* * *

Joe called an end to their day at around noon and they went to one of the guilds for a meal. Joe found the experience a bit odd with Gwenvair joining them, but she fit in quickly enough, easily joining the banter and while the others seemed a bit reserved, she did well at opening them up and they soon began to speak with her easily. Despite that, Joe found he was still the only one able to really joke with her, the others still a bit reserved. Surprisingly, Kilniara seemed to be a bit of the exception to that, becoming comfortable much sooner and even beginning to joke cautiously with her.

About half way through the meal, the two girls seemed to be speaking with each other rather comfortably and Joe decided to withdraw, giving room for the two to get to know one another. He turned to Garnedell and Zilnek, chatting with them throughout the meal until the day meal was done. After that, Gwenvair said her goodbyes, Kilniara seeming a bit sad to see her go and Joe felt a bit happier to have her there, seeing as Kilniara seemed to really connect with her well. Hmm… hopefully… she’ll come back… maybe … she can hang out with us until we leave town. But… maybe try to find someone else Kilniara can connect with.

After Gwenvair, left, they stopped by the baths before Joe grabbed Garnedell to head out for some chores in the afternoon and offer whatever help that Garnedell might be needing. Joe did offer for Zilnek to come along, but he proved recalcitrant, begging out of it. Joe simply nodded, actually feeling relieved, then feeling guilty for feeling relieved from having to deal with him.

Zilnek seemed happy enough for the freedom and even threw Garnedell a sad smile. Kilniara noticed and elbowed him in the side, hissing at him and he growled back with actual rage and Joe stepped in at that.

“Hey… hey, hey, hey… relax. She’s just trying to help you, Zilnek. Relax. We’re all good here… all friends… and I’ll … it’ll be done soon, OK?”

Zilnek closed his eyes, breathing deeply before opening his eyes to look at Kilniara a little sheepishly. Joe grinned and nodded.

“See? All good. Don’t worry.”

Zilnek looked back at Joe and seemed actually grateful, “I’m… sorry, master.”

Joe struggled to keep his grimace from his face when Zilnek said master and luckily Zilnek had bowed slightly in thanks so didn’t notice Joe’s flinch. He simply nodded and continued on.

“It’s fine. Go have fun. I’ll see you both back at the inn.”

“Good bye, Joe,” Kilniara called out, smiling.

Zilnek nodded, “I’ll see you back at the inn.”

Joe grinned, “We’ll be back soon.”

Joe turned and Garnedell led them away, better understanding where the armorer that Joe had commissioned his chest piece from. Joe still hadn’t quite figured out the layout of the city quite yet so entrusted it to Garnedell. Since he still wanted to meet with him and needed to get his armor, he combined the two, the two falling into conversation as they traveled to the shop.

After awhile, Garnedell looked up at Joe pensively, “Joe… could I ask… why does it bother you so much… to be called master?”

“Huh? The master thing?”

“Yeah. You… Zilnek was … honestly grateful, but… you…”

Joe sighed, then grimaced, shaking his head, “It’s… a lot about the history of my people… and… well the meaning behind it.”

“The history?”

Joe nodded, “My people… we outlawed slavery only a little while ago… in our history. It has meaning to it that can cause others… discomfort.”

“But… they are not here.”

Joe grinned at that, “True. So the only discomfort is mine. If… I might be honest with myself… it is that I do not believe I deserve the second meaning of it.”

“Second meaning?”

“Hmm… master, amongst my people, means two things. One is to own something, but another is to have become an expert in something. When you use master with me… it is in the second way and I am no master, not by any reasonable degree. I feel… as if I disrespect my teachers when I take on the title. I don’t deserve… I really don’t.”

“You… really?”

Joe huffed a small laugh, nodding his head, “Really. I do… very poorly … hmm… I would be… punished… not the right word, but I can’t think of a good word for it… but I would be punished by my masters and the various other masters of my crafts if I were to claim the title. I … really don’t deserve it.”

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“Hmm…” Garnedell fell silent at that, thoughtful as he looked up at Joe.

The two then walked through the streets together for a time until the silence grew a bit oppressive and Joe turned to look at Garnedell, seeking another conversation.

“So… how are you doing with your… shrine and… the remembrance thing. Is everything OK? Anything I can do to help?”

“I am doing well.”

“So … how do you prepare the shrine?”

“I will need to begin soon, but… I should not start too soon.”

Joe nodded, “You should not start building? Or preparing the materials?”

“Oh… uh… I don’t know…”

“Maybe… explain some things? But… don’t trust me. I know nothing of your culture or ways.”

Garnedell paused at that, then nodded cautiously, “I am not to speak… of most things… it is considered… not good.”

“Ah… then don’t. I would rather not cause you any harm.”

“But… it is important for you to learn.”

“True, but I can ask others. I’m certain Zilnek and Kilniara likely need to do theirs, soon as well, right?”

Garnedell frowned softly, “They have already done so. I … am a poor son.”

Joe shook his head vehemently, “I completely disagree. You did exactly what your parents wanted.”

Garnedell looked up at him, curious and a bit disbelieving, “What?”

“You survived… and now you are thriving! What more could a parent want for their son.”

Garnedell stared at him, frowning a bit before nodding a bit, “Maybe, but… I still need to do this.”

Joe put a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t beat yourself up. How could you do much with before… and I couldn’t help much before either… I didn’t understand a thing you were saying.”

Garnedell stared up at him flatly, “Your accent was horrible.”

“My accent?! What about yours? It’s pretty nuts, too!”

Garnedell grinned, “But you’re the only one who understands… so.”

Joe grinned back, snorting softly, “True, but… hmm… ok. You got me.”

Garnedell’s grin grew triumphant and the two continued walking through the city streets. Joe took the time to reach into his purse and pull out his core pouch before turning to Garnedell.

“So what do you need? Or how much do you need? You’ve got… thousands of these things… if you want them… although I think it would be wise you save some… you know… just… yeah.”

Garnedell stared at his purse, then back up at him, eyes wide before he grinned brightly, “I… would rather you keep them. I’m probably not… well… um… Could you keep them? That is a lot and I don’t think I could keep it safe.”

Joe paused at that, “Sure… I’ll keep it. I don’t mind, but … I was just saying to buy the things for your shrine. Do you want to go shopping for it? Or… if you aren’t supposed to get it yet, maybe you can at least tell the shops so it is ready on the day you need it?”

Garnedell seemed to think about that before nodding slowly, “As long as I do not… receive it before the correct time. That… OK.”

Joe nodded, “Then how many do you need?”

Garnedell looked up at him, grinning, then growing a bit worried, “Is… four… too much?”

Joe laughed, “Garnedell… you have thousands. They’re yours to do what you want… but… I think … I dunno… but I would think one is more than enough… unless you want to build a house or something… But… I dunno… you shouldn’t ask me that… maybe ask Kukurnal.”

Garnedell thought on that before nodding, “Maybe… that would be wise… or… I could just ask the shops for the price of the things I need.”

“Oh… you know what you want?”

“Yes… for most… there are still some things I must think on, but … for most… yes.”

“Then let’s do that… sound good? Uh… let's even order it today, and you can collect it when you need? Tell them when you need it, then they can plan.”

“OK. That seems… good?”

Joe smiled at that, and the two fell into quiet conversation and they soon came upon the crafters streets, Garnedell leading them excitedly from street to street. He purchased a good couple dozen things that turned out to be quite expensive, from what Joe could understand of the local economy, but it was quite a bit less than a single core, let alone the four Garnedell originally asked for. Whelp… not asking Garnedell for pricing… heh!

After setting up all the things Garnedell wanted, setting up a delivery or pickup date, and paying almost full price for them, Garnedell seemed rather exuberant as they headed on towards the armor shop. Joe grinned down at him.

“Feeling better?”

“I… yeah… I feel much better.”

“Yeah?”

Garnedell’s grin grew, “Yeah.”

Joe nodded, “Good.”

The two fell silent at that and they walked together for a bit until they made it to the leather workers lane. Joe was then able to figure out where he was, although it was rather pointless and he smirked at his own mistakes. Well… I better start learning the area… yeah…

They got to the leather worker and he immediately recognized Joe and simply stood, calling out to an apprentice to bring out the finished product. When Joe got it, he checked it out carefully before beginning to put it on then stopped. Wait… not sure I wanna get tossed around if armor … well… I know armor does… let me try this at home.

He decided to simply pay for the leather armor and headed out back home, not wanting to test things out in the middle of the street. They returned home, and Joe focused back on Garnedell.

“So, did you think about the weapon you want?”

Garnedell nodded, “I thought on it some. I … really like the spear, but feel it is very similar to the staff, in many ways. It… makes it very easy to learn. A lot of the things I’ve learned about the staff makes it easier, but… it seems I’m simply doing the same thing.”

Joe nodded, “I can see how you might think that, but… the spear makes a pretty big difference.”

Garnedell frowned, “How?”

Joe grinned, “The staff just makes blunt attacks. It hurts, but it’s not able to be as deadly as a spear. If you want it to be pretty deadly, you need to swing it pretty hard, which opens you up as you have to really swing it wide… also kinda telegraphs your movement and makes it easy to dodge.”

Mana welled up around him, and Joe frowned before he recognized it as the translation spell. Which wor… oh… right… probably telegraph…

He waited for a bit for the mana to pass and for it to make sense to Garnedell before continuing, “So, yeah. It will be easy to dodge the strikes that will incapacitate and the short quick jabs will rock them, but not do much damage to them. A spear, however… well, those short quick jabs now become deadly and will quickly drop your enemy pretty quick.”

Garnedell thought on that, nodding quickly, “Hmm… true… but staves can still be deadly with infusion.”

“Aaahh… yeah… forgot about that.”

Garnedell grinned up at him with a smile, but said nothing and Joe grinned back, “Thanks for telling me.”

Garnedell shrugged, “I’m glad… I can help some.”

Joe’s grin grew, “You help lots. But, yeah… OK. I can see that. Some good critiques. Then, what are you thinking about.”