Chapter 16: Slave Driver

Chapter 16: Slave Driver

True to his word, Cliff took him to Tallos Foundry, one of the most prestigious emporiums for weapons and artefacts, after they returned from hunting.

But when it came to buying him a wand, though, he didn’t get him one with a powerful spell like Fire Blast or Wind Blade. The one he received was just as expensive, priced at eighty iron crowns, though it could only manipulate the earth beneath his feet. It was fascinating, nonetheless. Ember was already content with it when his father bought him something even more expensive: a protective amulet like Rain’s, but this one was in the form of a bronze bracelet.

By channelling a small amount of mana into it, Ember could create a powerful shield similar to his sister’s amulet. It cost ten times the price of the wand, but after the ordeal with the bandits, his father did not hesitate to pay up.

Perhaps they could have got it cheaper, but his father didn’t haggle at all.

Finally, when they came to the matter of the construct, it proved to be a dead end, as the Foundry did not take repair work if the item didn’t come from their own stores. They would have to find an independent Manasmith if they wanted to repair it. Moreover, they needed to be proficient in construct crafting, which almost made the search as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

“Honestly, fixing it would likely cost more than its worth,” the wizened shopkeeper had said. “Why not buy a newer one, with more functions?”

Ember didn’t want that, as he had already grown quite attached to the spider. Cliff promised to find him someone who could repair it anew. Even if he couldn’t find one, Ember was satisfied with the promise alone. How could the man manage to be so compassionate? Ember would never know.

Then one particular morning, after Ember had just finished his meditation, Cliff handed him a wooden training cane.

He looked up at him in inquiry. The impish grin Rain was shooting towards him was answer enough.

“Didn’t you want to learn swordsmanship?” Cliff asked.

Ember looked around to find the best route to dash off. But the slave driver was surely fast enough to catch him before he even attempted to flee. Under his gaze, even all the excuses Ember had thought of before seemed to escape him.

“I wanted to,” he said, “but I want to learn cooking from mom as well.”

“Cooking?” The knight cocked his head. “Don’t you know it’s a notoriously hard skill to master?”

Ember nodded heavily. “But I still want to try.”

Although this world had its variation of sandwiches, Ember hadn’t gotten anything like pizza, noodles, ramen, or the like. He couldn’t let such delightful foods die with him.

“Well, you can learn to cook without getting a skill,” Cliff said.

Ember was fearing exactly that. He should have already gotten the skill by buttering up his mother, but there was no remedy for regret right now.

“No dilly-dallying anymore.” The knight slapped his cane lightly against his backside, just enough to startle him out of his stupor. “First, I will teach you the basic stances and movements for the first few days, then we will begin sparring.”

“But I want to be a mage,” Ember cried, knowing what was coming.

Behind him, his sister only snickered. “Your Lady Evelyn also trained in swordsmanship when she was young,” she supplied unhelpfully. “I heard she still trains, despite reaching silver-rank in her mage class. It would do you good, too, little brother.”

Ember glared at her.

“There’s some truth to her words.” Cliff nodded along. “Your body will continue to grow stronger and tougher as you rank up. It will be a waste not to put it to use.”

It seemed Ember had no other choice. Well, Ember was not completely against learning it. He was against learning it from the slave driver that his father was, having already seen what he had put Rain through. If he was already that harsh with a little girl, Ember had no hope of getting any leeway.

So from then on, every morning for a couple of hours, he would learn swordsmanship from his father. The first few days went rather easily. Ember only felt some strain in his arm from swinging the heavy training cane.