Gobber led Edward up the dirt path.
They walked toward a massive wooden house near the top of the cliff.
It had large wooden horns carved over the front door.
“The chief is inside,” Gobber said.
He clanked his peg leg on the stone steps.
“He is a fair man, but he respects strength above all else.” Edward nodded.
They walked through the heavy wooden doors.
The inside of the house was warm.
A large fire burned in a stone pit in the center of the room.
A massive man stood by the fire.
He had a giant red beard that covered most of his chest.
He wore a heavy fur cape and a metal helmet with thick horns.
This was Stoick the Vast.
Stoick looked up as they walked in.
He looked at Edward.
“Gobber,” Stoick said.
His voice rumbled deeply in his chest.
“Is this the shipwrecked boy the guards told me about?” “Aye, Chief,” Gobber smiled.
“This is Edward.
He gave us a wonderful show down by the docks this morning.” Stoick crossed his massive arms.
He looked Edward up and down.
He saw a boy who looked slightly thin, but stood straight.
“A survivor,” Stoick said.
“The sea takes the weak.
If you washed up on our shores, you must have a strong will.
You can stay in Berk, Edward.
But we do not have room for lazy hands.
Everyone works.
You have to earn your keep.” “I understand, Chief,” Edward said politely.
“He is strong, Stoick,” Gobber added, waving his hook.
“The guards watched him run from the docks to the wall a hundred times this morning.
He did not even breathe hard.
He is a tough one.” Stoick raised an eyebrow.
He looked slightly impressed.
“Is that so?
What kind of work do you want to do, boy?
Fishing?
Woodcutting?” “I am interested in blacksmithing,” Edward said.
He wanted to learn metalwork.
He wanted to learn how to hit hot iron and shape steel.
He knew that later in his life, he might want to craft weapons and carve magical runes into them.
A forge was the perfect place to learn the basics of the hammer and the anvil.
Stoick nodded his large head.
“Blacksmithing is hard work.
The fire is hot and the metal is heavy.
But if you have the strength for it, so be it.” Stoick looked at Gobber.
“Take him under your wing, Gobber.
Teach him the forge.” “Gladly,” Gobber grinned.
Just then, the heavy front door opened again.
A boy walked inside.
He was very thin.
He wore a green tunic and a brown fur vest.
He looked incredibly awkward.
It was Hiccup.
Hiccup stopped when he saw the men standing by the fire.
“Morning, Dad,” Hiccup said.
“Morning, Gobber.” Stoick let out a heavy sigh.
He looked at his son.
“Hiccup.
Good, you are here.
This is Edward.
He will be working in the forge with Gobber.” Hiccup looked at Edward.
He gave a small, nervous wave.
“Hi.” “Hello,” Edward said.
Hiccup looked at his father, then at Gobber.
“Wait, is this the guy?
The one everyone is talking about outside?” Stoick frowned.
“Talking about what?” Hiccup looked at Edward with wide eyes.
“People are saying a new boy fought Snotlout and the twins at the same time.
They said he beat them all up.” Hiccup looked at Edward’s completely clean clothes and unbruised face.
“Is it true?
Did you beat up Snotlout?” Edward kept his hands in his pockets.
“No.
I did not raise my hand at all.” Stoick looked at Gobber.
Gobber burst out laughing.
He slapped his good hand against his leg.
“He speaks the truth!” Gobber wheezed.
“He didn’t raise a single finger!
He just moved his feet.
Snotlout threw a punch, missed, and smashed his own face into a stack of barrels!
Then he tripped over Edward’s boot and knocked the twins into the mud!” Stoick stared at Gobber.
Then, a slow, wide grin spread across the chief’s face.
A deep chuckle started in his chest.
The chuckle turned into a massive, booming laugh that shook the walls of the house.
“He knocked himself out?” Stoick roared with laughter, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Oh, I wish I had seen that!
Snotlout always boasts too much.
A good lesson for him.
You didn’t hit him, but you sure made a fool of him, Edward!” Hiccup stared at Edward.
A look of awe crossed Hiccup’s face.
Snotlout bullied Hiccup every single day.
The thought of someone making Snotlout look like an idiot without even throwing a punch was amazing to him.
“That is incredible,” Hiccup whispered.
Stoick calmed down.
He patted Edward on the shoulder with a heavy hand.
“You have a good head on your shoulders, boy.
Go on to the forge.
I want to see how you handle a hammer.” Gobber led Edward and Hiccup out of the house.
They walked down the path to the blacksmith shop.
The forge was a large, open stone building.
A massive fire burned in the back.
Anvils sat on the dirt floor.
Heavy iron tools hung from the walls.
The air smelled strongly of coal and hot metal.
Gobber turned to Edward.
“Alright, lad,” Gobber said.
“Rule number one.
The fire is hot.
Do not touch the glowing metal with your bare hands.
Rule number two.
Keep the bellows moving.
If the fire dies, the metal gets hard.
Rule number three.
When I tell you to hit something, you hit it hard.” “Understood,” Edward said.
Gobber handed Edward a heavy leather apron.
Edward put it on over his rough tunic.
Gobber handed him a heavy iron hammer.
“Let’s see your swing,” Gobber said.
He pulled a glowing red piece of iron from the fire with a pair of long tongs.
He placed it on the anvil.
“Flatten that edge.” Edward stepped up to the anvil.
He did not use his full strength.
He just used the normal strength of a fit young man.
He raised the hammer and brought it down on the glowing iron.
Clang.
He hit the metal perfectly flat.
He raised the hammer and hit it again.
He settled into a steady, even rhythm.
The hammer hit the metal in exactly the right spot every single time.
Gobber watched him.
The older man nodded his head in approval.
“You have a good eye, Edward.
Very steady.
You will do fine here.” Gobber went to the front counter to sharpen some swords.
Edward kept working on the iron.
He looked over.
Hiccup sat at a wooden table in the corner of the forge.
Hiccup had pieces of wood, thick ropes, and heavy iron weights spread across the table.
He was drawing lines on a piece of parchment.
Edward finished his piece of iron.
He put it in a barrel of water.
It hissed loudly.
He put his hammer down and walked over to Hiccup’s table.
“What are you making?” Edward asked politely.
Hiccup quickly covered his drawing with his hands.
He looked nervous.
People usually laughed at his creations.
“It’s nothing,” Hiccup mumbled.
“Just…
a thing.” “It looks like a throwing machine,” Edward said quietly.
He pointed at the wooden frame.
“You have a tension rope and a release catch.
Are you trying to throw those iron weights?” Hiccup blinked.
He slowly moved his hands away from the drawing.
“You…
you know what it is?” “I know how basic equipment work,” Edward said.
Hiccup looked excited.
He pointed to the drawing.
“It is a bola launcher.
It is supposed to throw a heavy rope with weights on the ends.
It will wrap around a dragon’s legs and bring it down.
But the throwing arm keeps getting stuck.
The rope catches on the wood.” Edward looked at the wooden frame on the table.
He knew exactly why it was failing.
The modern world had much better ways to throw objects.
He wanted to help Hiccup, but he did not want to just give him the answer.
He wanted Hiccup to figure it out.
“What if the rope does not touch the wood?” Edward asked simply.
Hiccup frowned.
“But it has to rest on the arm to be thrown.” “Does it?” Edward asked.
He picked up a small, round piece of scrap metal.
He rolled it between his fingers.
“What happens if a rope runs over a smooth wheel instead of a flat piece of wood?” Hiccup stared at the round piece of metal.
He looked down at his drawing.
His eyes widened.
The idea clicked in his head.
“A wheel,” Hiccup whispered.
“A pulley!
If I put a small pulley at the top of the arm, the rope won’t scrape against the wood!
It will glide right off!” Hiccup grabbed a piece of charcoal.
He started drawing quickly, changing the design.
“That is brilliant!
How did you think of that?” “Just a guess,” Edward smiled.
They spent the next hour working together.
Hiccup shaped the wood.
Edward used the fire to bend the small iron pieces they needed for the pulleys.
Hiccup talked the entire time.
He talked about dragons.
He talked about wanting to shoot them down.
Edward just listened and nodded.
He treated Hiccup with respect.
He did not laugh at him.
By noon, the bola launcher looked much better.
Stoick walked into the forge.
He looked at the weapons Gobber finished.
Then, he looked at Edward.
“Put the hammer down, Edward,” Stoick said loudly.
“You have a good swing.
But strength in a forge is different from strength in a fight.
We need to see how you move against a real threat.” Edward wiped his hands on a rag.
“A real threat?” “Dragon Training,” Stoick said.
“I put the other teenagers in the ring this afternoon for a light session.
I want you in there with them.
I want to see if you can hold your own.” “Okay,” Edward agreed easily.
He took off the leather apron.
He followed Stoick out of the forge.
Hiccup grabbed his vest and hurried after them, eager to watch.
They walked to the arena.
It was a massive ring made of high stone walls.
A heavy iron cage sat over the top of the ring to keep dragons from flying away.
Large iron doors lined the walls of the pit.
Edward and Stoick walked through a metal gate and stepped onto the dirt floor of the arena.
Five teenagers stood in the middle of the ring.
Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, a heavy boy named Fishlegs, and a blonde girl holding a wooden axe.
Snotlout saw Edward walk in.
Snotlout instantly looked at his own boots.
His face turned red.
The twins also looked away.
They did not want to make eye contact with the boy who humiliated them that morning.
Stoick stopped in front of the group.
“Listen up,” Stoick barked.
“This is Edward.
He is staying with us.
He will join you in the ring today.
Treat him as a shield brother.” Stoick pointed to the blonde girl.
“Edward, this is Astrid.
She is the best fighter in her age group.” Astrid glared at Edward.
She crossed her arms.
She looked fiercely competitive.
“I heard you can dodge.
Dodging does not kill dragons.” “I try not to get burned,” Edward replied calmly.
Gobber walked into the ring.
He carried an armful of heavy wooden shields and blunt iron swords.
He dropped them in the dirt.
“Grab a weapon!” Gobber yelled.
“Today is about survival.
Do not let the beast corner you.” The teenagers scrambled to grab the shields and swords.
Edward walked over slowly.
He picked up a round shield.
He picked up a blunt sword.
He held the sword in his right hand, but he held it very loosely.
He did not really need it.
Stoick climbed out of the ring and stood on the high stone wall to watch.
Gobber walked over to one of the heavy iron doors.
“Ready?” Gobber asked, grabbing a large metal lever.
“Ready!” Astrid yelled, raising her axe.
Gobber pulled the lever.
The iron doors opened with a loud groan.
A Gronckle charged out of the dark cave.
It was a heavy, fat dragon covered in thick bumps.
It had tiny wings that beat incredibly fast, allowing it to hover in the air like a giant, angry bumblebee.
The dragon roared.
It opened its wide mouth and spat a ball of hot orange fire.
The fire splashed against the dirt right in front of Snotlout.
Snotlout yelled and ran backward, dropping his sword.
Fishlegs screamed and hid behind a wooden barricade.
Astrid rolled to the side, keeping her eyes on the beast.
The Gronckle turned its head.
It saw Edward standing calmly in the open dirt.
The dragon flew straight at him.
It opened its mouth to shoot another fireball.
Edward watched the dragon’s throat.
He saw the muscles tense right before it breathed fire.
Edward took a single, smooth step to the left.
A ball of fire shot through the empty air exactly where Edward had been standing a split second before.
The fire hit the stone wall behind him and splashed harmlessly.
The teenagers stared.
Edward made the dodge look entirely effortless.
He did not dive or roll in the dirt.
He just stepped out of the way.
The Gronckle looked confused.
It hovered in the air.
It swung its heavy tail, covered in thick spikes, aiming for Edward’s ribs.
Edward moved his feet.
He stepped backward just two feet.
The heavy, spiked tail swept past his shirt, missing him by a hair.
The dragon roared in frustration.
It stopped spitting fire.
It decided to just use its massive weight.
It charged forward, trying to ram Edward with its heavy, bumpy head.
Edward dropped his blunt iron sword into the dirt.
He held the heavy wooden shield with both hands.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground.
He watched the dragon fly right at his chest.
At the very last second, Edward stepped forward.
He thrust the thick edge of the shield straight forward, aiming perfectly.
SMACK.
The hard edge of the reinforced shield hit the Gronckle directly on the tip of its sensitive snout.
The force of the sudden stop jarred the dragon’s head backward.
The Gronckle let out a high-pitched squeak.
Its tiny wings stopped beating.
The heavy dragon dropped out of the air like a stone.
It hit the dirt with a massive thud.
The dragon closed its eyes.
It let out a long, rumbling snore.
It was completely knocked out.
The arena went dead silent.
Fishlegs slowly peeked over the wooden barricade.
His mouth hung wide open.
Snotlout rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he just saw.
Astrid lowered her axe, staring at Edward in shock.
Up on the wall, Stoick the Vast stared down into the pit.
He looked at the unconscious dragon, then he looked at Edward holding the shield.
Suddenly, Stoick burst out laughing again.
“Did you see that, Gobber?” Stoick yelled down.
“He put the beast to sleep with one hit!
Outstanding!” Edward lowered the shield.
He turned to the other teenagers.
“The snout seems to be a weak point,” Edward said politely.
Astrid slowly closed her mouth.
She gripped her axe tighter.
She looked at Edward with a mix of anger and respect.
He had just made the hardest training exercise look like a walk in the woods.
Gobber walked over to the sleeping dragon.
He tied heavy ropes around its legs and dragged it back into the cave.
“Well done, Edward!” Gobber cheered.
“Alright, you lot!
Let’s get a Nadder out here!
Show me you can dodge spikes!” The rest of the afternoon was full of running, yelling, and fire.
Edward held back.
He dodged when he needed to, but he let the other teenagers practice against the faster dragon.
Astrid proved she was a very good fighter, dodging spikes and throwing her axe well.
Snotlout and the twins mostly just ran around screaming.
When the sun went down, the training ended.
They were all covered in dirt and sweat, except for Edward, who only had a little dust on his boots.
They walked to the Great Hall for dinner.
The hall was packed with loud, hungry Vikings.
Massive fires roasted whole sheep and giant fish.
Edward grabbed a wooden plate.
He loaded it with smoked fish, bread, and roasted mutton.
He sat down at a quiet table near the edge of the room.
He ate his food happily.
The training raised his template synchronization slightly.
He felt good.
A moment later, Hiccup walked over.
He carried a small plate of plain fish.
He looked around nervously, then sat down across from Edward.
“Hi,” Hiccup said.
“Hello, Hiccup,” Edward said.
Hiccup picked at his fish with a small fork.
He looked up at Edward.
“I saw what you did in the ring today,” Hiccup said quietly.
“My dad has not stopped talking about it.
He told everyone how you knocked the Gronckle out cold.” “It was just good timing,” Edward said, taking a bite of bread.
Hiccup shook his head.
“No, it wasn’t.
Astrid is good, but she tries so hard.
You didn’t even look like you were trying.
You just…
knew where the fire was going to be.” Hiccup set his fork down.
He looked very serious.
“I want to kill a dragon,” Hiccup said.
“I have to.
If I kill a dragon, my dad will finally be proud of me.
The village will stop laughing at me.
And…
maybe Astrid will notice me.” Hiccup mutters the last part of the sentence.
Edward stopped eating.
He looked at Hiccup.
He knew the story.
He knew Hiccup was not a killer.
But he also knew Hiccup needed confidence before he met Toothless.
“You want to be strong,” Edward stated.
“Yes,” Hiccup said firmly.
“How do I become as strong as you?” Edward wiped his hands on a cloth.
He leaned forward across the table.
“Strength does not come from a single swing of a hammer,” Edward said smoothly.
“It comes from breaking your body down and building it back up.
It takes discipline.” “I can do it,” Hiccup promised.
“I work in the forge all day.
I am used to hard work.” “Good,” Edward said.
He took a sip of water from a wooden cup.
“Wake up tomorrow before the sun comes up.
Meet me by the wooden wall at the edge of the village.
I will start training you.” Hiccup’s face lit up with a massive smile.
“Really?
You will teach me?” “I will,” Edward nodded.
“Thank you, Edward,” Hiccup said happily.
“I will be there.
Before the sun.
I promise.” Hiccup grabbed his plate and hurried away, looking more excited than he had all year.
Edward watched him go.
He took another piece of smoked fish.
Teaching Hiccup how to dodge and run would be fun.
It would make the boy faster on his feet.
It would keep him safe during the raids.