It had been six days since the fight in the Underwood forest. Things had been calm for me, a little too calm. Life went on and so did work, thus I found myself walking through the Amerus city center. Grandpa Kerkin had tasked me with picking up a bunch of gunpowder from another weaponsmith. Luckily this time it wasn’t a cargo big enough to require the cart, since dragging that thing all the way from home to Amerus and back would’ve been a pain in the ass. While walking through the cheerful streets that made up the walled city of Amerus, I thought back to the aftermath of the fight with the demon.

  After I'd walked out the forest and went home I had told Grandpa Kerkin in detail about the events of that day. Though he didn’t believe me at all until the first newspaper started rolling in. The Amerus academy hadn’t released a very detailed statement. They said the investigation was underway into what people were beginning to describe as “The great thunder of Underwood forest.”

  Though the events of that day were rather serious, and slightly depressing. Naming it “The great thunder of Underwood forest” did bring a smile to my face. It gave the story some heroic flair with a mysterious allure, even though I knew exactly what the thunder part was referring to. The 2 massive lighting strikes the tanned girl casted onto the demon where quite unusual and mysterious from a distance. Especially if you didn’t know what was going on.

  With the gun powder in my bag I looked through some of the stalls that were hosted along the main road of the city. The armour on display caught my eye, in the fight with the demon I realized just how fragile I was. If the demon had managed to hit the one strike it had aimed at me, I would've been dead. Especially because I didn't have magic to reinforce or heal my body. Though I didn't expect to get into any more demon fights, I was interested in the makings of armour plates more now than ever. Especially after seeing how well the armour the tan girl had on protected her from the demons claws.

  After browsing the stalls for cool trinkets and armour I decided to return home. At the large gate of the city a young boy was yelling out to get people to buy his newspaper. I took one and threw the kid a coin. I was curious to see if the academy had already released a statement on the incident.

  I passed through the large gate of Amerus city. As I started my leisurely walk back home I began to read. And sure enough there it was, the statement by the academy. As I read through there was a lot of the normal stuff you’d expect. Condolences to the grieving families, a statement about how this should never happen again. But then I stumbled upon a section that stood out to me. “We will be ever grateful to the boy, Theo Strikte who helped turn the tide. He and his rifle were a godsend.” - Tiana Redwall

  As I read the article, It explained my actions that day in great detail. I was bewildered by the praise that Tiana gave me in the article. Especially because we didn’t even really know each other. The only interaction we’d shared was in the fight.

  The more I closed in on home the more excited I got. I couldn’t wait to tell grandpa Kerkin about this. He hadn’t fully believed me before, but now my name was on the page. So it should hopefully convince him of what’d happened. As i happily opened the door, I shouted

  “I’m home grandpa!”

  There was no answer, just a faint murmuring from the living room. So now slightly disappointed I busted into the living room newspaper in hand. I was about to start bragging about the praise I'd gotten, when I froze. As I’d busted into the room I noticed that there were 2 pairs of eyes looking at me. 2 red eyes that belonged to grandpa Kerkin who’d already started shaking his head. The 2 deep brown eyes however belonged to Tiana. Her face lit up and she tried her best to suppress a smile. Admittedly it must’ve looked quite goofy for me to bust through the door, just to freeze up.

  Then grandpa Kerkin spoke up

  “Kid can you stop embarrassing me in front of your new client.”

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  “My new client? But what about the quota of muskets?”

  “And here I thought I'd raised you better than this boy. Didn’t I teach you to prioritize your woman's needs? Miss Tiana’s new weapon should have your full attention. I’ll finish up those muskets in a jiffy, don’t you worry.”

  “First of all, she’s not my woman, I barely know her. Second of all, who'd you prioritize when you divorced grandma huh?”

  “That makes sense. I mean, I cannot think of any women that would travel the 2 hour distance to our smithy, just to see you.”

  As I was about to clap back at Grandpa, our argument was interrupted. Tiana, who could no longer suppress her laughter, was now full on cry laughing.

  “I- I’m sorry I can’t hahaha.”

  She picked away a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

  “Ah I’m sorry, please do continue, this is very entertaining.”

  Both me and grandpa Kerkin looked at her stunned. Then grandpa leaned in and whispered behind his hand.

  “You’ve got good taste in women, kid keep it up.”

  I glared daggers at the old womanizer that was my grandpa. The conversation was about to derail once more. But Tiana, who’d overheard everything spoke up

  “Thank you for the compliment, old man, but allow me to introduce myself.”

  She stood up and we shook hands

  “I am Tiana Redwall, cadet at the Amerus military academy.”

  “Theo Strikte, blacksmith. It's an honour to meet you like this.”

  “No no, the honour is completely mine Theo. if not for you I’m not sure I would’ve been alive today. It's a shame that I couldn’t bring Rose with me today. I’m sure she too wanted to thank you for your actions… However, ever since the funeral she’s been cooped up in her room and won’t leave.”

  Her face darkened with worry for her friend. Though it was clear she herself was also still grieving the losses she’d suffered.

  “Thank you… And my condolences…”

  The situation was very awkward, I'd have liked to give her some heartfelt words. However, I was unsure of what to say.

  “If I may ask though, what brings you here today? I heard you’d like a new weapon?”

  As I changed the topic her face lit up a bit again.

  “Yes, although I'd like to change up my equipment in general. But that is for later, for now I’d like you to make me a new weapon. Though I've grown quite attached to my club, it slows me down alot. I felt that in the fight with the demon this slowed me down too much. So much that I could not protect those around me.”

  As she said this I looked at the big club that leaned against the table. As I'd noted before it was embedded with mana stones. Though a lot of mage wands included many powerful mana stones, it was rare for melee weapons. Most soldiers that utilized melee weapons, wouldn’t cast offensive spells with their weapon. They used spells to get them into a position where they’d be able to kill with their melee weapon. This meant that whatever spells they casted had short incantations and weren’t amplified by a magic stone. However Tiana here used the club to inflict max damage with every hit. Though chanting and then casting spells like that meant utmost concentration and dedication. Doing that while also fighting at the speeds that I saw Tiana fight, the concept alone is insane.

  Of course there were several ways to approach this problem. If she were to pick up a new faster weapon and change her fighting style it could fix the issue. Another way was for her to shed armour but keep a shield. This way she could be more mobile, but still protect others. The weapon would matter less in this solution…

  “Hey smith boy, you think you can do it? Or is my club so interesting that you’re going to keep staring at it?”

  After having my thoughts interrupted I looked up to see Tiana with a slight grin on her face.

  “Oops sorry I got lost in thought. I can certainly do it. However I'm uncertain if it's your weapon that needs to change or your other equipment… I’d like to observe your fighting style more. I would also appreciate more context to where you want to go with your fighting style. After all, I'd hate for your weapon to not be compatible with your fighting style.”

  I also said this, not just because it was true. But also because I felt like there was a chance she’d end up pushing herself too much. After all, she’d just lost a lot of her classmates. The fact she wanted to improve after that fight was admirable. But wanting to improve too much after such a traumatic event was an easy pitfall. Of course this wasn’t an issue I should've been concerned about. After all, I was just a mere smith, not a coach. But I felt that maybe caring for this person a little more than was expected was the right move.

  “Haha, don’t worry about it smith boy. Normally people keep staring at me. So only having eyes for the weapon is a nice change of pace. As for the weapon or not, I will put faith in your skills. I have sparring sessions every Friday at 13:00. Be at the academy gates by then, and I’ll let you in.