System Architect - Ch 115

The week after I finished my wooden car, Gregory was ready to begin teaching me. The place he had rented—with my money—was what used to be a dance studio. The space was large enough to accommodate whatever exorcises we would be doing. That it had good air conditioning was a plus. The last thing I wanted was to be hot and sweaty while learning!

“Good afternoon, Eddy,” Gregory said when I came in.

“Hey! I’m glad you got all of this set up. I’m excited to learn!”

Gregory laughed.

“It’s good to be excited, but let’s take a step back. Why do you want to learn how to fight? Does it have something to do with the NDA you had me sign?”

“Yes,” I said. “There’s a storm coming, and it won’t be a fun one. It’ll be a storm of magic and monsters. Now, I know that sounds insane, but I can prove it… which is nice.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here, let me show you the magic then explain a bit more about the monsters.”

I used Create Water to show him visible magic. Then I realized the issue of having water floating just past the tip of my finger and nowhere to put it.

“Well, this is magic,” I said. “A safe kind for demonstrations. No fireballs or whatever. Um, is there a bathroom or sink or something?”

“Yeah, back door.”

He pointed to the door on the left side of the room in the back. I brought the water ball there and dropped it in the sink inside. When I returned, Gregory was sitting on the floor—made of soft foam mats—waiting for me.

“So magic?”

“Yeah,” I said. “That was making a ball of water. Magic can do pretty much anything you can think of, provided you have enough to power it and the skill to do it.”

“Do you have a timeline for this happening? The magic, the monsters…”

“Not sure exactly. A handful of years from now give or take. That’s why I want to prepare with what time I have left… and that’s why the NDA. I don’t want people going after me for something beyond my control just because I knew something. That won’t fix the issue and will just leave me dead, you know?”

“Right. So those monsters. What can you tell me about those?”

“Do you know fantasy stuff like goblins, orcs, dragons, and the like?”

“Yeah.”

“Those. Those are the monsters I’m talking about. That’s what we’ll all have to fight, so I want to learn how.”

“Why not magic?” he asked.

“Oh, magic will be part of it. But magic is limited in the same way your body is when you get tired, so I want to be able to fight physically as well.”

“Makes sense. So then I would suggest the most traditional—and most useful—of weapons in human history. The spear. Provided guns don’t work, that is. Those would be better.”

“I know how to use a gun,” I told him. “They’ll work to a point. After that, though, they kinda fall off without some extra help. The same is true of any weapon, but it’s easier for non-guns in that respect.”

“Right. So let’s start with a spear and see how you get on with that, yeah?”

“Sure,” I shrugged.

“Let me get a training spear,” Gregory said as he grunted when he got up. “Then I can show you the basics.”

He walked to the wall and grabbed a spear and a shield. The spear was about as tall as he was, with a metal tip that was more an ornamental ball than an actual spear point. He came back and helped me to my feet, handing me the shield.

“Now, before I show you anything, I want to make sure you understand something very important. You know how in movies people spin, jump, and roll and stuff?”
“Yeah.”

“Don’t do that. That’s how you die. When you spin, you expose your back. When you jump and attack at the same time, your attack is weak. When you roll, what do you think happens?”

“You expose your back?”

“Exactly! Here, take the spear and watch what happens when I roll.”

I took the spear in my right hand. Gregory rolled to my side, giving me ample opportunity to attack him while he was defenseless—if I’d known how to attack him. I still tried to poke him with the blunted spear. I missed, but not by much.

“So you see what I mean, right?” he asked.

“Mmhm. I missed, though.”

That’s what training is for!” he laughed. “Alright, so you have a shield and a spear. The spear is mostly for attacking and the shield is mostly for defending.”

“Why did you say mostly?”

“Because you can defend with a spear and attack with a shield. Let me say that getting bashed in the face with a shield hurts a lot and is a quick way to end a fight.”

I nodded.

“Let’s start with the very basics,” he said. “I want you to grip your spear and thrust forward.”

I did as he asked.

“Not bad for a first attempt. Let’s try stepping into it a bit more. Footwork is the key for a powerful thrust. Use your whole body as you thrust. The twisting of your body will put even more power into it.”

I tried stepping forward with my left foot, but that was the wrong one. When I stepped with my right, the body mechanics fell into place. The spear rushed forward with speed and power. My aim—however—was bad.

“Great! That’s how you do it. Let’s keep practicing.”

For the next couple of hours—with breaks—I practiced the same thrust again and again until I was too tired to continue. As time had gone on, my form became sloppy… but that was alright as far as Gregory was concerned.

“Building your stamina is as important as writing the actions into your muscle’s memory. Crisp form and accuracy will come with time and with strength.”

--------

The next day was my woodworking class. I found an open spot and waited for the class to begin. I wondered what the next project would be after the toy car. The teacher gave an answer to that unasked question as soon as the class began.

“Today—and over the next several classes—you will be working to make a spoon. Where before you learned how to measure and cut, this time you will learn to sculpt the wood into shape. I will be handing each of you a small bot of wood. What I want each of you to do is to shape the wood into a spoon using rasps, sandpaper, and gouges.”

“Am I allowed to use a saw to roughly cut it to shape?” I asked.

“You can,” he answered. “Are there any more questions?”

There were a few—mostly around the gouges—which the teacher pushed off for a later time, promising to pause the class to teach them how to use the gouges once people were ready for that part. After the questions, he passed out the wood.

Unlike the wood for the toy car, this wood was much denser. It felt solid in my hands. Before doing anything to the wood itself, I found a pencil and began to sketch what a spoon looked like from above onto the wood. The handle was about two-thirds of the length while the spoon’s bowl was the final third. I marked the thickness of the handle about a centerline—the same line I used to divide the spoon’s bowl in half. The aim was to make it as symmetrical as I could.

Once I was satisfied with the design, I clamped the wood and began to cup away the excess. I did so along the length of the handle as well as near to the edge of the spoon’s bowl. I left room all around for the actual shaping. The last thing I wanted was a weak spoon because I cut away too much wood to start!

With the spoon roughly cut, I started with a rasp to shape the handle. There was more wood underneath the handle that needed to be removed than the top. The top I smoothed out into a round shape. The bottom had to be raised such that the mostly circular handle shape could continue around.

By the end of the class, I was happy with the shape of the handle. The spoon’s bowl would be for next week’s class. I put it in my cubby on the way out.

--------

Therapy was the main activity the following day. Though still a work in progress, I was happy with the direction it was going. Then it was off to see Gregory again for weapons practice.

“Are you sore from last time?” he asked when I came into the room that day.

“No,” I said. “I used magic to take care of that.”

Heal was a wonderful skill!

“Interesting. Is that something you can use on other people, or just on yourself?”

“I can use it on others. It’ll quickly heal muscle fatigue and general injuries. It won’t bring back your energy, though.”

“I see. Well, let’s get on with practice, shall we?”

The next couple hours were an intense mix of thrusting and short breaks. By the end of it, I was so tired that I wanted to nap on the mats in the room right there! Gregory told me that this thrusting practice would last a while.

“Until thrusting correctly is an instinct, we’ll keep doing it,” he said. “You’ll learn more soon, but I want the foundation to be as strong as it can be.”

--------

The next week was the same. Thrusting with Gregory, working on the spoon in woodworking class, talking with Jack, before finishing out the week by thrusting with Gregory again. When woodworking class came again the following week, I was excited! The spoon was shaped and ready for gouging.

“Gouges are sharp,” the teacher told us. “You never want to use it towards yourself. If you slip, that could be the last thing you ever do! Remember, I don’t want anyone with nine fingers, and I don’t clean up dead bodies, yeah? Good. So use it away from yourself and not towards anyone else—not even your worst enemy. Gouges are not weapons. They are tools of creation!”

With that safety briefing in mind, I began to shape the inside of the bowl with the gouge. I didn’t want to spoon’s bowl to be too thin nor too wide—lest it crack or be useless as a spoon. Gouging was a slow process. Little flakes of wood were cut away with each stroke. I had to keep the thing symmetrical as well, which was another challenge.

Slowly, I carved out the spoon’s bowl until it was as thin as I dared. Then I sanded the spoon before covering it with a thin layer of bee’s wax. I showed the teacher what I had made.

“Excellent work,” he told me. “The spoon is well shaped and the bowl’s not too thin. You should be able to use this. Just never wash it in the dishwasher or it will probably break, ok?”

“Thanks. I won’t.”

With that, the second project was done. I showed Mom the spoon I had made.

“Wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Are you giving this to me?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to use it, so I didn’t see the problem with her taking it. I’d learned what I needed to from the project and could always make another with a little bit of time and patience.