10 – Sickle Drills

Among the seven, there’s no god that can claim a closer relationship to everyone, from the most savage barbarian, to the most regal of kings, than Fanon, he who gives life. For each of us came to life, and in turn we shall die.

Yet, Fanon doesn’t wish for us to die, so he placed his Hands on Laika, and sent them on a mission to heal.

Trained at the Mother-Well, the Hands of the Well are devout believers turned experts in the healing arts. Sometimes itinerants, sometimes not, the Hands are welcomed wherever they go, even in the center of faiths of other gods.

Excerpt from Broad Strokes On Laikan Theology, by Enderic Aramor, Keeper of the Iron Ink.

The sun had yet to fall when Alexandra woke up from her nap. While she wouldn’t call her condition optimal, she was rested enough. Concerned about her sleep in the coming night, she decided to wake up.

Lara and Therion were out of the house. She helped herself to a cup of water, and sat at the table. Her parched throat eased.

She put down the cup, and with a thought, summoned her journal.

In her skill quest list, one entry in particular called for her attention.

Sickle Mastery: Hook and retrieve an object at full extension ten times in succession. (0/10)

There was still light outside. The quest seemed doable today, which would be great in preparation for tomorrow. There was always a next daily to think about, and if she received another quest that required combat, she’d be happy to have an extra skill in her arsenal.

As for what object she would use… Well, the quest didn’t specify, so she assumed anything would do. The most practical solution was probably to pick a few sticks outside. After all, she wasn’t expecting to succeed right away. Whatever she chose, it needed to be disposable.

She eyed her sickle. Lara had hung it on the wall after she’d gone to sleep.

Too sharp. She’d have to ask if they had a duller blade.

But first…

Alexandra stood up, grabbed the sickle, and removed her right shoe. Then, careful not to damage the leather, she hooked it with the tip of her sickle, and pulled it up to her other hand.

She threw a glance at her journal still open on the table. It didn’t count. As expected. Her arm was fully extended. Technically, this was her full extension. However, she supposed that the quest wanted to test her skills in a real situation. She would need to try on the sticks, as it would ruin the shoe, but she believed that she wouldn’t be allowed to proceed carefully. She’d have to put a bit more speed and energy into her hooks.

Putting her shoe back on, she dispelled her journal with a flick of her fingers, and headed outside.

She found her hosts in the same field she’d spotted Therion earlier. The couple was done harvesting and now were busy separating the different parts of the Aetherveils. Alexandra didn’t know anything about the process, but she could spot the stems and petals separated into two neat piles, with a few extra containers filled with powders and smaller elements of the flowers.

Therion saw her first. He nodded his head upward, wordlessly asking her what she was up to.

“Hey guys,” Alexandra said as she approached them. “You wouldn’t happen to own a dull sickle, would you?”

“Training?” Lara asked, not looking up from the flower she was dissecting. “You feel better already?”

She shrugged. “Good enough not to waste time.”

Therion handed her his sickle. It was worn enough from a day of work. Not truly dull, but it should suffice.

Finding sticks was easy. She grabbed a branch lying on the side of the field, and used her sharp sickle to split it in ten. Each piece was wide enough to stand upright. She placed them on the fence, which put them slightly above her waist.

She summoned her journal again, put it down on the ground next to her, and gave it a try.

Extending her arm to its full reach, she swung her sickle sideway, trying to grab the first stick. She sent it flying.

She grimaced.

Yeah, it can’t be that easy.

Not bothering to pick up the stray stick, she tried again on the next. This time, she slowed her strike right when it got behind the target, and tried pulling. Changing direction mid air was awkward, and she missed the stick entirely.

Stumbling backward, Alexandra got ready to try once more. This time, she managed to control her arm, and touched the stick with her blade. But instead of being pulled toward her, the stick just tipped over and fell to the ground.

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She frowned. It was harder than it seemed.

Watching the sun fall closer to the horizon, she got into a rhythm, trying different movements to see which would stick.

Her thoughts drifted to Bamir.

When he told her they had one more thing to talk about, she honestly thought he was going to announce her as a summoned hero. Maybe the conversation about Hakim had gotten into her head. There was no way the healer knew.

Instead, it was precisely that amnesia that the priest wanted to talk about. Alexandra had tried her hardest to control her facial expression, when he did.

Her luck was that while her fake amnesia was a bit cliché, it was hard to disprove. She just didn’t remember some stuff. Seeing how she barely knew anything in this world, it wasn’t that hard to convince them.

Unfortunately, and to her secret delight, Bamir was transparent about his complete inability to solve her “condition”.

A stick hit her chest.

She’d been a tad too distracted to register it in time, and failed to catch it, but she’d hooked the target, and had managed to pull it back to her.

She smiled.

Alexandra took the time to rearrange her targets on the fence, and kept training. After a few more tries, she finally managed to catch one.

“Yes!” She cheered, raising her stick-holding fist.

Her eyes locked onto her open journal, the quest counter had gone up.

“Nine to go,” she whispered.

She stepped in front of the second target, took a deep breath, and swung her sickle. The belly of her blade reached behind the stick. She pulled. The stick bounced far to her right. The counter reset to zero.

She was still far from 10 consecutive hooks.