Chapter 35 : Body Technique

"Welcome to the shop!-" A young boy said before he looked over to the customer, his expression bathed in both fear and respect.

He spoke Runeterran, as he looked toward his customer.

"What is it that you want, sir?"

"I want to speak with your dad," Ajel muttered, before releasing his tense expression once he saw the boy nod.

"He wants you to go to him, he's in the back to your right." The boy muttered, before walking into the back with Ajel following him.

Walking into the back, Ajel saw a man wielding a hammer and heavy alcohol beside him.

*Clank*

Ajel's eyes drifted towards the molten metal that was been rapidly pounded with the hammer, as he looked towards the man.

*Clank*

Ajel saw the unusually large hammer pound into the metal with great strength, as the metal slowly started to get refined to a perfect form, rid of the impurities inside.

Ajel's eyes sharpened onto the man's appearance.

He was muscular, but his stature wasn't too large to appear macho. His expression was sharp, with his eyebrows pointed like swords and his eyes sharpened like a knife.

However, the sharpened features were reduced by the emotion that Ajel had known too well.

Sadness.

Overwhelming sadness.

The sharpness of his features was mellowed out by the overwhelming grief, as his expression was solely focused on the blade, to the point where his son's pleas for his attention were misheard.

Ajel looked towards the heavy amount of alcohol with interest, as he looked as the sword was pounded, with brute strength over precision.

The sloppiness of his strikes resulted in shards of metal going on his skin, but Ajel keenly observed as the shards didn't leave a mark, and it seemed like it didn't leave a mark as well.

"Dad!" The boy kept shouting, as the hammer briefly stopped, before going back to pounding.

Ajel only quietly watched, before saying a word.

"2 gold."

the hammer once again stopped, as the man looked toward Ajel.

"What do you want." The potent smell of Alcohol caused Ajel's upper lip to curl as he looked toward the man. "The body technique. Give it to me."

"..." The man only looked toward Ajel, before he picked up the hammer and continued to pound down on the metal.

"Is he normally like this?"

The boy sighed, only putting his palm on his face. "My father was once a great crafter and a good mercenary, but his skills have dulled with the amount of alcohol consumed.

"He never taught you the technique?"

"He did, but only the basics when he wasn't drunk, which is never. " The boy walked out of the room, as Ajel followed once he knew that this encounter would be fruitless.

"Do you know what an atomic structure is?"

"A... what?" The boy muttered, which caused Ajel to shake his head. "Nevermind."

Awek was an alchemist. Of course, most people wouldn't even know how to read and write, never mind knowing what an atomic structure is.

Ajel wished the body good luck, and give him a tip of silver as he looked like he was quite malnourished.

"Thank you!" The boy's smile was the contrast to his father's expression, which made Ajel's mood just a little bit better.

*Clang*

A loud sound could be seen, something that reminded Ajel of the sound of the boy's father.

*Clang*

The boy's expression paled, as the loud sounds resounded through the village, as Ajel quickly looked down.

"What's wrong?"

"It's....the war bell.."

two knocks on the bell caused the village to grow silent.

What was going on?

----------

Ajel walked into Yvonne's hut, as the old lady nodded her head to him.

"Ajel, glad yours here. Grab your battle gear and follow me."

"What's going on?"

"A separatist group from Winter's Claw has united with other hostile tribes and is marching to this area."

"What is their goal?"

"To destroy the Avarosan Tribe."

"This is a bit too sudden, isn't it?"

"my thoughts exactly. But come, child. We need you."

Ajel followed Yvonne as she started to walk with a dignified stance and a solemn face.

"Once we get there, don't ask any questions, these people are the most powerful out of the tribe and although this may not be the case, one may be jealous or spiteful for one reason or another. I will establish a link with you, so speak in your mind but not through your physical body otherwise it may be seen as disrespect for the warmother."

Ajel had no questions about their ability of Yvonne on the battlefield, as he followed her from behind while observing the situation.

The strong men and women in the city took arms to protect it, whereas the elderly and children were hidden away from the battle.

Ajel was led to a tent, with Yvonne leading the charge through the tent, and Ajel following.

"/Yvonne./" Grena nodded to Yvonne, before her expression shifted towards Ajel, as she also nodded to him.

Ajel eyes scanned the room before his gaze settled on Ashe, who looked toward the boy with burning jealousy.

Was it because the warmother nodded at him? was she jealous cause of that?

Ajel broke the gaze early before he scanned the room for the remaining war maidens he knew little of.

He heeded the warning of Yvonne, as he stayed silent.

"/Brothers and Sisters of Avaraosa, it seems that war is a requirement for the trail ahead of us. A separatist group from the winter claw had united the eastern tribes of the Freljord and is marching towards here. They will arrive in three days./"

"*Three days?*" Ajel thought to himself.

"/Where will our forces clash?/" Yvonne asked, her eyes darkening.

"/Grimmrvǫllr./" Grena muttered, which caused others to click their tongue.

"/How many strong?/" Yvonne asked, which caused Grena to click her tongue. "750 strong, around 30 iceborn."

Ajel's eyes turned into slits. There were only around 300-350 people in the city!

"/Fuck..." Yvonne's eyes darkened, as she slowly started to tap the table rhythmically. "Any chance we pull them away from Grimmrvǫllr?/"

Grimmrvǫllr was a rocky region that would have possessed a great advantage to the separatists as they were uphill, and they would certainly try to fortify their position and take full advantage of it.

"*Yvonne, what about we do the guerilla tactics?*"

"/Grena, permission for Ajel to speak?/"

"/Permission granted/

Ajel felt several eyes fall onto him, as he took a deep breath and exclaimed.

"/What I think is the best idea is to avoid conflicts through direct combat. Winter will be approaching, and they would need extensive supply lines. Since they have more Iceborn and more strong, I think this would be an appropriate strategy to prevent defeat./"

"/Blasphemous!/" A voice hissed out, belonging to one of the war maidens. "The Freljord carries the honourable strong, not the weak cowardly mice that can only use underhanded tactics!/"

A needle flew past the war maiden's cheek, resulting in a clean slice of the flesh.

*Drip*

the blood seeped from the cheek of the war maiden, as Yvonne lowered her hand.

"This is the second time. There won't be a third."

"yes...yes... elder."