Seeing him, Mable's compet.i.tive spirit immediately got fired up. She had a grudge against the Muraciers that Emp didn't understand and whenever she crossed paths with Aminui, she would make that frustrated face and contradict anything he said or did.

This time around, she took a boastful air as if his talent at forge work was a great achievement surpa.s.sing what Aminui's praised grandson could do. Obviously, she didn't know that he was that same grandson. In a way, it was pretty comical to see her try to upset Animui all the time using Emp since it could only please the old man.

While Mable was attempting to stare down Aminui who was much taller than her, the others focused on Nessa and her new armor instead. Most found it pretty impressive to look at and praised its appearance.

Even those that were usually grumpy like Heida and Gervaise couldn't help but find his work impressive.

"Why would a high n.o.ble be so good with his hands? That's ridiculous." Heida complained. "Nicolas, you should work harder too or you'll remain talentless."

"I'm not talentless!"

The rest of the group had more normal praises than that to give. Mable stood with pride and took all the compliments as if they were directed at her.

"It's because my Emp is so good, of course it's going to look at least this good."

"He's not your Emp." Aminui stated flatly.

Mable immediately got offended and raised her voice while glaring daggers at the old man.

"What do you mean with that!"

"Well I don't see any offering on him. Isn't he already a married man too? If you want to say things like that you better give him an offering quick."

Mable growled in annoyance but didn't find anything to get back at him.

"Grrraw, you're a mean old man!"

"I'm not mean, I'm honest instead. Stop wasting time and give him an offering already. What do you think your father will do? Go to war with his family? Ahahahahahahah!"

Obviously, from his point of view, the notion must have been ridiculous as no one would ever dare go to war with the Muracier. They say that hunger makes a man go crazy but love makes a whole nation go crazy, Emp didn't think they'd be that foolish though.

While the two of them where having that one sided arguments. Emp explained everything about the armor once more and set up what he needed to test its efficiency.

"What's this log for?" Penny asked as he placed it to stand in an empty spot.

"You're going to throw it at her to test the armor's resistence?" Oran tried.

Zoran turned pale from fright at the idea.

"Of course not! He wouldn't let Nessa inside it if he was going to do that!" Ivar retorted.

"Well you never know with Emp, he might be ignorant enough to try it." Gervaise snickered.

"I'm not." Emp stated flatly. "It's there to see how sharp the armor is."

That being the case, he needed the log to not move at all so he used earth magic to dig a narrow pit into the field and buried the log halfway inside. Like this, only about a meter and a half of wood stuck out of the ground.

"How sharp it is? What does it mean?" Everyone was puzzled in front of his statement except for Nessa.

"We will show you in just a moment, would everyone please stand back from Nessa and the log."

The log in question was quite wide, it was good quality wood and equalled a grown man's torso in size.

Nessa stepped closer to it and everyone else backed off like Emp asked. They all wanted to see the armor up close but waiting just a few moments more didn't really bother them all.

"It should go through, you just have to move up to it steadily." He told Nessa before retreating as well.

"I understand."

Everyone stared hard while she took the starting position of the royal sword dance. Shortly after, she stepped into the first and then the second stage of it and started spinning on herself rapidly.

"No way! What is that?" Girls and boys exclaimed alike.

What they were witnessing was what Emp had worked so hard on. The dress of steel would raise up in the air slightly from the rapid spins of Nessa but then got stuck thanks to how they were tied to her legs. They couldn't go that far up and kept protecting her legs properly. However, something else kept rising from the dress.

The stem of the roses engraved into the steel of her armor made circles around it and it was their many thorns that rose up from the centrifugal forces. All around the dress, Emp had painstakingly locked dozens of long blades in place with well oiled hinges hidden inside the flower stem. Those blades were extremely sharp and almost made the length of her leg, starting just under where her fingers could reach.

The thorns rose up quickly with her few first spins and then kept a straight angle away from her. As she quickened her pace, the usual speed blur occurred and the whole set of blades turned into what looked like a disk from outside.

"Emp, what did you do? What is that?" Brenia asked, incredulous.

"The current problem of Nessa was that if someone charged right at her, she had a hard time reacting so I wanted to stop anyone from getting too close. Plus, when she spins like that, her legs are the weakest point of her. If someone manages to jam a sword or spear between her legs, the spin will stop and she will probably be greatly injured from the shock. The dress stops that while the blades keep everyone away."

Nessa spun closer and closer to the log with the ominous and continuous sound of the blades cutting the air around her.

"No way, is that what the log's for?"

Emp was sure that everyone understood what they were trying by now.

The very edge of the blurry disk touched the log and splinters flew everywhere. Nessa's spins didn't slow at all and she kept moving forward. It made the terrible sound of wood being torn to shreds while the disk dug deeper and deeper into it. She wasn't progressing at an incredible pace but she was still 'walking' straight. If she could spin even faster, if she could reach the third stage for example, Emp believed she would just be able to run through the log.

Finally the log was split in half and the upper section spun over the disk and tumbled to her side. It seemed that the sharpness enchantment he placed on the armor worked as intended. If she could go through wood steadily like that, she would have no problems with muscles and skin.

Emp put in clear words what everyone just witnessed.

"If someone steps close to her now, they get their legs removed."

"Scary!" Josseline said with revulsion.

"What if she hits something that can't be cut?" Norval asked. "Won't she have to endure a backlash and get knocked out?"

"That would be true for her actual swords too but I thought about it already. The hinges are loose so that if she hits a rock or steel, the blade will be torn off instead of stopping her spin. I'm sure they will break often but they aren't that hard to replace as long as you have some descent smith on hand. The enchantment isn't even engraved on the blades directly but in the dress instead."

"Is that why it's so ridiculously sharp? Even an enchanted blade shouldn't be able to cut through a log this big this quickly. Since you wrote the spell on the armor instead of the blade, you had a lot more s.p.a.ce to improve the sharpness of it all." Penny explained.

Emp nodded in confirmation.

"That's right, that's exactly what I did but I had to sacrifice the whole lower half of the armor for this so the magic defences of it ended up weak."

Nessa stopped her spins and after restoring her equilibrium, took a victory pose while looking at the log. Its surface could not be called smooth, it was all rugged and splinters stuck out of it al over the place. Meanwhile, all the blades had went back to resting on her steel dress.

"It works just as you said it would! It's amazing! This is well worth the money I paid you for this! I'm so thankful I asked you for this armor instead of someone else! It looks better than I hoped, doesn't impede my movements much and it's just overall fantastic."

"I'm glad you like it." Emp answered with a smile of his own.

As long as she was satisfied, he'd consider that he had done a good enough job.

"Won't she cut herself with it?" Oran asked.

"No, I had the blades start lower than her fingers can reach just in case but even if she put her whole arm in the disk, she wouldn't get cut. She's spinning at the same speed as the blades after all."

"I don't get it..." The bulky man said while scratching his head.

Oran was never the brightest one and the others weren't that bothered by it but Emp didn't feel like explaining that the blades weren't moving from Nessa's perspective right now. It would have to wait for later as it might take a while.

Nessa got back with the rest of the group and hurriedly clasped Emp's hand into her own.

"Thank you Emp, my friend. This is exactly what I needed and wanted. It's perfect, I owe you now."

"It's not perfect and you don't owe me anything, you already paid for it."

As the one who made it, Emp was well aware of the many flaws it had, ranging from its weakness to magic all the way down to some sculpted details that could have been achieved more properly by a true master and pa.s.sing through the unwieldy nature of the spinning blades and the danger they posed to allies if they ever escaped their hinges.

"But I still owe you for the elixir at least and the end result of that armor is much more than what I paid for."

"The price was honest, let's not talk about this. Just complete your objective and it'll be enough to pay me back."

She paid for the materials and the time he put into it as well, what he had her pay was just the price she should have. He wasn't a merchant or a smith, he didn't need to make a huge profit out of this.

"I'm impressed with your work. It's both a well crafted armor and a strong weapon. It's a fearsome piece of equipment all around. I'm sure lord Hasting will be breathless in front of the young lady when she goes back home." Aminui praised.

Mable was about to answer something again but this time around, Aglaya stopped her. "Just accept the praise politely." She whispered to her friend.

Mable made a frustrated pout while Nessa answered Aminui.

"I hope so. It would make it all so much easier for me if he could just accept this."

"Well I don't know what your father will think seeing you covered in steel like that but 'I' am itching to fight you right now. Lets have a spar!" Brenia roared eagerly.

Nessa was about to accept in order to further get used to this new armor when she noticed a slight detail.

"I must apologize, I guess I was so excited about this new armor, I forgot to bring my swords."

She usually tied them at her hips but she had forgot to do so with this new armor in the way and all the excitement. The rest felt pretty disappointed until Emp presented them with his own solution. He had made two new swords matching with her armor just for her, he just didn't have the occasion to show them to her yet.

"Then take those, I made them with the leftover steel of your armor."

He pulled the twin swords out of the bottomless bag and presented them both to her inside their specially made scabbard. Both of their hilts mirrored each other and were intricately decorated.

They had a large rose adorning them at the point where the guard and the blade connected, sticking out vividly from the metal. The right one was tinted in steel blue and the left one in dark pink. The two swords had the guards of a rapier with a back-guard along with the usual wide cross-guard. Both of those were made to look like the stems extending from the roses, complete with thorns and tiny leafs. The rose at the back of the blade extended its stem into the back-guard while the one in front made up the cross-guard.

The grip was short and comfortable because he didn't expect her to wield one with both hands and the back-guard was made wide to let her twist her wrist under it as she pleased.

The scabbards showed that the blades were rather long and thin, Emp had made them a meter and thirty each. (1) The leather of the scabbards was smooth and strangely built into hand-made belts. Words were engraved into them. The blue rose showed the Hasting motto "Graceful steps of victory and awe" while the dark pink one presented Emp's hopes for his friend "A whirling dancer of thorns scattering their foes like petals in the wind".

"Are those really for me?" Nessa asked as she stared at the delicately forged roses on the guards.

"Of course they are, they have your house's motto engraved on both the scabbard and blade, who else am I gonna give them to?"

"But you didn't have to, these aren't part of the request. I can't possibly accept those." Nessa tried to turn away the blades while the rest was praising the work of art that were the guards.

Emp didn't know if she refused because they were too bad for her or too pretty, or if she thought they would cost too much. He didn't know how to convince her to take them outside of telling her why he made them.

"You should accept them because I don't think you can tie your old swords on top of this new armor properly. I told you it was far from perfect, this is one of the inconveniences, you can't have a scabbard on top of the dress because the blades won't be able to rise. This means that the swords have to be tied under the dress and it took me a while to figure out how to make a custom belt to tie them on properly. Even if you don't want the swords, you'll need the scabbards so that whoever you ask for new ones will know how to make the whole set properly.

Plus, they are obviously made as a match for the armor and like I said, they are leftovers, there's nothing else to do with those than to give them to you. If you don't take them, I'll store them in the bag and never take them out again. You don't even need to pay for those."

"But you seem to have put so much work into them, the roses and leaves look so lifelike, just like on the armor! How could I not pay for them!"

"Honestly, I had quite a lot of fun making those. That wasn't work at all, I did it for my own satisfaction in my free time. I insist, you have to take them."

That was the truth, in the past, Emp didn't understand the thing about pa.s.s-times. There was so much to do after all, how could people waste some of it on random meaningless acts. Since a while ago though, he had changed his mind. Always training and studying was tiring, a pa.s.s-time was refres.h.i.+ng like spending time with friends and family.

When everyone else was busy with something, he'd sit in his workshop or the forge and fiddle with tiny ornaments like those for the swords. He took great pleasure in seeing them come alive with efforts and patience. He might not be as good as Marcy was, she could do all that quickly and efficiently, but he liked to do it slow and stare at it taking shape just like how he liked to stare at the mountains or a river.

Sometimes, Calla would come in too and sit down at his side to watch him work and marvel at the tiny details he just completed. He loved when she did that, he felt proud and he liked her presence at his side. That was the true reward of his work on the swords.

With his words and the encouragements of the others urging her to take them, she relented and wrapped her fingers around the grips of both swords.

"Then I guess I don't have a choice but to accept. Truly, thank you."

"You're welcome again. This one is the right one and that one is the left one, don't confuse them." Emp warned her.

"Why, what's the difference?" Nessa asked curiously.

For someone like Emp or Brenia, it was obvious but Nessa had never been an expert in weaponry. Emp wasn't bothered by it but before he could explain it, it was his grandfather that provided her the answer.

"Lady Hasting, the back-guards are mirrored to fit a certain hand. If you grip the wrong one you won't be able to swing it properly. Plus, the one in your dominant hand should be the one harboring the color of your house, the steel blue rose."

"That's right, that's why I made one blue and one red. You just have to remember that the red one's the wrong one."

"I see. It's true that by respect, I should hold my own colors in my right hand." Nessa accepted their words as a new information she'd keep in mind and pulled out the two swords.

The two blades had nothing particularly fancy. They were long, fine and sharp. Emp had engraved some magic to make them more resistant because he feared she might snap them with all the strength behind her spinning. Aside from that, the words on the scabbards were engraved here again in a barely visible way.

"They're really long but they're light. I thought they would feel heavy." Nessa commented as she raised them up and down to understand their weight.

"Of course they wouldn't be heavy! He used the same super light steel than for your armor!" Brenia impatiently told the n.o.ble girl. She was eager to have a fight.

"Right, sorry, I'm just impressed. They fit my hands so well, it's surprising. Do they have a name? What about the armor itself?"

"I haven't thought about that, you can give them the names you want."

That notion hadn't even crossed Emp's mind. He just worked hard to make the best possible equipment, he had not wondered how people would refer to them. It had no incidence on their quality after all. Plus, he had never given a name to anything before. Considering how he usually was and how his creators were so bad with names, he expected that the result would be terrible if he did.

"That's great, think of a good name and have Emp carve it into them before going home! Everyone back in northern Artefine will talk about those." Mable said with a few excited claps of her hands.

Emp didn't think that the blades were that special though. They had no crazy enchantments or particular crazy characteristics, they were just made to match the newly forged armor he gave her. What would people even talk about?

"I'll think about it seriously and find a good name for all three. This will be fun too." The interested girl agreed to her friend's words with a sweet smile.

Shortly after, the n.o.ble lady tried out her new equipment against the other students and was pleased with its performances. Emp and Aminui observed from the sides to see if anything was amiss with the armor or swords. The old Muracier also used the opportunity to give Nessa some pointers and it ended up being a productive afternoon for everyone.

At the end of it, Nessa was exhausted and complained about the heat. Her armor wasn't cold like Emp's so staying so long under the sun was very taxing. The metal would end up almost burning to the touch and the many layers of cloth made it stuffy or even sweltering. She would have to get used to it if she wanted to stand on the front-lines wearing it.

Afterwards, Mable wanted to invite her friends and Emp to celebrate but Aminui put a stop on her plans.

"Emp can't follow you this time, the duke Jazay wants to speak with him about the end of his studies."

Mable seemed skeptical but since Muraciers never lie, she had no choice but to concede this time and let Emp go see the ancient on his own. Well, almost on his own, Celtine and Harriett were still with him.

Emp said goodbye to everyone for now and made his way to the other old man's office. He wasn't bothered to be called so suddenly like this. It was usually him who called the duke this way so he couldn't complain when it happened the other way around, plus, he had expected to be called for a long time already.

The servant at the door recognized him and quickly announced his presence to the lord inside who allowed him in.

"Ye lad finally be here. Ye be takin yer sweet time. I be havin a lot to distrust with ye."

"My lord meant discuss rather than distrust."

"Aye, this be what I meant. Now, sit down and hear me words."

Of course, Emp did as he was told and sat down on the presented seat, wondering if this was about what he thought it was.

"As ye be knowing, me and yer grandfather be pleased with yer progress. Ye be reseased/"

"Released, that one wasn't even a word my lord."

"It be a word if I say so! Be released then... What was I sayin again? Right! Ye be able to leave soon and by soon I really be meaning as soon as ye want, ye be done."

"Really?"

Emp wasn't surprised to hear this, it was exactly what he expected even if he didn't feel ready at all. There was a lot more for him to learn with Aminui among other things. The old man seemed to read his thoughts.

"Yes, what ye be needin now is more experience outside. The techniques of the Muraciers shouldn't even be taught to ye here in the first place, ye be learnin that later once ye be back home in Highsteel. Fer now, yer old man and me prepared ye two options."

"Two options? What sort of option?" Emp asked him while the old man drank his fill of whatever alcohol was in his gla.s.s cup.

"We be needin ye to learn how to lead men property and so we be placin ye in a commandin position. Ye got two places that would be good."

"My lord meant properly rather than property."

"Aye, this be what I be meanin. Yer grandfather be thinkin ye might want to head north of here to reinforce the border with the tribesland. Ye'd see a lot of fightin there and it would be a great place to train but yer uncle Graube also be there right now."

"I see."

Emp could understand the viewpoint of his grandfather. He had placed a lot of efforts in helping out Nessa up to now. Going there to help her further would certainly be pleasing but on the other hand, he would have to b.u.t.t heads with Graube who he had not met yet. It was an interesting idea but Nessa probably didn't need his help right now, he felt that the armor and weapons he just gave her might be enough of a push to help her get on top already.

"What's the other option?"

"The other be the one I thought of meself. Far west of here in Greenpeaks, they still be troubled but Graube be doin nothing. I be understandin that famine be not somethin a warrior can really do anything about but the people there be needin order if they be wantin the imperials ta help.

The place would be safe with only starved bandits and angry commoners so it would be a good place to get familiar with the workin of an army. Yer task would be to a.s.sist the locals in safekeepin and escort out of there those that would like to leave."

Emp nodded in interest, that other option was great too. The fact that the G.o.ddess Life resided in Greenpeaks made it all the more attractive for him. Maybe he could wrap everything up in one go. He could complete the task given to him, fix the problem Love detected in him and have Life regrow the wings of Celtine all at once.

He also still felt rather bad about the situation in Greenpeaks in general. Ever since he had learned about this way back then when he first crossed the city of Red-Water, he had wondered if there was some way for him to help them. Maybe this was the occasion he was looking for? Graube wouldn't be there to disturb him either.

If he really had to pick one of those two options, this was probably the better one to take.

This might even be what Love told him to accept back then. She had warned him that the ancient would come to him with a proposition and that he needed to accept it as it would be greatly beneficial for him. He didn't remember her exact words but this must have been it. She had warned him years ago after all, what else could it possibly be?

"I'll go with your idea this time I think." He answered the old man.

"This be great, I'll be givin ye more details later. Fer now, ye be needin to select people."

Again, Emp had no idea what this meant.

"Please explain."

"It be not complained/"

"Complicated."

"Yaya, this be what I be meanin. Ye be needin to choose some students to accompany ye. Me and yer granddah will place ye in charge with some experienced leaders just under ye but ye be not the great general yet.

They should listen but might refuse to obey on account of Graube's influence.

Ye be needin some lads ye be trustin. Those ye choose will be officially invited to work directly under the young lord Muracier, ye. They be not controlled by the other commanders and they hopefully be more useful than ordinary troops.

Yer old man also be arranging for fresh troops to join ye so ye can organize them how ye want and place yer trusted lads in charge of whoever. This be a live trainin after all. All will be into yer hands, how to deal with yer own troops, with yer allies, with yer enemy and the hard heads too.

Uh, I be supposed to explain about yer invitin of lads but ended up chattin about the whole thing instead. Just make me a list of who ye want along with an official letta of invitation I'll unseal in front of ye all and read. Don't ferget to be writin yer own name if ye don't want the rest to know who ye are yet."

That was a long winded and strangely formulated explanation but Emp now understood what he meant. He believed that choosing some allies for himself would not be that hard, in fact, he felt like inviting the majority of the group. The question instead was; Would they agree to follow? They all had plans and to their knowledge, had never met the young lord Muracier. Would they accept the invitation?

*-*-*-*

(1) 1m30 is about 51in. it's unusually long for a one handed sword. Certain rapiers reached that length but you're supposed to poke your opponent with them, not slash them like Nesa will.