"that's good, but keep a even grip on the hilt!"

"yes!"

As the 4 knights watched Annabel asked Gill

"hey Gill"

"what?"

"since when did the young lady train with a sword?"

"since... wait, she doesn't right?"

"no... but those aren't the moves of an amateur, her [Swordsmans.h.i.+p] is at least level 1... maybe she trained in secret?"

"maybe..."

As the knights were confused but Hanna's show off skill Mars sent her wooden sword flying with a slash and looked over at the 4 knights

"good you're all here, go pick up a wooden sword"

after the 5 people was ready and lined up on the field Mars spotted Elsa of to the side, she was dressed in casual clothes and looked ready for their date as she gave Mars a wave

"okay let's see.... I'm in a good mood today so training is going to be quick"

Annabel gave a light frown

"what do you mean quick?"

Mars gave a smile

"it's simple, I'm going to beat you up with this wooden sword"

"how's that training..?"

"I'm going to hit the weak points in your defense, so try to adjust or don't it's up to you guys"

The 4 knights gave a nod and slipped into a stance while Hanna followed suit

"okay then, here I come!"

Mars's figure turned into a blur and almost instantly 5 smacks sounded out as he appeared behind the 5 with a grin on his face

"what, was that too fast?"

Annabel keeled down, Mars had hit the side of her thigh which had made her lose feeling in her leg while Gill took himself to his arm and the twins both felt pain in their sides, only Hanna gritted her teeth and turned to face Mars without covering her side where a bruise was slowly forming

"d.a.m.n he's fast... and cheeky too, Gill let's get him!"

"on it!"

Gill and Annabel went on the offence and coordinated a attack on Mars witch he easily dodged while delivering new smacks with his sword at them

"you guys sure are lively, well then let's step it up!"

What followed for the next 30 minutes was Mars beating or rather training the group off 5 until they were covered in bruises, but still they were happy as all of them had managed to improve their defenses somewhat even though no of them had managed to block a single strike from Mars

"well then, that's that..."

Mars healed all off them with 10 units of energy each and put away his wooden sword before he walked over to Elsa that was waiting for him, she wore a rather cute but slightly plain light blue dress which made Mars's eyes sparkle slightly

"sorry to keep you waiting Elsa"

"I don't mind, besides I got to see how strong you are, or at least how fast"

"I see... well then, let me go get something real quick and then let's go"

Elsa gave a sweet smile as she grabbed Mars's arm, making Mars feel a piece of heaven though the softness on his arm

"okay"

The 2 of them went up too Mars's room where Mars quickly grabbed the coins off the table and stuffed some into his pocket before he turned around and saw Elsa was stunned

"what's wrong Elsa?"

Elsa remained in a daze a second longer before she looked at Mars and gave a sigh

"I didn't know you were so rich..."

"rich?"

Mars looked puzzled before he looked at the gold coins and asked

"how much are theses worth? 10.000 cel?"

Elsa gave a sigh before she spoke

"no, they are 100.000 cel each... that's 3 times my yearly salary..."

Mars looked at Elsa for a second before he walked over to the table and picked out the piece off raw gla.s.s and asked

"then how about this?"

Elsa became stunned again and after a few seconds she gave a sigh

"that's a mana stone and looking at the size it's worth at least 250.000 cel..."

"a mana stone?"

Seeing Mars was still confused Elsa continued

"right, you came from the forest..."

Elsa reached out and turned on the lights by hitting the switch on the wall

"all the lights in the mansion is powered by a mana stone in the bas.e.m.e.nt, also the one in the bas.e.m.e.nt is the size off a egg and is expected to last for 5 years, where did you even get one so big?"

Mars looked at the coconut sized mana stone and gave a sigh

"from the local outpost off the 8 heads, when I cleared them out last night... the gold coins are also from there"

"the 8 heads... well that makes sense..."

Mars looked at Elsa that still was slightly dazed and quickly stuffed some gold coins in his pocket before he gave a smile

"well then since I'm now filthy rich let me treat you today"

"really?"

"sure, I mean I don't even know what I would spend all this cel on"

Elsa's eye lit up as she gave a smile

"then let me introduce you to a nice place I know"

Elsa grabbed Mars's arm and dragged him out off the mansion and into the town and after a few turns the 2 off them stood in front off a old looking smithy

'is this what she means by a 'nice place'?'

Mars was slightly dazed as he had expected some clothing shop or a pastry with cakes

'well she is weapon trained with her daggers, so I guess it makes sense...?'

Elsa, oblivious to Mars's mental state dragged him into the smithy the had swords and armor on stands all over but no signs off any people as the counter was empty

"old man, you here?"

Elsa yelled out in the empty shop and soon a old man with gray hair showed up form the door behind the counter and greeted Elsa

"hey there Elsa"

The old but robust man greeted Elsa before he looked at Mars and how Elsa was hugging his arm and asked with a smile on his face

"who's this?"

"this is Mars, Mars this is the old man that runs the shop"

"oh so you Mars, nice to meat you... so are you here to have your daggers serviced again Elsa?"

"no we're here to find some armor for Mars"

Mars looked a little confused

"we are?"

"yeah you're a mercenary so you need some armor at some point right?"

"well... yeah sure, but it needs to be custom"

the old man gave a nod as he took out some paper, a piece off charcoal and a piece of string

"come here Mars, I need some measurements if you want custom armor"

"sure"

Elsa let go off Mars and followed him over to the counter where the old man stepped out and started to measure Mars while he asked

"what kind of armor do you want?"

Mars remained silent for a few seconds before he answered

"well first off I need to be able to have full mobility and be able to put it on myself... besides that you can make it as heavy as you want"

"hmm... okay, anything else?"

"oh yeah I want a sheath for my sword here"

Mars drew his sword and handed it to the old man that widened his eyes slightly

"good sword... it's magic beast bone, while the craftsmans.h.i.+p is mediocre at best it seems to have been reinforced by some sort off energy or mana..."

Mars widened his eye slightly, while he also had noticed a change in his sword he didn't expect a mortal smith to notice it

"well it's a good sword... sure I'll make a sheath for it"

The old Man quickly took some measurements and gave a nod before he looked at Mars and asked

"how's your budget?"

Mars smiled and pulled out 3 small gold coins and laid them on the counter

"that's the advance"

The old man's eyes lit up and he could not help but take another look at Mars before he gave a sigh and showed a determined expression

"in that case I will make the best armor I have ever made"

"oh right, one more thing..."

Mars pulled up the sleeve on his s.h.i.+rt while he asked

"think you can make it so some parts of the armor will pop out if you press them from within?"

"...sure, but why?"

Mars gave a smile and transformed his arm and showed off his claws and the scale spike that grew from his Elbow

"that's why"

"oh... okay then"

"besides on both elbow there should also be some spots on the knees and 2 spots on the forehead if you make a helmet"

The old man stroked his beard

"I can do it on the knees but no way on a helmet sorry, it would make it too weak"

"well then skip the helmet please, it would just get in the way of my horns"

"okay... give me 2 days and I will have it done"

Mars gave a nod and presented his arm to Elsa again with a grin on his face

"where to now my lady?"

Elsa grabbed Mars's arm again as the 2 off them walked out of the smithy

"hmm... it's a little early but let's get some food and then shop for some clothes"

"sure"