The food was amazing, it was a mix of all different types of food. Salads, different meat dishes, sandwiches, pastas and different plates he didn’t even know the names of. The conversation between them flowed, just light conversations about what they liked about the food. She also explained that the reason why staff knew her was because she had been coming to eat here for the last week and a half. After finishing eating and the waitress came back Abigail handed her three gold before they left. Seeing that about made him stumble, that was the most expensive meal he had eaten. That would explain why it was so amazing.

Before he could even ask where they were heading next, she was dragging him down to a clothing store. Luckily, she let him pick out his clothes, but with the way she was acting he was worried that she would have tried to dress him. He of course picked a few practical but high-quality sets of pants and shirts. The matching sets was dark green in color, he honestly never really cared for style. He was happy with his choices; they didn’t even need to be tailored, which was even better for him. The price was steep at fifty silvers, but he refused to let Abigail pay. It hurt to spend that much but Abigail explained that it was a needed expense. They will be operating in different levels of society and needed to be able to fit in. She also told him that they would eventually have to get him a few formal clothing sets. Before he could store them in his pack Abigail waved her hand and stored them in her storage ring. She just looked at him with a raised eyebrow daring him to challenge her on it.

The next stop was quicker, a new pair of boots. He went with a basic pair of dark leather boots. They are comfortable but also durable enough to keep up with his new, hectic life. Abigail commented that at least they matched his new clothes.

Finally, they moved onto what Thomas really wanted, armor. She took him to the street he went to a few days ago. They stopped at the top of the street and stepped to the side to talk. He spoke up first saying “I wasn’t sure what type would be best for me. I don’t really have a set fighting style. do you have any suggestions?”

She thought for a moment before answering. Saying “I think we should get you something lighter weight for now. A sturdy breast plate but lighter weight stuff for everything else. We will be traveling a lot, and you can’t put on a full set as quickly as I can. You will have to travel in your armor and trust me it will be easier for you in the long run. I would prefer we wait until we get to a Capital city or a true crafter town before you get a custom set. That will be a future purchase.”

Agreeing with what she was saying he also added “Plus I will be getting some training and the way I fight might change right? Let’s go look at the blacksmiths first then.”

“True that is possible. We need to get you to a full-sized guild to have your mana checked out, that could change things as well. We will do that before we fully head south. We can go over the specifics after we get a timeline set up. First let’s get you the chest piece since that’s going to be one of the most important pieces!” Abigails excitement was almost infectious as they talked.

They headed down the street going to the shop he had stopped at before. Thomas liked the shop, and it was one of the ones the guild would recommend to people. The kid wasn’t behind the counter; this time it was a middle-aged man manning the empty shop. The man spoke out to them saying “Welcome to Blackburn’s how can I help you today?”

The next few hours were a blur. They ended up buying more than just a breastplate from Blackburn’s. While looking around at other items they had, Thomas decided to get vambraces and greaves as well. They wouldn’t be ready for three days, the smith needed to make some minor size adjustments and to place the enchantments. Abigial splurged extra coin to get two enchantments added, one was to increase its durability. Making it harder for it to take damage, the second was a temperature regulating enchantment. It kept the piece at a cool temperature no matter the environment and helped mitigate elemental attacks. It has the side effect of also keep the wearer cool as well. The breastplate was the only piece getting the enchantments, but it would have a noticeable effect or at least that’s what he was told. Thomas tried to refuse since it increased the price of the piece by over two gold, but Abigail made it clear that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Who was paying was also an issue that almost caused them to argue. Thomas tried to refuse her paying but Abigail also wanted to pay since they were a team now and argued that she could expense it. They came to a compromise that she would pay for the enchantments, but he would pay for the armor itself.

After leaving they went to Dawsons. After discussing it with Abigail and the staff he decided to go with a recommended medium set. It consisted of a leather and metal combination. That would protect his shoulders, legs, a thin gauntlet and a lightweight helm. Dawsons specialized in weaving leather and metal together. It wasn’t a new concept but most of the time it fell short of the standard full set of either because of enchantments.

Dawsons made a balance that still holds decently powerful enchantments but would never stand up to a complete set of either. The set he got are made from dark leather, they are weaved with small steel plates layered together making it look like they were scales. The contrast between the darkened leather and the shining steel was beautiful to his eyes. When he picked this set Abigail again insisted on getting the durability enchantment that his new breast plate has. She originally wanted to have the temperature regulating one also, but the armor couldn’t support it. Luckily this set would be ready even faster since the enchantment was already placed on it. All Dawsons had to do was resize a few pieces. The armor would be ready in roughly two days; Thomas informed them that they would be back in three days due to his order at Blackburn’s.

After they got done buying everything Thomas looked at his coin pouch in defeat. His life savings and the money Abigail paid him was all but gone. He only had a handful of silver left. That’s not even taking into account the gold Abigail spent to get the enchantments put on them. She even paid the difference on the set from Dawsons for the price it took for them to enchant them, so he didn’t pay for that part of it.

That bothered him, but every time he tried to object to it, she just told him that it was covered by the contract and that it wasn’t that much anyways. Thomas had the realization that the gold she spent wasn’t even worth worrying about for her. He also had a suspicion that it actually wasn’t covered, and she paid for it herself.

Either way he now had a set of armor that would be ready in a few days. They stopped at a small restaurant since it was already late in the day. Thomas was exhausted from all the running around they did today.

After ordering Thomas spoke. “What’s the plan moving forward?”

She paused, clearly thinking. “After we get your armor, we will head out. I am finished with everything here in Les. You have until then to get everything taken care of that you need to. Just remember it will probably be a long time before you make it back here. Say your goodbyes.” She paused for a second and asked, “Can you ride a horse?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“No, I haven’t traveled far enough to need to.” He said with a shrug.

She nodded at that and continued “We will have to fix that. When we leave, we will head to the city called Balwyn Hill. It’s the last real city before we head south to the frontier. We will get your mana check at the guild there. It should only take a little over a week of travel. After that we get your mana checked we start heading south, then east hitting every town on our way. Asking questions as we go.”

Their food showed up then, he went with a simple sandwich while Abigail got a full dinner meal. He asked the next thing that’s been on his mind. “Why is it call the frontier? Never really thought much about it but since we are going, I should probably know.”

“Well, it is untouched lands that are still completely wild, but people are slowly taking it over. We don’t actually know how far it goes; all we do know for sure is several hundred if not thousands of miles into it is a mountain range. It’s mostly open grasslands with large hills in the Balmar kingdom. Les is actually the only real pocket of true forest on the western side of Balmar. That’s why this town’s main export is timber if you didn’t know. As you travel east it turns into woodlands until it’s truly a massive forest. That forest dominates most of the Rathian Kingdom. We will get to see it all as we travel. Just know it is a dangerous place, not just from the massive amount of mana beasts but also from bandits and some less than honorable local officials.” She explained all this as they ate.

Taking time to enjoy the meal Thomas decided to ask. “What are your plans for the next few days then?”

A smile that made him shiver stretched across her face. She said in a happy voice “We might as well start with your training in your free time. Practice with the sword and get you some practice on a horse. What all do you have planned?”

Even though he knew it was going to be painful and exhausting but he was still glad he was finally getting some actual support. There wasn’t a lot he needed to do before they left anyways so some training sounded like a good way to spend the time.

“All I need to do is donate the clothes and other items I’m not taking, and I have to see my friend Tessa before we leave. I will probably do that tomorrow, there really aren’t that many people that I need to see. Want to do the training in the evenings or mornings? We should be able to use the back courtyard of my dormitory if you want. I don’t think old man Hue would have a problem with it.” The realization that he really didn’t have that many people he was close with anymore brought his mood down some. Well Tessa and Hue were about it and Hue was more of a quiet guardian than a friend or mentor.

Abigail could see his mood dropping and wanted to try to change the topic. So, she answered his question “That works for me. How about we do afternoons for horse riding and evenings we do sparing at your place. We can meet up at the guild for the horse riding they have a stable in the back and you can rent one out there.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The rest of the meal was eaten in relative quiet, Thomas dwelling on the life-changing path he was on. Abigail picking up on the fact he wasn’t in a talkative mood and let him be.

After they finished Thomas took Abigail to his dormitory. The building was the same as always, and at the front desk was old man Hue like always. Expect this time he seemed more alert than normal. Thomas didn’t know why but it was clear that he was focused on Abigail. Thomas spoke up saying “Hey old man, we are going to be using the back courtyard is that fine? This is Abigail by the way, we will be working together from now on.”

Hue didn’t answer right away but he did seem to relax. After what felt like appraising the two of them he answered like he always did “Yeah yeah that’s fine, but don’t go breaking things. Nice to meet you, Abigail.” He gave her a wave. Which she returned with a smile.

They left going around the building to the back, it was a simple but spacious courtyard. A place that the residents used if they wanted to relax outside. It was perfect for sparing; seeing the place always brought a small smile to his face. He always loved coming back here to train, even if he didn’t know what he was doing, whenever he was stressed, it made his problems bleed away.

As they squared off Thomas got ready, putting his pack down and stretching. Abigail nodded and did the same. Thomas asked a question he knew was dumb but had to ask anyways. He asked her “You’re not wearing armor this time, are you sure you will be fine. Accidents can still happen.”

The pleasant laugh he got in return would normally sound like music to his ears but this time it almost sounded threatening. She answered saying, “This outfit is heavily enchanted, it’s not as protective as real armor but it will do fine. I don’t plan on letting you land a hit anyways.”

The long skirt and shirt outfit looked expensive, so he wasn’t surprised it was enchanted. She was right, it’s not like he had hope of actually landing a hit on her either way. After they were done stretching Thomas pulled his sword and Abigail summoned that vile stick again. She told him “Same rules as last time, no mana just pure physical strength. Come at me!” She said as she flourished her stick. It would have been insulting if he didn’t know that it was a deadly weapon in her hands.

The outcome was the same as before, her hitting him whenever he did something wrong. What really bothered him was this time she wasn’t just dodging but also parring and blocking with that punny stick. He didn’t know how but he assumed she was doing something with her mana to keep him from just cutting it in two. Whenever she blocked his attacks, it felt like he was hitting a wall.

She followed the same patten as before. The first hour consisted of him attacking with only a small break here and there to let him recover. Her hitting him where he was over extended or a foot or leg out of place. Sometimes she would hit him especially hard if he did something truly stupid. Which was rare but still happened twice.

The second hour was her correcting him and making him repeat certain movements until he felt the difference. It was slower, more controlled, he liked the second hour more, he didn’t get swatted as much. She also explained why he should move in that way, the explanations shed light on just how much knowledge she had on combat.

They ended with a twenty-minute full spar where she would attack him. Putting on pressure to make him react. He would try and lash out with a swipe but was always rebuffed. It ended with him lying on the ground trying to catch his breath covered in small welts. His entire body felt heavy, it was an even better workout than last time. He didn’t hold back at all, and Abigail pushed him harder. Of course, Abigail was barely sweating or even breathing heavily.

She told him “Good work, do you need some help?”

A muffled “No” was all he wheezed out.

It took him a few minutes before he sat up and was able to stand. The amused look on Abigails face made him scowl at her. She chuckled saying “I was just remembering my own training and wondered if I looked the same after my training sessions.”

Thomas perked up at that since she finally opened up about herself. He asked, “What was your training like?”

She looked up to the darkening sky and said “It was brutal, but I loved it. Being pushed to be better, to do better. I’m pretty sure I caused fights between my mother and father over my training but that is a story for another day. It’s getting late and I want to take a bath. Here is the clothes you bought earlier.”

She summoned his clothes and handed them to him. He just nodded at that; he wanted to take a bath as well. They walked back to the front of the dormitory. With a wave and a muted goodnight, he went inside. Old man Hue looked him up and down as he walked in.

Surprising Thomas as Hue spoke saying “She’s a strong one. Stronger than most I’ve met, and she worked you over well. Glad you found a path suited for you. Now go take a bath and get some rest.”

“How could you tell she is strong?” Thomas asked curious about the old man that has been working here for as long as he could remember.

Old man Hue just laughed and said “I was young once and used to travel a bit. You pick up things when you are out in the world and judging people’s strength was one of those. You will learn it eventually too. Now get some sleep young man.”

“Good night old man Hue.” Was all he said before he went to bathe and went to bed.