章 33: One of Those Days

Chapter 33.

01. Reskeme was exhausted and scraped his feet on the cobblestones as he walked with his feet. He was slowly regaining his energy and hoped his day wasn't going to be too long as training today had sure been tough. He now had bruises all over his body, luckily they hadn't damaged his face or people would be giving him odd looks. Reskeme was happy that The messengers' guildhall was close to the Garrison, this allowed him to arrive at his place of work in only a few minutes. Reskeme passed a group of guards who were patrolling the streets and was surprised when they gave him a nod. He smiled and was beginning to think the day was starting to go better.

02. Reskeme received his message and 2 coppers from hank with instructions to deliver A heavy pouch and message to The blacksmiths' shop. Reskeme was excited and wondered if it was about his weapon. The message was in a bag and felt heavy as he shook it hearing the jingle of coins. Reskemes eyes bulged when he first picked it up, Hank instructed him to tie it to his belt. Reskeme followed his instructions and nervously left the building walking towards the blacksmiths' shop. Reskeme winced every time the coins jingled, he was lucky he was in the merchants quarter and not the slums. His instincts kept screaming at him to protectively hold his hand over the pouch.

03 Reskeme was not that stupid however, He knew that was the easiest way to spot someone carrying something valuable and it was a common method to spot a good target. Reskeme walked down the road weaving through all the people who were out and going about their day. He smelled something that smelled amazing and made his way over to the A food stall that was where the wonderful smell of bread was from. A young lady was standing behind the stall passing out loaves of bread and receiving coins in return. The long line to the stall was irritating but the smell made the wait bearable. Reskeme watched as the young lady and an older lady that shared the same long brown hair and blue eyes run back and forth.

04. His guess was that these two women were mother and daughter, the frantic selling made the line quickly come to an end allowing reskeme to ask for a loaf of bread. With a stunning smile, The Younger lady asked, "Would you like some cheese bread? It's only an extra copper." He was struck dumb at her beautiful smile and could only nod his head. Reskeme was too smitten with her long hair and beautiful eyes to notice he just offered to pay both his coppers. Reskeme found his words wouldn't come out, he found he didn't want to tell her no as he didn't want her to stop smiling.

05. Reskeme waited while the mother grabbed a steaming loaf of bread from the oven behind them and presented it to Reskeme saying two coppers, please. He completely forgot about the woman and her mother while passing the two coppers and eyeing the loaf of perfectly baked goodness. He slightly burned the tips of his fingers on the hot loaf but he didn't care about burning his fingers on the perfectly cooked bread with the golden-brown crust. Reskeme was lightly tapped on the shoulder," Sir can you move along we are waiting in line also."

06. Reskeme lifted his head from the artfully crafted loaf of bread and looked at the 10 people who were waiting behind him, to his embarrassment they were all watching him eye a loaf of bread like he was in love. Reskeme blushed and stepped back away from the line quickly walking away. He was even more embarrassed when he heard the laughing of the woman who had sold him the bread. She was clearly enjoying the boys' embarrassment, Reskeme kept tossing his loaf of bread from hand to hand to cool it down. Reskeme pulled off a piece after a minute and was stunned when melted cheese tore apart with his loaf of bread. he took a bite and wasn't disappointed at the delicious flavour of the food.

07. Reskeme wondered whose idea it was to put cheese in bread, Whoever it was, should be given a freaking medal he thought, as this was the best food Reskeme had ever eaten. The hot crunchy outside and soft fluffy insides were perfectly combined with hot flavourful salty cheese. Reskeme licked his fingers after he ate the whole loaf and was disappointed he didn't have enough money for more. He promised himself that he would treat himself again to the delicious meal as soon as possible. Reskeme was thinking of ways he could make more money to get the delicious treat, and completely ignoring people. His inattentiveness caused him to bump into a couple of bypassers who were not happy with him. Reskeme rubbed his ribs where that one guy had hit him after Reskeme had bumped rudely into his back. Reskeme anxiously looked around making sure no one was watching him and was relieved when he finally arrived at the blacksmiths' shop. He made a sigh of relief, Reskeme didn't think his ribs could take any more hits from the crowd.

08. Reskeme could tell this was the correct shop when he spotted the small sign with a bright hammer. Clang! clang! clang! Reskeme entered the shop covering his ears and walked towards the rope to get the attention of the owners. He Rang the bell hard, and heard a muffled shout, "One moment". Reskeme waited for 5 minutes in which he felt like his ears were never going to stop ringing. The sound stopped, He was finally able to relax as he was able to uncover his ears. The massive blacksmith Telly walked around the corner from the back before eyeing up Reskeme and saying, "ahh I have been expecting you."

09. She smiled and said," I made a bet with my husband that you would find a way to pay for the weapon," Telly laughed at Reskemes confused look and said," you are what 12 maybe 14 and most likely can't afford a weapon like that anytime soon." Reskeme said," then why did you allow me to do the contract anyways if you knew I probably couldn't pay.?" She said," I offered you the contract because we would make the weapon and even if you didn't pay, we could still give it to the garrison as part of our contract with them, so in the end, we lose nothing."

10. Reskeme passed Telly the scroll Hank had given him, She opened the seal and read the message for a couple of seconds before asking," I assume you have the money with you.?" Reskeme was hoping she wouldn't ask but decided he better give it to her. Reskeme opened his bag and pulled out the smaller bag of what could only be coins. Telly opened the bag and dumped it on the wooden counter next to her, she began counting all the shiny silver coins. Reskeme choked at the sight of that many coins, He was feeling woozy as he hadn't realized just how much money he had been carrying. Reskeme was disappointed when Telly scooped up all the coins and closed the bag.

11. Telly said," wait here I will return with the promised item, Reskeme had no clue what she was referring too, he was wondering if Hank had bought something." Telly returned with a spear that was a head taller than reskeme." the weapon at first glance looked like a spear, When Telly came close Reskeme noticed the weapon had a long blade with leather covering over the blade. Telly said," I'm not good at fighting with weapons but I do know how to make them, Its not the best we can do but it's good quality and shouldn't let you down, I hope you appreciate this weapon." She passed him the naginata. Reskeme took the weapon from her hands and was amazed at the well-crafted weapon.

12. Telly said," this is the promised naginata, we made it light and sturdy for quick strikes and throwing. She continued the shaft is made of hardened wood and shouldn't break unless you do something stupid like trying to block a greatsword with the shaft, Telly said," The base of the spear is capped with a piece of metal and comes to a rounded point. we needed It kept light but we needed something to also help balance the blade of the weapon. Reskeme carefully pulled off the leather cover and examined the menacing blade.

13. Telly said," I know you wanted to use it for throwing soo we added a guard that is at the base of the blade. I wrapped the first part of the grip with a thin rope to make it easy to hold onto and not lose grip. Reskeme could feel the weight of the naginata and was excited to try it out. Reskeme asked, "won't the guard block the weapon from sticking in?" Telly looked at him like he was an idiot. She held her arm near the blade and said," yes that is exactly why the guard is there, the blade of this weapon is longer than your forearm and you want to be able to pull it out quickly. The blade would punch straight through your chest before getting caught on the handguard. " Telly said," as I said before don't ask me how to fight with it I am just the person who makes weapons I don't use them.

14. Reskeme could hear the Irritation in her voice and decided he should stop asking questions for now. He put the leather case of the weapon back on and thanked the lady before heading towards the door, he decided to ask the weapons master about the weapon. The weight of the weapon was a little heavier than a javelin and the blade was quite a bit different, The blade was long, deadly, slightly curved and a razor-sharp edge. Reskeme really didn't want to know what this weapon would do if he accidentally dropped it on himself.

15. Reskeme left the shop and awkwardly held his naginata. He almost brained a passer-by with the end of his spear The angry woman said, "Hey!! Be Careful!," Reskeme blushed furiously and in embarrassment straightened the weapon. He decided to hold it like he had seen the guards doo. Reskeme walked down the street using his most expensive possession as a walking stick. The staff made a comforting clanking every time the butt end touched the ground assuring Reskeme that the weapon wasn't getting damaged.

16. Reskeme was smiling at anyone who was looking and proudly showed off his new weapon. He passed a guard and was immediately hailed over, Reskeme walked confidently over to the two guards who both had spears leaning on their shoulders. Reskeme approached and sheepishly smiled when private Richard said," Hey I'm going to get you back for that prank, all the guards still won't let me live it down." Reskeme watched as the other guard perked up, now much more excited as he had never met Reskeme before.

17. The guard said," Nice to meet you, I can't believe your actually an illusionist." Reskeme said," I'm sure you have met mages before, The guard said," Oh of course I have met dozens of mages over the years in the army, there is a lot of mages around, Most of them are just regular mages, I have only ever met 3 other illusionists before and I have done a lot of travel with the army." With shock in his voice Reskeme said," dozens of mages, there can't be that many mages can there.?" The guard said," Oh ya I'm a mage too if you can believe it." Reskeme eyed him skeptically, the guard noticed his look and held out his palm creating a green glow around his fingers."

18. The guard said with embarrassment, " I don't use my life magic nearly as often as I should, I wanted to be a fighter, not a healer." Reskeme smiled and said," that's still really cool, I'm sure it was useful when you or your friends got injured." The guard laughed and while winking at the private said," My magic was also great to impress some of the ladies." Reskeme didn't really understand what that meant and smiled a fake smile pretending he got the joke.

19. Reskeme said," well it has been nice to meet you, and I hope to talk to you again some other time, do have a good rest of your day." Reskeme strolled down the street wondering at what the guard had said. He had no idea there were so many mages around, Reskeme was now much more determined to find a way to learn more magic because It was extremely difficult to tell regular people from mages unless they channel mana. Reskeme hoped he didn't get into a fight with other mages before he was better or he would surely lose. In a determined state of mind Reskeme entered the messengers' guildhall, Hank smiled at Reskeme and admired the new spear.

20. Hank said," I hope you put in as much practice as you can, We are sponsoring you and in turn, we will be giving you more dangerous deliveries as you get better at defending yourself." Reskeme said," What do you mean more dangerous." Hank said," Delivering to fortified towns that are a week or two away from the city can be extremely dangerous for a messenger, There are monsters Darva that have been passing through our borders to go on raiding parties, they love to kill and eat lone travellers." Reskemes breath caught in his throat, His voice was shaky when he said, " Da Da Da Darva? I thought the Darva Were beaten and pushed back to their lands 50 years ago." Hank shuddered at the mention of the menace.

21.Hank said, "Train as hard as you can, in 4 weeks you are going to be delivering a message to a village being fortified for the oncoming war." With slumped shoulders, Hank said," If we didn't desperately need every messanger we can get I wouldn't send you." Hank's voice went low and was shaky when he said," The Darva fight similar to humans they are intelligent monsters that seek conquest and bloodshed, the thing that makes them different however is the Darva show no mercy to anyone or anything other then there own kind ." He said, "The most I can do is give you training before I send you on missions." Hank said," We will be needing all our messengers to deliver messages to the war front, We deliver the orders from the city lord and if we are successful we may even get recognized by the duke of the county." Reskeme looked regretful at his decision But smiled at Hank's enthusiasm for impressing the duke. With a big smirk, Hank said," what did you think, The army would give you training from a Weapons master and a new weapon just to deliver messages in the city.?"