Chapter 394 - A Goodbye And A New Set Of Armor
As the sun began to rise, Marcus turned his head towards Mrazivý who still looked a bit worn out from their nightly activities, and gently shook her awake.
"Mraz, it is morning. You need to get ready to leave."
Grumbling lowly, Mrazivý sat up in bed and let out a long yawn before sleepily rubbing her eyes.
"Mmm, how long was I asleep." Mrazivý asked to Marcus who she had requested to be her alarm clock, so as to not oversleep.
"About two hours. Sorry I got a bit carried away last night."
Shaking her head Mrazivý said, "No, I also kept going with you and knew I was not going to get much rest. Anyway, I enjoyed it as well."
Mrazivý then gave Marcus a kiss on the cheek before getting out of bed and saying, "I need a bath, care to join me?"
Smiling, Marcus got up and followed Mrazivý to the bath were the two of them enjoyed a nice relaxing soak before getting ready to leave.
"Well, it was good to see you before you left. And once I have finished up everything in need to here, and have completed my other mission, I will come join you."
"Make sure that you do, I can\'t wait for us to have our first real adventure together. Oh, and you had better give me updates every day. I heard that your sending stone as finished, so make sure to call often."
Nodding his head, Marcus agreed to Mrazivý\'s request to call daily, before turning towards the other person that was seeing the two of the off.
"And I am glad that we got to hang out with you Princess Eis. We had a good time playing with you yesterday."
"Yeah, I was happy to get to see you again Eis, and when I get back, I will make sure that you are the first person I come and see." Mrazivý said to her little sister.
Grabbing ahold of the two of them, Eis pulled Marcus and Mrazivý into a hug, before pulling back and smiling.
"See you both again and thank you."
After that they all went their own ways, Mrazivý heading to the adventures guild to meet up with her party and take some requests. While Marcus headed back to the Blazegram Forge to meet up with Clarisa, and Eis head back into the castle to continue her education to one day be used as a political tool.
Being dropped off in front of the Blazegram Forge, Marcus went inside to check if Clarisa had arrived yet, and when he found that she had not he waited outside for her.
Around fifteen minutes later, Marcus saw a silhouette running towards him, and as he looked over, he saw Clarisa.
However, unlike her usual knight garb she was wearing a white blouse and a light green skirt.
Still, she did have both of her swords attached at her hip with a sword belt, making sure that she was prepared for a fight if necessary.
"Sorry to keep you waiting Irene. It took me a bit longer to get ready than I thought it would."
Smiling at Clarisa, Marcus said, "It is no problem, I have only been here a few minutes myself. Now how about we pick you out a set of armor."
Marcus then led Clarisa into the forge\'s storefront and took her into the back where they stored excess stock that was not yet on display.
And as they walked back there, Clarisa looked around very interested, looking at all the different weapons, and armor.
"Here it is. I am sorry to say that this is the only set that has not sold, so it is the only option." Marcus said, trying to make it seem like he had not made this armor specifically for her.
Luckily though, Clarisa seemed to buy his act, and since Marcus was doing her a favor, she had no complaints about the lack of choice.
Activating one of the enchantments on the armor, Marcus had it collapse back into a pendant, and handed it over towards Clarisa, who looked stunned.
"Wha, what is that? Your armor just turned into a pendant!" Clarisa said unable to hide her astonishment."
Naturally she had never actually seen armor like this, and while she had heard about it, she thought it was something only the elite could have.
"Irene, there is no way I can accept something like this. It must be incredibly valuable."
However, as Clarisa said this Marcus made a slightly confused expression and said, "No, this armor is not that expensive. I would only charge around two thousand gold coins for it."
Hearing this Clarisa looked at Marcus with disbelief, since he just made it sound like two thousand gold coins was pocket change instead of a sum that would take her years to make.
"Sorry Irene, I know you want to help me, but I really cannot afford this." Clarisa said as she tried to hand back the set of armor that was currently in pendant form.
"Nope, you are taking that armor. Remember I said that I would accept payments in instalments. Also, you are my friend so I will give you a bit of a discount. So just accept the armor before I permanently affix it to you."
Seeing that Marcus was not going to budge, Clarisa bowed her head, and said, "Thank you, I will treasure it just like the swords you made me."
She then placed the pendant around her neck and activated the armor testing it out.
Immediately she could feel how light it was and that it was far sturdier than the standard enchanted bronze full plate she had gotten for being a knight.
"So how does it feel." Marcus asked already knowing it was a perfect fit but still wanting his armor to be praised.
"It is great. I can move around so easily. Actually, with is on it feels like I can move even better. Also, it is incredibly sturdy. I feel like it could even block the claws of a manticore."
Crossing his arms and holding his head up high, Marcus had an obviously pleased expression, and thanked Clarisa for the complements.
"Here this is all I have right now, but I promise that I will pay you back for this armor even if it is the last thing I do." Clarisa said as she handed Marcus a pouch of money.
\'One hundred forty-two gold coins. Hm I am actually surprised she was able to get this much so quickly.\'
Closing the pouch and storing it into his item box, Marcus thanked Clarisa, and told her that there was no rush to pay him back and to not hurt herself to do so.
After that, Marcus and Clarisa went to a nearby café and met up with Adriana for lunch.
"So Clarisa when are you heading out to your new post." Marcus asked in between a sip of tea.
"In five days. I will be traveling with a shipment of magic cores to River Landing as extra security. And then from there I will make my way to Trostenwald."
"I see. Well, when I am up in that area again, I will make sure to come and visit." Marcus said.
"Oh, but before that Irene, we are having a send off party for Clarisa and her fellow new knights on five days. Would you have time to attend." Adriana asked.
Nodding his head Marcus agreed, and Adriana gave him the information for the time and place.
The three of them then ate their lunch together, before going their separate ways.
\'Now time to go to the Guldur Spire and get those new spells.\'