Chapter 34

Days, even weeks passed by the Rider and his dragoness continued their training. Their friend was doing the same, entering another routine, slightly different from the one before. He kept his physicals exercises, practicing the Rimgar accompanied or alone in his room. He put aside some of his time dedicated to books for meditation, giving a report to Oromis from time to time, as asked. He progressed even more quickly, his spirit now as capable as everyone else. His master praised him for his progress, satisfied by how quickly he caught up and began his lessons on how effectively protect his mind.

Meanwhile, the relationship between the human and Saphira deepened, growing stronger as each day made its way to another. It was frequent to have him spend numerous nights at her side, or casually exploring the city, just the two of them. Unsurprisingly, the word got out of the young man sleeping in her dais and some elves began to look strangely at Alex when he was walking down the paths in Ellesmera, or strolling around. They were extremely discreet about it, however the swordsman was used on picking out small details such as this. The general atmosphere around felt… strange. However, he decided to ignore it, if they had a problem with his relationship, they could always voice their opinion. Yet, the issue remained the same in the end, speak the truth or deny it.

«It's my relation, not theirs. I understand we make an unusual pair but they better get used to it. »

As he approached the door leading to his chambers, the swordsman spotted a sheet of paper on it, with what appeared to be a writing. When he reached it, he read the note.

"I have some time to work on your armor.

Come see me.

-Rhunön"

Knowing her, he deduced that it was delivered by another elf. The blacksmith wouldn't leave her workshop just to give him this, he removed it, went inside to clean himself after some physical training, put a fresh set of clothes and walked toward her home. It took him a few minutes to reach it. However, he was surprised to not hear the usual sound of metal against metal. Maybe she was taking a pause or cleaning her place for their little project. As he entered her home, he remarked that the place was empty.

"You're here?"

Alex waited a few moments but didn't hear any reply. Shrugging, he made his way further while observing the room around him, finally spotting his helmet on a table. He approached it, taking it in his hands and admiring under every angle. Adorning a silver color, it was so smooth, so polished that the forge fire reflected on it, a real work of goldsmith. Curious, he put it on, pleasantly surprised with how well it fitted him and the small cushions encompassing the sides as behind his head added a significant amount of comfort. A smirk made its way on his lips with how clearly he could see around him. This was perfect.

He then heard a grunt behind him and twisted on himself, the woman transporting all kinds of metals in her hands. She dropped them off near the forge.

"I received your message, it's nice of you to take the time to work on it."

"Us. You're participating too." She reminded him.

"About that, I have an idea, if it's feasible. Can we make the armor partially retractable?" Noticing her intrigued look, he took the same piece of parchment where the first idea of his new tactical gear was drawn and developed verbally, while putting it on paper. "I mean, in term of transportability and if things turn south when I expect it the less, it would be better to just have to put my gloves and boots on. While the rest is hidden under the chestplate."

"There's a difference of girth between your arms and forearms, the protection around these latter will be a little loose with the rings linking the bands together. Unfortunately for us, the problem stay the same for your legs. The best thing I can come up with is a solid part at the belt's level, attached to the main protection and easily removable."

"Isn't there a material than can expand slightly and act as the joints between everything? It would separate them when I don't need it, and the moment it's deployed, hug the different parts of my body so there's no free space."

"Some research is needed in that case. I can't promise you anything but don't be disappointed if we end up empty-handed for this." Crossing her arms, the blacksmith kept observing the different parts of the plan, picturing how they would make some things work or what couldn't, excepted if they used magic. "Or if not, I cut the bands on the sides and we put leather laces on, that will allow you to adjust their firmness to your needs."

"In this case, it has to work in two modes: closed to suit my body shape and open so that I can tuck them into the armor when I don't need it."

"And how do we keep the threads tightened to have the different parts retracted under any circumstance? Or when you want to keep it close to your body?"

"What about a latch under the armor? It locks up when I pull the cord and loosen with the pressure of a button on it. Two for the upper part and two for the lower."

The ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "I must admit, it's one of the most ambitious projects I had to work on and I daresay I'm intrigued how it will turn out. Are all the humans of Earth as clever as you?"

Chuckling, the swordsman shook his head. "A lot even more than me. It's just in our nature to try to overcome any kind of obstacle with our imagination since we don't have magic. We begin the work?"

"First, I take your measurements and then, we're ready to go." Once she was done, they started to concretize their little project. However, as Alex didn't have any knowledge about forging, he acted more like an assistant than anything else, leaving the biggest part of the job to the elf. Their primary objective was to repair his tactical vest and make some tweak on the places he was less protected. Just getting it back in shape took them the rest of the day as Rhunön didn't rush to do it perfectly, ending it as if nothing had happened to it. The swordsman used some free time, when the sun was setting, to inform his lover that he wouldn't be available for the next few days, doing what was planned weeks ago with the blacksmith. When he heard the disappointment in her voice, because she couldn't spent some time with him, he reassured her and promised he would converse with the sapphire dragoness at least once a day. Before cutting the discussion, she sent him a wave of affection and encouragement for the building of his scheme.

Then, when this part was done, early in the next morning they switched to the creation of the arms. After one plate was made and had the time to cool down, they installed it on his armor and he put it on, to see if it was good enough or needed more work. Once the second one was done, they pierced some small holes in it so they could link it to the first. They kept repeating the process for all the others, taking the time to assure themselves nothing was out of place or got stuck if he did a specific movement. Just for the upper part, they spent another day. Until now, they didn't meet any problem along the road. However, one presented itself while finishing the short, metallic pants and putting them with the chestplate.

Alex crossed his arms, frowning. "How do we kept them attached? I don't think leather will be enough to support the weight."

"I made some curved hooks, one that will be placed at each hip." She grunted in answer, while working on a small chainmail. "They're sturdy enough to endure the stress you could put them under and have freedom to move. I'm also adding a few lines of rings that I will weld so it'll protect the part linked between those two." The duo stayed up until late into the night to make some bands but not all of them. At the dawn of the fourth day and until midday, they finished those elements. Now, the hardest portion of their job was standing in front of them: constriction/slacking and retraction of the small protections. To begin, they attached two cords to the end of an arm, made it go under the plates until it reached the center of his armor.

When they slowly pulled, the parts piled up on each other's, beginning from the wrist to end at the shoulder. No hitch, not a piece stuck, nothing. However, the current girth was too small for him to put his arm through. "Now, I know where I need to cut the metal in half and how much space I have to make so you can wear it in this configuration. We can undo everything for this arm." She did as she told, unbinding the links between the plates together. This went on for two whole days, doing the same for the other three members. Adjustments, compromises had to be made but in the end, they reached their goal. Now, they needed a way to lock the threads so his flexible elements wouldn't deploy on their own or loosen the binds in any case. In the end, the latch would too complicated to implement so they made a knot on the final string, pulling it until it appeared from a small hole on his chest before it ended secured against another small hook. He repeated the operation for his legs, getting the same result. During the whole week, they just made a few breaks to eat, drink and do their business, leaving the young adult worn after this intense work, with big circles under his eyes.

Clasping his hands together, Alex smiled widely. "And that's a wrap!"

"Not totally."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You can't fight with your current boots and gloves, they're not made to withstand an arrow or a blow from a sword. I have a pair of iron soles somewhere around here, the gauntlets can be improved, if you prefer to keep theses."

"I'd like that, if you can."

"Will be done, now go to sleep, you need it. It's late."

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was near midnight. Wow, the day went by without him realizing it, a full night of sleep sounded nice right now. "Alright, I see you in the morning."

She didn't answer, but he knew that she heard him. Jumping into the spare bed, he immediately released a tired sigh of happiness, closing his eyes but not before a goodnight to his beloved.

Finally, the seventh day arrived, hopefully the last one for them. Alex woke up refreshed, glad he got a good eight hours, even a little more, to rest peacefully. He had a small breakfast, eating a few fruits with a glass full of water and went into the workshop. Rhunön was polishing everything, pleased with how it looked.

"Ready to try it?"

"Oh yeah." He put the improved tactical vest on, followed by the metallic protection on his hips. A satisfying clang was heard as it connected with the rest of the armor. Alex did a few movements, happy with how flexible it kept him for now. "Alright, let's test the new feature." Releasing the cord on his chest, the plates for his arms appeared, the second one did it for his legs. A pull on two short leather strings tightened everything against his clothes. However, the newest addition that appeared during the night was the same mechanic on his neck, protecting the space between his armor and his head. He then put the soles she gave him and the improved gloves, with steel protecting the upper part of his hands and fingers, followed by the helmet. Observing the way how his fists closed and the weight applied when he moved his legs, he seemed satisfied with everything. Surprisingly, it felt comfortable, the heat from the forge not affecting him too much. Rhunön walked around him, her expert eyes looking for anything that seemed out of place, any piece too loose or tight. Satisfied with the final result, she asked: "How does it feel?"

"Pretty nice actually. However, I think having some of my clothes on, like my jeans, is too much with the armor on."

"What if you open some laces?" He did so, not feeling much difference with before but he could work with that. "Not enough, yet it will have to do for now."

She gave him his sword, Alex went to the middle of the room, doing a few swings, rolls, jumps and sidesteps, testing the full extent of its mobility and to evaluate how much it slowed him down compared to the first version. A grin was etched on his lips. "Not perfect but very close to it." He whispered. He did the same procedure but inversed, loosening the bands and retracting them.

"So?"

Turning to her, the swordsman's eyes were filled with admiration. "I literally have no words to describe how thankful I am. I'm not as nimble as I think I would be but the difference is tolerable since I lose a lot of weak points."

"Good… good. You still owe me a discussion about Earth for this." He nodded, still overjoyed about his newest possession. "I promise, I'll try to answer all the questions you'll have before we leave."

She then gave him a bag, big and sturdy enough so he could put everything in it. He did so, leaving him with only his civilian clothes. Alex then took a sniff of under his arms, repulsed by the fool odor he emitted. "A bath sounds nice right now, I don't mind getting dirty but that's stretching it."

Before he left, he shook the blacksmith's hand, thanking her again for her amazing work. At this, she answered: "Thank me when it'll save your life."

"Will do!"