Chapter 40

Gear Up

Bruno’s shop wasn’t too far from the job boards. It was located in a premium spot, not too far from the commons.

“So, what’s this about?” Asked Rowan.

“It’ll be easier to explain once we get inside.” Said Janus. They were already at the entrance to Bruno’s Enchantments.

As the door swung open, Janus heard Bruno call out.

“Ah, Janus! Good to see you.” Bruno eyed Rowan and Tara. “Is this your team?”

“Yeah. This is Rowan.” Said Janus as he motioned towards Rowan.

“Aye? It’s nice to meet you, uh, Bruno,” replied the redhead. He must have caught Bruno’s name from the sign outside.

The burly proprietor nodded his head and glanced at Tara.

“Oh, right. This is Tara,” said Janus.

“It’s good to meet you Bruno.” Tara went straight for a handshake.

Bruno grinned and grasped her hand. “Oh my! What a grip! It’s very nice to meet you both, Rowan and Tara. Come, let’s speak in my office. It will be cramped, but we can speak freely there.”

The group followed Bruno, carefully squeezing into the office.

Bruno flashed his signature grin. “So, I get to meet your team!”

Rowan and Tara spent a few minutes to introduce themselves properly while Bruno nodded along.

“Incredible! [Paladin] and [Trickster] are quite rare. I’ve never met anybody else with your these classes before, especially [Paladin].” Bruno pointed towards the ceiling. “Most of the [Paladin]s I’ve read about lived on the surface. But I digress! Let’s get down to business. I’ve offered to sponsor Janus, and he asked me to extend the offer to the both of you.”

“Really? A sponsorship?” Rowan looked between Janus and Bruno. “Nobody knows who we are, though.”

“Haha! Don’t worry about it. I have confidence, especially after meeting the whole team, that you guys will be very well known indeed,” said Bruno.

“So, you’re willing to sponsor the entire team then?” Asked Janus.

“Of course! I think it would be a wise investment.” Bruno shrugged. “Besides, my business can absorb the cost. What happened in Crow Station was an absolute tragedy, but it means the Stations are ordering more and more enchanted equipment. Everyone’s in high alert.”

Janus shivered. He had managed to go a few days without thinking of Crow Station and what happened there.

“Right…. Do you have any news about Crow Station, Bruno?” Asked Janus.

“Not much. They’re working on repairs to the sub-train lines. I heard the governor of Crow Station died in the attack and they’re now working to elect a new one.” Bruno replied.

Janus knew that his dad was probably working on the rail line, or maybe even working on fixing up Crow Station itself. He leaned against a rickety bookcase and thought for a moment while the others talked.

“Janus! Hellooo!” Tara’s shouting shook Janus from his daydreaming.

“Oh, sorry. Yeah?”

It was only now that he noticed the others staring at him.

“Bruno was asking for our measurements and preferences,” said Tara.

“I want to gift you guys a brand new set of equipment!” Bruno’s voice rattled through the room. “The best I can afford! With a small logo to represent my business of course.”

“Honestly, I don’t care how big the logo is if it’ll keep me alive,” said Rowan.

“Haha! Perfect! Of course, I will be reasonable with my advertisements!”

Janus and his team spent a while longer speaking with Bruno and ironing out the details of their sponsorship. Bruno could afford to provide them with some equipment and repairs for now, but could not afford to pay them a wage. As far as Janus was concerned, the only thing that mattered was the equipment. Of course, they would also have a private training space in one of Bruno’s own warehouses to sweeten the deal.

This private training space is where Janus, Rowan, and Tara found themselves that evening. Bruno had worked late into the night to clear the space and set up a few initial enchantments. He told the trio to be careful for now until the final enchantments were in place.

“You know, when I woke up this morning, I never would have guessed this is where I would end up,” said Rowan.

Janus made his way to the center of the training area. “I’m glad that I finally have a place to practice in private. Every time I went to the sparring field, people would start staring.”

Bruno had cleared up a larger space than Janus had expected. The burly enchanted told them that he would even put up some enchanted walls when he had time. For now Janus and the others could see crates and various carts stacked up in the distance.

“And now that you guys know how my skills work, I can try some new stuff out. We can work more effectively as a team.” Janus continued.

“I’m excited,” said Tara. “We need to get you in front of a healer ASAP. The faster you can get a stronger healing spell than [Lesser Healing], the faster we can start taking higher paying contracts!”

The trio spent the rest of the night in the training area. Janus demonstrated every spell he had learned to recreate and the others gave him feedback. Together, they brainstormed about combinations and synergies.

The rest of the week went by without much concern. The team decided to put off taking any jobs so that they could practice at Bruno’s warehouse. The enchanter had gotten around to building them a proper training area with powerful enchantments. They no longer had to worry about a stray spell or skill damaging Bruno’s crates.

In addition to training, Janus began visiting the governors office every morning to check on the progress of the repairs in Crow Station. From recent news, he should only have to wait a few more days before the communication lines are back up. Once the lines were back up, Janus would be able to contact his dad via runescribe.

-

Hashilli stepped over Janus, taking a seat on the coach nearby and tossing a box into Janus’ lap. “There was a package for you by the door.”

Janus jumped a little as the box made impact. “Oh. I know what this probably is.”

Confirming his suspicions, Janus spotted the small “Bruno’s Enchanting” logo on the corner of the package.

“It’s my new robe!” Janus grinned. Keeping his old robe repaired had been such a pain, but Bruno had offered to handle any future repairs the new equipment needed. Not to mention, the new robe would be more heavily enchanted than his old one.

Tearing into the package, Janus began to pull out a few separate items. The main item was a thick, reinforced wool robe. There were a few other odds and ends that Janus set aside as he unrolled the robe.

Under one shoulder was the roaring bear head emblem of Bear Station and under the other was Bruno’s logo.

He wasn’t lying when he said it would be a small logo.

Janus wondered if it was really fair. Bruno was providing his team with so much, he really didn’t mind if the advertisement was larger.

I guess it’s about professionalism.

He set the robe down on the arm of the couch and reached for the other packages.

“This sponsorship must be a big deal then?” Asked Hashilli. “I didn’t expect to see such high quality equipment.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure what to expect either. But Bruno insisted that he would get the best stuff he could afford. I can see he wasn’t lying.”

Within one package was a small crystal and a note that Janus began to read.

Janus, he read, I’ve personally crafted you a [Superior Focus]. You can keep the one I gave you the other day as a backup. This one should provide significantly better mana regeneration. I hope this partnership is long and fruitful!

He inspected the new focus. It was actually slightly smaller than the focus he was given before, but the gem was much less cloudy. He could even see his palm through the facets.

Finally, he opened the last package. Inside was a stack of business cards for “Bruno’s Enchanting.”

Janus couldn’t help but smile. Of course Bruno would include some business cards for him to hand out.

“Is that a [Superior Focus]?” Asked Hashilli.

“Yeah. I’ve never seen one before.” Janus replied.

“I have seen a few. They’re usually pretty expensive. I’ve never owned one myself.”

Janus grunted in response and attempted to attune to the new focus, but couldn’t seem to get it to work. After a couple of seconds, he realized what the problem must be. He was already attuned to the other focus. After removing his old attunement, he successfully attuned to the new focus.

“I’m actually looking forward to taking some new jobs right now,” said Janus. “Usually I’m anxious.” He let off a nervous laugh.

“Confidence comes with time. You still haven’t been on very many jobs. And, the ones you have been on are usually very dangerous.”

Janus coughed. “Yeah, I guess it hasn’t been the standard experience. Anyway, I need to get to the commons. What’s your plan for today?”

“Oh, me? I’m not doing anything. It’s my teams down day. Maybe I’ll take a nap.” Hashilli yawned and stretched his arms back.

“Alright, well I’ll see you later tonight! I need to get dressed.”

Janus headed back towards his room and put on his new robe. He placed both his [Superior Focus] and standard [Focus] into an inner robe pocket and after a few moments of deliberation, stowed Bruno’s business cards in his robe too.