Advent of Eternity - Chapter 89 (Patreon)

They left the inn and soon stood before Mandy’s store. Knell pushed the door open and stepped inside, the rest of his crew piling in after him. The large woman greeted them with a nod from behind her desk.

“You get the gold?” Mandy asked, walking to stand before them.

Knell counted out the rest of her payment in his hand. “Provided you’ve got the flag, yes.”

Mandy grinned. “Oh, I got the flag. Take a look.”

She turned, crouching to ruffle through the back of a shelf before pulling a folded black bundle out. She set it on the top of the counter and spread the flag out, revealing the design on it.

The seamstress had done exactly as Knell had asked. She hadn’t deviated too far from a typical pirate flag, but it was unique enough to be easily recognizable. The center of the flag had a stark white skull, its jaw hanging askew.

The thorny stem of a rose wrapped around the bottom of the skull, twisting out through the mouth and weaving up to one of the eye sockets, where a bright red flower had taken the place of one of the eyes.

Several petals had fallen from the rose, falling across the skull’s cheek like bloody rain. For a work of art done in just a day and with minimal guidance, she’d done a brilliant job.

Knell handed the coins to her. “Brilliantly done. Do you have the sketch you used to make this? It’s likely I’ll need to get this replicated in the future.”

“Sure do,” Mandy said, handing him a roll of leather. “It’s inside that. The leather is waterproof, so it’ll survive the rain. Just don’t toss it in a puddle.”

Knell took it from her with an appreciative nod. After a moment, he handed her another gold coin. “You’ve done very well. Considering I know I’m going to need more of these made anyway, would you be interested in creating more?”

Mandy’s grin grew predatory. She rubbed her hands together. “Absolutely. How many are we talking? I offer bulk discounts, but not huge ones.”

“Let’s skip the bargaining. I’ve had enough of it this week,” Knell said. He tapped his chin. “How about three more? That should last us a while. I’ve already paid you for the design, so how about twenty five gold for three more?”

“Generous offer. Done,” Many said, extending a hand. Knell shook it, then dropped the rest of the coin into her hands. “How long until we can pick it up?”

“Give me a day. I’ll prioritize it,” Mandy said. “My path lets me do this a lot faster than most, so don’t you worry about quality. Everything I make is top notch. That flag will probably still be flying long after your bodies are rotting at the bottom of the sea.”

Cyll burst into laughter. “Oh, you know how to get those repeat customers.”

Mandy shrugged. “Honesty is the best policy, pirate. Don’t get me wrong – I got no problems with you, so long as you got money. It’s just that I don’t typically get many repeat pirate customers. They’re too busy dying.”

“Fair enough.” Knell folded the flag back up and handed it to Cyll. “Hold onto that, please. Mandy, thanks for your work. We’ll return tomorrow to claim the remaining flags.”

“Good luck to you,” Mandy said. “I’ll have ‘em waiting.”

Knell raised a hand in farewell and the group headed out once more.

“So, what now?” Cyll asked.

“Maybe the smith has finished your swords,” Stix said. “Should we swing by and check?”

“It’s only been a day,” Knell said, shaking his head and setting a course to leave the city. “Even with a Path, he had some pretty unique materials to be working with. It’s unlikely he’s finished yet. I wouldn’t expect anything before tonight. No, you all had the right idea this morning. I think it’s a good time for some training.”

“What, are we hunting another monster?” Cyll asked, rolling his shoulders. “I want a big stick to hit them with first.”

“You’ve got your axe,” Stix pointed out.

“The stupid thing is dull already.”

“That’s probably because you swing it around like a club,” Maya said, rolling her eyes. “I haven’t even known you long and it’s obvious that you fight like a brute. Do you even sharpen your weapons?”

“Why in the Sixteen Seas would I do something like that? Someone made it already,” Cyll said incredulously. “I’d hope the idiot that made my weapon sharpened it when he made it.”

“And what do you think happens when you smash it around on things for too long? It gets dull,” Maya said. “Are you an imbecile?”

“Cap, they’re ganging up on me,” Cyll complained.

“You deserve it.”

They passed through the town gate and headed into the grassy fields outside.

“Are you some sort of weapon expert or something?” Cyll asked, prodding Maya in the shoulder. “You sure seem to know a lot about them.”

“Anyone who’s used a weapon should know this. Weapons dull if you use them without taking care of them. Seas, they dull even if you do take care of them. You have to keep them in fighting shape. How do you not know this? You look ancient.”

“You have no idea,” Cyll replied, turning his nose up. “And I had other matters at the time.”

Maya’s eyes narrowed and she missed a step, falling behind the party for a moment before jogging to catch up. “You had an artifact weapon, didn’t you?”

Cyll choked. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, that response basically gave it away,” Maya said. “But anyone who used a normal sword would know that. Nobody just goes through weapons, discarding them whenever they start to dull.”

Stix gave Cyll a flat stare. “He does.”

“I do not!” Cyll exclaimed. He cocked his head to the side. “Okay, maybe a little bit. It’s not my fault they’re built like shit.”

“How’d you manage to lose an artifact weapon anyway?” Maya asked. “Those are incredibly expensive.”

“I never said I had one. You just assumed.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Nor do I plan to,” Cyll said. “Let’s turn this back to you, shall we? You’re acting like you know a lot about swords.”

“I’m going to repeat that I don’t think basic upkeep is really all that much, but I suppose I know some,” Maya said with a sigh. She rubbed her forehead with a hand. “I mean, I used one for years. I’m no master, but I have been training with one for a while.”

Her gaze fell to her missing arm. “Well, I suppose that doesn’t matter anymore. I’m going to have to learn everything from scratch. I was right handed.”

“It’s a good you’ve got one left,” Cyll said, waggling his eyebrows.

Everyone including Knell stopped to stare at him.

“What? Too far?”

“Forget about it,” Maya said with a laugh, shaking her head. She hid the pain well, but Knell caught a flicker of it before she got herself under control. He just shook his head. Cyll put on the act of a bumbling moron, but he knew what he was doing. Probably.

“So you could hypothetically teach me?” Cyll asked.

“Teach you how to use a sword?” Maya asked. “I don’t know if I’m really qualified for that. I told you, I’m no master.”

“Hey, it’s better than nothing,” Cyll said. “You said it yourself, I just swing things around like a brute. Anything would be better than nothing. Besides, I’ve been lecturing Stix on learning how to fight myself, so I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t do the same.”

Maya chewed her lower lip. “I suppose it would make me useful, and anything is better than just sitting around and stagnating. I can try. Just… don’t expect too much. I’ll do what I can.”

“Great!” Cyll exclaimed. “This’ll be fun. I love stabbing things.”

“So long as you aren’t stabbing me,” Maya muttered under her breath.

Knell came to a stop at the bottom of a hill. There was a slight valley around them, just deep enough to provide a little cover from prying eyes. He nodded.

“This will do.”

“For what, exactly?” Stix asked. “We’re surrounded by a bunch of grass, Knell.”

“You’ve got a bow,” Knell said. “Does that matter?”

“I guess not. I’ll just set some targets up or something. I just kind of assumed we’d be hunting something,” Stix said, rubbing the back of her head.

“We’ll get around to that, although I really don’t want to spend too much time hunting down random monsters,” Knell said. “The clawraptor just happened to be a fast way to make some money. I’m going to meditate – you lot can do what you want to practice. Just don’t bother me.”

He planted his staff in the ground and sat down, closing his eyes while his crew set about discussing what they would do to practice. Instead of slipping into meditation like he had said, Knell just silently listened, cracking one eye open slightly to watch.

“Can you teach me how to swing a sword with an axe?” Cyll asked, drawing his large weapon and waving it around.

“Can you teach me to fish with a hammer?”

“I mean, I guess it depends how hard you throw the hammer,” Cyll replied, stroking his beard. “But I think I get your point.”

“Just… help me find some sticks or something,” Maya said wearily. “We can go over some forms to practice. That’s how my tutor showed me.”

“Tutor? Were you a rich girl?”

The two of them walked up the opposing hill, their voices fading into the distance. Stix sat down next to Knell.

“You aren’t meditating.”

He opened his eyes. “Guilty.”

“Trying to see how we act when we’re loose?” Stix guessed.

“Something like that.” Knell gave her a slight grin. “You’re getting a bit perceptive, huh?”

“It wasn’t that crazy of a conclusion to jump to,” Stix said, rolling her eyes. She cleared her throat. “What do you think about Maya?”

“In what way?”

“Like… as a person.”

“I am not romantically interested in her.”

Stix’s cheeks reddened. “That’s not what I meant, Knell. I meant like a crewmate.”

“She is determined.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s more than most,” Knell replied, cracking a slight smile. “If she can prove that she’s a valuable member, I’d be glad to have her aboard the crew. It’ll be hard, though. Being down an arm is a serious impediment. Did you two bond or something last night?”

“I – yeah, I guess,” Stix muttered. “She seems nice. Way nicer than I thought she was.”

“People have a way of not being who you thought they were,” Knell said. He flicked his hand. “Now go practice. I’d like to keep my pretenses up for the time being. I’m watching Maya very closely. With the magnitude of what we’re doing, I cannot afford to have an unsteady or unreliable crewmate.”

Stix nodded. “Right, sorry. I’ll get to it.”

She stood back up and jogged off, presumably in search of something to use as a target. Knell closed his eyes again, thoughts bouncing around in his head. There were a lot of paths he could take, and he had to determine which one was right - If there even was one.