mostly the Gift of Knowledge. I don't even know what I'm doing most of the time."

"That's called instinct, when you're body moves correctly but you didn't really tell it what to do. It's just a reaction, muscle memory.

"Is that a good thing?"

"It can be," Ylva nodded her head to one side. "It's good to react automatically, but it can only carry you so far. Eventually, you'll need to learn how to apply your skills intelligently to actively engage with a threat." Ylva paused to let him absorb this information before continuing. "A lot of people hit a wall with it. They black out when they fight and can't figure out how to move past that, and it keeps them from the higher levels of competition."

"Why's that?"

"Because instinct isn't mastery. It's enough to handle a lot of people, but when you encounter someone who's learned to really use and manipulate their skillset, they'll walk all over you."

"So, is that what you were trying to teach me?"

"It's what I want to teach you. And Calvin and Tiffany," Ylva added quickly. "It'll just take time."

"Anything to help us survive out there," Brian said.

"Yeah," Ylva agreed. "But, enough with the serious stuff." Ylva stood up and walked over to the dresser." "I have to go into town for something." She began belting on her sword. "Do you wanna come with me?"

"You're going somewhere?" Brian asked stupidly. Of course she's going somewhere. She just said so.

"Yep," confirmed Ylva with a nod. "I have to see a man about a sword. Well, more of a shortsword, really."

"And you want me to come?" That was the part that really confused Brian. Why would she want him to follow her around?

"Why wouldn't I?" Ylva seemed to read his mind. "Unless you want to stick around here alone all day. Your choice."

"No, I'll come, if that's alright."

"Okay, then. Grab your stuff and let's go." Ylva started toward the door. Brian stood and followed her.

"Do you really think I'll need my hammer?" He asked.

"I meant your coin purse, but you can bring your weapon if you want," Ylva said.

"I think I'll just bring my money." Brian looked at the ground and tried to conceal his embarrassment as he followed Ylva into the hall.

She waited outside the boys' room for Brian to enter and retrieve his purse. He felt stupid while doing so, with a glance at his hammer propped up against the dresser. Obviously, Ylva didn't need him to bring along his weapon. She could take care of herself just fine, as well as him. If any cutthroats assailed them, Brian would probably be a liability, given how Ylva had trounced him for the entirety of their training session. It was better for him to just go unarmed. He grabbed his coin purse from his bed and headed out.

"Ready?" Ylva asked the moment he appeared from the door. Brian nodded. "Then let's go."

…

A trip through the Guild hall and a bit of healthy walking through the streets found Brian and Ylva in the heart of Trostenwald. The town itself looked much the same as it had every other time he had traversed it during the day. People and guards walked here and there. The occasional merchant's cart transported goods. There was some trade and loud advertising, but most people weren't free from their jobs to go shopping yet.

Not these two humans, however. They moved through the streets burdened with purpose, a swordswoman and her charge destined for commerce. This was all well and good, except that as Brian looked around he realized how well and totally lost he was. A week in Trostenwald was not enough time to give him any sense of direction. All the buildings of wood and stone looked the same to him. There were no street signs, so it was impossible to tell where he was.

Ylva, though, seemed to know exactly where she was going. She walked with conviction through the latticework of interconnected streets. Brian trod along next to her. He wanted to be a step behind, but Ylva had none of it. During the early legs of their excursion she slowed down whenever Brian tried to fall behind until they were side-by-side once again. After a few repetitions of this, Brian accepted his lot and kept an even keel with her. It was harder to follow while in step with Ylva, but he admitted it felt nice to be on literal equal footing with her.

"So," he began, "do you have any idea where we're going? Because I'm completely lost."

"A smithy," answered Ylva with a grin.

"Yeah, I figured that out." Brian rolled his eyes. "I mean specifically."

"Hmm, sorta," Ylva said. "Do you remember that smithy we heard on the way to Isalda's?"

"No."

"Well, there was one. It sounded pretty close to that courtyard. I'm gonna go there and then ask for directions."

Now that she mentioned the courtyard, Brian did have a vague sense of where he was. Some of the buildings around him were slightly familiar, as if he saw them in a dream or something. That wasn't enough to give him the slightest clue about where they were headed, but it did set him more at ease. He decided to just follow Ylva. It worked out so far.

Eventually they came upon that same courtyard they passed through twice on their first night in Exandria. Brian recognized it from that merchant in the corner hawking his wares. If he listened, there most certainly were metallic pings on the air. Ylva must've heard them as well, for she looked in their direction and pointed.

"There, I knew it!" She took off diagonally left. "It doesn't sound too far, either."

Brian jogged a few steps to catch up with her.

The blacksmith was easy to find by following the sounds of industry. The two humans followed the main cobbled road, passing by traffic of every shape, size, color, and race. They crossed what appeared to be a major thoroughfare, then arrived at the source of the sounds tucked into a little corner.

Lundgrum's Ironworks was a trapezoidal building given a wide berth on the street, likely because of the noise and heat emanating from within. A wave of both assaulted Brian as he entered. The narrow door opened immediately into a large workshop dominated by a basin forge with anvils and workbenches strewn throughout, while various tools hung from most walls.

At the forge stood a dwarven man, a deep blue tunic over brown pants fed into thick boots. Bald of head, grey dominated his black beard and long braided mustaches. He wore thick goggles on his eyes. He pulled what looked like it would eventually become a sword out from the fire and was about to beat on it with is giant hammer, when Ylva called out to him.

"Hail, master blacksmith," she shouted into the forge. The dwarf looked up at her curiously.

"Ah, greetin's there, lass." The smith put down his work, propped his goggles up onto his head, and approached them. "Welcome to Lundgrum's Ironworks. I'm Lundgrum. What can I do for yeh?" He had a thick, hardy accent, like one would expect from a fantasy Dwarf.

"I was wondering if I could have something made," Ylva said simply.

"Well, you certainly can, but I have plenty of weapons and armor in stock. That would be cheaper than a custom design," Lundgrum said. Brian wasn't sure if he should be offended by that or not.

"Thank you, but I'm looking for something specific," Ylva denied. "Have you ever heard of a broken back seax?"

Lundgrum thought for a moment. "No, can't say as I have."

"That's alright. A lot of people this far south haven't. I drew up an example for you." Ylva reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper.

"When did you have time to do that?" Brian wondered aloud.

"I get up really early," responded Ylva.

She unfolded the paper and held it up to Lundgrum. He reached for it with a hesitant glance at her. She nodded, and he took it.

From what Brian could see, it was a broad bladed weapon with a thin point that swelled at a shallow angle about three-quarters of the way back to the full width of the blade. The name of it suddenly made a lot of sense, as it did indeed appear to have been broken and then reforged into a clean piece. The handle was considerably thinner than the blade. It swelled out at only the very top to merge with the fitting which married it to the blade itself.

"Interesting design, clearly a chopping weapon," observed Lundgrum.

"They're traditionally for stripping the bark and branches off of a log," said Ylva.

"Ah, that makes sense," Lundgrum nodded. "What kind of dimensions are you thinking?"

"Two inches wide at the base and fifteen inches long."

"So, on the short side for a shortsword. And the hilt?"

"Brass fittings, first of all," Ylva began. Lundgrum nodded. "And I'd like blackened wood for the handle, but if that's not possible, then a simple dark wood is okay."

"I can give you black if you want black," Lundgrum said. "I've never made anything quite like this, but it seems doable enough. I'll give it to you for my usual price for a shortsword, ten gold pieces, five now and five later."

"That's more or less what I expected to spend." Ylva dug out five coins and held them out in a closed fist to him. Lundgrum folded up the design to hold it on one hand. His other accepted the gold that was dropped into it. He pocketed the money.

"Very good. Thank you for your patronage."

"Of course, master smith," Ylva said with a little bow of her head.

"And what about you, lad? Can I do anything for you?" Lundgrum addressed Brian.

"No, no. I'm just following her around." Brian indicated the woman to his left.

"Alright, then. Give me three days. That should be plenty of time to get this finished up real nice," Lundgrum said to Ylva.

"Will do. Thank you very much, Lundgrum," Ylva said, turning to leave with a wave.

"Aye." Lundgrum returned before making his way back to the forge.

Brian and Ylva walked out into the street together. That whole process had been much quicker than he expected. Brian thought they'd be there for at least a half hour—but probably more—discussing the finer details of what Ylva wanted. But no, they both got the point with little difficulty on either end. This must've been what it looked like when two people who knew exactly what they were talking about made any sort of arrangement. Brian had honestly never seen anything quite like it.

"That was fun," Ylva said. "Anywhere you want to go?"

"No, not really," Brian said. "I have everything I need."

"Let's go back to the guild hall, then," suggested Ylva. Brian nodded agreeance and they were off.

Between a great training session, a nice little walk, and his first ever time in a smithy, there were many much worse ways to spend an afternoon. Brian still didn't really like living in a place with zero technology, or even electricity, but good days like this—and good people to spend them with—made it all a little more bearable.