Walking around the district, Aisha and Zycor found themselves at Dreiford’s office. When they entered, there was a big room with a main desk between the semi-circular staircases that resided on either side. The lobby was mainly green with hints of a gold-yellow thrown in. A hanging chandelier provided light to the room using basic fire runes.
As Aisha and Zycor entered, they were stopped by the receptionist and some guards. “Excuse me, but weapons are strictly prohibited in the building. I will have to ask you to leave, or these guards will help you leave.”
Aisha, who was more than slightly concerned about the guards surrounding them, said to Zycor, “We should probably do as they say and leave.”
Zycor reassured Aisha and replied, “It will be ok, I promise.”
He then faced the receptionist and said, “We are not here to start any trouble. I just needed to have Uncle Dreiford look at these, considering he is the one who had them made.”
The receptionist stared at Zycor, confused about his ‘uncle’ comment. After a brief delay, she asked, “Excuse me, but what do you mean by ‘Uncle Dreiford’? As far as I know, he does not have any siblings with children of their own.”
“He said it was ok if I called him that. I am not actually related to him. I just need to see him and ask him what I should do about my gauntlets,” Zycor responded.
Still not convinced, the receptionist turned to the guards and asked one of them to inform Dreiford of the boy’s statement. “Guard, hold on a moment,” The receptionist said as she turned to Zycor, continuing, “Boy, what is your name?”
He responded, “It’s Zycor, ma’am.”
The receptionist turned back to the guard and nodded. The guard gave a nod back, and continued to Dreifords office
After a minute or so, yelling could be heard coming from down the right side of the branching path at the top of the staircase. The guard hurriedly returned and stopped at the top of the staircase. He motioned for the two children to come with him as he stated, “Zycor and his guest are to be escorted to the bosses room, immediately!”
The receptionist was at a loss for words. Never before had she heard Dreiford yell like that. As Aisha and Zycor walked by and up the staircase, Aisha turned to the receptionist and, with a smug smile, let out a brief ‘heh.’
Upon getting towards the end of the hallway, the guard showed them to the door that Zycor had not seen in many years. As they entered, Dreiford greeted them while in his chair sat in front of his desk that was in disarray. “Ah, Zycor my boy, it has been far too long,” Dreiford started with a chuckle, “How are you? Since you are fifteen now, you are able to use the account I set up for you, tell me, how is it?”
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Zycor, now able to crack a brief smile, responded, “Yes, the account has been a great help, thank you. I am sorry for not coming around more often, I have just been busy.”
Dreiford, surprised at Zycor showing even a small amount of emotion, cheerfully said, “Now would you look at that, you can smile! I was starting to think your face would be stuck like that haha! And don’t worry about not visiting, I understand being busy. In all honesty I have been slammed recently with all of these merchant guild order requests. Not to mention the adventuring guild from the north-eastern and north-western districts are asking for budget increases along with city supplied weapons. Who do they think they are!? asking for a budget increase ON TOP of weaponry subsidized by the city?! Honestly I feel like the only decent guilds are the ones in the south, like yours.”
Dreiford cleared his throat as he re-focused the conversation, “Ahem, enough of my complaining, I heard you got into quite the predicament recently my boy. Are you doing alright?”
Zycor solemnly responded, “Yes, I am doing fine.”
After a brief pause, Aisha nudged him and he was able to recompose himself. Zycor continued, “Well, actually, My gauntlets took quite a beating.”
Zycor showed Dreiford the beat up gauntlets as he inquired, “Where should I go to have these looked at and possibly repaired?”
Dreiford, inspecting the gauntlets, commented, “Jeez, these were really put through the ringer.” After a moment more, Dreiford looked up and answered, “Well, the best place to go would be to the weaponsmith who made them. You remember him, don’t you? His name is Jorvaal. Do you remember how to get there?”
Zycor looked at Dreiford, annoyed to admit it, and told him, “No, no I do not.”
Aisha chimed in, riding her ego trip of ‘professor Aisha,’ and said, “I know how to get there! It's near one of the better clothing stores in this district. I noticed the shop while looking for different clothing stores and made a note of it.”
Dreiford looked at Aisha, smiled, and proceeded to laugh, “Well, aren’t you popular Zycor! You have a beautiful girlfriend to show you where to go, hahaha!”
Aisha, super embarrassed, looked Dreiford dead in the eyes and said, “Shut up! I will end you! We are NOT dating! I merely thought I could go there to get my gear upgraded, that’s all! I-I didn’t make a note for his sake!”
Zycor shrugged and said, “Nobody will tell me what those words mean, so I do not know what you are talking about, sorry.”
Aisha angrily commented, “Good, and we are keeping it that way for now. Thank you for your help Mr. Dreiford, but we will be going now.”
Zycor, now used to being dragged around by the arm, said, “I will come visit again soon Uncle Dreiford, bye.”
Dreiford waved as he responded, “Come by anytime my boy! I will tell you about the meaning of those words when you do!”
Aisha shouted, “NO! ZYCOR, YOU ARE BANNED FROM COMING BACK HERE WITHOUT SOMEONE ELSE!”
Zycor responded, “You are not my mom, you can’t tell me what to do.”
“You are right,” Aisha started, “unfortunately for you, you’re still injured and can’t talk back right now!” After Aisha completed her statement, she twisted Zycors arm as he let out a small yelp.