After a day of training with The Boss Joseph sat down in his small tent with White. Taking off his armor he found a crack in his chest piece. “Man, he broke another one. His amplified strength really is no joke.” Reaching down he picked up a new chest piece, untying the old one from the back piece and tying the new one to it. ‘If this keeps happening it's going to be a problem. There has to be something I can do?’

Joseph held the chest piece in his hand, his face beginning to strain, ‘if it uses the same power I use to reinforce my body then all I have to do is shove more in it, instead of letting it constantly draw it out of me. He focused his magic in his hands before trying to force it into the wooden armor. The power flowed into the armor and he kept pushing more and more into it until, ‘Okay, let’s see if that does anything.‘

Joseph looked at the armor, “it doesn’t seem any different, still light.” Joseph stood up walking out the tent to find someone. He approached one of the larger men who carried a battle axe with him.

The man noticed him, “Joseph, right? Do you need something?”

He smiled looking down at the man. Joseph stood taller than any man in the group. “Yes, I was actually wondering if I could borrow your battle axe for a minute.”

“Oh, I don’t see why not. Have you ever used one before? Are you looking to learn?” The man seemed eager to teach someone his ways with the axe.

“I apologize, actually I just wanted to test the strength of my new armor.” Joseph smiled uncomfortably after seeing the disappointment on his face.

“I suppose that’s fine too, but if you ever want to learn some cool moves with it, don’t hesitate to ask!” The man handed Joseph the axe.

“I appreciate it, this will only take a second.” Joseph placed his armor on the ground, then lifted the axe high in the air with both hands.

The man tried to speak up, “Don't you think that might be a little too—”

Joseph slammed down the axe. The sound of wood snapping rang out while splinters of wood shot in every direction. “Oh no.” Joseph looked at the now broken stick in his hands. The head of the battle axe landed a few paces away from him. “I can fix this,” Joseph hurriedly shouted at the man.

“My axe broke on wooden armor?” The man was distraught.

Joseph picked up the head of the axe off the ground, “I swear I can fix this, I'll be right back!” Joseph sprinted back to his tent, White following after him. He picked up one of the dried sticks of wood he was planning on making a spear out of. Standing on the axe head Joseph grabbed what was left of the handle and tore it out of the axe head. Grabbing a knife he had been given for carving sticks he carved down the stick until it almost fit into the axe head. He then shoved it in with brute force, careful not to snap it. Once in, he grabbed the metal piece that held the old axe handle in place out of the now broken pieces of wood. Using some reinforcement magic he was able to shove it in with just his thumb. After infusing some of his magic with it, like he did his armor, he gave it back to the man.

The man had been standing in the same place the whole time, “You just made this?”

Joseph bowed his head in apology, “I'm very sorry for breaking your battle-axe. I hope you'll accept this as an apology.”

The man looked down at Joseph's armor, which he had left there. It didn't have a scratch on it after being struck with his battle-axe. “Is this handle made out of the same wood that the armor is?”

“Yes, the wood came from the same tree. I know that for certain since I took it down myself and have been using only that.” Joseph was confident in this.

A stern look came over the man’s face as he gripped the axe hard. He lifted it up above his head with both hands and struck the armor, just as Joseph did. The head of the axe slammed into the armor bouncing off, handle unbroken. The man looked down at the armor seemingly in a daze as he spoke, “Yes, this is a fine apology. I'll have you know battle-axes are not supposed to be used like wood cutting axes. So it's no surprise that the handle broke, however, it is a surprise that this handle is able to withstand the force. I have no doubt this one is many times stronger than the last. I know this as an apology gift, but I must compensate you for this improvement to my weapon.” Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a few small coins, handing them to Joseph before walking away, swinging his axe like a kid getting his first sword.

Joseph sat down in his tent, “I had no idea you couldn't use that axe like a normal one. What's the point of having an axe if it can't even cut wood?” Joseph found himself nodding off as the stress left his body.

Being thrown off White as she stood up, Joseph quickly got to his feet. He didn't know how long he had slept, but he had definitely been sleeping. Joseph heard someone yelling his name in the distance. Exiting his tent, he saw the mage running towards him.

The mage stopped just before Joseph, having a hard time catching his breath before he spoke, “Did you make a magical item?”

Joseph looked at the man with his brow curled, “Magical item? No.”

“The axe handle, you didn't make the axe handle? Then where did you get it?” The mage grabbed Joseph's shoulders attempting to shake him back and forth.

“Oh the axe handle, yeah I made that. It's only right since I broke his old one. Why is something wrong with it?” Was is my craftsmanship that bad? It didn't even last a couple hours.

The mage looked at him in awe, “Something wrong with it? That thing is a magical item. The boss couldn't even break it, and it doesn't burn. We held it over the fire for so long any finish would have been melted away. How did you make it?”

Joseph scratched his head in embarrassment, “I really didn't do anything to it to be honest. I just shoved it in there and put a little bit of my magic into it.”

After hearing Joseph's words, the mage fell backwards onto the ground.