An unusual sight is the usual in a port city, but the most jaded confessed to amazement when across the ocean traveled a man toward them, not piloting a ship, rowing a boat, or even walking over the waves as if they were hills. Had that been true they would have figured him for a god, a straightforward enough matter.
Instead he was standing sideways on the broad blade of a sword larger than surely he was capable of wielding, they thought, until he rode it up the beach, picked it up, and leaned it casually against his shoulder. "Where is this? I am come exploring from the east," he announced.
Everyone wondered the same thing. "Welcome, visitor, but why did you travel in such a strange way?"
"What? Is there a better one?"
They showed him their ships and taught him everything about sailing, carpentry, and nautical engineering. The stranger learned so well that he became a renowned shipwright, adding his own innovations to a solid foundation of seamanship. One day he declared he had mastered their technology.
"But I don't see what's better about it." Saying that, he boarded his sword and left, never to return.
Finis
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