With a satisfied sigh, I ran my fingers across the deep brown bark as I considered what it would become. I was momentarily overwhelmed with options, ranging from side tables and bureaus to decorative window boxes, but I caught myself before the train of thought drove on too long. Start from zero. We don’t even have a place to sit down yet. My thoughts immediately turned to Marten’s comfortable new bar stools and beautifully crafted chairs.
I reached out down our winding woodland path with a narrow beam of mana to find the templates I would use for our new seating. The energy revealed Marin and Lia making their way towards me at a casual jog, and I felt a warm, golden glow of acknowledgement from Lia as she noticed my presence. My mana found its mark a few seconds later, and I suffused a vacant bar stool to make a mental copy of its exact shape. I was surprised at how little of an impact the distance made; compared to my first attempt with the hammer, it only took an extra few seconds of focus to overlay the blueprint into the emberwood log.
The top half of the log shuddered after three loud cracks, and my fingers pulled up on a lengthwise seam to reveal the stool sitting in a perfectly fitted indentation. I pulled the seat out and admired the beautiful pattern that the natural wood created on the surface, brushing fresh sawdust out of the various joints. Satisfied, I brought the finished product up to the deck, then moved to the next sections of wood and repeated the process twice over. As I removed the final stool from its shell, I paused and looked over the hollowed-out log. If Rastor and I had known this technique for making molds, we could have done so much more than simple swords and armor.
Heartened by my successes, I made a set of the larger chairs from the model in Marten’s living room. Though they were missing the cloth covers and padding, I was easily able to recreate the intricate scrollwork along the legs and back. I lined them up along the edge of the deck alongside my stools as a display of my newfound crafting abilities, then took a few minutes to break down the hollow logs into as many usable planks for future projects as I could. When the boards were stacked and the scrap was cleared, I sat down in one of my new chairs and kicked my feet up on the railing, where I rested comfortably until Marin and Lia arrived.
“Is that all you’ve finished?” Lia called out as they broke through the treeline. “It’s been almost an hour!”
I waved her off with a laugh. “I’ve got all afternoon to work,” I answered, “unless you’d like me to stay here and critique your lessons.”
She pursed her lips tightly. “Criticism withdrawn.”
I stood up from my lazy perch and looked down at Marin. “Are you excited to start training?”
“Yeah!” she answered, pulling the old training sword I had purchased in Tolamar from her hip. “I even brought my own sword and everything!” To her credit, she already had the outfit of an adventurer: shiny leather boots, comfortable pants with a sword belt around her waist, and a tight-fitting white tank top underneath a drab yellow jacket lined with puffy gray fur. It was clear that she had replenished her wardrobe since arriving in Mayaan, and she had spared no expense in doing so.
“You certainly look ready!” I laughed. “I’ve got one piece of advice for you: do your best. What you get out of training is directly proportional to what you put in, so give it all you’ve got.” She nodded vigorously before turning on her heel and skipping back towards Lia. I picked up both of the high-backed chairs and carried them inside, placing them in front of our noteboard. While I was tempted to sneak glances at their training through the window, I knew that Lia would notice before long, so I reached out to her with a tendril of mana. I’d like to watch your process, if you don’t mind. I promise I won’t bother you.
No, please do, her voice echoed back to me. I want your feedback at the end of the day. Just, no staring, please.
Deal. I retrieved the stools from the deck and set them in the dining room, then took my notebook, quill, and ink from the table and made my way to the backyard. My goal for the afternoon was to build a bed frame; it would have to be built the old-fashioned way, as it was far too large to be crafted out of a single log, but I planned to take advantage of my new skills. With my notebook balanced on my knee, I began to sketch the various pieces required as my Detection mana crept around the house to watch Marin’s training.
It started the same as Lia’s training had back behind her father’s barn in Tolamar; Marin drew her sword and took what she thought was a battle pose, and Lia corrected the grip and adjusted her stance. When Marin’s form was correct, they walked through the proper way to swing a sword, followed by a detailed breakdown on how to move during combat and how to respond correctly to an opponent’s movement. After a brief lesson about the best ways to dodge and parry attacks, Lia invited Marin to attack her with the promise that, until Marin landed a hit, she wouldn’t strike back.
What followed was an amusing afternoon of frustrated yells
