Mature Content Warning: Not much.

Author's Note: Oh snap... Also, I may put up the last part of this tonight, but if I do there probably won't be an update tomorrow.

---

Chapter 8.2: Gentleman of Darkness

---

It was an interesting sort of conversation. Blackthorne was uncertain what to think of it to be honest.

“No, you’re the master. You should sleep on the bed.” said Sonja.

“I don’t sleep...” said Blackthorne.

“What do you do then?” She asked. It was highly doubtful that he did not sleep.

“I wait.” He said cryptically.

Sonja eyed him for a moment then hopped onto the bed, armor and all. She stretched out then smiled. “Fine. I’ll take the bed.”

“Good, it’s wasted on me except when I leave this world.” said Blackthorne. He removed another ring from a bit of chainmail armor, one of the few remaining bits of armor loot.

“I see. I’ve never seen a traveler actually leave. What happens?” she asked.

Blackthorne shrugged at her. “Not sure. I wake up in my world of Origin and don’t know what is going on here.”

“What about your body here?” She checked out his body for a moment. It was not unpleasant to behold, though she had seen finer specimens.

“I’ve heard many things, so I don’t really know. I think my body remains here for a while then fades away, unless I got really lucky when I slept in the grassland that night.” he said.

Blackthorne began to loop together chainmail rings in order to create a bracelet. He used a four-in-one method as it was fast and simple.

“Hmm, so if you were to leave while with me, your body would be completely at my mercy for a while?” she asked with an almost musical lilt in her voice.

“Yes, it seems so.” he replied in a flat an uninterested tone.

She rolled over and propped her head up on her head while using her elbow for support. “So, do you have a wife or anything like that?”

“Nope, do you?” he asked her absently. He finished chaining links together since he only broke open the rivets on one ring for every five of them. He did his best to press them back together, but it was difficult. That little issue was one of the big problems with creating jewelry or anything really. He needed tools. His chainmail items were only intermittently riveted. Most were only butted together as best he could make them. Only the items formed through synergy had proper rivets.

Now that he had finished the links of the chainmail bracelet, he took a loose ring and opened it until it was mostly flattened. He had to use the blade of one of the swords to accomplish this, but it was fine. He then worked at it the pommel of that blade until the corners of the ring had been curled inward just enough to be attached to the bracelet in order to act as a latch.

“No, no wife or anything. No husband either...” said Sonja. She rolled over onto her stomach then kicked her feet up and down on the bed while looking down at him.

Blackthorne ignored her while he continued to work. He had nearly finished working with their current load of loot and he wanted to be done with it. Grinding production skills was useful but it bored the hell out of him.

Sonja puffed out her cheeks and made a few short little noises while blowing out a breath. Immediately afterward she started to hum.

“You’re bored out of your mind aren’t you?” asked Blackthorne, while never taking his eyes from the chainmail bracelet in his hand. It was the best he could do without real tools.

“No...” she said before making another little noise. She rolled over onto her back then placed her hand to her forehead.

“You can go out if you want.” he said.

She sighed loudly. “Don’t wanna...”

“Want to help me?” he asked after a moment.

“I don’t know how...” she said slowly.

“Want me to show you?” asked Scott before he hefted a leather bracer he had recently synergized.

“Uhm... Sure, I guess.” She hopped down beside him then grinned.

“Let me combine these two first then I can show you how to make simple chain, alright?”

Sonja nodded happily then smiled. “That sounds good.”

The bracelet and the bracer began to glow then a brief moment later they merged. After the light died down he had a cool new item.

<<< Item >>>

Leather Scale Bracer

A simple low-quality leather scale bracer created by an unknown synergist. The defense and durability are of poor capacity.

Defense: +21

Durability: 17/17

Quality: Low-Quality

Value: 1156

>>[/b]

He smiled at it then added the scale bracer to the small pile of them that he had created. They were the best quality equipment that he had created, the chain hauberk notwithstanding. He had made enough of them to have two for himself and two for Sonja. He even had one left over to sell later.

“Right, so... Let’s put you to work.” said the mage.

Sonja grinned at him then sat up straight and attentive like a good student. “Yes, use me however you like.”

Blackthorne quirked up his left eyebrow and glanced at her sideways. He was almost certain that she had not meant that as innuendo, but it was a hard thing to ignore.

“Well, the first thing that you will need to do is find some rings. Can you tell which rings in this piece of rusty crap are worth a damn?” he asked.

“Sure...” Sonja quickly located several decent rings. She had a good eye for armor due to her heritage.

Blackthorne showed her a way to break the rivets around the good rings in order to free them. It was much easier to make a bracelet if several large sections of rings could be taken intact. It would also be stronger as the rivets remained intact.

Sonja removed the remaining decent rings from the chain coat. There were enough of them to make several chainmail bracelets.

Throughout the next few hours Scott showed Sonja how to link the rings together and create basic fasteners to complete them. After she got the hang of it, he gave her the remaining tattered mail coat to work with and focused on using synergy to create the best items that he could create at present, the scale bracers.

The last of the useable leather and chain loot was used up after another two hours. By the time everything was complete, they had twelve leather scale bracers. Blackthorne opted to keep the four best ones, each slightly better than the last one that he had created on his own.

Sonja yawned delicately then blushed a little. “Oh, sorry.”

“For what?” asked Blackthorne.

“I yawned...”

He smiled at her. He was a little tired as well, but sleep for him was a useless thing. It meant he would return to his own world. “If you’re sleepy, just head to bed.”

She looked at him for a moment then twisted her mouth to the side a little. “Where did you learn to make chainmail?”

He noted that she had ignored his suggestion. “I learned how to do this sort of thing when I was younger, to pass the time and...”

“And...?” asked Sonja with a pleasant smile.

Blackthorne’s expression became tight. His eyebrows knit together then he became quiet.

Sonja winced then looked down at her hands. Had she upset him? She was uncertain and it worried her.

Finally, he looked up and stared at the wall. “Do... You have any family waiting for you in the Highlands?”

“Yes, my mother and my little sister... If they got away.” she said.

“How young is your sister?” he asked.

“She would be eleven now, I think.” admitted Sonja

Blackthorne’s expression tightened once more. After a moment he reached out and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. His eyes never left the wall but he said, “You’ll see them again.”

Sonja was momentarily cheered by his words but his tone of voice had been so cold, so harsh. It was strange. He had not spoken in that manner even once before in the short time that they had known each other. “Thank you...”

He nodded once then released her shoulder. “Answer a question for me.”

“Yes...” she said slowly, nervously. His tone was cold and disturbingly soft.

“What was his name?” asked Blackthorne.

“His name?” she asked in confusion.

“Yes, what was the name of the man who captured and sold you?” asked Blackthorne in that disturbing and soft voice.

“Why do...?” she began. Blackthorne turned his gaze upon her and she lost the will to speak. His facial expression was like a mask but the look in his eyes was too intense to ignore.

“I...” said Sonja. A slight blush crossed her cheeks. What was with his intensity? It was... certainly something.

He continued to look at her with that strange and intense gaze and she could not deny him the answer he sought. “His name was Marco... Marco Kilnesia.”

“Thank you.” said Blackthorne. He turned away from her and the tension in the air began to die down.

Sonja blinked then bit her lower lip. That had been so strange... Why had he acted like that? Why did he want her old master’s name?