14

Ilentown had three Armories, the one that supplied weapons to the castle, his family and the nobles and rich of the region, another where hunters and rangers went for cheap arrows and blades, and a lesser known one, or one with a worse reputation at the docks. If you wanted to get something illegal, smuggled, stolen, or just unusual, that was the place. The boy looked worried as they approached the docks...

"They won't let me into the port..."

"You're not a Nolkar anymore, you're Mark Nowhere now, and my apprentice enters where I enter..."

The atmosphere of the port seemed sordid to him, it was like entering another city, a hidden one full of shadows and ill-tempered guys. Of course, Gael hadn't seen the great ports of the south, otherwise this would have seemed like a normal place to him as far as possible.

Rilcar entered the premises, the blacksmith, a big one-eyed man, greeted Rilcar.

"Here again, do you need more bolts?"

"No, I'm looking for a weapon for my apprentice..."

Gael went to a shelf where there were different broadswords and shortswords...

"Not those, Mark..."

"But I want to use a sword..."

"Yes, but not those, you're a magician, you shouldn't use a weapon that requires two hands... you always have to have one free to be able to conjure and attack at the same time..."

The blacksmith was attentive to the conversation, he understood what Rilcar was saying.

"I think I have something that will suit the boy's size and needs well..."

He went into a storeroom and from somewhere he pulled out a small stiletto, it was sixty centimeters long, a thin and light blade that was also very sharp, although it was a little big for the boy's size, he could hang it on his back until his legs grew a little, that way it wouldn't drag him on the ground... The boy looked at the sword carefully, it was a good weapon for a boy, it wasn't magical, it wasn't a work of art, but it was well-balanced and suited to one-handed combat for a wizard.

"It will be fifty talents of silver..."

Gael had to restrain himself from buying the weapon without haggling...

"It's too expensive, master, I already have my dagger..."

"Of course, if you don't see it, don't waste your money..."

"If you take more things, I'll lend it to you for forty talents..."

As if they were two actors, Gael and the master ignored the blacksmith, who was beginning to despair.

"What are you going to use as a ranged weapon?"

"I have my magic, I don't need to carry a ranged weapon..."

"And if you run out of mana, what will you do?"

"But I don't like bows, they're uncomfortable to carry and shoot, and the ones my size don't reach very far, it would be like carrying nothing..."

"And a small crossbow?"

"Can I have a crossbow? My father won't let me, he says they are villain weapons..."

"Mark Nowhere, do I need to remind you that you are no longer with your father but under my care and my rules?"

The boy smiled, beginning to enjoy the freedom this new master gave him. The heavy, large crossbows were out of the question, however in a corner there was an old hand crossbow, one of those weapons that a thief or an assassin would use, although the boy still had to hold it with both hands.

"That's worth forty-five talents of silver..."

Gael turned resolutely to the blacksmith.

"If you give me the sword, the crossbow and twenty bolts, I will give you sixty-three silver coins..."

The man scratched his head, the truth is that both the stiletto and the hand crossbow had been gathering dust in the shop for over a year, it wouldn't earn them any money, but it was better to have the coins than a difficult-to-place contraption, those occasions didn't come up often.

"Deal, I'll give you a couple of wind-up games, that thing is very powerful for how small it is..."

With the shopping done, his backpack full, his sword and his crossbow, Gael thought that if it were the worst day of his life, he had suddenly fallen into paradise.

But the boy's look began to change when he saw that they were not heading to the stables, but rather heading for a remote area next to the wall.

"Aren't we going to take the horses? Are you not planning to go on foot for four months?"

"Why would I want to take a horse? I already have one there, and what's behind it is our transport."

"But that's a street vendor's cart..."

"And what do you think I am?"

"You yourself said that you were a magician, a teacher... but that is a peddler's cart... a hair growth seller's cart... and the beast in front cannot even be called equine..."

"If the horse finds out, it will bite you. Get on and stop complaining. If we leave now, we can still travel for several hours before nightfall..."

The boy sat down angrily on the side in front of the wagon. Rilcar looked at him, both amused and curious. What kind of fantasies had the boy had about his teacher during that day?

"At least we can find out where we are going..."

"Well, our next destination is a day's walkaway, the Mornay farm. According to this notice from the guild, they need help with some kind of Rio monster..."

"But isn't that what the knights, my father's soldiers, and the nobles themselves take care of?"

"Hahaha, your father wouldn't have enough men to attend to all the requests for help, many times these notices are nothing, in that case you get the figure on the left, let's say it's the payment for the inconvenience, however if there is a monster, and you kill or hunt it, showing the head or heads in the nearest guild they will pay you this other figure... When wizards travel between cities we usually take these orders, so we gain funds, ingredients, and we make a name for ourselves for other better orders..."

"So we're going to go hunting a lot?"

Gael seemed to be excited again, although it was hard for him to accept that he wasn't traveling on horseback like a hero but in an outlandish wagon.

"Of course, there's no better way to teach you than on the ground, and speaking of that, look at the spells in this book and tell me which ones you know how to do as they say, learn the ones you don't. If you're going to come with me, I have to know what you're capable of."