Hanna gave a nod

"I think so, or at least one of his underlings did it for him"

Mars stroked his chin for a while before he looked at Ivan and asked

"how old does one need to be to get into the magic academy?"

Ivan looked a little confused but still answered

"those between 15 and 20 can enter after taking a test"

"I see... and how old do I look to you Ivan?"

"hmm..? around 16 years old?"

"so I could pa.s.s as a student?"

"sure, if you have magic skill to match"

at this point Hanna caught on with what Mars was thinking

"...well that's a option"

"what are you talking about Hanna?"

"well Mars could enter the magic academy"

"really?"

Ivan looked at Mars and briefly inspected him before he asked

"Mars can you use magic?"

"sure can..."

Mars waved his hand and over 15 small b.a.l.l.s of fire appeared around him before they began spinning around like moons in orbit

"wow..."

Ivan stared at Mars until he waved his hand again and the fire b.a.l.l.s disappeared

"I see there certainly won't be a problem about magic skill, but what about the tuition payments?"

"let's talk with my parents about that"

Hanna looked excited about having Mars with her in the academy

"there's no need for that, I should be able to pay on my own... but let me talk with your parents first"

Mars stood up form his seat and walked out of the room with Victoria following after him and after asking a few maids he found Reimund in his office and explained the situation

"I see... well that certainly explains a whole lot"

"you didn't know?"

"no... and I kind of wish I didn't now"

Reimund let out a deep sigh before he looked at Mars with a sharp look in his eyes

"as a baron of Destra I can't say I approve of your plan... but as a father I'm happy you would go so far for my daughter"

"so?"

"so if the 3'rd prince should happen to fall on his sword I and my wife will rejoices in secret, but if officially you had anything to do with it we will have to condemn you"

"I see..."

"but what to do about the tuition fee..."

"how much is it?"

"it's 10.000 cel per year"

Mars thought for a second before he remembered one gold coin was 10.000 cel and let out a sigh

"that should pose no problem"

"...seriously?"

"yeah"

Reimund bowed down

"...I'm in your debt"

Mars looked at Reimund and suddenly got an idea

"then could you do one thing for me?"

"what is it?"

"...if she's okay with could you send Elsa along with Hanna to the academy?"

Reimund gave a smile

"I'm sure she would like to follow you... okay if my wife is fine with it then I will allow it"

"thanks"

"when are you planning on leaving?"

"tomorrow I think... I have some things I need to do first"

Mars said goodbye to Reimund and went out of his office and looked down at Victoria

"let's go visit the old man"

"okay..."

Mars walked out of the mansion and into the busy town and after some 30 minutes of walking he and Victoria reached the smithy that seemed awfully noisy

"--- I said get out!"

"but please dear blacksmith I will pay 2 times what he did for it!"

"you want me to shove my hammer up your a.s.s? get out now!"

Mars was about to open the door but stopped and moved to the side just as the door was swung open as a man with a gold mercenary tag around his neck stomped out of the smithy

"I will remember this!"

with that as his last remark he left down the street leaving Mars and Victoria alone in front of the smithy

"why... was he... so angry?"

"I don't know, let's find out"

Mars knocked on the open door and walked inside the smithy while he called out

"old man, you here?"

"for the last f.u.c.king time I'm not going to sell---, oh it's you Mars come in, come in"

halfway though his sentence the old man began friendly and urged Mars in, before he closed the door after him

"is something wrong old man?"

the old man gave a sigh, as Mars looked at him he noticed dark circles around his eyes

"it's your armor"

"my armor?"

"after I finished it I went and bragged about it and soon enough people showed up wanting to buy it..."

"oh..."

"well it's all good now that you're here, it's over here"

the old man pointed at a armor stand that was covered with a piece of cloth

"then let's see it"

Mars pulled of the cloth and revealed a half mail plate armor made of some solid looking black leather and reinforced with dull black steel plates that was formed after a masculine chest shape

"...nice"

Mars eyes still glued to the armor pulled a couple of gold coins up his pocket and laid them on the table beside him before he asked the old man

"I never got your name old man?"

"I don't have one, left it behind when I deserted the empire"

"...I see, well thanks for the armor, can I wear it now?"

"sure"

after some time and instructions form the old man Mars managed to wear the armor and after strapping his sheathe to the side of his waist the old man pointed to the elbows and knees of the armor where plates of steel reinforced it

"just like you ordered the plates will pop out if you press them from the inside"

"neat"

"there's also the thing about the weight, I used tank boar leather and dark steel so the total weight is about 55 kilograms"

"hmm... it's a little on the heavy side but it should be fine"

Mars jumped a little on the spot to demonstrate his point before he took a breath and kicked off the ground lightly and stopped a few meters away

"okay, here we go"

Mars took another breath and kicked of the ground only this time he disappeared form view for a moment before he reappeared in the other end of the shop, seeing this made the old man's eyes go wide before a nostalgic light flashed through his eyes as he mumbled

"[Instant movement]... to think I would see it again..."

"you know this skill old man?"

the old man gave a nod

"I have seen it before... the person I respected most in my life used it, the flaming rose general"

'the flaming rose general...'

Mars had heard about this person before form Lina and couldn't help but ask the old man

"is it true she was a half dragon?"

"yeah of course it is, she had horns and a tail too"

"a tail?"

"yeah like a dragon tail, it was about 1,5 meter long too"

"I see..."

Mars became a little confused, was he not also a half dragon? if so then where was his tail? or maybe the flaming rose general was some other race?

"well anyway thanks for the armor again old man"

"sure, come again if you ever need something else"

Mars said his goodbye to the old man and walked out of the smithy with Victoria following after him

"where to go now... let's say goodbye to Jack and Lina, they might be at the guild"

"okay... but Mars?"

"what?"

"why do... you have... heavy clothes... on?"

Mars looked down and saw his new armor

"oh this, it's called armor"

"arm...or?"¨

"yeah it helps me by protecting me from harm"

"really..? okay then..."

Mars and Victoria walked towards the guild and soon arrived and walked inside

"let's see... looks like they are not here..."

"hey Mars!"

Mars was about to leave again when someone called out to him from behind

"oh, it's you Alex"

"it's good that I caught you Mars, come over to the counters with me for a second"

Alex and Mars walked over, before Alex held out his hand

"your tag please"

"err... I'm not in trouble right?"

Mars became a little nervous when Alex asked for his tag

"no not at all, just give it here quickly"

"okay..?"

Mars took of his tag and handed it to Alex that took out the iron tag with a small sword on it and put in a dull steel tag instead before he handed it back to Mars with a grin on his face

"congratulation"

"thank you..?"

Mars put on his tag again with a puzzled look on his face, only a second later did he realize he just had ranked up and gave a simile

"don't thank me, thank the Relt company, they were the one that pushed for your rank up"

"I see... oh by the way I will be leaving town tomorrow"

Alex gave a nod

"I figured you would leave sometimes soon, good luck on your future contracts"

"thanks"