How to train your vessel - Book one

The abyss's trident

Dark clouds gathered as the crisp sea wind began to chill over the dragons hunter's small fleet of ships. Dragons held behind turquoise bars that rattled their cages at the approach of their captors now backed off in curiosity of the gloom that seemed only to hover over the boats they were held on. Ants dressed in painted red armor of iron and bone scrambled to cover the dragon cages in tarps meant to protect the rare metal from rust, paying special attention to the Skrills and Sea Shockers who trotted and flailed happily in the minuscule spaces the cages allowed them.

"Dan! What's going on?"

"You're supposed to be the smart one Merk, you tell- ACK!"

The waves beneath the three sea-faring vessels began to churn and writhe within an area greater than the boundaries of the cloud of hail and sleet that began to pepper the dragon hunters, unprotected by the tarps they'd just finished putting over their latest hauls. The sky's already light gray clouds were completely outmatched by the pure black, necrotic onslaught bringing ice from unseen heavens while the yet darker depths started to swirl. 

Chunks of ice were now so big they punctured the floor boards of the ships and incapacitated workers. All three hunter boats started to drift beyond each captains control into the massive whirlpool that tore apart the ships better than the crash of each hull colliding with the other two. Countless sharks and tidal dragons angrily devoured the helpless ants forced out of their element while the prongs of a trident swam to and shattered the locks on dragon cages.

Content with the liberated dragons grateful roars of escape, the whirlpool vanished as suddenly as it came and the midnight clouds faded out of their short-lived existence while the life of a chaotic mass of elements sprang into being, eventually settling on an aquatic form that masked it from its prey against the deep oceans backdrop. The lead hunter should watch as helpless as the dragons he captured, unable to pull his accomplices from the grasp of a powerful elemental he could not see, nor would he be allowed to know if or when it would drag him or the rest of his crew into the depths beneath their driftwood. Only the random and sudden force pulling at his hunters legs every once in a while would madden him with the reminder it was still watching them.

A fitting punishment indeed.

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"TEACH ME HOW TO MAKE WEAPONS LIKE YOURS!"

"Now don't be unreasonable, lad, I've taken years of my life to get to this point. I have had more practice than you, nothing more, you've proven you already know everything i'd be able to teach you."

"Then give me a challenge! Force me to improve! Criticize one of my weapons! Just make me a better blacksmith!"

"...This is about the girl that came in here earlier, isn't it? She was certainly one of your kind. You're just jealous I upgraded her weapon when you couldn't. If it'll make you happy, my skills that improved it had nothing to do with the ax's current quality, it was already a fantastic weapon when she brought it in. I just made the channels out of the Pale Ore she brought in, not even Gronkle iron can compete with magical metals, certainly not for Pale ore. It's the strongest and lightest metal ever known, and possesses greatly magical power, also makes something called dragon steel when mixed with other metals. Which isn't as tough as the pure ore but more can be made by spreading the pale substance out among many batches. That should get you an abundant amount of weapons that could give you a chance against the Exiles as well, but just to be sure..."

The nailsmith shuffled through various papers near the back of his shop, gently placing aside paintings of him and a paint-stained bug Hiccup hadn't seen while just tossing around other notes and diagrams, eventually picking up a small slip with a list of different book titles on it.

"If ya want to improve your skills so badly, the best I can do is tell you to look for these books on some specific magics. That metal leg and short sword of yours already say you have a good understanding of complex machinery, you could make a great artificer one day, that'll help a good deal. In these books are ancient instructions and advice on approaching the forging of magical and non-magical weapons, armor, prosthetic's, and other items. Written by the greatest of nailsmiths, some of which even from my own bloodline."

"I... N-no I can't accept this, I just wanted to one up the ax you made, this is your ancestors legacy!"

"And like it or not it's yours now, I won't be having kids of my own any time ever. Might as well give it to some one who's shown he can make my great great great grandpa jealous, not to mention someone with the determination needed and a chance to find them, speaking of which I don't have any pointers on where you can dig up these forgotten things. Sorry."

"...I might have an idea on where they might be archived."

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"WOO HOO! I'M NEVER LETTING THIS THING OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Snotlout proudly proclaimed after cutting down a gruzzer with a sword shrouded in magical frost. Now understanding why his cousin was cooped up in the archives and building what looked like an entire house covered in symbols for the past month instead of aiding in fighting off the weekly Exile raid.

"How'd you get your hands on this H?"

"Oh I just made it from a few discarded dragon bits; a snow-wraith tooth here, a Groncicle scale there, and many others."

He continued to boast of his greatest achievement yet, making sure Astrid was in ear-shot, especially when talking about his plans for an even better ax infused with Night Fury and Skrill lightning.

"Now I could go through the tedious effort to make and enchant an ax powerful enough to support the many god-like dragon materials that would make Thor want to get his hands on the final product, or if someone had the correct weapon with innate magical abilities-"

"Okay, you trying to be subtle was funny at first, but now it just hurts to watch."

"I'm not hearing a no."

"Just take the stupid ax Hiccup, Snot can't be allowed to have a weapon that can shoot an element at people when I don't"

"YES! TOOTHLESS LIGHT THE FORGE AGAIN! WITH MOST MAGICAL ENERGY YOU CAN MANAGE!"

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Astrid doubted she wanted to stand around and listen to Hic-legs nerding over her ax, and Apidae wanted to show her something, might as well just grab one of the swords she had when she was younger (now realizing her parents had just bought her a short-sword) and humor the eager bee. The Light Fury and orange-eyed Night Fury had wanted to explore the corners of Hallownest for a long time now anyway.