Legend of the Evil God Chapter 4

The sun slowly rose up into the sky, sending blinding rays of light through the gaps in the wooden houses. On a small field in the village stood roughly forty dwarven children. These younglings were the bearers of hope and future of the dwarven race!

Even though I’m only ten years old, standing at roughly 1.6m, I’m way taller than the rest of this bunch of kids. Even compared to the humans on Earth, where I came from, I could already be considered a lanky youth. Needless to say, these stout dwarven kids who didn’t even reach 1m, were just the right size for my armrests… Hehehe…

The chief stood in front of us sternly. Looking at him closely, the stories of him being over 90 years old were indeed true! The only hair he had remaining on his face was the prominent white beard!

Swinging the pair of heavy axes, each as large as the young dwarf next to me, the chief said with his spittle flying all over the place, “Our dwarven race was born to be warriors. Thus, I will pa.s.s down the basics of combat to each and every one of you. The task of being the protectors of our race will be handed down to you in the near future!”

Sweeping his eyes over us majestically, he continued, “Laziness does not belong in our race, and weakness, less so. I will not ramble on and on, and leave all of you with an order. Without my approval, none of you may leave this village, as strong as you may become!”

“YES, SIR!”

We roared in unison. Owing to the fact that they could finally start learning the basics of combat, all of the dwarven youngsters were extremely enthusiastic. Hereafter, they would be able to embark on the path to become a true warrior. Once they have accomplished this task, they can form platoons to explore the grand world outside the dwarven village!

Holding a wooden axe made specially for children, I practiced wholeheartedly together with the rest of the kids. Other than lunch, we spent the entire day on the basic stances!

Even though a wood axe is way lighter than a standard issue axe of fine iron, it was still too heavy for ten year old kids like us. After exceeding our limits for an entire day, the pain that we felt was unimaginable!

In the evening, I returned to my home, a small shack built for me by the dwarves. Both of my arms started swelling. Piercing pain hit me in waves. In retrospect, the other kids looking energetic at the end of the training wasn’t for no reason. I confirmed that the dwarves being born warriors had something to do with their genes, and not attainable solely through random trainings.

However, I will never admit defeat! In my dictionary, anything related to me giving up does not exist. Back on Earth, I had never lost to anyone in any aspect that I wanted to win in. How could I give up at this important juncture?!

Lying on my bed, vivid pictures of the dwarven chieftain flashed through my mind. Axe swings, movement techniques, I started recalling all that I was taught that afternoon. However, I still couldn’t grasp the essence of the various techniques hours later.

Actually, the techniques that I had been taught was crafted for dwarves. They copied the race’s everyday motions and compiled it into various skills. All of these relied purely on brute force!

However, could one train in these kinds of martial arts and become a heaven-shaking figure? In retrospect, the trashy books that I had bought from the beggar back on Earth was a heavenly martial technique compared to this set of dwarven arts.

The martial art, “Hundred slashing knives”, also focused on strength. However, The main difference lay in the fact that the dwarven axe relied on hacking at the enemy blindly, and the former focusing their strength at different points!

The dwarven axe style didn’t have any cutting techniques to speak of, relying fully on the dwarf’s enormous strength. It’s a style that forced the enemy back, matching strength with strength.

However, the ‘Hundred Slashing Knives’ was diametrically opposed to the dwarven counterpart. It focused on science. It described in depth of how to use tremendous force in an instant and how to travel the path of least resistance. It was simple and rational. With the use of a person’s strongest attack, one would attack the weakest point of an enemy’s strongest attack!

The ‘Hundred Slashing Knives’ had neither thrusts nor sweeping motions. All off the attacks could be converged into a single move; Slash! With different angles, directions and rapidly firing off slash after slash, there was no defence, no hesitation and no retreat. One would meet an enemy’s attack with an attack of our own. With science and logic behind each and every slash, one would be able to force an enemy to the point of no return. This was the ‘Hundred Slashing Knives’!

Playing back the teachings of the chief in my head, I knew that I could never practice it to mastery. On the contrary, once I found the weakness of the dwarven axe style, I knew that if I focused all of my strength to attack that point, that ferocious axe strike of the chief would never succeed against me!

Someone once said: “Give me a fulcrum and I can lift the entire Earth”. As crazy as it sounds, it was definitely doable. However, the only problem laid behind the fulcrum and the length of the lever. Ignoring those points, his a.n.a.logy was definitely not false.

As long as one managed to the find the weakness, even if the incoming force was over millions of pascals, science dictates that a small force would be enough to overcome it. With my highly educated background, I clearly knew that brute force was never the solution. Moreover, the saying that one can lift hundreds of kilograms with a few kilograms of strength is not a myth!

“Hundred Slashing Knives” didn’t only focus on technique and science while neglecting the force behind each slash. Instead, it combined the best of both worlds!

Getting more and more excited the deeper my thoughts went, I jumped out of bed and picked up the wooden axe next to it. Picturing the diagrams in my head, I tried to mimic the movements depicted in the book while reciting the formulas. In an instant, the room was filled with wind currents!

Ten minutes later, I returned to the bed depressingly. That sort of sword arts wasn’t something that one could execute with a clumsy and heavy wooden axe. Only a suitable sword could bring out the power of the ‘Hundred Slashing Knives’!

The ‘Hundred Slashing Knives’ pushed the entire being to their limits. Strength, agility, intelligence, reaction time, perception and the usage of the swords, none of them were neglected.

Every section of the sword had its unique function. Many of the movements made use of the structure of the sword to execute. It wasn’t something that a clumsy little axe could carry out.

Lying on the bed disappointingly, I knew that I had to procure a sword somehow. However, the dwarven race had an unspoken rule. Dwarves will never create equipment for anyone from their own race, as that was the greatest humiliation a dwarf could ever receive. Thus, in order to get a sword of my own, I only had one choice – to train my arms, and craft it myself when I become strong enough!

Gazing at the green ceiling, I realised that I was still just 10 years old. To humans, I was still very far off from being a full-grown adult.

Nonetheless, I wanted to grow up quickly, at least in terms of physical strength. I know that in this world, one can never achieve anything without strength. I couldn’t even step out of my own village! Personal strength eventually became the priority of my life.

Thinking back to those days when I attended university, in order to increase the stamina of their basketball players, their coach created weighted vests, and weights for their arms and legs. Hmmm… Couldn’t I do the same? Shall I try crafting a set for myself?

With this idea floating around in my mind, I gradually fell into deep sleep.

The next day, I went to look for my neighbour, Aunt Matilda. After explaining to her what I needed, she readily agreed to my requests. She even told me that she had a couple of sandwolf pelts lying around; just right for a set of clothes!

Knowing that the clothes would be done in a day’s time, I left Aunt Matilda’s house, heading towards the training field with the wooden training axe in my hands.

I walked past many forges as I made my way to the field. Along the path, I saw a barrel filled with water at the side of the road. An idea suddenly sprang into my head! Since the axe was made of wood… if it were to be soaked with water… wouldn’t it double in weight?

Several minutes later, I lifted my axe from the barrel. As I thought, the axe had increased in weight by a substantial amount! Unfortunately, I had not submerged it for long enough, and it had not absorbed as much water as I wanted it to.

While I was frowning, the owner of the forge I was standing in front of, Uncle Rivaldi, strolled out of his house. He noticed me standing outside with a wet axe. Thinking that I had dropped it into the barrel accidently, he said heartily, “Come here young lad, pa.s.s me your axe and I will dry it for you!”

Smiling slightly, I raised my head and answered him calmly, “Thank you uncle, but I’m not troubled by the axe being wet! I just wanted it to become heavier.”

Hearing this, Uncle Rivaldi was initially stunned, but recovered soon after as he understood my train of thought. Without speaking, he took my axe from me and soaked it in the barrel for a few seconds. Lifting it from the barrel, he carried the axe into the smelting workshop next door, and threw the axe into a furnace filled with molten iron!

Suddenly, Uncle Rivaldi increased his speed and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the pair of wood pliers lying next to him. Clamping onto the axe inside the furnace, he extracted it quickly and inserted it into a barrel filled with water beside him. The water boiled vigorously as steam erupted from the barrel. Seemingly unafraid of the heat, Uncle Rivaldi reached into the barrel and took the axe out.

The axe was no longer solely made of wood. Instead, it was now lined with a layer of iron, causing it to triple in weight. I found that I had to exert myself many times more than before after swinging it around a couple of times!

RING… RING… RING…

d.a.m.n… The bell that signalled the start of the lesson had rung. I’m guessing that I would be the only one late for the lesson. I hurriedly said goodbye to Uncle Rivaldi and rushed towards the practice field at the speed of light! To infinity and beyond! Oops, wrong reference again…