Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph1 Ch22: The Nailsmith

The knight wandered through the city with Mono behind them, and rain beating down on its shell. It needed to find the watcher's spire. There, it could defeat Lurien, and once the seal was broken, it could defeat the hollow knight. Surprisingly, there hadn't been anything hostile so far. That only put the knight on edge even more. If there was nothing, then something could be sneaking up on them.

The knight continued guiding Mono, and the knight met the eyes of an infected husk sentry. The sentry gasped, and advanced towards Mono and the knight. The knight didn't waste anytime, and started attacking the sentry with its nail. Mono joined in on the fight, attacking with his ladle. The knight delivered a final blow to the sentry's head, and it fell to the ground with a burst of orange goo.

Mono and the knight continued walking, only to be met with several more sentries, and not just of one class. There were heavy sentries, winged sentries, and lance sentries coming from all around. Mono and the knight jumped back into battle as the sentries attacked with their nails. The knight leapt up to the winged sentries and lance sentries, striking them with several blows. The lance sentries threw their lances at the knight, but it was able to avoid them. The knight let out an abyss shriek, and defeated every winged and lance sentry.

The knight landed on the ground, and heard the cry of its friend. It whipped around to see all of the heavy sentries attacking Mono, and he was struggling. The knight leapt above some of the sentries, and slammed down with descending dark, crushing them. Once they were down, the knight swiftly struck down the remaining husks, making sure they couldn't hurt Mono.

After the battle had passed, the knight went over to Mono,to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine," Mono grunted. "These guys are becoming a lot harder to deal with," He said, struggling to stand up straight.

The knight couldn't help but worry for its friend. The signal tower must have enforced the infection, making everything a lot stronger, and Mono was fighting with nothing but a rusted soup ladle. Mono needed a better form of both offense, and defense. Luckily for the knight, it had an idea.

The knight guided Mono inside one of the buildings, and it began to wander around, searching for the place it needed to go. It wandered around for a while, and came to an elevator that was natural to the city. The knight stepped inside, and once Mono got in as well, it struck the lever at the top of the elevator, and they started moving down. They came to an open area, with a sign bearing a nail symbol. 

That was where the knight needed to go. It walked in the direction of where the sign was pointing, and came to a small cliff with a lit hut. The knight helped Mono climb up the cliff, and they both walked into the hut to meet the person the knight was looking for. The Nailsmith.

The knight walked up to the Nailsmith, and he turned his head to meet the knight's

"Ah, hello little one," The Nailsmaith said, in an old, scratchy voice. "How may I assist you this time?" he asked. "I must say, this city has changed. I can feel it, the voice that speaks to me in my dreams grows stronger. Do I obey it? No, it offers union, but my work is still unfinished," He said. "But enough about that, do you wish for a nail upgrade?"

The knight walked over to Mono, and pointed at him.

"Your friend?" The Nailsmith asked. "Very well, lend me your nail."

"Uhhh, actually, I don't use a nail," Mono said, a little nervous.

"You don't?" The Nailsmith asked in confusion. "Then what do you use to defend yourself?"

"Umm, this," Mono said, pulling out his ladle.

"A soup ladle?" The Nailsmith asked. "You fight with a puny, meager soup ladle? It's a miracle you haven't perished yet."

"Hey! I'll let you know I've cracked heads open with this ladle, and I'll continue to do so with the same one!" Mono yelled, feeling offended.

"Alright then," The Nailsmith said. "After all, it is not only the strength of a weapon that makes it powerful, but the strength of the one who wields it as well. But I must say, at your weapons current state, it would surely break. If I cannot stop you from using a ladle, then at least allow me to strengthen it," The Nailsmith said.

"Alright, sure," Mono said, and he handed his ladle over to the Nailsmith.

"One piece of pale ore should do the trick," The Nailsmith said, studying Mono's ladle.

"Pale ore? What's pale ore?" Mono asked.

The knight reached into its cloak, and pulled out a sliver white stone, gleaming in the light from the fireplace. It had one other piece, and planned to use both of them to upgrade it's nail, but Mono needed it more. The infection was getting stronger, and Mono needed a strong weapon. It walked over to the Nailsmith, and he took the ore from the knight's hand.

The Nailsmith got to work, breaking down the ore, melting it into liquid metal, scraping the rusted metal off of Mono's ladle, making a mold for it, melting the ladle down itself, combining it with the melted pale ore, and finally forging the ladle back together.

"Here, it is done," He said, handing the ladle to Mono. "It should be much more durable, and less heavy to wield."

The knight watched as Mono swiftly swung the ladle around, giggling with how well it worked.

"Thank you! This works perfectly!" Mono said, delighted with his new weapon.

"Glad it does," The Nailsmith said. "Come back anytime, I will always be here to upgrade your weapons."

He got back to work, and both Mono and the knight walked out of the forge. They climbed down the cliff, and were met with another husk sentry. This time however, the knight stayed back, as Mono fought the sentry instead. He defeated the sentry in just a couple blows, and turned towards the knight, with a delightful gaze.

"This will come in handy," He said.

The knight nodded. It would certainly have to be for where they were going next.

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Glad to see I haven't waited a week to upload one of these this time. It's been hard to find ideas for this story, although I think I have the first phase all planned out. (Finally)

I would like to say thank you once more to everyone who has been reading this story, and to everyone who has voted on it! Seriously, 26 votes is a large amount for me.

That's all! See you in the next chapter!