Open [Open] The Fighting Chef

[Avon]

"A good sword is the one left in its scabbard."
-Japanese proverb

Stormhold Castle really was an amazing place. The same could be said for Syrilas in general. It was nothing like his hometown Sunberth. Still, a city was a city, no matter what it looked like. He had already purchased a small, but comfortable room, and was now wandering the bazaar deep within the castle, browsing the goods for sale, his trusty sword at his side. Someone was selling walking canes, and another person daggers, while yet another person was selling fake flowers. The variety was truly amazing, and Tet could now understand why it was called the Great Bazaar. Tet walked over to a food stall and browsed the selection. The basil bread looked especially appetizing, and Tet almost physically had to pull himself away from the delicious foods.

It was important for him to avoid buying anything that he didn't absolutely need, as his main goal was opening a tavern somewhere in the city. That meant that he needed every Miza he could get. It also meant that he needed a good idea as to the cities economy. While it wasn't a very exciting venture, it was one that needed to happen if wanted to meet with success. Tet wasn't that old. and anyone could tell that it wasn't his main goal to open a business and settle down. No, he was a born adventurer, it was in his blood. Well, probably. He had never met his parents, but he was sure that they were powerful mages or explorers. It had never occurred to him to think otherwise.

He wasn't like the other kids though, the ones that left their homes as soon as possible, unprepared for the dangers that lay out there. No, he was smart, smart enough to know that he should get a steady income, save up money and train his skills before setting out, He was determined to be prepared when the time for adventuring came. In the meantime he would explore his options in Syrilas.

His strange way of dressing had been catching attention throughout his entire time in Stormhold so far, but he'd ignored the stares and continued on his way. On arm with a long sleeve, and the hand covered by a leather glove, and the other arm sleeveless. He had already had a few children come up to him and ask him if he had some sort of skin disease on his arm. He had smiled and said "Not unless freckles are a skin disease." Before anyone could ask anymore about his strange sense of style, he went on his way.

[Avon]

Tet turned around and kept walking, until he came to a stall selling a variety of weapons. The one thing they had more than any other type were daggers. There had to have been at least twice as many daggers as any other of the weapons at the stall. To tell the truth, the bastard sword had never been his weapon of choice. Well, make that swords in general. He had always been interested in the high speed, high agility fighting style of the knife fighter. His teacher had penned him in in a way, preventing him from learning about the style he was interested in. He had chosen the bastard sword, but that was only because it was the best of his options.

Now his teacher was dead, and he was left with freedom to decide how he wanted to fight. Still, he was okay with a sword, so he wasn't about to ditch it just yet. He stepped closer to the stall, and started to look over the daggers. It appeared that he might be buying something after all. Tet reached out and pulled a dagger out of the case before holding it up in front of him. He turned to the owner who was looking him over. "I'll take this dagger." The owner burst out laughing, his dark brown eyes gleaming. "That's hilarious, funniest joke i've heard all day." The man said between laughs. Tet stared at him with an eyebrow raised, not sure what was so funny.

The shopkeeper stopped laughing and his face turned serious. "Wait, you weren't joking?" Tet shook his head, his eyebrows still raised. "That's a short sword, not a dagger. You blind or something?" Tet's face turned red and he looked down at the weapon in his hands. It certainly did seem longer than other daggers he'd seen. Oh, right. That was because it wasn't actually a dagger. "Can you get me your best dagger then?" Tet said, thinking about how he might be able to use both a short sword and a dagger together in the future. The man turned around and unlocked a chest behind him before pulling out a beautifully crafted dagger. "Isurian steel this one, finest dagger in all my wares. It's not going to come cheap though. This type of metal is quite rare. It's well worth the price though. For someone such as yourself I'll lower the price to ten gold mizas, instead of the fifteen I usually sell fine daggers such as this for." Tet thought for a moment. It certainly looked like a well crafted dagger, but was it worth it?

He set the short sword that he was holding back down into it's case and held his hand out for the dagger. "Can I hold it?" The stall owner handed him the dagger hilt first. Tet grabbed it and held it up in the air, holding it blade up. He swung it a little bit in the air, but couldn't seem to get a feel for the weapon. The stall owner shook his head and mumbled something about amateurs. He stood up from his seat and walked out from behind the table where his wares were on display. "Let me see the dagger." Tet reluctantly handed it over, and the shop keeper held it the exact opposite way that Tet had been holding it, in an inverse grip. "If you hold it this way you have more flexibility with your movement, and a better defense. Of course, the best dagger fighters use two, one for defense and the other for offense. Im certain that if I gave you two daggers at this point youd probably cut an arm off or something trying the easiest of attacks. See, inverse grip, meant for slashing. A finishing move would be stab, supported with your unarmed hand from the pommel. It adds more power to the thrust. It also leaves you completely open though, that's why I said finishing move. Lastly, until you learn to use that blade, I would suggest you stick with that sword. Unless you don't know how to use that either." Tet tried to ingrain everything that the man had said into his mind. He would master the dagger if it was the last thing he did. And it certainly might, what with the way he had just been wielding it.

"I'll buy it." Tet said, counting out 10 gold mizas from his money bag. He placed them on the counter and held out his hand for the dagger. "Four more mizas for a scabbard." The man said, and Tet reluctantly counted out four more and added them to the pile. The man rummaged around in the chest behind him and pulled out a scabbard with a strap to connect to a belt. Tet sheathed the dagger and tied it onto his belt on the right side, hoping that he hadn't just been swindled, and that he had made a good decision. He pulled his hood up and walked away, having spent more money than his budget allowed, but with a better idea of Syrilas economy, and how to hold a dagger. It wasn't much, but it was certainly a start.