“I hope you enjoy the shield, and I wao speak to you about full pte,” Adam said, p the Priest a cup of tea. “I know you’re a follower of, uh…”

  “Lady Tempest,” Mork replied, sipping the hot tea, feeling it almost burn his lips. His skin ale like snow, his chestnut hair tied into a bun. He wore his brother’s breast pte over , which required a little adjusting with ara yer of clothes, but otherwise fit him quite well. Dangling over his chest was an amulet stamped with a lightning bolt, and half a cloud towards Mork’s left. He carried two bdes at his side, one more familiar to Adam, for he was the oe and ent it, while the other was a shorter bde.

  “You’d think after all these years I’d get better at remembering names, especially of the Divine.” Adam chuckled, sipping the tea, and though it was hot, Adam only felt a gentle warmth from it.

  “They are the first names I learnt, like most children,” Mork replied, a glint in his eyes speaking more than his words, but he didn’t dare to pry further.

  “I wasn’t born around these parts, if that wasn’t obvious,” Adam replied, smiling slightly. “Still, I know my basiners. We were pnning on f some full pte for you, sihe symbol of the business will be front are, I wao ask you if you’re fortable with that, or if there are any modifications we make that would make it more fortable for you.”

  Mork tio sip his tea in thought. It wasn’t every day that someoold you they were going to make you full pte, armour worth over a thousand gold, and depending on the smith, sometimes reag up to ten thousand gold. There was the small issue of the symbol, since he was a follower of Lady Tempest, and having someone else’s symbol so promily dispyed was rather awkward.

  “How promi?”

  “Well, about as promi as the others,” Adam admitted.

  ‘The lines are engraved with exquisite detail, but if I were to wear such, it would not be right,’ Mork thought, sipping his tea. “The armour, it would be mine?”

  “It will be lent to you for a period of time. After a decade, it will be yours, though I’m sure we’ll gift it to you quicker. With the Reavers ing, and with how hard you’ll o work, we will reduce the time required.”

  “What of the bde?”

  “It’ll be yours after an additional ten years of service, but, again, you’ll probably get it before the twenty years are up. I mean, a Basihanced on after ten years of service, with what we pay you is nice, but, I don’t think I buy your loyalty through full pte, a Greater Shield, and a Basihanced bde.”

  “If you are trying to buy my loyalty, you are very good at it,” Mork joked, fshing a wide smile and the pair chuckled together.

  “Let me know about the armour whenever you’re free, and I’ll let the smith know, and we figure something out.”

  “If the smith is able to engrave the lines with a lighter touch, it would be acceptable,” Mork said, finishing the tea.

  “Alright, we do that,” Adam replied with a quiod, before p the Priest more tea. “How is the shrio Lady Tempest? Do you have everything you need? Is there a particur material she would like, or any particur designs?”

  “The shrine is acceptable,” Mork replied, smiling politely.

  “After a few years I’ll see about verting something to a proper temple, and build Lady Tempest something worthy of your hard work, but for now, please accept the shrine. We’ve set aside some donations for the good Lady, and after a few years, we’ll send them to a proper temple. If you’d like, I’ll let you choose which temples accept the gold until we finally make our own proper temple, and…”

  Mork watched as the half elf fell silent, his eyes looking through spato his mind.

  ‘And what? Is the business going to have its own gregation for Lady Tempest?’ Adam furrowed his brows, before reag into his robe, taking out his book, jotting down his notes, before slipping it bato his robe. “I’ll… figure something out. If you have any ideas, please, let me know.”

  “Thank you for your , Executive. I will advise in whatever way I .”

  “As always, appreciate the good work, Brother Mork. No, Father Mork?”

  “I have been gifted Third Gate spells, you may refer to me as Father, though I am not officially ordained as a Father by my temple. It would be best for me to gain su a few years time, when they view me as old enough.”

  “You have to be a certain age?”

  “No, but they would refuse on the grounds of my youth,” the Priest replied, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Ah, well, I guess that kind of makes sense. Some people will feel jealous about aining magical items quicker than…” Adam’s eyes fell to the side at Mork’s side. ‘Wait…’

  It wasn’t long until Adam spoke his worries to his Aunt, who had expected the half elf to e and speak about the matter of the shields, not about the ons.

  “I don’t want them thinking that I overlooked them, you know? Besides, we have…” Adam leaned in, whispering, just in case. “Besides, we have quite a few extra ons.”

  “You wished to sell them,” Sonarot reminded him.

  “Yeah, but, we have enough money for the busio survive for a few years without selling off any. It’s better to lend them to our people, just in case.”

  Sonarot couldn’t help but wonder just where Adam had e from, for him to be m the businessfolk in this way. It was equally Iyrmanly, and equally not so at the same time.

  “Rick, Jeremy, Remy. That should be enough for now, and we should still have enough to sell off, if we really o. Might au them off in Red Oak, just to keep things simple for us.”

  “Have you fiven them?”

  “No, but, Red Oak is the closest town by quite a while, otherwise we’ll have to head to Ever Green le Wing, and they’re a little too far away for my liking. Why couldn’t you guys have more towns and vilges dotted around the ndscape like the good old days?” Adam sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Everything would be so much easier if these towns weren’t sixty miles away from each other, seriously.”

  “It would be fortunate for us if they returo that state of being,” Sonarot said, before noting the look on Adam’s face. She smiled, for it was a look Adam often gave, though it was ohat others also gave to him.

  ‘Seriously, you Iyrmen are crazy.’

  “If you wish to lend them the bdes, you may.”

  “I was thinking about Lady Jasmine and Siten too, maybe to Bael, though he likes to use his fists and… lightning?” Adam still wasn’t sure how he fought. “Theo, Thomas, Alfie, Aria, the others, I was thinking about them too.”

  “I uand your wishes to lend the bdes to the newly trained guards, but it is not required. They will not fight the Reavers.”

  “Alright. I did feel a little weird about handing so many people those kinds of ons, sihey might start thinking they were strohan they actually were, ahem over fident…”

  “For now, spears may be best, Basic if you are worried. When they wield their spears, they will remind themselves of the dangers which lurk in battle.”

  “That might be a good idea,” Adam admitted, rubbing his . Spears were spears. The most basic on of all, and a on which was the most humble of all. A spear would keep them in cheot for the business’ sake, but to keep them alive. ‘Even though Jurot and the others traihem, they’re still not Iyrmen. They weren’t born with the love of death, they o live a long life, and not for a story.’

  “Could the Enter… make these spears Basihanced, perhaps… detly powerful? Nothing too powerful, but… more than just Basic?” Adam looked at his Aunt with a hopeful gaze.

  “It is wise to begin with Basic, then ohey have proven themselves, they may be gifted the spears when they are Experts, a greater, Greater or Basihanced, spears.”

  “We really o e up with new words, because I’m fused half the time whenever I use basic or Basid greater reater.”

  “The business may be able to do so,” Sonarot said with a small smile upon her face. “The business may influehe world ier capacities.”

  “Greater reater?” Adam joked, and as Sonarot raised her hand, Adam bowed his head out of instinct, the woman rubbing the top of his head.

  “Are you still so afraid of the Iyr?” Sonarot asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “There is no need.”

  “I’m not sure about that. I’d like to stay on the Iyr’s good side, and if I ever get in trouble with someone else, I hope the Iyr will help me, not that I expect it.”

  Sonarot smiled wide. “I ot ask you to stop causing trouble. You are Adam.”

  “It’s embarrassing if you say it, Aunt.”

  “What if I say it as the President?”

  “As long as you don’t cut my wages.” Adam smirked slightly. “Ah, right. Speaking of enting great ons, or rather, Greater Enhanced ons, could the Enter ent some soon?”

  Sonarot could see it upon his face, for she knew Adam wao ent some to gift to the children.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Adam said, noting the slight twitch of his Aunt’s brow, like that of a mother knowing her son was about to cause trouble. “You think I’m saying it because I want to spoil the children. Actually, I think, with the Reavers ing soon, it might be best that the others and I are equipped with such items while we travel through Aswadasad.”

  “You will gift them to the children iure,” Sonarot said, and as Adam blinked, feigning surprise, about to ask if he was so predictable, she tinued. “Yes.”

  “I’m going to tell Jirot you’re bullying me,” Adam said.

  “Okay,” Sonarot replied, uanding even with his own children, she held the upper hand.

  Adam overthinking useless stuff is always funny to me.