Arc 2 - Swing
Ch. 6 - Hans Lockhart
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He endlessly swung a worn-out practice axe, parading himself around a chipped wooden pole.
Deep inside a desolate rainforest in the outskirts of his hometown, the teen practiced.
With the snapping of branches and crackling of leaves below his feet, he kept following the flow of his own rhythm. Swinging the shabby wooden stick he called an axe.
The only soul around, his master, observed his every movement with a glare.
“Don’t lift yer axe too much, else you’ll be full of openings!” The old man threw an acorn at the teen’s head. “The next one’ll be the size of yer head!”
The teen winced, but pressed on. “Yes, master!”
That had been their daily schedule since a certain child had begged for training. Oh, how many times the old man had refused the kiddo’s request? He had lost count.
The brat had followed him around everywhere, be it at the tavern he frequently hung around, or even at the door of his own run-down hut. He had to admire such passion, at least.
Finally, he had lost his patience. “Stop following me brat! Yer momma must be worried about you tryin’ to meet an old weirdo like me.”
“I… It doesn’t matter!” The kiddo had made a bitter face he knew very well.
“She… They aren’t here to tell me what to do!”
These eyes…
He sighed. “Why are ya following me again?”
“To teach me how to use an axe!” That brat had probably seen him beating the shit out of some goons recently. A couple of cases came to mind, especially one when a bunch of idiots had spilled booze all over him.
“Yeah… That won’t help ya in this beast-filled world,” the old man kept glaring at the kid. “Ya need more than just a piece of metal to survive in this world, kiddo.”
“Then… Then teach me the ‘more’!” The kid gripped the old man’s clothes. “I won’t leave you until you teach me!”
This brat… Haaah… I’m too old for this shit.
“Whatever,” the old man glanced at the stubborn brat. “Tomorrow, when the sun rises, find me at the tavern,” he patted the kid’s head.
“Eh? Really?!” The kid’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah. Now stop begging for a teacher, will ya?” The old man tried not to chuckle a bit at the brat’s quick mood switch.
And since then, every single day was filled with sweat-drenching, muscle-tearing training, building the scrawny brat into a sturdy man.
Recalling these memories, the teen’s master approached his hard-working disciple. “Can ya stop for a moment?”
With a nod, the boy followed his master into the forest, to the path they always used to go back to the village.
Though, no matter how many times he’d go through the same path every day, nothing would take the light sparkling from his eyes when he beheld such natural beauty.
The intense scent of the wild impregnated the air.
Looking around he saw an apple tree, with leaves so green they rivaled the most expensive jade. He swore he could taste the dangling apple, so red it threatened to fall.
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Talentless Beast Knight - An Original Novel
Fantasy» What is talent? « » Can I become like them? « » Is effort enough to defeat talent? « All-powerful, mighty and titanic - Beasts lived and fought with people, providing them with their power. Those that held the strongest power were called 'Beast Kn...
