Gideon Smash

Inside the building, a towering broad man with flowing red hair was polishing a broad axe. Hearing the door open, he set down a viewing glass held up to his eye. It seemed like a single glare from him could cleave Gideon right in two.

After all, who wouldn’t be suspicious of a carefree greenhorn, who looked more ready to pitch coin than skill at a shop that purposefully catered to only high-level fighters?

It was clear on the man’s face that he didn’t want to be troubled by the likes of Gideon, who charged forward nonetheless and got right up to his face.

“I need something unbreakable, Mr. Ferdy. I’ll make it worth your while.”

Ferdinand, who Gideon just nicknamed, narrowed his gaze. He pointed a finger at him like Gideon had just asked for a freebie.

“For you? Get outta my store. You wannabe!”

He pounded the desk, shaking the entire store for good measure. Any fresh adventurer would have been unnerved by that act, at least a tremble in the knees. However, Gideon slapped the counter instead with gusto.

“C’mon. Help a guy out. You’re the best in the business. I just know it!”

Ferdinand eyed the young man in front of him, feeling a strength in his gaze that moved him the slightest bit. But only enough to worry about his safety.

He reached down and pulled out the dinkiest sword behind his counter before him. It was thin and short, essentially meant for a child to train with.

“With those flimsy arms, this is about all you can handle. Go slap some trees and chase goblins or whatever. Get a bit of meat on those bones first.”

A bag of coins clunked onto the counter, Gideon smiling. Ferdinand stood up from his seat, eyeing the bag suspiciously. The sound was far too dense for it to be a cheaper metal. He knew that from an instant.

As he picked up the bag to listen more carefully to the clinking of coins, his eyes widened. Turning the bag over, white coins rolled out and onto the counter – platinum medallions, worth a hundred times more than gold coins.

Another guest had appeared right next to the two, their exchange so intense that it was the first time she had been noticed.

Roze’s mouth dried as she saw the sheer wealth that had rolled atop the counter. Gideon would have had to defeat an S-rank monster for that kind of reward. It would have been nearly impossible for him to acquire such coins normally, as they were reserved for merchantry dealings that shaped entire economies.

“Do I have your attention now? Give me your sturdiest sword that is under two kilograms.”

Ferdinand walked over to one wall, grabbing a gaudy short sword that looked like it was made from precious metals. He handed it over to Gideon, who immediately placed it in Roze’s hands.

“Tell me what you see,” he asked her.

Roze touched the blade which activated her ability to see an item’s history that possessed any magic. Crafted weaponry always held a trace of it, even if the item itself didn’t possess magical effects.

A mixture of gem and metal sang a song of sorrow, fighting each other for dominance. The crafter looked unsure as his hammer wavered with each blow.

“This sword is no good,” Roze said immediately. “The materials are barely linked with each other. An unevenness of properties has resulted in a lack of synergy that dulls the natural effects of the materials. It won’t hold up in a real fight. I can only surmise that it was crafted for a ceremonial purpose, beauty as its dominant feature.”

Ferdinand whistled. He looked clearly impressed by the insight.

“Now, ain’t that something, little lady. One surprise after another. Being some rich kid is one thing. Someone knowing their stuff is as hard as it comes by. Y’all passed the test.”

He went to the back and came out after a few moments, brandishing another sword that had a weird shine to it. It gave off a similar feel to the shield outside. Roze touched this sword and nodded.

“This one is amazing. A true work of art.”

“Of course, it is. You’re looking at the best of Ferdinand McMillian!”

“McMil-, the family of blacksmiths that have crafted the kingdom’s wares ‘McMillian’!?”

“The same ones, but that is my pops who’s on active duty in the castle. I’m just his eldest son, trying to work my way up the food chain. I have confidence in my wares though, so go ahead and test it out on the rocks in the back.”

“Sure, will do.” Gideon raised the sword in the air like he had gained a key treasure on his journey.”

v

“How… how?”

The sword in Gideon’s hand had been shattered, the metal pieces having exploded all around the backyard of the shop.

They had all gone out back for him to test the sword on some rocks, which should have fair more brittle than the sword itself. The mixture of rare metals, all synchronized in harmony, should have given it a toughness that even withstood molten lava.

Ferdinand had spent weeks aligning the metals little by little in the hottest flames of his forge, in order to shape it into a sword. But Gideon had shattered the blade in a single blow akin to glass thrown against a wall.

There was a look of disbelief in the blacksmith’s eyes, like his life’s work had been all for naught.

“Sorry, looks like it’s not tough enough to work for me,” Gideon simply said, causing Roze to drop to her knees. If it was her, she would have likely considered finding the strongest poison in her shelves to murder him.

Ferdinand was looking down at his feet, cold sweat emerging from his forehead, hands on his temples. He started muttering like a madman trying to make sense of it all.

“Unbreakable, unbreakable, force impossible to compute…”

He spent over a minute sounding like a broken record trying to get over the one crack in his experience. Roze finally managed to recover enough to walk over to Gideon.

“How many times did you strike the sword for it to shatter like that?”

“Uh… maybe a hundred times?”

The force of a hundred normal swings from the common man – it was enough to likely defeat the demons of olde that were mostly impervious to physical damage. Roze shook her head at how ridiculous it seemed.

“I mean, it’s a really good sword. It took me a couple of tries in previous cycles to figure out how much it would take to break it.”

“That was intentional?!”

“If I don’t show him how serious I am, how is he supposed to craft something truly unbreakable? And guess what, that interest fueled him into joining me on the journey!”

Of course, Gideon didn’t mention how he was nearly killed by Ferdinand for breaking his wares previously. It took him several attempts to frame the request in such a way that didn’t out right offend the blacksmith. Eventually, he managed to weave Ferdinand’s aspiration to reach his father into the conversation. A near-impossible task stoked the fires of familial rivalry.

“… force dampening, vibrational, dispersion, I GOT IT!”

It looked like Ferdinand had snapped into the correct mindset after the shock of seeing a prized craft get utterly demolished. He pointed at Gideon with a renewed light in his eyes.

“YOU! If you have the power to break such a sword, then you will aid me in collecting Oscillium. It is the only material that can withstand the incredible shock of how strong your swing is!”

Ferdinand had an estimate of how much force was required to do so much damage. He had to know from a single glance to craft a suitable weapon for the wielder. Having misjudged Gideon at first, he now recalibrated to a more suitable recipe for him. However, he didn’t have the material on hand for it.

Before Roze could question where they were going, Ferdinand had already packed his bags and grabbed a giant shield for protection.

“To the Valley of Rock Giants! Giants, giants ~~~”

Gideon and Ferdinand linked arms, skipping out the door as they chanted that on repeat. Roze had no choice but to follow while trying to deny her relationship with the pair.

“Maybe I’ll find some unique plants along the way…”

It was better to let the men have their adventures, gallivanting into dangerous territory. She would just collect the spoils.