Livon's workshop was on a floor filled with all sort of store above the stables, and the entrance of the tower. The latter was a heavy double door made of wood with iron frames on the sides, large hinges, and thirty feet high. The door still kept clues carved on its wood by the past civilisations, but the figures were fading. We could barely make up of what it was, a few knights and dragons, it was hard to distinguish something else.
Like all the other sellers Livon lived in his shop : it allowed him to gain time and spare money on the rent price should he live in another house. The only disadvantage was the disorder that reigned there, aggravated by a lack of a worthy female presence in the house. He was a gunsmith, the house was full of tools, weapons, iron, and charcoal blocks.
Nihal opened the door.
- I came back ! She said. And I'm hungry !
Her words were covered by the noise. In a corner, Livon was hitting with a big hammer one piece of metal that was glowing red, each time he brought his hammer down, thousand of sparks jumped all around the room and fell like a waterfall on the floor. Livon was a huge man with thick jet black hair full of soot. Only his eyes were glowing on his face who was as dark as coal.
- Oi Old man ! Shouted Nihal.
- Ah, it's you... answered Livon while wiping the sweat on his forehead. You weren't coming, so I started the work for tomorrow early.
- You mean to say you haven't prepared anything ?
- Haven't we decided that, once a week, it'll be your turn to do the cooking part mmh ?
- Well yes... But I'm sooo tired !
- Ha wait wait, don't tell me anything, you went to play with your crazy group again, didn't you ?
No one answered, pure silence.
- And, like always you went the floor of the abandoned houses.
Still silence.
- And maybe for the nth time, you ended in Baar's garden.
This time, Nihal opened the pantry and took an apple.
- You know what ? Don't worry about food, I'll eat this. She said while hopping back little by little, away from Livon, while keeping her poker face like nothing is happening.
- God Nihal ! How many times did I tell you not to play in the garden ? Here, in the store, there's always a crowd of people complaining and keeps buzzing me with 'free repairs' !
Nihal sat down, with a pained look :
- It's like this... When we fight...
Livon sighed tiredly and started cutting vegetables for diner.
- Don't bullsh*t me ! If you want to play, play ! But don't go around bothering others !
Nihal looked up : it was always the same thing.
- Don't be such a stuck-up, Old man...
Livon threw her a swift glance.
- Couldn't you call me dad for once ?
Nihal with a little mischievous smile said :
- Come on dad ! Say whatever you want, I know that it makes you proud that I'm strong with a sword...
Grudgingly, Livon brought her a plate full of vegetables.
- That's my meal ?
- Yes, that's what tomboyish girl like you eat when they play soldier, eat. If you had respected the deal, we could have had a warm dish right now.
He went and sit down near her and started eating his vegetables too, and said again :
- It's not that I'm not satisfied...
Nihal started giggling. Livon fought but couldn't suppress it any longer and laughed too.
- Ahah, it's okay, you're right. Me ? I like how you are right now, but others... You're already 13 years old... Girls you're age have to marry...
- And who said that ? Do you think I'll stay closed in a house washing old socks all my life ? No way. I want to be a strong warrior !
- There isn't any female warrior, countered Livon.
His voice failed to hide the hint of pride while he was saying that.
- Then I'll be the first !
Livon smiled and patted the hair of her daughter lovingly.
- You're such a brat ! Sometimes I feel like what you need is a mother...
- It's not your fault if mom died, simply replied Nihal.
- No, nodded Livon, it's not my fault.
For his wife, Livon always keeps some mysteries to Nihal. And she noticed early that every child of Salazar had a mom and a dad : except her. Since she was a small kid, she started asking Livon all sort of questions, to which Livon responded vaguely. All she managed to learn was that ; her mother was dead. But she didn't know where and when nor how ?...
- How was she ?
- Very beautiful.
- Yes, but how ?
- Like you, long blue hair and purple eyes.
Every time she talked about her mother, Livon would lose his cool and Nihal learned while growing that it was for the better to avoid this subject and so stopped talking about it.
She quickly changed the subject :
- You always told me that you wanted me to be a strong person, who can always follow his desire... That's what I try to become !
Livon always had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter : her words started to bring him tears.
- Come here, he said while taking her in his arms, maybe squeezing a little bit too strong.
- I can't breathe, Old man...
Nihal feigned wanting to escape from his strong arms, but truthfully she liked those shows of affection, she was just embarrassed to admit it.
In the afternoon, they did the usual, forging weapons.
Livon wasn't only the best-known gunsmith : he was an artist. His swords were incredible weapons, with a breathtaking beauty ; the swords could adapt to their wielders and enhance their skills exponentially. He also crafted lances as pointy as a fine needle and even more sharp than a razor blade, carved with a fine curvy pattern which amplified the weapon's aura of nobleness and destruction.
He was capable of mixing the best efficiency with elegance ; he treated his weapons like he treated children ; they were his little things and he loved them dearly. He loved his job because it allowed him to demonstrate his overflowing creativity, which was limitless, and testing or even improving his already impressive skills constantly.
Each new weapon was for him a new challenge to himself : and from weapon to weapon, he tried new things harder and harder. Like using new material, new shapes always more daring, which needed skills even more precise than a surgeon.
Livon's fame was so huge that he never stopped working. And for a while now, he was sometimes helped by Nihal because he had too much work or just because she wanted for fun.
While she was passing the hammer to him or pressing the air bellow, he shared his wise tips on warriors.
- A weapon isn't only a dull object : for a warrior, his sword is like one of his members. It's like one of his most trusted companions, who he'll never exchange for anything in this world : they can't be separated. And for a smith, a sword is like his baby. It's like how Nature gave birth to all the life out there, we also gave birth by tempering the blade in the fire. Said Livon with a wide grin.
So it wasn't that shocking for a girl like Nihal, who had a father who lived only for his swords, surrounded by soldiers and knights to become so rebel and less feminine.
They were focused on the making of the sword when suddenly Nihal started one of their hot topic of the moment :
- Eh, Old man...
- Mmmm... Livon brought down his hammer on the blazing red blade.
- I wanted to ask you...
He hit the blade once again.
- When will you give me a true sword ? She said with a smile full of innocence.
Livon's hammer froze in the air. He sighed and then re-started forging.
- Hold me this for a second.
- Hoi ! Don't go around the bush !
- You're still too little to wield one.
- Ah yes ? But I'm not 'too little' to be wed and look for a husband mmm ? She said emphasizing clearly his words.
Livon let go of his hammer and felt down on his chair with a determined look :
- Nihal, we've already talked about it : a sword isn't some wooden toy.
- Yes I know. And I also know how to use it, even better than all the boys of the Tower !
Livon sighed again. He often thought of gifting her a sword, but the fear that she might hurt herself was still there for him. On the other side, he knew she was a little genius with her wooden sword : and when she would try with a real one, he also knew all the pros and cons that comes with the ability to wield more power.
Seeing that her father thoughts were a little more shaken than usual, Nihal started again :
- So, Old man ? Say yes ?
Livon looked around.
-We'll see, he said.
He got up and went where all his best swords were pilled, those he forged without having a customer, for the art and the passion. He took a dagger and showed it to her.
- This one, I forged it months ago...
It was quite a beautiful weapon ; the handle was shaped like a tree trunk, with at one end the roots and at the other two crossed tree branches which widened on both sides; other branches come out of it and rolled up to blend with the blade.
Nihal eyes shined seeing the weapon.
- Is it mine ?
- Yes it's yours if you beat me. If I win you do the cooking and cleaning for 1 month.
- Fine for me ! But you're big and strong, while I'm still a 'little girl', isn't it what you always say ? You won't bully a little girl mm? So to make it fair, you must stay in a one-meter square.
Livon smiled :
- Alright, it seems fair enough.
- Give me a sword then, said Nihal excited by the idea of having her hands on a real piece of iron for once.
- No way ! I'll also use a wooden sword !
They went in the middle of the room, face to face, distancing themselves from each other, Nihal with her wooden sword and Livon with a wooden stick.
- Are you ready Nihal ?
- Of course !
The duel started.
Nihal wasn't gifted with a very good physical resistance, and her techniques and skills weren't totally on point. But she balanced those shortcomings with her instincts and her originality/fantasy in her moves. She blocked every attack, chose the right time to counter with her attacks, and jumped left and right with astounding agility. Those were her strengths and she knew it.
Livon felt proud about his little tomboyish girl with her long blue braided hair who was constantly moving around him. Suddenly, the wooden stick was thrown out of his grip and landed on the sword's shelves against the wall.
Nihal pointed her sword at his throat :
- What happened Old man ? Did you forget how to fight ? Letting a little girl disarm you ?
Livon took her wooden sword from her hands and went toward the shelve and picked the dagger, and he gave it to her :
- Here keep it, you deserved it.
Nihal took it and spun it a couple of times in her hands, weighing it and filling the blade with fingers. She couldn't hide the excitement she was feeling right now : her first weapon !
- But remember well, added her father, never let your guard down against anyone, even when they are losing.
- Don't worry I know.
Nihal also added with a mischievous look :
- Thanks Old man.
She was smart enough to know that he was letting her win...