ALL NOVEL Chapter 40: Crafting Project
Resisting the urge to scoop up his Hook Blades and test out his new abilities, Aoni had a battle with his subconscious about three topics: whether or not he should attempt pushing forward his Swordsmanship, his Dual Swordsmanship, or begin working on the sled.
There were far too many objectives at hand that needed his immediate attention, so after a drawn-out battle in his mind, the lad decided it was better to go ahead and begin working on the sled.
At least, in that way, he could take a look at Glacia's findings and hopefully secure a decent source of Salt with which he could tan his hides and make warmer gear.
'I have to survive long enough even to begin thinking about fighting for my life…sled first.' Making up his mind on the spot, Aoni set about gathering up the materials required for his little project and started working.
But as luck would have it, three hours into his crafting, the first detriment to his success cropped up, and that was securing Austr and Vestr to the base of the sled.
Initially, he had believed it to be as simple as wrapping several thick vines around two separate points of the weapons and lining them up properly; however, that turned out not to be the case at all.
Setting aside the problem with making sure they were perfectly aligned, his beloved weapons were FAR TOO SHARP, and the instant any significant amount of pressure was applied to the vines, they would snap.
For the better part of the next four hours, the lad attempted every possible knot or securing method he had learned in his tenure at the Academy, only to come up short each time.
No matter where he tied the vines or how cleverly he avoided the edges of the blades, inevitably, the result was the same each time: severed vines and falling Hook Blades.
Blowing a tired raspberry with his lips, Aoni plopped down beside the overturned five-by-three-foot hollowed-out sled body and crossed his legs before propping his elbows on his knees.
"This doesn't make any sense; Austr and Vestr only have a G- attack; they shouldn't be able to slice through the vines so easily…"
"Gaoo," nodding her head as if stating she concurred with the lad's findings, Glacia sat beside Aoni with her legs splayed out in an awkward attempt at mimicking her Lord's posture.
"I've tested their tensile nature and durability time and time again, and even with my F- Attack, it's impossible for me to snap them…"
"OoO Gao,"
"Wait…"
"Oo," tilting her head and looking up at Aoni, Glacia muttered as if saying, "What?"
"That's it! Because I am stretching the vines taught, the weaker blades are able to cut through them," Crossing his arms and staring hard at the vines, Aoni leaned forward, picked a smaller one up, and stretched it as far as he could before tapping it against Austr's sharpened edge, and as expected,
SNAP
Like an elastic band, the vine was sliced apart and shot out in opposite directions.
"OOOoOOOooOOoO!" Amazed at what her Lord had just done, Glacia jumped up and darted around in a circle before grabbing one of the freshly cut vines and replicating Aoni's actions, giving her the same result.
Raising an eyebrow, the lad watched his summon prance around, holding two bits of vines like trophies, and shook his head before exhaling deeply through his nose.
'Understanding the problem doesn't solve it, though; if I can't draw the vines taught without them being cut, how am I supposed to tie them…wait, what if I pad the edges of the blades first.' With widened eyes full of realization, Aoni quickly got to his feet and began sifting through the scraps of wood left over from his carving of the sled. And after several minutes of searching, he came back with several decent-sized chunks.
Next, using Austr as a means to measure how wide the blocks were required to be, Aoni then took Vestr and began cutting out eight equal-sized, thin blocks that were slightly wider than the blades of his weapons before carving a groove into each block and turning it into a wooden mold of each weapon.
With that step complete, the lad sandwiched two blocks near the top and two near the bottom of Vestr and nodded approvingly.
It was a perfect fit, and once some force was applied, the blocks would act like a sheath of sorts, protecting the vines from the sharp edge of the hook and Guard.
Now that the problem was solved, Aoni wrapped the vines around the sheath-like block covering the tip of the hook and the Guard before looping it several times around the slats under the sled in a hitching knot.
With the body of the blade and handle being the ski and the tip of the hook and Guard being the point of contact with the sled, all that was left was aligning the blades properly, and….after nearly 12 hours of effort and hard thinking, the Sled was COMPLETE!
Mind you, it looked like a six-year-old's wooden derby car, but Aoni was still quite proud of the achievement.
"O…OOOooOO GAOOO!" Seeing that her Lord was finished and admiring his work, Glacia couldn't contain herself any longer and hopped onto the sled before turning around several times and examining it thoroughly.
Unfortunately, since it was as basic as basic gets (think shallow wooden half bathtub on skis), Glacia quickly got bored and curled up for a nap, causing Aoni to blink several times before tossing his hands in the air as a sign of defeat and heading toward his desk.
'I suppose the easy part…if you can call it that, is done; now comes the training Glacia part. Given the strength she exhibited earlier, I don't doubt that she will be able to pull the full weight of the sled with me in it, but with her short attention span, im not so sure she wouldn't veer off and send me flying at the sight of a butterfly or something…wait, do Ice Butterflies even exist?' tilting his head to the side, Aoni, lost in thought, began wondering about the local fauna again, leaving his summon to get a good nap in before work started.