How To Avoid Death On A Daily Basis: Book One by V. Moody Read Free Book Online

had back home.
     
    “What about the triangle for fifty chobs. What animal is that?”
     
    “Any beast.”
     
    “Rabbit, pigs and dogs aren’t beasts?”
     
    He shook his head. “They’re vermin. They ruin crops and worry cattle.”
     
    “So beasts are…”
     
    “Wolves, bears, elk…”
     
    Right. Stuff that could actually kill you.
     
    He still had his knife out, but not in such a threatening manner as before.
     
    “The only weapon I have is this.” I took out my stick. “So I don’t think you need to be scared of me.”
     
    “I’m not scared!” he squeaked.
     
    “I don’t have any money, so I can’t afford to buy anything yet. But when I do get some money, do you think I could buy stuff directly from you?”
     
    The question seemed to confuse him. “What do you mean?”
 
    “The stuff the blacksmith makes is good, but it’s expensive. You’re his assistant, right? I thought if I buy the weapons you make, it might be cheaper.”
     
    He lowered the knife and shook his head. “I do not have hammer. You can’t forge iron without a hammer.”
     
    “Can’t you use the blacksmith’s?”
     
    He looked at me like I’d suggested he use a dead baby to make a hat. “A blacksmith’s hammer cannot be touched without his permission. Master trains me once a day in the use of the hammer, if he’s in a good mood. I only make what he allows.”
     
    Sounded like a bullshit system to me, but I was getting good information out of this guy and didn’t want it to stop.
     
    “So how do you get your own hammer. You have to pass a test or something?”
     
    “There are only two ways.” He sounded quite bitter, maybe even sorry for himself. “Either you inherit your master’s when he passes on, or a weapon you created is used to kill a superior beast.”
     
    “A superior beast?”
     
    “One that is able to speak.”
 
    “You mean like people?”
 
    His eyed me suspiciously. “People are not beasts.”
     
    “No, of course not, I just meant…” I don’t know what I meant so I changed the subject. “Wait, if you need a hammer to make a weapon, but you need a weapon to kill a superior beast in order to get a hammer… how does that work?”
     
    The bitter look returned to his face. “It’s not meant to be easy. Otherwise there would be too many smithies and not enough work to go around.”
     
    I started to understand. It was clearly in a blacksmith’s interest not to let his apprentice get too good, too quick. If the guy you trained sets up shop nearby, you’re going to end up losing business to him.
     
    “Look, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be any good at monster hunting. Probably, I’ll be one of the first to get myself killed. But if you make me a simple weapon, something that doesn’t require a hammer to make, I’ll use it. And if I manage to kill a superior beast, I’ll come back and you’ll be able to claim your hammer.”
     
    My suggestion took him aback. “Why would you do that for me?”
     
    “Because you’ll owe me, and sell me weapons for half-price for the rest of your life.”
     
    He grinned. Finally, I was speaking a language he understood.
     
     

17. Not Excalibur
     
    The blacksmith’s apprentice folded his arms. “Making a weapon without a hammer won’t be easy. What sort of thing were you thinking?” He raised his hand and rubbed his chin with a calloused thumb.
     
    The truth was I wasn’t thinking of anything. I had come up with the idea he could make me a weapon just so I could get something for free. I certainly had no plans to go looking for a superior beast. I had visions of talking gorillas hunting me down on horseback with nets.
     
    “Erm, well, what about something with a sharp point? If I could stab it in the eye or the ear I might get lucky and kill it in one shot.”
     
    He nodded. Apparently he knew what I meant even though I was making it up on the spot. He moved over to a box on a table and clinked and clanked