Chapter 3; The Sidekick
And all Fantasy Stories must have, or at least should have, a Sidekick. And in this case, the Sidekick was Grayson.
Grayson didn't mind being the Sidekick. He was too smart to be the Hero.
Grayson knew that Villains had already a hard time memorizing the names of all the Heroes in the realms, so they didn't bother to learn the names of the Sidekicks.
And that was great, as far as Grayson was concerned. He could live with that!
How could the Villains plot to kill him, if they didn't even know his name? Or better yet, didn't even know that he existed?
Let the Heroes get all the credit and glory. They would eventually end up being at the Death lists of many Villains, and subjected to many dangers and hard work.
Destiny had once attempted to convince Grayson to become a Hero, but Grayson had said no and kicked Destiny on the arse.
The easy and less dangerous life of the Sidekick was what Grayson loved.
…
But what can be said about Grayson?
Even at a young age, Grayson was always considered "the Ladies' Man." It was rare to see Grayson without a woman close by him. On a trip with his mother to the small town of Galana, Grayson met the "woman of his dreams." However, it rapidly turned out that the woman was anything but a woman made of dreams - but rather nightmares.
Intimidated by her (as in being fearful for his life!) he finally mustered up the courage to break it off with her. Whatever unspeakable event happened that day, it shook Grayson to the core. Where as before, he always had young ladies around him, suddenly he was a recluse, shunning contact with women!
One day, Grayson bumped into a dwarf coming out of a linguistics class. Colliding into one another, Grayson soon found himself being scolded by the small dwarf, with a rather unusual accent. Helping the dwarf pick up his books ("How to be a Dwarf", "Dwarves: Speak It And Be Heard", etc) he asked the dwarf where that accent was from.
The Dwarf explained that he was a dwarf from the Vista Kingdom of Dwarves. Having met a few of those dwarves helping his mother with trade supplies, Grayson commented that the accent seemed different. The dwarf shrugged him off and changed the topic by introducing himself as Pawl the Dwarf.
Grayson befriended the dwarf, figuring that the dwarf could help with communication for trade supplies. However, it was not long before Grayson realized other dwarves seemed vastly annoyed by Pawl's presence (or perhaps his insulting accent). Realizing this was ruining relations with the dwarves, Grayson resumed handling the trades for his mother.
One day, Pawl approached Grayson and told him that another person he had recently met was thinking about exploring the world. Grayson was still very young, but figured this might be something worth checking out.
Pawl the Dwarf introduced Grayson to Peter, whose Uncle ran the Red Dragon Tavern. It was there that Peter explained his desire to see the rest of the world. Grayson was interested in everything Peter was saying, and agreed it was time to leave their boring lives and go see the world.
And that was sixteen years ago. Destiny decided to quit his job.
…
"How much for that awesome sword?" – asked Grayson.
Grayson was very excited. He had saved enough money to buy his first sword. He would finally be able to kill someone. Wasn't that awesome?
But the Shopkeeper didn't seem very excited. He looked at Grayson as if he was merely an inconvenience.
"Which one?" – demanded the Shopkeeper.
Grayson started to answer but immediately stopped. Was that a test? He didn't know which sword was the best. He had never held a sword in his entire life. That was rather sad for a Fighter, but he didn't have much money… And the money he had was usually spent on ale and… Just on ale, really.
"That one." – said Grayson.
The Shopkeeper shrugged.
"Point it out to me, please. Last time I checked I wasn't a Diviner." – mocked the Shopkeeper.
Oh, by the Gods! That was a test! Grayson could sense that the Shopkeeper was testing him, in order to know if he was a powerful Warrior. Grayson started to tremble a bit. He hated tests.
"The one on your right…" – said Grayson.
"Oh! Some progress! That only leaves me with twenty guesses to which sword you are referring to." – mumbled the Shopkeeper.
Damn that guy was good. Grayson really thought he had passed the test with that answer. Okay… He had to stay calm.
"The best one, Shopkeeper." – stated Grayson.
The Shopkeeper showed him a mocking smile.
"The Short Sword?" – asked the Shopkeeper.
Grayson looked at the swords on the right. There were so many swords… Which one was the Short Sword?
"A great Warrior such as me deserves only the best, Shopkeeper." – said Grayson.
Okay. That was neither a yes nor a no. Grayson was beginning to sweat a bit.
"Then you don't want the Short Sword?" – asked the Shopkeeper in a surprised manner.
Grayson was confused for a moment. The way the Shopkeeper had said that… He seemed surprised by Grayson´s answer. Did he just reject the best sword the Shopkeeper had? Had he failed the test?
"Errr… Maybe." – answered Grayson.
Okay… Think, Grayson, think… Which one is the Short Sword?
"Perhaps you want a more… manly sword?" – asked the Shopkeeper.
"I do?" – said Grayson.
Yes! He had done it! He had passed the test!
"How about a Bastard Sword?" – asked the Shopkeeper.
"What did you call me?" – demanded Grayson.
"What?" – inquired the Shopkeeper.
"You just mocked me! You called me a bastard, ya bastard!" – shouted Grayson.
"No… I said "How about a Bastard Sword?"." – explained the Shopkeeper.
"There is no such thing as a Bastard Sword. You just made that up in order to offend me! I should cut you in half for insulting me!" – stated Grayson.
"With what? You don't have a sword, remember?" – mocked the Shopkeeper.
"Oh! Can you give me a sword, so I can cut you in half for insulting me?" – begged Grayson.
"No." – said the Shopkeeper.
"Oh!" – mumbled Grayson.
"I can sell you a sword, so you can cut me in half for insulting you." – continued the Shopkeeper.
"Ah! So you did insult me!" – shouted Grayson.
"Not yet. But continue testing my patience and I will think of something." – promised the Shopkeeper.
"Look! It is getting late! Just give that sword over there!" – said Grayson.
"Congratulations." – said the Shopkeeper.
"For what? Did I choose a good sword?" – asked Grayson.
"No. You just chose the only weapon in display that wasn't a sword. That's a Mace." – explained the Shopkeeper.
"You sure?" – asked Grayson.
"Positive." – answered the Shopkeeper.
"Really?" – insisted Grayson.
"It doesn't even have a pointy edge…" – explained the Shopkeeper.
"Oh? A Mace? Ah! I was just testing you! I knew it was a Mace all along. Just wanted to see if you knew that. What have you got to say about that?" – lied Grayson.
"I feel disturbed by your lack of faith in my knowledge about weapons. Me… The owner of a Shop that sells weapons." – said the offended Shopkeeper.
"Right… Yes… Just wanted to… Look! Just give me a sword! Any sword will do! You choose!" – begged Grayson.
The Shopkeeper picked up a sword and gave it to Grayson.
"Wow! What kind of sword is it?" – asked Grayson.
"It is a wooden Sword. So you don't hurt yourself. That will be five gold coins." – stated the Shopkeeper.
