Laiex wasn't surprised by Zaos's weak reaction, but Dalyor and Drian were. It was unusual to put someone who was younger than twenty in the royal guard, even more, those who haven't been knighted yet. Still, pretty much every soldier in the kingdom wanted to join.

"Well… ok," Dalyor frowned, confused. "I am sure your father will say to me when he thinks, and you think that you are ready for the royal guard. Regardless, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you to join the tournament, Zaos. I believe many people want to see you and Drannor in action."

"Your wish is my command," Zaos said.

"No, it is not an actual command… I just think that it would be good for the party," Dalyor said.

"I will gladly help," Zaos said.

"You have much gratitude," Dalyor said.

"It is almost lunchtime, so I won't take much more of your time, Your Majesty," Zaos said and then bowed. "Thank you for receiving me."

  After that, Zaos left the throne room, and the place stayed silent for a while. But then the king broke the silence while looking at Laiex.

"It looked like he had gotten over his mother's death much sooner than I expected, but his behavior seems different than I remember," Dalyor said.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Laiex said. "I believe that he already accepted his mother's death, but his behavior… that is the real him when he doesn't have a clear goal on his mind. His previous goal was to heal his mother. That was why he was somewhat rude and rough with others because he valued the time he spent with her and the time he used to make her happy."

"I really don't know if that change is bad or good," Dalyor frowned. "It is not like he isn't the only kid in the kingdom who really loved his mother, but to think that a kid of his age wouldn't think of anything upon facing the possibility of joining the royal guard… I am honestly dumbfounded."

"I am sure that he will eventually join, Your Majesty," Laiex said. "After all, Ameria saved his life during those six months more than once. He had a debt, and he dislikes not having the chance to repay them."

Dalyor nodded. Ameria was almost completely safe in the castle, so the chances of protecting her from danger would be pretty scarce. The only way to do that is by joining the royal guard…

After leaving the castle, Zaos decided to return to the district where he found the weapons being sold. Still, before arriving in one of those shops, he made a stop for lunch. Then he looked for some interesting shops and then he found one that seemed interesting. Maybe it was because of his mood recently, but the dark full plate armors of that place really picked Zaos's interest.

"How can I help you?" A tanned, muscular man asked.

"This set of armor looks pretty interesting. Can I wear it to have a feeling of it?" Zaos asked.

"As long as you are planning to buy it," The owner of the shop said.

  Zaos didn't know many shop owners, but he could imagine that letting people wear that all the time must be a pain. Unfortunately, Zaos didn't have more than a few silver coins in his pocket since he didn't imagine him buying anything aside from his lunch that day. Regardless, Zaos decided to check the armor once he came with enough money to buy it.

"What is the price?" Zaos asked.

"200 gold coins," The tanned man replied after he crossed his arms.

It was pretty expensive… four times more expensive than an advanced magic book. Zaos touched the armor and felt that despite being rough-looking, it seemed pretty light. Zaos felt that it was time to buy an armor that he would be able to use for several years since soon he would stop growing.

After looking around the shop, Zaos found several types of weapons. While they didn't seem as impressive as the dark armor, they sure looked impressive. Some dark knives really picked Zaos's interest. Perhaps it was time to try what he thought a long time ago… of using throwing knives. It seemed better for the time being than trying to replicate and rapid-fire crossbow.

"Do you accept orders from your clients?" Zaos asked.

"Orders?" The shop owner frowned.

"I mean, if I ask you to produce a certain thing, you will produce it?" Zaos asked.

"As long as it is something reasonable…" The shop owner said while still looking confused.

"All right, I will come back later," Zaos said.

Zaos quickly returned home and then grabbed two bags full of gold coins. In each of those, he could carry 250 coins, so it seemed he made quite a fortune… no wonder mages were so greedy. Regardless, he wondered if it was a good idea to carry those without a carriage, but he didn't want to waste time. He quickly returned to the blacksmith shop and then put the money on the table.

"I am going to check the armor," Zaos said.

"... Sure," the tanned man said. "You do look like a young soldier, but there is no way at your age someone would have made so much money. Whose family are you?"

"Will that change anything?" Zaos asked.

"No, I just wanted to check to avoid headaches later on," The tanned man said.

Zaos put the armor on, and as expected, it was a bit bigger for him even though the armor wasn't made for soldiers who were basically huge chunks of muscle. Still, in a year or two, Zaos would fit in that perfectly. The armor was thick enough, and despite that, the metal was light, and it was also easy to move in. Zaos figured it would become even more manageable as he got used to the rough shape. After all, it was an armor that wasn't made for guards but for mercenaries. Fortunately, people like Zaos had the liberty to use their own type of armor since they were trained to be leaders, and it would be hard to enact respect looking like a foot soldier.