“We appreciate your discretion.” Quentin nodded towards the lieutenant before he too began to collect his spoils.

“Doesn’t this remind you of the good old days?” The Mongol youth asked while stripping off a set of damaged leather armour.

“You mean the times I had to keep watching over you in fear of you getting killed for your big mouth?” The paladin joked with a surprising relaxedness.

“As if,” Khan shrugged. “We kicked ass back in Hunor. Even the fallen wasn’t anything worth mentioning.”

“Except for that ghoul.” Regis remarked, making the youth shudder.

“Except that. Still, these idiots were surprisingly weak for tier-two outlanders.”

“They didn’t have any Earth-born spell casters.” Celine remarked from the side.

“What does that have to do with it? We would have killed the mage just like the others.” The one Regis presumed to be Becca asked.

“Most Earth-born spell casters are from families with prior knowledge of this world,” the dark elf woman explained. “They would have tried to guide their companions toward the stronger classes instead of letting them do with the common ones.”

“Just like you’re helping us.” Nate deduced.

“Yes. These people were likely simple warriors or brigands. Even at tier two, their attributes and skills would have been lower than an uncommon or rare path’s follower.”

“That, and the fact that they had shitty equipment and training.” The last member of Khan’s group added.

Regis couldn’t help but smile as he heard their leisurely banter. As gruesome as the battle and its aftermath were, he had to admit that he gained plenty from it. The dark elf gathered all the Amaranth he could along with pieces of arms and armour before piling up the corpses of his own making. A single drop of blood from his pricked finger was all it took for the sacrificial ritual to activate.

The small pile of corpses began to visibly shrunk as motes of different coloured light rose from it. ‘An orb of might and physique.’ Regis thought or rather wished as he offered the dead and his price seem to have been met. A bright red and pale brownish-yellow orb formed above the dried-out husks along with three large red and two green shards. He called on the floating items and those flew towards him, the orbs bursting into a colourful mist which he inhaled.

The crystal crumbled apart as he took all of them, the small puff of red and green mist left behind by them seemingly getting absorbed through his skin. ‘With this, my physique attribute should have reached twenty-five. That should be enough for that...’

“You okay there?” Quentin interrupted his train of thought.

“I’m fine,” the spell weaver answered. “I was just doing some mental math. It looks like you managed to get some decent stuff out of this scuffle as well.”

“To the victor goes the spoils.”

“Or so they say.” The dark elf hummed as he cast charlatan’s wisdom on a shield-shaped iron signet ring his friend held out toward him.

{Crest of the iron oath}

{Item rarity: rare}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Charges: 0/50}

{Durability: 73/100}

{This ring belonged to a Lieutenant of the famous mercenary band known as the Iron Oath. When used, it can reinforce one’s shield by 10 for five minutes.}

“Oh damn,” he said as he cast ‘lesser mending’ on the ring. “I guess I was lucky that Manny fellow didn’t have a spell caster on his side to recharge this.”

“What did you find?” Quentin asked as the dark elf tossed over the repaired ring.

“Your new friend,” he replied. “Is supposed to be able to reinforce your shield by ten points for five minutes.”

“Oh damn indeed.” The paladin let out a low whistle as he put on the ring and channelled his arcana into it.

As he did so, the ring activated and a hazy grey light showed up on his shield, coating it in a grey haze.

“Thanks,” Quentin nodded as he too handed over a small trinket. “I don’t know what this thing is, but it seems to be enchanted as well.”

Regis accepted what seemed to be a brooch made of iron with a horse head motif. It had a large and corroded crack across it, the horse’s eye socket missing what he believed to be a tiny gem. As he cast charlatan’s wisdom on it, he couldn’t help but let out a depressed sigh.

{Mount of the iron oath}{irreparable}

{Item rarity: rare}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Charges: 0/50}

{Durability: 0/100}

{This brooch belonged to a Lieutenant of the famous mercenary band known as the Iron Oath. When used, it can summon an ethereal mount for 30 minutes.}

“God damn it.” Regis cussed as read the word ‘irreparable’ for the first time in an item’s description.

“What’s wrong?” The paladin asked while Khan and his companions helped the local soldiers get rid of the bandit corpses.

“This brooch had a summoning enchantment on it, but it's irreparably broken.”

“A summoning enchantment?” The Mongol youth perked up upon hearing the words.

“It was meant to summon an ethereal mount for 30 minutes.”

“Awesome!” Khan hummed along with his team.

“It’s completely broken.”

“Shit.” The unified reaction came from the outlanders.

“Can’t you disenchant it like you did with the barrier at the door?” Quentin asked his friend, earning a slight head shake.

“They used a ‘copyright’ rune on it to mask the original ones. I can’t do anything about it.”

“Well, at least we now know that there’s such a thing.”

“Yeah,” the spell weaver sighed dejected. “We should pack up and get going. I don’t want to make Nina worry too much.”

“Oh,” the paladin looked back toward the keep’s wall. “I completely forgot about her.”

“Are you guys leaving already?” Khan asked as he saw his friends grab their respective piles of loot bundles, heading toward the keep.

“We came here to get some information about the current situation of the kingdom and to get a few enchanting contracts if possible,” the paladin explained. “Nina should have gotten both by now, so we’re heading back home.”

“Home,” the Mongol youth hummed. “You’ve settled down?”

“We did. Regis became a noble and officially claimed a territory for us. We’re working on fixing up a settlement.”

“Damn,” Khan cussed. “I really missed out on a lot, didn’t I?”

“You kind of did,” Regis nodded. “So, do you want to come with us?”

“Nah, I can’t,” the young man shook his head. “As cool as it was to hang out you lot, I have a gang of my own now and they need me.”

“As if.” Becca retorted.

“Eat shit and die.” Leland remarked with a grin as the group pretended to turn around to leave.

“Oh, screw you!” Khan flipped the bird toward his new team. “Anyway, we’ll stay here for a few days to help around with the usual extermination quests before moving further inland. You could come to visit if you want before we leave and my crew could use a couple of enchantments as well, although we’re a bit low on cash.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” The dark elf noted with a slight smile as he watched the subtle changes in his braggart friend.

“Good. Still, it was good to see you guys. Tell the others I said hi.”

“We’ll do,” Quentin promised as he shook hands with Khan. “In the meantime, try not to get into too much trouble.”

“As if he could stay still.” Becca remarked with the rest of the group letting out a troubled sigh.”

“We should get going.” Regis said, giving a slight nod to the Outlander team before he and Quentin headed back to the keep.

The guards at the gate let them through with an almost reverent look in their eyes, unlike the doubtful looks they received before.

“Lord Regis,” they heard Nina’s voice as the young woman appeared on the left side of the keep's wall with Lieutenant Ernest. “I’m glad to see that you two are unharmed.”

“Thanks,” the spell weaver said while walking towards the gateway. “Did you manage to get what we came here for?”

“I did,” she nodded with a relieved smile. “Sir Ernest here was most forthcoming about the current situation of the surrounding roads and settlements. We have also made a contract for a dozen enchanted swords and shields.”

“That’s quite a lot.” Quentin said surprised by her words.

“We were left with a small sum of funds for such matters and my soldiers need all the advantage they can get. The prices mentioned by Miss Nina were well within our expectations and she promised that we would receive the enchanted equipment in three days at most.”

“That should be arrangeable.” Regis noted as they neared the gateway of the keep, his eyes landing on the slightly battered metal shields and swords that were already prepared.

“I’ll also throw in a free ‘lesser mending’ to get your stuff back in top shape.”

“That would be most welcome,” Earnest agreed as they shook hands. “Take care then.”

“Likewise.” Quentin replied as the soldier stepped back, allowing the three to vanish in the gateway’s light.

“Ugh.” The young woman staggered out of the gazebo after the barrier opened under Regis' will.

“Are you alright?”

“Just a bit winded, but nothing serious.”

“Good. So, how much did you ask for my work and what exactly did Ernest want?”

“The Lieutenant asked for a ‘trash’ grade durability and sharpness for the swords while he wants a durability and a defence-increasing rune on the shields.”

“How much can we expect from this contract?”

“Well,” Nina stopped for a moment to take a deep breath in hopes of stopping her nausea. “I used the prices I’ve seen in the journal you gave me and increased the price by twenty percent due to them being infusion enchantments instead of alchemic ones. The durability runes would cost six silver while the defence and sharpness runes were rounded up to eight silver. Also, the Lieutenant asked that one of the swords receive an extra fire rune. That would cost him another twelve silver.”

“That’s a lot of money we're talking about.” Quentin remarked as he listened to Nina’s prices.

“Enchanting was always a profitable craft.” Regis noted with the merchant woman nodding in agreement.

“If everything goes as planned, we should receive a hundred and eighty silver or three gold and fifteen silver as payment for your services.

“Who’s getting paid that much?” Valerie asked as she appeared with Amanda and Sophie from the nearby smithy.

“What happened to you?” The blacksmith asked the more important question as she noticed the bloodied loot bundle the two were dragging along. “Did you get into a fight?”

“We did,” Regis replied. “And so did Khan.”

“Khan?” Sophie looked at him surprised. “Did you meet another...”

“No,” Quentin cut into her words with a reassuring smile. “We met with the real one.”

“Lithia did mention seeing him back in Hunor,” the sun elf muttered. “Is he alright? Why didn’t he come back with you?”

“He’s fine,” the paladin answered. “And he didn’t come back with us because he managed to find a new team.”

“Oh.” Both Amanda and Sophie reacted in a slightly disheartened manner.

“Don’t be so glum,” Quentin tried to cheer them up. “His new companions seemed to be a sensible bunch, so they should be able to keep him out of trouble.”

“They’ll stay at Rust-well Keep for a few days if you girls want to say hi,” Regis added. “As for me, I have a bunch of shields and swords to enchant and some loot to fix up.”

“You won’t dismantle them?” Amanda asked as she looked at the damaged iron swords and leather armour pieces.

“We have to start building up our equipment reserves if we want to outfit our future guards and whatnot. Having a couple of extra swords and armour should be a good start.”

“That’s an excellent choice, sir,” Tristan said as he appeared from the inn. “We already had a couple of people trying to volunteer as reserve forces.”

“I’ll let Grego and Quentin deal with that matter,” the spell weaver dodged the new responsibility at light speed. “How’s our new druid ‘guest’ doing by the way?”

“He’s still out cold,” Amanda replied. “Fabien and Mary decided to stay beside him if he woke up. Do you want to join them?”

“I can’t right now. I have to enchant that pile of equipment as soon as possible to get us some funds.”

“Have fun!” Valerie said as she watched the dark elf trot away with his new assignment dragged along by two of the guards. “Workaholic.”

“Where should we put these?” One of the guards asked as they entered the inn.

“Just put them down over there at that corner table,” Regis pointed at a thick oakwood table near one of the windows. “Thanks for your help fellas.”

After saying that he headed up to his room with his damaged loot bundle, putting it down beside his table before opening his windowsill to let in some fresh air and sunlight. ‘Alright, let’s get this show on the road.’ He thought as he began to cast ‘lesser mending’ on the still repairable equipment pieces. Sadly, the iron cuirass the bandit leader owned got completely destroyed, making it irreparable.

The armour piece got all bent and misshapen due to the heat of the ‘runic ray of fire’ Regis cast on it, but he could still salvage it to get four iron ingots. Twenty or so minutes later he was done with the repairs and switched to creating clear quartz pieces and turning them into air and earth elemental stones. Once he had enough of them, he bundled up the repaired equipment and headed downstairs.

“I’ve heard you guys are back. Are you already working?” He heard Fabien asking as the infernal walked about with some food in hand.

“I repaired a small pile of useable gear upstairs and recycled the rest. Now I just need to enchant the stuff we brought over from Rust-well Keep so I can continue with the more important stuff.”

“Would you like to eat something light while working on those? I was about to bring some food for Mary while she was watching over the dude upstairs.”

“Only if you have the time. I don’t want to keep you from your beloved.” Regis joked.

“True enough. I’ll be back.” “Sure.” The spell weaver nodded as he put down the repaired gear pieces on one of the larger tables before sitting down at the one where the shields and swords were.