"Adam, get over here! He's about to start!" Caspian interrupts my thoughts and reminds me that Jeff isn't waiting for us to get ready.
I rush toward Caspian and stand next to him, behind Heath. Heath has a massive metal shield, about 3/4 the size of his body, propped up on the ground. On his back, an oversized broadsword, big enough to multipurpose as a club, is strapped. Caspian has a gallant appearance. He's wearing a leather chest piece and a sword sheath is strapped to his waist. He clutches the corresponding long-sword in his hands.
'Hmmm, they're basically a tanker and a minimalist knight. I wonder how many hits Heath can take from Jeff's hammer before he gives in? And, how good is Caspian with that sword? Is he equivalent to a knight, or a country bumpkin? I'll have to observe them to better grasp their strength.'
"So, Caspian, what's the plan? How do we beat him?" I question Caspian since he's more familiar with fighting Jeff.
"Beat him? Hahaha, no, that's not the goal. We need to survive five minutes." Caspian chuckles and corrects my flawed assumption.
'Five minutes?! That doesn't sound difficult... Then again, Jeff is the one teaching us... If I compare him to a university professor, it would be impossible for three students to beat their professor in his specialization. But, is Jeff comparable to that? Isn't he just a weapons smith? I guess he must be stronger than he's made out to be...'
As I contemplate Jeff's strength, the person himself launches an attack. He rushes toward Heath and slams his battle hammer down on Heath's shield. Heath staggers two steps back, but regains his balance and resists the hammer. Caspian rushes forward sweeping his sword at Jeff, but Jeff jumps, dodging the sword. Jeff vaults over Heath's shield, pinning Heath under the shield and sending a kick toward me.
'Wait, what?! He's already here! That didn't even take five seconds!'
I push off the ground, dodging toward my right. But, Jeff stops his kick, twists his body, lands his feet on the ground and swings his hammer to his left, blocking off my escape route.
'Snap!'
I consider ducking, but I'd prefer injuring any other part of my body than my head. I attempt to jump over the hammer, but Jeff raises it's trajectory and trips me, smashing my face into the ground. Jeff continues the hammer's arch, preparing to hit me after the hammer rotates 360 degrees. Heath throws his shield off and receives the blow with his broadsword, saving me from my impending doom.
'Perfect! His back is to me, I'd be a fool not to take this chance!'
I grab a dagger and lunge toward Jeff's back. If I can get it in front of his neck, I win.
'Yes, so close! He hasn't noticed me!'
Foolish, when my dagger is only a couple feet away, Jeff abruptly twists his hammer's handle counter-clockwise. The weapon produces a clicking noise, and the end falls to the ground in front of Heath's toes. Then, Jeff swings the freed handle around and blocks my dagger. On the end of the handle a combined spear point and locking mechanism is visible.
'What the hay! I thought it was just a hammer, but it's a spear too?! I call cheats! Jeff already knows about my weapon, but I don't know a thing about his! And, how in the world did he implement something as detailed as a locking mechanism using basic tools!'
Jeff and I take part in a competition of strength, pushing our weapons against each other. My dagger is much shorter, so I have more leverage, but I'm only using one hand while he's using two. I draw my other dagger using my free hand, but Jeff raises his knee to kick me, so I retreat backwards. In the meantime, Caspian and Heath recover and close in from two other sides.
"Awwww, that's not very nice! Don't you know it's rude to gang up on an old retiree like me? Hahahaha." Jeff's jolly laughter contrasts his cold atmosphere.
When Caspian, Heath and I come at Jeff from three sides at once, Jeff swipes his spear toward Heath. Heath dodges the spear, but the swipe changes into a stab, targeting the former location of Heath's feet. Jeff was never aiming for Heath, his spear stabs back into the hefty chunk of metal used as the hammer's end and twists clockwise. The spear once again becomes a hammer and Jeff lifts it into the air, then heavily slams it onto the ground.
'Snap! Now he has the hammer back! And, that last strike knocked a bunch of dirt into the air. It's too dangerous to keep attacking, I'll have to wait until the dust clears.'
**Whizz**
**Thud**
'Ouch! What was that?!'
I look down, a stone the size of a fist struck my leg. It hurts, but it's nothing more than a minor nuisance.
'I wonder if that was an intentional result of hitting the ground? Wait a minute...'
I see the hammer coming out of the corner of my eye, but it's too late. I fell right into his trap.
**Bam**
I'm hit square in the stomach and thrown onto my back. The remaining dust and debris fall to the ground and I see Caspian and Heath lying on their backs similarly.
'I guess we lost this time... Oh well, it was a learning experience... Hold on, I didn't use any of the things Jeff taught me at all! I hope I learn something more applicable soon!'
"Good job boys! you made it almost two minutes! Heath, don't pause when your opponent does something surprising. Caspian, your swordsmanship is fine, but you need to plan more in advance. If you were prepared at the start, you could have kept the momentum instead of allowing me to escape and fight your allies. Adam, you did well for a beginner, but you spend too much time thinking and don't react quickly enough. With time and experience you should improve." Jeff critiques us as he leans on his hammer.
"Thank you for the advice." Caspian thanks Jeff as he gets up and dusts himself off.
"Uh huh." Heath stays on the ground, looking at the sky and grunts his agreement.
"Yeah, thanks for the guidance, I appreciate you letting me join in on these lessons. On another note, did you make that weapon yourself? Are you the one who designed it? How does the locking mechanism work? If you made it, how did you manufacture the more detailed parts?" I get up, walk over to Jeff and inspect his weapon.
"Oh, yeah, I made this one. It's one of my greatest creations! You haven't even seen all it's features yet! Here, see this part of the handle? You can remove this pin and unscrew it, then you'll have a short spear which can be used as a knife and this other pole. If you remove the pins and slide off the metal tube on this pole, here! You have nunchucks! I tried adding a collapsible crossbow into the heads design, but it wasn't sturdy enough. Regarding the locking mechanism for the head and the handle, I'm proud of this, it has a little piece of metal which will bend forward and back here and it holds the handle in place using..." Jeff explains the multiple intricacies of his hammer as he shows me it's inner workings.
'Fascinating! These systems are very similar to many used in everyday items in my previous world, but here they must be far more rare. And, wow! This hammer is awesome! It's like the Swiss Army Knife of all weapons!'
"I see! So that's how it works!" I nod my head as Jeff shows off his craftsmanship, only inventors can understand the joy experienced by other inventors.
"Oh I need to talk to you about that payment system you proposed. I've talked to the other business owners about it and we've come to an agreement." Jeff strokes his beard as he decides where to start.