Chase smiled softly.
"You don't have to do that for me..."
Onyx's grin only grew.
"Don't worry, Jacob is getting some of his own gear as well, so don't feel like you are being selfish by upgrading just your own gear or anything. And if you want to kill a king... Its gonna need a lot more then some leather scraps..."
"Alright... Follow me into the back, you three younglings..."
The small dwarf grumbled as he used all of his strength to push a normal sized door open.
The three of them silently followed the man into where a huge workshop, twice the size of the front shop, had opened up.
It had everything...
A forge, racks for newly made weapons, and even bins full of scrapped weapons and armor that looked perfectly fine.
In fact, it even had a bunch of crates towards the back of the shop where all kinds of metals were overflowing from holes in the crates.
"Yall would be surprised if you knew how many dead men's tools were casted aside as scrap... War between you foolish humans brings me plenty of boons!"
The dwarf boomed, as he jumped on top of a stool and used all of his might to push a massive lever that had started churning something within a bowl of molten lava.
"So... As I was saying..."
Onyx spoke in a patient manner.
"Ah yes... The deal you proposed..."
Ricardo chuckled as he used his bare hands to reach into the lava, and pulled out a small gemstone that glistened with all kinds of strange colors that didn't make any sense to Chase's eyesight.
Onyx nodded, and crossed his arms.
"If we win this coming war, we will personally deliver you seventy-five percent of the loot that is scavenged from the dead, including monster flesh and all."
Ricardo snickered, as he brought the gemstone across the room, and set it on a quenching station, and then continued toward the other side of the room where he picked up a small iron ingot.
"How do I know that you are telling the truth? Do you know how much effort it takes to make perfected pieces of armor and sets of weaponry for a multitude of generals? Let alone one general..."
Onyx nodded again, and put a hand on Chase's shoulder, who wore a confused expression on his face.
"On behalf of the future king of The City of The Sun... We are will honor our part of the deal if all of our highest soldiers can get a perfectly tailored set of armor personalized to each of their own strengths, and a perfected weapon for each as well... I know only you can do something of that caliber in such a short amount of time..."
Ricardo stopped in his tracks.
He turned around slowly, and his tiny brown eyes narrowed at Chase.
"This boy?"
He quietly muttered.
Onyx nodded again, leaving Chase in an even more confused expression.
"The heir of the last phoenix will even get you a shop in the most populated part of the city, as well as young students who you can mentor for future employees... As you are well aware of... The Phoenix Academy has a plethora of talented students in every portion of their classes..."
Ricardo's eyebrow twitched, and Chase feared for what the small dwarf was going to say, until the short man muttered in a somber tone...
"Phoenix...?"
Chase hesitated, but quickly nodded.
"My father's name was Blaze of House Phoenix... I uh... Don't know if you knew him, but I was sent to Phoenix Academy when he was passed away..."
There was nothing but silence, beyond that of the loud cranking of machinery and forge equipment, as well as the subtle bubbling of lava...
Ricardo stepped forward, and maintained his narrowed stare at Chase.
"Name the metal and style of your armor..."
Chase flinched, but then he tilted his head in confusion.
"Pardon?"
Onyx stepped in front of Chase and smacked him in the chest with a laugh.
"He will have a light mix of your finest alloys and cloths, suited for speed and close quarters combat, but a set that will also be able to withstand the hottest of flames. As for the style..."
Onyx looked deeply into Chase's eyes and grinned once more.
"A warrior paladin set..."
Ricardo only nodded, then turned toward a small door at the back of his shop.
"Will do... Give me a few moments."
As he walked, his beard dragged across the dirty floor of the forge, making Chase wonder why the man wouldn't just cut it.
"Who is this man?"
He asked Onyx after the dwarf entered the small room.
Onyx patiently waited a few moments before speaking, as he sat down on one of the stray wooden chairs in the large room.
"He knew your father, as well as my mother, and probably most of the high-ranking noble parents of all of your allies... In fact, he used to be a teacher at Phoenix Academy..."
Chase knelt down onto the floor and scratched the back of his head.
"He taught my father?"
Onyx let out a bittersweet chuckle.
"Didn't just know... He fought alongside your father..."
Jacob cut in, surprising the both of them.
"I- uh- would like to fight alongside you and your friends."
Both Onyx and Chase looked at each other in silence for a few moments until Chase finally spoke up.
"It's kinda dang-"
"Sure."
Onyx cut Chase off before he could even finish speaking.
Turning toward his friend, Chase was about to ask why, but Onyx cut him off once more.
"The kid can fight... You don't have an elemental affinity, but you got a damn strong physical one don't you?"
Onyx turned his attention toward the boy had been given a fresh set of casual clothing, and was even offered a haircut for his long and ragged hair, but had actually turned down the offer.
Jacob nodded shyly.
"I- I think it is called Swiftness-Axis... Or something..."
Onyx smirked.
"The chains wrapped around each of your ankles... They keep you tethered to the ground? Am I wrong?"
Jacob's face went red, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Um... Kinda... They don't work very well, I have to keep my movements slow or else I sometimes go flying into a wall..."
Onyx boomed with laughter, but Chase could only feel bad for the guy, having a passive ability such as that must have been quite a pain for a kid growing up...
A clank of metal echoed across the room as Ricardo brought out three different black cases that had been strapped to his back.
He tried his best to gently drop them all on the floor in front of Chase, but cursed every time one fell from his back, even though the man wasn't tall in anyway so it wasn't like the armor was going to get damaged from that fall, but the man cursed each time anyway.
"Pick your poison my lord..."