Chapter Two
"Sorry it took so long."
"It is fine, Garwin," Collyn replied, inhaling slightly deeper than usual. The two had spent no less than half an hour before heading out onto the road. Garwin had went around Yokkon to give his farewells to his friends. They were already aware that today was the day of his departure, but nonetheless appreciated the brief visit to say goodbye once more. During that time, Collyn had set off to the bakery for lunch.
"Don't buy too much," Garwin ordered before they split up. "I've been a fickle eater, so it's best that you buy less in case I'm not in the mood to eat. Anyway, hold out your paw."
"I have coins," Collyn immediately protested, stubbornly facing away from the Mienshao. Garwin could tell from how stiffly Collyn was maintaining his posture, the Houndour was anticipating his Accum to attempt slipping some coins into his pack or some sort of other trick.
"Don't be so chivalrous. I just want to give you enough to afford my own meal," Garwin chuckled. "Besides, what happens if you run out along the way? Better to supply you now. You can give me back anything you don't use. Just as a precaution, alright?"
Noontime, and Garwin had a feeling that Collyn just wanted to set something on fire in vexation. Contrary to his earlier thoughts, the Mienshao suspected Collyn of being proud, maybe even close to hubristic. Collyn had initially refused both the fur armor and the coins, not to mention such a logical person as charged right at him without gauging his abilities. Even more mystifying was his questioning on him being a blacksmith. Success being the ultimate goal in life... where did he get such an honor code when his father is so lax? There was one more question Garwin had that he intended on getting answered right now.
"Collyn."
"Yes, Garwin?" the Houndour replied, almost saying "what" instead of "yes" in irritation. The crafty blacksmith had his way the entire time ever since Collyn met him. That fact disturbed him. How was Garwin able to so easily reply to him?
"You don't know anything about magic, do you?" Collyn flinched and stopped walking, making his Accum halt as well. So it was true. Collyn had asked about sorcery in the tavern in an attempt to figure out what magic was. He had looked down in dissatisfaction when that had failed. Still, it took the teenager a few seconds to admit it:
"I don't, Garwin."
"Your father didn't teach you?"
"He says I would be unable to use it even if I learned." Garwin looked up to the sky.
"Hm... I can understand that. Well, there's no harm in trying, so why don't we introduce you to magic and see if we can go from there?" Collyn's ears perked up as he turned his head to look at his Accum.
"Y-yes, Garwin!"
"I see that got you enthusiastic," Garwin chuckled. "Well, magic follows a very simple concept: your faith in being able to perform magic allows you to cast it." Silence reigned from that point for mere seconds before Collyn's anticipated outburst appeared.
"What... What mockery is this?!" he cried, furious. A puff of smoke blew out of his mouth as his anger agitated his fire bladder.
"Nay, no mockery!" Garwin laughed, shaking his head.
"Enough!" Collyn growled, fist clenching. Garwin sighed and lowered his head, the sincere action cutting through his bright mood. His eyes were closed.
"If only I were jesting. Kahan's sorcery would have suited you, Collyn, but magic requires things that a sorcerer's training cannot provide. You're confident and decisive, but skeptical. Not that there's anything wrong with being skeptical, but in order to use magic, you must learn to be faithful. Note that I did not say 'trust'. To have faith and to trust are two different actions in the realm of magic. Trust simply means you take it for granted, but to have faith is one of spiritual embracing, to interact with magic as it were part of you. You're perhaps too young to fully realize this difference, but once you do so, the strength of magic would be in your own paws."
"So what am I to do?"
"Have you ever seen magic before?"
"No."
"Then it's best we start with a simple demonstration so you can have experience to start with. From that point, it's mostly up to you whether or not you can do it as well. Hand me your sword." Garwin heard the sword drawing from its sheath. He turned to face Collyn, taking the sword not by his hand, but by his fur whip. He looked around, spotting a tree already near death from frost damage that happened over the cooling autumn nights. He rose his arm slightly before unwinding, moving his arm in a throwing motion. His fur whip followed in that direction, sword at the end of it. When the whip fully extended, the sword halted in the air, pointing at the trunk of the leafless tree at least fifteen feet away from it. However, Collyn started when the trunk suddenly split, a large cracking sound making the damage evident.
Upon recollecting his senses, Collyn could note a few things about the split. To being with, it was mainly vertical, just as the sword edge was aligned. He frowned, walking up to the struck tree. Looking at the destruction more closely, it seemed like it was almost as if the sword itself physically struck the tree, almost cutting open the other side of the trunk.
"That technique is called by the scripts as Keen Edge, the weakest skill in the Edge Series."
"Magic is classified?" Collyn asked, turning only his head to face Garwin, wondering if all of magic had some sort of name.
"Well, it's our nature to classify things, but a Keen Edge's performance will always vary for every person depending on both the weapon and their mentality." Collyn looked at the scar on the tree again. If he learned magic, he knew that he would be much more lethal as a knight; he'd cover his only weakness: lack of range. The prospect of magic seemed so powerful... yet...
"Why isn't magic so commonly practiced?"
"Two reasons," Garwin replied, giving Collyn back his blade. "The first is that many fail to obtain it. The second is that while faith in magic allows you to use it, it does come with its own price." The Houndour cocked his head to the right, trying to think of what this price could be before Garwin said it, but to no avail. Thus, he simply listened as Garwin explained the downside of magic: "The belief in being able to use magic also comes with the belief that magic will use something from you. Call it a drain in willpower. The more magic you use, the more tired you will feel. Your arms will sag, and your body will refuse to obey you. If you overuse magic over a period of time, you could probably even go unconscious."
"Does practicing magic help... your willpower's stamina?"
"Not necessarily. There are supposed exercises for you to strengthen your willpower, but I know of only know of a basic one, and it doesn't work until you are able to use magic." Collyn broke into a growl of frustration. No wonder Father didn't bother trying to teach him a skill that can not be learned in a straightforward manner. He saw Garwin do it, and - so the Mienshao says - as long as he believes in magic, he should be able to use it.
No, it wasn't that simple. Collyn stared at the ground, defeated as he knew why. He didn't sincerely believe Garwin. It sounded too easy... or is that what makes it hard to accomplish? Wondering about it felt like trying to swim in the ocean, unable to discern the best direction to head off when no clues were visible.
"It's best you just leave it in the back of your mind while we move on," Garwin suggested. Collyn nodded, finally sheathing the sword. Though disappointed, he comforted himself with the knowledge that if he could overcome that obstacle, power that others could only imagine would be his. A matter of time. That was all. And so the two went along the road.
As they moved farther away from Yokkon, the road slowly became less and less regulated. Bumps of excess dirt, branches, leaves, pebbles, and more populated the path. Thick trees blocked views off the sides of the road, pretty much forcing them to focus their eyes on only the road ahead. Regardless, the sight was virtually uniform throughout, almost dully disorientating.
Thus when they reached a break in the road - a surrounding grass meadow, Garwin requested a short break from their travels. Understanding that Garwin might have needed the rest, Collyn agreed to it, but then asked if it was fine if he wandered off for a bit. The Mienshao grew interested at this and initially was about to refuse as it was his duty as Accum to watch over Collyn. Upon further consideration, he decided to allow it to give the teenager some sort of freedom and satisfaction.
Both of them knew that the Houndour would be attempting to use magic.
~~~
With the Mienshao relaxing, Collyn resumed back on the road, surveying the land to find something to practice on. Currently snacking on a pork bun - bought from the bakery with Garwin's coins - held in his right paw, he licked the dribbling oil running down his wrist. Collyn had a habit of consuming particularly fatty and oily foods, regardless of the flavor. However, since he didn't want to get his wielding paw dirty, he used his right paw instead. Now that it was time for practice, he placed the bun in the side pocket of his pack and his leather helmet on. The muzzle of the helmet would keep his mouth from opening wide, so he removed it in order to eat earlier.
He could already spot the chasm at the horizon. Canyons in Rogu were not common, but Yokkon had one neighboring it, active river rapids racing along the bottom. Perhaps it would make for a suitable land to practice with a few cliffs to destroy if he managed to replicate that Keen Edge Garwin demonstrated.
Unsheathing his sword, he walked towards the canyon, though not close enough to accidentally fall over the edge. The paved dirt curved till it ran alongside of the canyon to meet the wooden rope bridge that connected the two sides of the canyon. Upon seeing that bridge, his hackles rose.
Crossing the rickety wooden platform, a female Leavanny innocently treaded across the planks to Collyn's side, not aware of the threat behind her: a cloaked being at the other side revealed two sets of three silver, thick claws protruding from its whitish tan arms. Quickly putting his sword back in its scabbard, Collyn dashed towards the bridge, quickly thinking about what to do.
"Miss! Grab the rope! Now!" he barked, still a good distance away from the unwary leaf insect. She noticed him despite not actually registering what he said. By then, the hooded Persian crouched down, its claws slashing the rope connected to the left side of the planks. An inch worth of tightly twisted fibers were shredded like a piece of paper being torn in two. The action resulted in an awful snapping sound as the bridge lost crucial stability, beginning to rock significantly. The Leavanny cried out of fearful shock, grabbing the rope nearest to her.
"Walk as fast as you can!" Collyn ordered, close enough for the damsel in distress to understand him. However, she was barely past halfway to him on the fifteen-yard-long bridge, and only three ropes supporting the bridge remained. He needed to buy time.
Unsheathing the claws of his dominant paw, he ripped through the strap holding the leather helmet to his head rather than taking more time to neatly undo it. Firing a Flamethrower probably would not reach the enemy. Regardless, he knew what would. With his snout unrestrained, he quickly engulfed the remainder of the meat bun into his mouth, already filled with fire burning off of oily saliva. The food placed inside soon joined the combustion process, the rich fat of the pork as ideal fuel with weight.
Preoccupied with cutting the second rope, the hooded being didn't look up to see Collyn launch a Flamethrower towards him. The explosive force within his mouth catapulted the meat forward, past the streaming flare, which - as Collyn correctly guessed - couldn't make it to other side. The burning bun did.
Striking the hood at the side of its head, the bun splattered scorching oil on a huge section of the cloak, effectively igniting the most of it. Cursing, the cloak was thrown off to avoid getting singed. Collyn could see now see the Persian without his hood. Blazing emerald eyes stared at him for a moment before he got back to his job. The Leavanny had made significant progress, but she hasn't reached the end yet.
"You're close enough! Just run!" Collyn encouraged, finally reaching the end of the bridge. The Leavanny let go of the rope, trying to sprint to Collyn as the Persian broke the remaining ropes. From the back, the planks began to fall, sloping down. Realizing this, the Leavanny tried to run faster, but she was getting lower in comparison to the ground. By the time she reached the end, she could only jump, grabbing the rope to the side of the bridge, dangling from it two feet below from where Collyn stood. He was too short to reach down and retrieve her.
While the panicking leaf insect had no plan on getting out of the mess, the fire dog did. He had already taken off of his pack. Holding onto one of the straps, he stretched over the edge of the canyon, lowering the pack. The Persian watched them for a bit before he turned around to leave, his cloak burning to ashes on the ground.
"Grab it!" She quickly complied, holding onto it with both of her front appendages. Growling with effort, Collyn struggled to haul her up. Digging his hind paws into the ground, he slowly stepped backwards, getting the Leavanny to the ground. Once she got her feet, Collyn fell down to the ground on his bottom, panting. Stamina was never his forte.
"W-well, that certainly wasn't mundane..." the Leavanny concluded, breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush caused by the incident. She looked at her savior. "Thanks..."
"No problem," Collyn stammered, much more out of breath. "Just... helping, miss."
"It wouldn't be at all polite to just go on my way at this moment, would it?" she asked him.
"I... I suppose not, miss," he replied, a bit too tired to think completely straight. The strangely pointless questioning didn't help either.
"Then while I'm here, may I ask you for your name?"
"It's Collyn, miss."
"Colon? Is that not some sort of punctuation mark?" The Houndour was not sure at this point whether to take this person seriously or not. If he had the energy to move, he'd walk back to Garwin to let the blacksmith deal with her. At the time, he did't have that luxury.
"Collyn, miss. Rhymes with 'tin'."
"Ah! Collyn! My name's Lynette. Pleased to meet you!"
"Likewise," Collyn managed, trying to stand regardless of how aching his muscles got from heaving fifty pounds up a few feet. Upon getting up from fours, he noticed that he threw his leather helmet to the ground when using his pack. He wouldn't be able to fasten it back on since he had destroyed the straps to get it off quickly. Lynette followed Collyn's eyes to see what he was looking at.
"Oh! Those straps..."
"Yeah, I broke them."
"I'll fix it up for you!"
"No, it's fi-"
"Nonsense! You saved my life! It's the least I can do for you!" Collyn sighed, deciding to just refrain from trying to talk her out of it. He simply watched her as she walked over picking it up to inspect the damage. "Hmm... this is simple work. I could do it in ten minutes if you have time."
"I do," Collyn admitted. She walked over to Collyn, sitting besides him. Scrutinizing the rips through the straps, Lynette started to form thin strands of silk from her mouth. Using the sharp end of her hands, she started to weave the white thread through the leather, wielding the two broken ends together. As she did so, the woman started to speak of her background, her home town, her family - both when she was born and when she left to start - her own apparel business, her difficulty in finding competent hands to hire...
"No one these days have patience anymore," she sighed, smoothing out the silk and checking her work before fully reattaching the broken straps to each other. "Weaving and tailoring requires the utmost patience..."
"Do you normally talk this much to others?" Collyn interjected. His head was turned away as his cheek was smacked by Lynette's hand (or, at least the upper part of her arm). Even though he wasn't wearing anything to protect it, the slap hardly stung at all. The only reason he didn't turn his head back was from the suddenness of it... not to mention he didn't expect such a response to his question at all.
"Oh, that's exactly what I meant by impatience. Thank you so much for demonstrating!" Lynette replied cheerfully, seemingly unaware that she had struck him at all. "Now, where was I...? Ah yes..." She continued talking while Collyn gritted his teeth. He even contemplated just snatching his helmet back and storming off. However, ten minutes was but a mere price to avoid further trouble, so he just sat there, trying to tune out Lynette.
"Well, here we are." She tugged at the patched area to verify its strength before handing it back to Collyn. He took the repaired gear and wore it, noting no felt difference. "Sawsbuck leather is really thick and hard to work with, but I think I made enough stitches for it. Whoever managed to make this had skill... I'm surprised you actually tore through it. Your claws must be pretty sharp."
"Thanks," Collyn muttered.
"You're welcome. Yokkon's down this path, right?"
"Yes, miss."
"Then I'll be off on my way. Where are you headed?"
"Jakyln, miss."
"You have to take the bridge for that, right?"
"Yes, miss," Collyn sighed, standing up.
"But the bridge is gone," Lynette replied.
"It is, miss."
"How are you going to go to Jakyln, then?"
"I'm not sure, miss, but I must find a way."
"Alright, if you're so insistent on it. Good luck."
"Farewell, miss." Collyn said, just wishing for her to get going and be done with this encounter. The bridge was completely destroyed... what would Garwin plan on doing from there?
"Oh, and one more thing. If you're every in need of any clothing for the winter. Just check out the Jeweled Silk at Hammel. Just mention my name and you'll get a discount, alright?"
"Yes, miss." Lynette nodded, smiling as she then walked off. When she was mostly out of sight, Collyn sighed, lowering his head to rest it on his paw. That Leavanny tired him out for some reason. How does listening to someone drain so much energy?
"Exhausted?" Garwin asked from behind him. Collyn, startled from the sudden sound behind him, turned around, drawing his blade in a flash, panting as he realized it was only his Accum. Stupor replaced panic.
"Wh-when...?" Garwin laughed as Collyn stared, astonished. How did his ears not pick up any sounds? How long had he been around?
"I need to teach you much more than magic and fighting, from the looks of things," he chortled. "Arceus knows how things would go if you ever tried looking for a mate with how you treat others."
"That has nothing to do with you!" Collyn retorted, his temperature rising from embarrassment. Garwin simply resumed his laughter. Following the young'un paid off quite well...
