Chapter Ten: The Great Sword in Both Hands

  Two-handed great swords are not a common weapon, but they're also not particularly rare. Smith had seen his father wield one when he was young, so he had some faint impression of what it looked like. Although no one had ever come to buy a great sword before, if he knew what it looked like, couldn't he just make one?

  Two-handed swords and the like, Joanie had seen them before in movies. William Wallace in "Braveheart" charged into enemy lines wielding a two-handed sword, accompanied by the roar of the battlefield and the sound of bagpipes, like a god of war, slashing left and right. How cool is that?

  The father and son used ready-made steel ingots and hammered for two days, finally completing a double-handed great sword that met Johnny's imagination.

  The sword stood upright on the ground, its hilt almost reaching Johnny's neck. The blunt and rounded head, wide and thin blade, and a section of unsharpened blade near the hilt wrapped in leather for gripping. This was a deadly weapon made for chopping.

  Anyway, Johnny won't be much more precise with his thrusts.

  Jony didn't actually want to play with a long sword in the past, he thought the curved structure of a wokou was better. But after trying several times, he found that he couldn't create that shape. Later, he thought Tang knives were awesome, but after making one, he discovered that the quality was very poor.

  It seems there is some special craftsmanship inside.

  So he could only use a long sword, which was just the right size. Joanie wielded a long sword, but had the heart of a Tang knife and a samurai sword. So using both hands to chop and slash came naturally.

  For this newly forged great sword, Joanie couldn't bear to put it down. Picking up the great sword and heading to the backyard was a flurry of chopping and hacking. Indeed, compared to his previous longsword, it felt much more manageable, without any light or floating feeling, each swing and chop had a lot of power behind it.

  It's too comfortable! It's too addictive! Waving the imperfectly balanced large sword with both hands, Joanie felt that he had already discovered the greatest treasure in this world.

  When Johnny was playing wildly in the backyard, Astrid came.

  Astrid is a very enthusiastic person, although she has a bit of a foul mouth. However, Astrid is also a very forgetful person. When she returned to her own home, she had already forgotten what she promised in the Mercenary Union.

  At the same time, Joanie was enthusiastically smashing her youthful passion on the rough draft of that double-handed great sword.

  Fortunately, when she happened to meet Odala Knight, she remembered something.

  Audrey saw that it was Astrid who spoke up, and she didn't want to refuse her on the spot. After all, the brothers in the guard had a good relationship with each other.

  "Bring him to the castle tomorrow morning."

  Let's take a look at the quality first.

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  "Excuse me, is Johnny Smith here?" Old Smith was working in the shop when he saw a pretty and seemingly elegant young girl asking for him, so he looked up and smiled.

  "Just wait a minute, I'll go get him." Old Smith put down the hammer in his hand and walked into the backyard, then brought Johnny back to the blacksmith's shop.

  "It's Astrid." Johnny wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Is the escort arranged?"

  "Yes, tomorrow morning I'll come and get you, and we'll go to the castle together to see Uncle Odara. He wants to take a look at your qualifications."

  "Thank you so much, come on in and take a seat? Let's have dinner together?" Johnny said with great enthusiasm.

  "It's okay." Astrid shook her head, "I still have a task to do. You remember to get up early tomorrow morning, and also bring your equipment, the escort's equipment is self-provided." After finishing speaking, she bid farewell to Joanie and left the door.

  "Is this the girl you were telling me about?" Old Mr. Smith asked Johnny.

  "Yeah..." Johnny was somewhat distracted.

  Do I want to become a vassal, then a knight, and then a noble? Then I can pursue ASTRid...

  Jony sighed and thought it was better not to have such high hopes for now.

  He told himself that, but that night, Joanie tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. As soon as it was dawn, he flipped over and got out of bed. Joanie had a feeling like when he was a kid going on a spring outing, one sleepless night, still full of energy. The only difference was that the teacher would never send him back home at that time.

  At this moment, Aisley hadn't arrived yet. After Joni finished his breakfast and had nothing to do, he came to the courtyard, picked up the dual-handed sword and started swinging it around, warming himself up. The blade sliced through the wind, creating a whistling sound, full of killing intent. As Joni chopped at the air, he secretly thought: If I had this sword back then, even if I charged into the goblin tribe, I wouldn't be afraid of anything.

  A sense of regret for not meeting sooner suddenly arose again.

  Finally, Astrid has arrived.

  In full armor, with a long sword at his waist and a short blade tied to his thigh, Joni arrived at the castle gate in the center of Tabriz City with Astrid.

  The city walls of Tabriz are about three stories high, while the castle is nearly five. The stone outer walls are studded with arrow slits. Soldiers patrolling on the walls are well-equipped and their weapons glint in the sunlight. In this remote inland commercial hub, the presence of the castle serves as a reminder that war is not so far away.

  The guard at the door seemed to recognize Astrid. Seeing her bring Jony over, he didn't come forward to ask questions, just nodded and smiled slightly, staying in place without moving.

  The castle is like a city within the city, with gunners training in formation and archers practicing their marksmanship. Although there are not many people, a stern and murderous atmosphere still emanates from these professional soldiers.

  Astrid didn't introduce Joanie to anyone, nor did she intend for her to stay and continue admiring the various decorations and activities in the castle. Seeing Joanie looking around curiously, Astrid furrowed her brow and said in a low voice, "Don't look anymore, if you become an attendant, there will be plenty of opportunities to see it later. Hurry up and follow me, don't act like some country bumpkin who has never seen the world."

  Actually, Johnny wasn't amazed by the castle's grandeur or the army's might; he was just excited to see a military force from the Cold Arms era with his own eyes. This face-to-face contest of strength and agility, where life and death were entrusted to weapons and skills, always resonated with boys. However, this expression was indeed somewhat exaggerated. Seeing Astra getting angry, Johnny didn't dare look again and followed the little girl around the castle to an open area at the back.

  A middle-aged man held a large sword in both hands, practicing his swordsmanship. Joanie looked from afar and felt that the shape of the sword seemed... somewhat strange.

  "Uncle Odara." Astrid waved and greeted the big man.

  "Oh, it's Astrid." The big man stopped his action, inserted the sword into the ground, and the hilt swayed slightly beside his head.

  "Uncle Odala, I've brought someone for you, take a look and see if it's okay."

  Jony has a feeling of being sold down the river.

  Audrey looked at Johnny, sizing him up and down, then circled around him once more.

  This is a bit like buying cattle now.

  Suddenly, Odala stretched out his right hand and gave Johnny a fright.

  Audra raised her right hand and pointed at the sword hilt exposed behind Johnny: "Is this your weapon?"

  Jonyi let out a breath: "Yes, I heard you use a two-handed greatsword, so I specially made one with my father, it should suit your fighting style."

  Audrey nodded: "It was Astrid who told you, right? You're also kind of thoughtful. Take down your sword and let me see it."

  Jony unsheathed his great sword and handed it over to O'dara with both hands.

  Audrey took the sword, feeling it in her hand, then slowly swung it through the air several times, shook her head and handed it back to Johnny: "This sword is suitable for chopping, or rather, it was born for chopping, so that it can chop many with one blow and be popular."

  Once popular?

  Audrey let out a sigh and continued, "This sword of yours, although the workmanship isn't great and the balance control isn't very good either, it's still usable in everyday life. However, as early as ten years ago, this type of sword had already been phased out because it was too easy to injure one's own people on the battlefield. Of course, mercenaries can still use it, but..."

  He turned around and pulled out the sword stuck in the mud: "Now the army uses basically this kind of sword."

  Joni looked at the sword in Odara's hand and felt a sense of familiarity. The sword was almost as tall as a person, with a slender hilt and a narrow blade. Like his own greatsword, the section near the hilt had no edge, wrapped layer by layer with leather. What was different was that this sword had two small blades protruding horizontally from the leather, curving out in a comfortable arc towards the tip of the sword. Looking again at the tip, it was exceptionally sharp, unlike his own rounded one.

  As he gazed at the exquisitely crafted hilt and guard, as well as the intricate engravings on the blade, Johnny felt himself getting closer to the answer.

  My god, isn't this just a German Zweih?nder?!