Wolf in The Desert of Ice

Bull

Shiek followed the man as the general had told him,

He was lead through a makeshift gate, then they walked through the village, walking towards the opposite end of it from the gate. They arrived at a building, its facade was that of an ordinary house, maybe a bit bigger than the other ones in Hvall, But Shiek could see a stack of back smoke coming from the back of the house. "Get inside; you'll find Bull in the forge," The Soldier said quickly before turning and leaving.

Shiek stood in front of the large house for a few seconds, unsure about what to do. But soon, he found his resolve and headed inside. The door was unlocked. It was also much broader and taller than all other doors that he had seen in Hvall. As he passed through the entrance, he found himself in an expansive room. The ceiling was high, higher than even the one of the cave. As he looked around, Shiek found the room mostly empty. A small fireplace and an oversized chair were resting near a tall table. There were only two windows, so the room was dark even during the afternoon.

Another thing shiek noticed was the smell. He could smell three things clearly, wood, smoke and metal. These three odours mixed and saturated the room. It was a pleasant smell, powerful but not invading, Shiek like this smell.

Soon he decided to leave the empty room, following the Soldier's instruction. This led him to a corridor. The smell that he had whiffed in the previous room was more robust in the hall. From here, he could hear a rhythmic sound, a loud sound of metal hitting metal. He could also feel the temperature rising as he continued down the hallway.

As he approached the end of the hallway, another door awaited him. This one was made of weird wood. It was darker than the rest of the house. As Shiek tried to open the door, it was heavy. It was so massive that Shiek could not open it on his first try, so he tried again. This time he used all his force, pushing the heavy door just enough for him to enter.

As he did, he found himself in a semi-open area. There was a forge and smithing equipment scattered around; near the forge was a large man, larger than any man Shiek had ever seen. He was bent over an anvil, hammering away at a rough piece of metal.

"You made it through the door on your first time, Impressive" The man spoke in a deep and slow voice, calmly following his rhythm hitting the metal over and over again, "Why are you here, kid?" the man asked as he put the now cooling metal back into the forge.

"I was sent to find Bull. The general said he would train me" "hmh I'm Bull, now take those gloves over there and start forging", The man said, taking the metal out of the forge and returning to his work" Shiek was confused. Still, he took the gloves and headed near the forge. There was another anvil and a couple of Hammers of different sizes, along with a rough hunk of unshaped metal. "Sorry, Bull, but what exactly am I supposed to do? I never forged metal before" "Put the metal in the forge; when it's hot, take it out, make it into a shape you like, but don't wait until it's too hot or else it will melt". And so Shiek did. He spent the rest of the day forging with Bull. The man told SHiek what he did right and corrected him when he did something wrong. At the end of the day, Shiek felt drained and sore without having accomplished anything. Both he and Bull were now inside the large house. Bull had offered Shiek dinner, which the young man gladly accepted.

"You follow instructions well, your strength is above normal, you learn quick, but you are still too weak, you might be quick to learn but you lack spontaneousness and creativity" Bull suddenly said during dinner. "You sleep in the barn next door until you have crafted a blade. You will not be allowed anywhere but the forge and the barn unless I tell you. Tomorrow, when the Bell rings twice, come to the forge, and leave the rusty blade behind"  Bull, spoke firmly, without care about Shiek's attempts to speak. "From tomorrow, you will call me sir as well. After I deem you ready, I will start with sword training. Now go to sleep" And with that, Bull got up and left the room, heading in the corridor.

Shiek followed the man's

Instruction, going to the small bran next door. He slept on some hay the cold hair pricking his skin. The following day he woke up sore and tired, "I wonder what Oki is doing", He thought before noticing the bell ringing in the background. One ring, two rings, three rings. At the third ring, Shiek rushed to the forge, there he found Bull once again working on a blade, "You are late. That means your lunch break will be reduced." Bull said before continuing to forge his blade.

Shiek went back to his own blade. This time he managed to shape it somewhat, "I have shaped it, sir, what should I do now?" he asked to bull, presenting the rough metal to the man.  "Hmm, it's rough, too wide and thin. Throw it away, get a thicker piece this time, keep the shape."

And so Shiek did, spending the rest of the morning forging a new piece of metal. "May I ask one thing, sir?" Shiek asked during his lunch break, he only had 10 minutes, but he needed to ask to get better. "What should I do to get better at forging?" "Hmh,  good question, you hit the metal with your full force, that is why you tire and oversleep. You should be shaping the metal, not beating it. Be gentle with it. It doesn't require your full force to shape. Now back to work" "Yes sir."

Oki had been in Hvall for a couple of days. She had been lead by the general to his mansion, the most prominent house of the whole Base. There she had been thoroughly washed by the housemaids than she had been given lovely dresses and lavish meals.

Every day she had 3 lessons a day, One from Sigrid the Head maid about etiquette and language, One from Viggo, an old man who was ahead of a farm before it was destroyed about organization, taxes and laws, and one from the general about politics and military tactics.

This routine had been going on for two days, and there was no sign of Shiek. She had started to worry, so one day during her etiquette lesson, she asked Sigrid, "Sigrid, what happened to the Shifter boy that was with me when I came to Hvall?" "He is probably slaving away under the old Bull, that man has very peculiar teaching methods, but the fact that you have not seen him around is a good sign."

"And why would that be?" "Well, Bull is very picky when it comes to pupils. If the boy had not piqued that old warrior's interest, he would probably be here learning under the general" "Why? Isn't the general stronger than Bull?" "Oh no, no dear child. Bull was the general's teacher, and to this day, he has not yet beaten him in a duel. If your friend can survive his training, he might even be stronger than the general someday" Oki smiled at this. She hoped that shiek would be ok, but one part of her wished for him to fail, just so that they could spend some more time together, but this daydreaming was quickly stopped by Sigrid as a quick whack on the wrist brought her back to her lesson