We entered the city and walked around, enjoying all the things this city had to offer. I didn't know if I wanted to enter this city's version of a red light district, so we headed to the Inn for some day drinking. Mostly I wanted to. The others were reluctant. I didn't put away my weapon into my inventory since a situation could arise where I needed it. It was a slim chance, but it could still happen.

Our group entered and were treated to the usual rowdy atmosphere. I sat down at the bar and waved the bartender over, asking for some ale. He promptly reached under the counter to give me a mug and poured me some ale. As I started drinking, I saw Lance ask for a mug too. Rose and Jane just sat down and watched.

As I drank, I thought about how almost everything I had was unique except for my armor. I only wore plain steel armor, save for the engravings it had. I thought about how to improve it until I just decided to replace it. Stopping after only one mug's worth of ale, I got up and told the others I was going to leave for a bit and exited the Inn.

I walked to Elliot's smithy and saw him working on my armor. I came over and waited until he was done with whatever he was doing. He looked up and noticed me standing there.

"Something you need, Michael? And thanks for waiting for me to finish. Sometimes people are a little impatient." Elliot frowned a little at the last sentence but returned to his cheerful attitude almost instantly.

"I'd like to switch from that steel armor to an Adamantium version." I said. Elliot's face turned to one of shock from hearing that.

"You do realize how much an armor like that would weigh, right? Usually, people would ask for Mithril. Sure, Adamantium is stronger, but Mithril is much lighter without compromising too much on strength. Are you sure you won't crumble under the weight?" He was concerned about how much the armor would weigh, but it would be fine for me. At least, I assume it'll be. Maybe it'll increase my mastery faster since I have to get used to the weight of the adamantium.

"It'll be fine. I'm sure I can handle the weight. How long do you think it'll take to create the armor?" I asked him about the time it would take to create the armor, which was more concerning to me than the weight.

"Maybe a few months or so? It'll be quite costly Michael. I don't have enough here to smith an armor like that, so you're mostly paying for the Adamantium I have to order. It'll come around to about... 120 gold. Deal?" Elliot smiled as if he didn't drop a price that made my heart bleed. This purchase would cut my current gold reserve by almost half. Still, I reached a hand out towards him and his smile widened. I didn't bother trying to haggle the price down since I cared about the quality of this armor.

"Deal." We shook hands and I handed him a bag with 120 gold coins in it. He counted the money before nodding and sitting back down at his forge.

"Now for another, more important question. What do you want the armor to be like?" Elliot turned towards me and leaned forward. I wanted some parts to be stripped off for a little bit more mobility. I decided to have less armor for the legs since I wanted to be able to move. I also told him to not make any armor for the left arm since I had my metal arm to compensate. I made him remove individual finger plates that would come with the gauntlet for my right hand. Lastly, the chinguard would be the finishing touch since I told him I preferred visibility over head protection.

The chest-plate would be slim enough to fit snugly underneath my coat but thick enough to offer better protection than a light chest-plate. I fed him some more details about other things such as the material of the straps and under-armor. This obviously bumped up the price but if I was going to spend this much, it better be high quality.

"Also, include a single white stripe down the middle of the gauntlet. It's to satisfy my aesthetic preferences." I included one last detail. I would probably not be replacing this armor so I wanted to make it look better to me. Elliot wrote down all the details on a piece of paper he got from god knows where and pinned it up inside his shop. I also gave him my measurements and he wrote them down on that same paper. Elliot then shook my hand once more and I nodded to him. He sat down at his forge and picked up his hammer.

Placing my steel armor aside, he started working on Lance's armor. I left and returned to the Inn, where the others were sitting and socializing with the people around them. I stepped towards them and everyone surrounding the three turned and looked at me.

"Did you really kill the Demon Lieutenant, Julia?" One girl walked looked up at me and asked this question. The others waited for an answer.

"Yes. I did. The shortsword at Jane's waist should be enough proof. I didn't do it alone though, I would've died without Lance's help." I made an attempt at being humble and gestured over to Lance who then laid back a little into the counter.

"Yes, I did help. I only distracted her though. You did most of the work and even landed the two blows that killed her." Lance turned my attempt at being humble into his own. I facepalmed at this and the crowd now looked at me with varying degrees of admiration in their eyes.

"Hey, can I trying holding that sword?" A man with a large sword on his back asked me. I nodded and took the blade off my back, placing it in his hands. Once I let go, the sword immediately slammed into the ground. The edge sank through the floor and the man could barely hold the sword up by the handle. Now I know that it can't be easily stolen.

"Why is this thing so heavy? And how do you swing this one-handed?" He looked at me with an expression of shock. Was the sword really that heavy? I didn't think it weighed that much. I grabbed the sword and lifted it up easily before placing it on my back. I looked at the others in my group and told them that our plans would be delayed.

"We're going to have to stay for a few months longer. I requested an armor from Elliot and he said it'll take at least that long to create the armor." I told them what Elliot had told me and they nodded.

"We'll go with your decisions. You're our party leader, after all." Lance said to me with a smile. I was happy to know that my companions were this loyal and trusting. The same man that tried to handle my sword tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, can you show us a few moves? I want to see how you handle that thing." He was excited to see how I well I could wield the greatsword. I gave him what I thought would be a safe option.

"Let's go to the Guild's training ground for this one. Well, if it has one." I suggested we headed to the Guild for this since we could have a separate area for me to demonstrate. Before I forgot, I paid the innkeeper for the damages to the floor.

The others got up from their seats and we walked over to the Guild with a crowd in tow. We walked to the Guild and I was directed to behind the Guild building, where they had a large area with various adventurers swinging weapons or practicing magic. We went to a little area with no people and the crowd of adventurers stared at me in anticipation.

I lifted the greatsword off my back and rested it on my shoulder. Then, I swung it diagonally to my left. As it neared the ground, I used its momentum to direct a strike that created an X shaped pattern. A final strike was created horizontally through the middle of the cross. Three trails of red were left in the air then dissipated after.

I'd thought about using momentum to increase the strength of my attacks, and after trying it out, it could work. Maybe it'd be harder to block it too since a heavy sword like mine was going that fast. I continued swinging the greatsword and chaining attacks smoothly into the next. I hadn't noticed it until after, but I entered a trance-like state where I could notice little mistakes in my attacks that would negatively impact me. I eventually stopped since I was starting to feel a bit of fatigue.

Placing my sword on my back again, I turned around to find that everyone had awed expressions. Even my party showed a bit of surprise.

"I don't remember you being that good with one-handing a greatsword. What the hell?" Lance walked over and placed an arm around my neck. I chuckled at this.

"Well. Maybe I should try out more techniques." I said this while silently checking my Greatsword masteries.

Greatsword Mastery Your proficiency in using greatswords. A higher Mastery provides increased damage, speed, and efficiency of attacks with a greatsword. Mastery: Master 4 Effect: 68% One-Handed Greatsword Mastery The ability to wield greatswords one-handed. A higher Mastery will decrease the difficulty of wielding a greatsword one-handed. Mastery: Advanced 6 Effect: 52%

My skills had both gained a rank that wasn't from the fighting we'd done up until this point. I thought about entering that trance again but assumed it would be difficult now that I knew about it. Some things are easier to accomplish when you don't know about them. I closed the windows and looked around. The crowd was still there and the man with the large sword approached me and started asking some unrelated questions.

Other people, specifically many women, asked me about some unrelated topics like hobbies and my favorite things. I answered them all and then the crowd dispersed. I felt Jane's stare boring holes into me and turned around to a jealousy-filled expression.

"You're not going to do anything with those girls, right?" Jane asked me with wrath present in her tone. I quickly put my hands up to surrender.

"No no, it's fine. I won't try anything." I quickly tried to appease her. The consequences would be dire if I couldn't. Jane then returned to her normal expression and I let out a sigh while putting my hands back down. I wondered about what to do over the next few months.

To pass the time, we did all sorts of requests. We'd mostly done physical work but sometimes had to do paperwork.

We were resting at the Inn and I decided to go check on Elliot's progress. I left the Inn with Lance and we headed over to Elliot's smithy. Arriving at the place, I didn't see him sitting at the forge. Lance and I looked around for him and found him sitting in front of a workbench. hammering away at something else.

I looked around some more and saw the set of armor I requested sitting next to Lance's repaired armor. Waiting for Elliot to finish, I stood there and dozed off a bit. Lance then shook me and Elliot got up from his forge. He looked at me and smiled.

"Go ahead. Try it on. I'm waiting." He crossed his arms and stood there watching me.

I walked over to where the armor was placed and took off my coat. I strapped on the chest-plate and leg armor before putting my coat back on. I then equipped the gauntlet before moving on to the chinguard. I picked it up and examined it before placing it on my chin and making sure it fit snugly. Sections of high-quality leather armor lay underneath to give some cushioning from blunt impacts.

It was a comfortable fit. I smiled and nodded to Elliot, paying him a little extra on the spot. He gladly took the tip and I left, my plated boots thudding on the ground beneath me. Lance admired the new armor I obtained and stared at it the entire time we walked back to the Inn. I inspected the armor on the way back and was amazed at the stats.

Modified Adamantium Half-Plate Defense: 500(+240) Durability: 300/300(+144) Restriction: 450 Strength An armor that was created with some modifications. Some parts have been stripped to reduce the otherwise ungodly weight of this armor set.

I cleared the restriction of the armor and was able to move around effectively in it. There was a noticeable difference but I would get used to it eventually. Plus, if I didn't manage to avoid taking a hit, the armor would do its job much better than the steel armor. I didn't want anything other than the single stripe on the gauntlet so my armor looked a little plain. Well, the parts that you could see.

When I returned to the Inn, Jane and Rose came over to drag us upstairs. Once we were all in a room, the atmosphere became tense.

"Michael, remember the church that you promised to help?" Jane looked at me with a serious expression.

"Yes. Did something happen?" Lance and I were confused as to what occurred while we were away.

"Well, the little girl came down and asked for us to meet the Queen. We can either book it from the city now or go and see what she wants." Jane said to us.

"I think we can go. If anything happens, I'm sure we can handle it and escape. Maybe not safely, but alive. Yes?" I came up with this response. I had confidence in the new gear I'd obtained. Though we could get some new armor for Jane and Rose somewhere else.

"That settles it. I've got a bad feeling about this though." Jane said before we headed for the palace. It was a decently long walk. As usual, the palace was located in the center of the city. It was just as extravagant as the one in Lerton. The guards stopped us at the gate but they let us through when we told them who we were. An entourage of guards surrounded us as we headed inside the main hall. The door to the throne room was opened and our group headed inside.

The throne had a woman in her late 30s sitting on it. She was slouching a little in her chair and had a bored expression on her face. She had some strands of gray hair that were swept back and tied up with the rest of her hair. The church loli was standing next to the throne with her hands behind her back. She had a serious expression on her face. I was sure all sorts of non-serious thoughts were going around in her head.

When we saw our group, her face blossomed into a grin. I kept a deadpan expression the entire time. Whatever the king offered, I wanted to reject it and get the hell out. Like Jane, a bad feeling was welling up inside me.

"So... why are we here again?" I asked awkwardly. It was a pretty shoddy attempt at breaking the silence but I wanted to get to the point already.

"I called you here to offer you a place in my Royal Guard. Both you and your group show incredible combat prowess. Especially you, Michael. I will offer you and your group whatever I can provide in the kingdom." The Queen paused to get into a more comfortable sitting position. "So, what'll it be?"

Everyone in the room gave me stares. I thought about it for a while before I gave my final answer.

"No, your highness. I will be taking my leave." I turned around to leave and the others followed suit.

The Queen's royal guard rushed over and held their weapons to block our way. Mages appeared in the room and prepared some magic to fire at us.

"That's a shame, isn't it. Well, if I can't have you, nobody can." The Queen said menacingly.

"Don't worry, I refuse to be tied down by any kingdom." I said that while we drew all our weapons. It was time to force our way out. The fight started once the mages cast their spells. All sorts of elements flew at us but I summoned my shield and stood in front to shield everyone. I blocked as many spells as I could with the shield and my body.

Then the guards rushed forward. Using Deflect in conjunction with my Shield, I warded off many blows and returned devastating ones with Deliverance. Lance and Jane warded off the melee attackers while Rose returned fire to the mages. We cut a bloody path through the guards and reached the entrance of the throne room.

I stopped to cover the others who managed to make it through the door. Before I left, I took out a throwing knife from my bandolier. I hadn't used these in a seriously long time but still remembered how to throw them properly. I then accurately threw one at the Queen who barely managed to dodge the knife headed for her face. It still managed to lodge itself in her shoulder though, and I was fine with that.

I ran over to the others and we quickly left the palace. More guards waited for us outside and we slaughtered them while running. We booked it toward the nearest gate and once we were almost there, the gate closed.

"Cover me, I'll bust down the gate!" I yelled as I started chopping towards the gate. I felt all sorts of projectiles and magic fly past me as I dismantled the gate with my sword. I managed to cut a hole wide enough for people to fit through and I held the guards back while the others left through the gate.

Once they were through, I blocked and deflected attacks incoming attacks while backing out through the hole. Once I made it through, I immediately made a break for the woods with all the speed I could muster. Once I hit the treeline, I felt some arrows harmlessly bounce off my back. I smiled as I continued running. Having good armor was extremely handy.

Once I ran a few kilometers, I reached a clearing where the others were sitting around.

"So. Where are we heading next?" I glanced around with a smug smile on my face. That entire chase was exhilarating and the adrenaline still hadn't worn off. I sat down with the others and we threw around ideas on where to head next. I was a little concerned that none of the guards came to find us but I brushed it off. We eventually decided to go to the kingdom farther west of here.

Apparently, it was a kingdom with an oriental aesthetic and culture. At least, that's what I got from Lance's description. I expected to see something akin to the foxkin village, but much more grand. We decided to set our destination for the Setia Dynasty and walked off into the forest.