76 New weapon

Leo followed Karl, as he led the way to a storage room in the side of one of the surrounding mountains. As they walked in he saw rows upon rows of weapons. Leo whistled, and Iris in shock as they never saw so many weapons before. What surprised Leo was that they were all expertly cleaned and taken care of, there wasn't even a speck of dust on any of them. Karl stopped and turned to Leo and asked,

{So, what is it that you're used to?} he guessed from Leo's strength that he used a heavy weapon, similar to his war hammer. That was why he was surprised when Leo said that he had only ever used a single handed sword.

{that won't do, not at all.} Leo heard him mutter as he walked among the rows of weapons. Leo was confused, and asked,

{what won't do?} Karl left his train of thought, and told Leo,

{your strength is the problem, a regular sword doesn't have any weight to it. What matters isn't having the lightest weapon, its that it feels right in your grip, not too heavy, not too light. It's probably why you broke your last sword. But if you trained for swords then it's the best thing for you,even if it's a great sword, but we don't have any that will work for your strength. We used a special metal that was denser than anything else called adamansteel for chi users, but we don't have any weapons left as they were all taken centuries ago. The damn metals so strong though, that even if we started working on one it wouldn't be ready until after the humans break their way here anyways.} Leo was dumbfounded, as it seemed as if they didn't have any weapons suitable for him available, until Karl continued,

{we might have something temporarily, until we can work a great sword for you. Perhaps a battle axe so that you have the blades, but there's still the weight at the end. You might not be familiar with it, but I'll have to beat the basics into you before the battle starts, perfect for me to even the score boy!} Leo was thoughtful for a few seconds, before accepting Karl's offer. He then led the way to a row of giant double sided axes, and started examining each one. Leo didn't say anything as Karl went to work, until after nearly thirty minutes later, he finally pulled one down and handed it to Leo.

The moment Leo picked up the axe, he almost felt as if it was perfect for him. Karl gave a great laugh and shouted,

{I STILL GOT IT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.} what Leo didn't know was that Karl's specialty wasn't just fighting, he was also the best at choosing a persons weapons. There had been tons of young dwarves that only lived through certain situations due to Karl correcting them on what weapon they should use. As Leo started swinging the axe around, he marveled at how he was able to use it with either one or both hands. Karl started laughing again, and said,

{now let's go test it out shall we? You'll also get to see what I like to use. Oh, should I find something for the lass too?} Iris just shook her head, and pulled out her daggers before saying,

{I'm good with these or a bow. According to the one who gave them to me, I almost never have to worry about maintenance.} Karl's eyes went wide at the daggers, and he exclaimed,

{THATS ADAMANSTEEL!! How in Hades did you get that?!} Iris explained how she got them from elder grandma from the ruins of Asdarge. Leo also took the moment to explain that he also came to ask the dwarves to help rebuild it. Karl was thoughtful for a few moments, before he silently decided to bring up the topic with the other Chiefs. He then led the way back outside, and they went back to his house so that he could get his war hammer. As Leo and Iris waited outside, Karl soon came back out with a hammer that was actually bigger than him. It looked like one of those exaggerated anime weapons, but seeing how easily Karl swung it around Leo wasn't laughing.

{alright boy! Let's even that score, shall we!?} the two men rushed at each other. As they started their fight, Iris and Runa who came out with Karl, were sitting at the side anxious. Though Iris wasn't usually worried when Leo was fighting, seeing the size of the hammer caused her to feel a little fear. As the fight continued more people, started to gather at the commotion. Leo was awkward with the axe at first, but as he continued dancing out of Karl's range, he gradually got better with it.

Leo actually had to use chi to block Karl's hammer once, which the dwarf didn't mind as it meant that Leo was getting serious. Then he started covering his axe with chi, and began using it to block the hammer with the extra protection. Karl got a few cuts from the few times Leo's axe grazed him, Leo got some bruises from when he didn't guard properly. As the fight dragged on, more people started to gather and eventually even the other Chiefs came to see the commotion. With how intense the fight was, they would have thought the two were actually trying to kill each other if not for the giant smiles on their faces.

Eventually Leo got close, and once inside the hammers guard brought his claws up to Karl's throat in order to finish the match. Seeing he was bested again, Karl only started laughing. He didn't consider the claws a low blow, in fact Karl was overjoyed that there was someone who could pressure him to be even stronger even though he couldn't use chi. Leo felt the same, as Karl wasn't like Jack who learned to fight for the few and far in between times he was needed, he loved the thrill of facing a strong opponent and striving to beat them. The current score was 3-1.