"Control your breathing, close your eyes and visualise your creation," Vulcan's words echoed in Ashton's mind, "It's not your meat to beat randomly. Construct a path, a plan, before executing your will."
With Phantom gone, there was little left to do for Ashton. Nirvana wasn't a threat to him any longer, so instead of dwelling on meagre thoughts of revenge, he decided to focus on honing his other skills.
Although he wasn't the only one interested in the knowledge, Vulcan was so keenly imparting to him. Master Baiter also joined in, although he couldn't do much to keep up with the legendary blacksmith's pace.
Vulcan's way of teaching wasn't conventional by any means. Instead of focusing on practical knowledge, he concentrated on teaching his students from a philosophical point of view.
While others would teach their apprentice how to use a hammer and anvil, Vulcan would instead teach them why they should lift the hammer in the first place.
"Do you have a clear picture in your mind?" Vulcan asked Ashton, who nodded, "Then show me what you got, punk."
Without opening his eyes, Ashton lifted the hammer and waited as it slowly became a part of him. His arm and the hammer were one and the same. It was essential to connect with a tool to create a masterpiece.
Baiter did the same, but he nervously began hammering the metal before him instead of waiting. Suddenly the clanking noise got replaced by a loud thud, followed by a scream.
"ARGH!!!" Baiter screamed, tightly grabbing his crotch.
Ashton wasn't allowed to open his eyes yet, so he could only assume what might have happened to him.
In his hastiness to learn as much as possible, Baiter struck his 'tool' with the hammer instead of the metal sheet. Nora was watching them from a distance and couldn't help but laugh her heart out upon seeing Baiter's twisted face.
Meanwhile, Vulcan couldn't help but shake his head in annoyance. The unexpected visitors were why he wanted to stay on the ship.
But since Ashton insisted on his help rebuilding the city, Vulcan begrudgingly agreed on one condition. Ashton would have to dedicate at least three hours to training with him. The student readily consented since he was eager to learn something new.
Following Baiter's scream, more and more people came charging towards the workshop. Ever since Ashton's alien friends had come to visit, there hadn't been one pale moment in Livan.
"These sniggering bastards..." Vulcan cursed, "Continue your work. I'll be right back."
The dwarf had had enough. Picking up Baiter's hammer, he charged towards the exit. What followed was chaos.
People who had been eagerly watching the drama unfold were now running for their lives. However, some unlucky fellows couldn't retreat in time and were blown away by the gust of wind created by Vulcan's famous [Hammer Swing].
Meanwhile, Ashton had all of his focus on the metal in front. In a way, his mind had stopped registering the happenings around him. He only cared about his swings as he kept beating on the ore.
By the time Vulcan returned, Ashton had finished working on his 'art piece'. However, the look of disappointment was quite evident on his face.
"Hm... Although flawed, it could have been much worse for a kitchen knife." Vulcan replied.
"That's the thing," Ashton replied, "It wasn't supposed to be a kitchen knife."
"Don't tell me," Vulcan mumbled, fearing the worst when Ashton nodded, "A sword like this... maybe you should have struck your balls as well."
Ashton was in no place to give him a cheeky reply as usual and kept his mouth shut while scratching his chin. Having been out of practice for so long, a disaster like this was to be expected.
If truth be told, Vulcan knew something like this was bound to happen. It was the only reason he insisted on training Ashton in exchange for his efforts in rebuilding the city.
'The kid didn't do all that bad,' Vulcan thought, 'Obviously, I'm not going to tell him that. He should be able to recreate a sword in a couple more tries-'
As Vulcan was about to instruct Ashotn to start working again, someone interrupted them. Despite wanting to chase her away like the rest, the dwarf knew Otiga wouldn't interrupt them had it not been something important.
"What is it, Lady Otiga?" Ashton asked, clueless about what could have brought her there.
"I did what you told me and dug around for info on Metal sharks and the Cult," She replied in her unusually tense voice, "You might wanna sit down for this."
"Will you tell me what's wrong?"
Ashton's anxiety was about to punch through the limits as he sat on the ground.
"Seven bounties... have been placed on yours and Bella's heads."
"Bounties?" Ashton was even more muddled now, "Why would those fuckers place bounties on us?"
"Well, that's not the worst part. The collective amount is more than seven million Yenos!"
"WHAT!?"
Seven million Yenos? Forget about killing a couple of people; those money-hungry bastards would end an entire solar system for that amount of money.
That said, Otiga still hadn't answered Ashton's question, "Why would they do something like this? I didn't think they'll make a move this quickly!"
"Judging by how often you have messed their plans up, I think they assume you're out for them," Otiga replied.
"What do you mean, how often? As far as I know-"
Suddenly, the reason hit Ashton like a ton of bricks. Ever since stepping foot in space, he had directly or indirectly messed with them.
First, it was on Planet Euphoria where those bastards used the fourth and second seat-holders to try and kidnap Anna. But Ashton foiled their plans.
Then, when the Sharks and Cult turned their attention towards Eula, Ashton also stopped them there.
Finally, not only did Ashton and his crew fend them off on Occuna, but he also killed some Cult members in self-defence.
Time after time, Ashton had interrupted their plans. There was only so much a terrorist organisation like theirs would tolerate his actions.
"Now that I think about it, it's funny they took this long to do something," Ashton laughed nervously, "I guess we need a plan right about now."
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