Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.
-The Enchanter of Fairy Tail-
Chapter 24: The Forge of Fate
Year: X754. 30 years till Canon begins.
Cade POV:
'Hmmm… How much do I take out?' I wondered carefully, as I moved my way down into the basement.
The basement of our manor wasn't all that interesting or exciting when compared to the rest of the building.
The actual basement floor was quite large as it stretched out for quite a fair distance. It has stone brick walls and a smooth stone floor that had a few cracks in them. There were a few lights on the ceiling which dimly lit up the basement when turned on. Across the floor, there were thick stone brick pillars which purpose was to provide support to the upper floor.
In one corner of the room, there were thick large wooden kegs meant to hold all sorts of alcohol and beer for family parties. I could also see a wine casket next to it which held many different types of old wine. On another side of the room there were several large storage boxes which held junk and other things we didn't need.
I was making my way through the basement to the family vault which held all the money that we had earned and kept stored. The vault was a huge safe which was built into the stone wall of the basement. It was made with a special metal known as maginium that was immune to all sorts of magic: both physical and mental. The maginium metal was quite rare, and had often seen use in some banks.
Due to this, only a certain combination will unlock the safe. It wasn't anything magical or complicated, just a simple three-series code of numbers that unlocked the door to the safe. My mother had told me this morning what the combination was. Only her, Pierce and Charles knew what it was.
I made my way over to the safe and began to turn the dial to enter the code.
'Left is seven right is one, left is six.' I thought, as I recalled the code I was told during breakfast today. As I finished entering the code, I heard a loud noise from behind the safe door with what sounded like several gears working behind the safe door to open it. Seconds later I heard a clicking sound, of which that meant I could now open the door.
I then grabbed the vault door and pulled it open. It was quite heavy and took some time to pull open due to the size of it. When I opened it, I looked in and saw stacks of jewels and other trinkets and treasure in the safe. There were also documents that were of important information to the manor and our family.
I gave a light whistle in awe, and then opened the bag I had brought with me to put my money into.
'Ok then. I doubt this stuff will be cheap so I'll probably have to bring a few hundred thousand jewels with me.' I considered, as I began to count up the jewels and place them in my bag. I had brought out a total of 700,000 jewels from the safe.
I then closed the safe door, with it closing with a loud thud. A loud clicking noise could be heard which signalled that the locking mechanism had been activated.
I then turned around and made my way out of the basement, to make my way to the guildhall to meet with Master for advice (and to tell him about what happened yesterday on the job.) I made my way up the stairs that led to the library and saw my mother waiting for me at the top.
"So? How much did you take then?" She asked curiously with a small smile on her face. She was clearly interested to see how much of a spender I am.
"What is this a test?" I chuckled as I looked up at her.
"Maybe. Just wanted to see how much of a spender you are, that's all." My mother replied honestly with a shrug, as I made it to the top of the stairs. "Well go on then. How much?" She said again to me.
'Wow. Didn't think this would be anything important to her. Hmmm… It might be best if I avoid lying to her, after all she can just go down into the safe and open it up herself to see if I was telling the truth or not.' I considered carefully.
"I took 700,000 jewels out." I stated back to her.
My mother put a hand on her chin and thought about that. "Yes. That's a good amount to take out for this." She muttered keeping her smile on her face. "You don't really need any more than that considering you are only buying some physical protection." She said, as I now began to move past her and towards the door of the house.
"Remember! I would like you back here before dark if possible." She reminded as she came over to hug me, before I left the building.
"Come on, I'm not 10 years old anymore." I cringed a little in embarrassment. "I can take care of myself now." I said, returning the hug before breaking away from her and leaving the house, to head to the guild. I heard my mother saying goodbye to me as I closed the door behind me, with me giving a wave to her as I was doing so.
As I made my way into the Fairy Tale guild main hall, I looked around and saw Master talking with a few guild mates that were older than me. I then chose to wait for him to finish his business with the two guid members, as it'd be rude to just interrupt him like that.
He then dismissed the two guild members and was heading in the direction of his office. I intercepted him as he got to the door, and greeted him.
"Hey Master!" I greeted cheerfully.
Master Makarov turned himself around to see me and smiled upon seeing me. "Ah, Cade my boy! How did the job request with Porlyusica go? Hope everything went ok over there." He asked me.
"Well… it's funny you say that." I said with an awkward laugh. "Unfortunately, stuff happened on that job that I don't fully understand. I was wondering if you could do the usual, where you fill me in on the blanks you know?" I hoped with an awkward chuckle.
Master also chuckled upon hearing that, and opened the door to his office and beckoned me inside with his hand. "Sure, why don't have a talk about it in my office?" He suggested, as he looked in to his office.
"Sounds like a plan." I agreed, as I made my way into the office and took a seat facing Makarov's desk. Master then entered the office and closed the door, before then making his way to sit at the seat behind his desk and face me.
I then wasted no time and told him about everything that happened on the job yesterday. I didn't spend much time going over the group of criminals I beat in the main cavern. I did however go into careful detail about my fight with the boss of the operation, which Makarov took noticeable interest in. I then paused my story and pulled out the letter the boss was writing before I barged in to his office.
"He was writing this letter before I barged into his office. Seems important and I can't figure out who and what it was addressed to. Think you can figure it out?" I requested as I slid the letter over the desk to Master.
Master picked it up and read it carefully. I noticed that his eye's immediately saw the emblem on the corner of the parchment, before he then carefully read the rest of the letter. Upon finishing it, he put it down on his desk and muttered to himself.
"That name… could it be…?" He wondered as he hummed to himself carefully.
"Uh, Master? Everything ok?" I wondered in confusion.
"I'm fine Cade, it's just that I've seen the name Fujisawa before. It's the general part that is irritating me. It just can't be the same person!" He said in frustration.
"Oh!" I exclaimed in surprise.
'Wow. Didn't think Master would know something about him!' I perked up, with surprise and relief.
"Well who is he then?" I asked. "The one you are thinking of?" I referred.
Master then opened his desk and reached into it. He rummaged around in it for a bit, before pulling out a newspaper cliping and placing it on the desk for me to see.
This newspaper that the image of a few miscellaneous things on it. But there was a big image at the bottom right of the newspaper that had a picture of a man strapped in thick iron armour. The symbol for the Pergande Kingdom was embedded on the chest piece of the armour.
"The General Varkold Fujisawa that I and many other important figures across Fiore and the other kingdoms on Ishgar know of, is a highly regarded General of the Pergande Kingdom's army. He rose up through the ranks and became an incredible strategist and tactician." Master described the man to me in detail. "One so famous, I'd say he almost rivalled her." Master Makarov muttered under his breath.
"Really?" I said in shock at hearing that. "You think it's the same Fujisawa as the one in this letter here?"
"Hard to say… The first name of the this Fujisawa is not listed here. And I do not recognise the emblem in the corner of the paper. Could be an entirely different person to the man I described. It's been years since I heard anything about the Pergande Kingdom really. They've been… oddly quiet." Master hummed, as he tapped his finger on his desk.
All I could say upon learning all that information was a simple "Huh." As I stared into space thinking about all of that.
Master noticed my expression and spoke up to me. "Ah don't worry about all of that Cade. The jobs done and finished so you don't need to worry about it anymore." He assured me as he waved his hand.
I nodded my head and then continued to tell him about the rest of the job. Me going on to defeat the werewolf and that the boss blew himself up to avoid being questioned (Master looking horrified with me mentioning that.) I then talked about my discovery of the hidden cavern and the huge Ziggurat with the necklace on top of it (of which Master was now very curious.)
I mentioned how I took the necklace and how the nature in the cavern all died upon me doing so with the Ziggurat collapsing behind me. After that I said how I exited the cavern and made it back to Porlyusica's place… and how I got knocked out by accident.
Finally I talked about how I regained consciousness, and how the wack on my head was a misunderstanding by Porlyusica. I then finished saying how I left the necklace which I now presumed was the Magnistone, with Porlyusica. Oh, and the fact that I got scammed of the jewels I was promised by Porlyusica.
When I finished, Master leaned back in his seat and took a long think before responding. "Well… That's sounds like it was quite the job for you." He sighed taking it all in. "I think you made the right move to leave the necklace with Porlyusica. She'll watch over it and the Tonakai, and hey! If things go wrong, we now know she'll call us for help!" Master said with a laugh at the end of that.
I laughed with Master as he said that. After we finished, he made another comment to me.
"Well done for the job there Cade. I doubt it was easy fighting that huge creature in that cavern." Makarov complimented, him giving a light whistle at the mention of it.
"That's another reason why I'm here actually. I realised something Master. I don't think wearing some casual clothing will protect me all that much on these job requests. I was going out today to get some physical protection, and I was wondering if you knew any places." I asked, wanting to move onto todays plan.
"Well, well. This is certainly rare. Most of the wizards in this guild don't bother with any sort of armour. They just rely on their magic and physical toughness." Master explained with a look of surprise. "Not bad for realising you need some to protect you." He gave a nod in approval.
"So you still know some places right?" I questioned in appreciation.
"Course of I do! There's a few blacksmiths on the outskirts of Oak Town that focus on making armour for wizards that may need it." Master informed me.
"Alright then!" I declared standing up. "I'll head over there and see what I can find for myself!" I declared with enthusiasm as I made my way to the door.
"You'll have to get the train there. You can get it at Magnolia station!" Makarov said as I opened the door and exited the room.
"Alright! Thanks Master!" I said with a smile and a wave, as I exited the room closing the door behind me.
I was so pleased at the location of the shops Master had listed. Thank goodness for that. Hopefully at the end of the day, I'll be able to take hits harder and not be as injured.
In fact I was so pleased and happy, that I failed to notice that I had left the written letter that I found on the job right on Master's desk.
I began to make my way out the front door of the guild to get to Magnolia station to take the next train to Oak Town. As I was about to leave the guildhall, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.
"Hey there Cade. Where are you off to?" Came the voice of Gildarts from behind me.
"Oh? Hey Gildarts." I smiled turning around to face him. "Just got back from that job yesterday. A lot happened on that job, and it kinda proved to me that I needed to get myself some better protection for myself."
"Huh? But you already have magic. What more protection would you need?" Gildarts wondered in confusion.
"Physical protection! Like armour for example." I explained to Gildarts in a rather blunt manner.
"Ohhhh right, sorry." Gildart chuckled with an abashed look on his face. "So, er where are you heading to then?"
"Oak Town. Master recommended that I go there." I replied to Gildarts
"Well is it ok if I come then?" Gildarts asked. "I got nothing else to do, and I don't see any jobs on the job board that interest me." Gildarts suggested.
"Sure! We are a team after all. You may as well be there when I pick out my new kind of outfit." I said to the ginger wizard.
"Well let's get going then!" Spoke Gildarts with a grin, as we both made our way out of the guildhall.
We both walked to the train station and prepared to board the next train to Oak Town to see if any of the blacksmiths there could fit me some armour.
As we got on the train, we both took seats opposite from each other so we could talk to each other better. As the train started moving, I was the first to speak up.
"We haven't been to Oak Town yet have we?" I asked in curiosity. "On jobs I mean."
"I don't think we have…" Gildarts muttered slowly, as he seemed to be thinking the same thing. "We have passed through it, I know that much."
"So what's in the town then? Anything special?" I wondered with interest.
"Well, nothing THAT interesting that would get the tourists all eager to come there. Though… there is one 'interesting' thing in the town…" Gildarts said, as he turned to look out the window.
"What is it?" I inquired.
Gildarts turned back to face me, with a rather dry look. "Phantom Lord." He said with distain.
"What's Phantom Lord?" I asked with intrigue.
Gildarts sighed. "It's a wizards guild just like Fairy Tale. Sorry I made a mistake there. Phantom Lord isn't anything like Fairy Tale in the slightest." Gildarts explained with a grim look.
"What's the difference?"
"Difference is that Phantom Lord are selfish and cruel towards other wizards in the world. I hear they're like that to their own members sometimes!" Gildarts answered with a scornful tone.
"Oh I see…" I spoke quietly, as I looked away awkwardly. "Soooo, where does Phantom Lord rank on Fiore's guild ranking?" I asked.
"All I know is that they are above us in the top 10 ranked guilds. We used to be above them… But… then your father died and that meant we didn't have an S-Class Wizard for a while, so we couldn't take S-Class quests and our position above them fell as a result." Gildarts said with a sad expression. "Some of their members have even been taunting us for being lower than them."
"The nerve of people like that." I muttered with anger. "And they just ignore the fact that we were above them at one point? And that we didn't belittle them?!" I said with a scoff as I crossed my arms.
"Yeah I know how you feel." Gildarts gave a look of sympathy.
—
Attention. We have arrived at Oak Town. Please be ready to disembark the cartridge you are on if you are leaving. The next stop is Omnibus station.
—
"I guess that's our cue then." I said to Gildarts, as we got ready to disembark the train carriage we were on. We both exited the train and got a good look at the town we were in.
Oak Town looked like an old castle town. It was situated on a hill, surrounded by forests and mountains, with the river flowing nearby. The town looked very old and showed that it had seen many battles in the past, with numerous turrets and battlements. In the centre, towering above the town there was a huge castle, which made my families manor look tiny in comparison.
"Is that…" I began to say, pointing at the castle on the hill. Gildarts answered my question for me before I could even finish.
"Yup. That's the Phantom Lord guildhall." He said with a sigh.
"Wow… Didn't know it was that big." I gave a soft whistle when realising that. I had assumed that all guilds were around the same size, being only a few floors high, making them a little bigger than the average house. Phantom Lord's guildhall was bigger than anything I had ever seen before. It completely dwarfed any other building I had ever seen in my life, making Fairy Tale's guild building look like a small shack in comparison.
"So where are these blacksmiths at then?" Gildarts inquired.
"Master said they were on the outskirts of town." I explained as I looked around the town.
Currently the station platform we were on faced towards the town, and I couldn't see any building outside the town in our direction.
"Hmm… we might have to cross through the town." I squinted my eyes to see on the other side of the town. "I think I can see some loose buildings on the other side of the town. That's where we'll have to go I bet." I confirmed to Gildarts.
"Alright then. Let's go." Declared Gildarts, with a rather dull voice.
'He must have changed his mind about coming here now that he sees Phantom Lord's guildhall.' I thought in realisation. 'He better not blow up the building in frustration…' I worried to myself, as we both made our way down into the town.
As we walked along the smooth pathways, I decided to distract Gildarts with a question he was sure to find interesting.
"So… your birthdays coming up in a few months right?" I chirped with a cheerful voice, causing Gildarts to give a bit of a confused look. "And then there's the S-Class trials coming up this year! You think you'll be chosen now that you're a lot older?" I asked curiously.
While Gildarts was old enough to be selected in last years S-Class trial, Master had chosen not to as he still believed Gildarts was a bit too young. I had noticed however, that Master had been paying more attention to what me and Gildarts were up to in the guild this year. Perhaps he was considering Gildarts as a candidate.
"Hmm?" Gildarts was snapped out of whatever he was thinking. "Oh yeah it is. I hope I get selected this year." He said with eagerness. "That way we can both go on S-Class jobs together!"
"Uh, aren't only S-Class Wizards allowed to go on S-Class quests?" I asked hesitantly.
"Ah don't worry! S-Class wizards can bring someone who isn't S-Class along with them as long as they watch over them!" Gildarts answered with gusto.
We continued to walk for a bit longer across the town, with the both of us passing along a quiet river. "Hey Cade." Asked Gildarts. "What's one thing you've always wanted to do in Fairy Tale?"
"Hmm. Good question…" I considered curiosity. "Huh, haven't really thought about it that much before. I mean I haven't been focusing that much in my future. Maybe become S-Class one day?" I suggested, with even me being unsure of what I wanted to do.
"Eh, that's fine if you ask me. As long as you're happy and do the best that you can do." Gildarts shrugged while smiling. "As for me? Heh, I'd like to take a stab at a Century quest one day." Gildarts spoke with a grin, as he looked up in the sky with him clearly wondering what it would be like.
"Huh? Century quests? What are they?" I quizzed, perplexed by this new information.
"Well as you know there are all sorts of ranked quests for wizards in guilds like Fairy Tale. You get the usual D, C, B, A quests. Then you get S-Class quests which only S-Class Wizards can go on. Then above that there are SS-Class quests, which are even harder than S-Class quests!" Gildarts said with excitement.
"What?! SS-Class quests? And you can do them when you're an S-Class Wizard?" I exclaimed with bewilderment.
"Yep." Answered Gildarts with a smile. "But that's not all. Then there are Decade Class quests which are requests that haven't been completed in 10 years. Finally at the very top there is Century Class quests which are job requests that haven't been completed in a 100 years across all of Ishgar!"
"No way! You're telling me that there are job requests out there that haven't been completed in over 100 years!" I shouted with disbelief. "And you want to attempt one!?" I gave Gildarts an insane look.
"Course I do! Apparently not even some of the top ranked Wizard Saints has been able to do them, they're just that tough! Completing one of them is basically seen as an ultimate achievement for a Wizard." Gildarts explained to me.
"When I hopefully get S-Class, I won't do one immediately. But I'll work my way up the top of the totem poll." He concluded confidently.
By this point, we had finished making our way out of the town, and had arrived on the outskirts. The main smooth pathway had now been cut off into small dirt pathways that led out and over the hills. I could see a few small houses, made of stone bricks that had what looked like a forge connected to their house. I could see that there was smoke coming out of the forges, showing that people were home.
Me and Gildarts both walked over to the first house and I chapped the door. A few minutes later, a man opened the door. He was wearing thick gloves and had dark baggy clothing on.
"Yes? How can I help you?" He asked to the both of us.
"Hello there." I greeted politely. "I saw your forge outside and wondered if you forged armour here?"
"Yeah that's about right. I make it out the back there." The blacksmith answered as he gestured his head back behind him.
"Well then I would like to make a purchase if that's ok." I stated.
"No problem just follow me to the forge." The man said as he shut his door and moved past me and Gildarts, him heading to the back of his house where the forge was with me and Gildarts following him.
We then came across the man's forge behind his house. It was a simple and almost cute setup he had here. There was an anvil and a large metal pail of water, which I assumed he refilled at the river that lead into town. There were several shelf's along the wall of the house which had several armour and weapons all along it. Helmets, gauntlets, spears, axes; this man seemed to have it all. I could also see a grindstone and a tanning rack to the side.
"Wow. Nice setup you have here. Very professional." Gildarts complicated the man.
"Thanks." The smith replied with a smile.
"Wait. Do you just sell the stuff here?" I wondered with confusion
"No I have a store in town just down there. It's not open yet, hence why I'm here. I'm willing to make purchases here as long as my customers have the cash." He explained, as he then looked at me. "Names Eroland. What do you need from here?"
"Hmm…" I said curiously, as I eyed the items on his shelf. A pair of silver gauntlets caught my eye. "Mind if I try them on?" I said, as I pointed to the gauntlets on a shelf behind him.
"Sure." Eroland said as he lifted the gauntlets off the shelf and handed them to me. I took the gauntlets from him, expecting them to be relatively lightweight however, I was in for a surprise as my hands almost sunk to the ground immediately upon lifting them.
I was able to lift them and stop them from bringing me to my knees, but they were still really heavy.
"You er, need a hand there?" Offered Eroland.
"No… I'm good." I struggled, as I put the left gauntlet under my left arm, and attempted to fit the right gauntlet on my right hand. I was able to do so, but the gauntlets were still weighting me down.
'Christ. I don't think I'm going to be able to move at all when wearing these.' I realised in annoyance.
"Yeah… sorry but I won't be taking them." I said apologetically, as I wiggled my right hand to lose the gauntlet and it slipped out onto a nearby table I was over. I then dropped the other gauntlet onto the table. "You got anything lighter than that?" I asked Eroland.
Eroland gave me a strange look.
"Who is this for exactly?" Eroland asked with curiosity.
"Myself." I answered awkwardly.
"What!?" He cried out in surprise. "No offence kid, but I don't think you'll be able to wear anything here, let alone carry it." He stated,as he scratched his head. "All the metal I use here is quite heavy to wear."
"Ah. Well… that's ok we can check the other smiths around here!" Gildarts spoke up trying to make the situation seem better than it actually was.
"Yeah… the other smiths all work with metal heavier than the ones those gauntlets were made out of…" Eroland added with gritted teeth.
"What?! Where are we supposed to find a smith who can make armour for me now?" I exclaimed to thin air, as I began to lose all hope.
"Why do you need armour for yourself? Let alone metal armour like that, which you are currently too young to wear and carry." Eroland spoke with interest.
"Well, I'm actually a wizard." I replied to him, as I rolled up my sleeve to show him my Fairy Tale guild mark.
"Ah, Fairy Tale huh? First time I've served – sorry discussed business with a member of that guild." Eroland said, correcting himself there. "I mostly get customers from Phantom Lord around here."
"Do you know anyone around here that could get some sort of armour for me? Specifically something that isn't metal and heavy." I asked the smith, hoping he could help me.
Eroland paused for a moment. He then turned to look at me. "How many jewels do you have on you exactly?" He asked curiously.
'What his deal all of a sudden?' I wondered with surprise. "700,000." I stated to him, curious where he was going with this.
Eroland seemed to process this in his mind slowly, with him muttering stuff under his breath that I couldn't make out. It looked like he was thinking about an idea to help me, but seemed to double back on the idea.
"Something wrong?" I asked the smith.
He then stoped muttering and turned to face me. "There is one man… But he may cost you all of your jewels." Erloand informed carefully.
"What?! Can he craft armour that fits me and is relatively light?" I quickly said in shock upon hearing that.
"Yes, his armour fits your requirements." Eroland explained with a sigh.
"Great!" I gave a smile at the information. "Wait. What do you mean by he may cost me all my jewels?" I brought up, remembering that little detail he said earlier.
"He does not pay by jewels or any other conventional method that any other person may be accustomed to." Eroland said with a grumble. "Yet his armour is… incredible." He whispered, as he then grasped the air in front of him, as if he was trying to catch the armour.
"What does he pay by then?" I asked, as I waited. A bit of fear ran through me as I began to think what kind of stuff this man dealt with.
Eroland leaned forward. "Dice." He whispered quietly.
I blinked.
"Uh… sorry you said dice?" I inquired, double checking if what he said was true.
"Yes. He is a gambling man as well as a professional armour maker. They say he made his fortune big years ago and then used all his money on the very best blacksmithing equipment and purchased the highest quality ores. From there he built up his reputation as a master blacksmith. The reason why many do not go to him, is that they will lose all their money gambling to try and win things from him." Eroland explained to me.
"So you say what you want from him, then you play a game that involves dice with him, and if you win then you get an item free of charge? That's what I'm getting from this at least." Gildarts spoke up.
"Yes. But to play with him you have to put money on the line." Eroland grumbled.
"Oh." Me and Gildarts both collectively said.
"So that's what you meant by 'he will cost me all my jewels' huh?" I said. "Where is he?" I asked curiously.
"If you really want to lose 700,000 jewels that badly, you can find him in Oak Town believe it or not. He has a workshop here that he is currently residing in." Eroland pointed to Oak Town. "The Forge of Fate is what it's called. You'll find it in the west district."
"The Forge of Fate, hmm?" I muttered after he said that. "How many people win there?" I asked, wanting to know my odds here.
"Some people have won against him. But from what I've heard from the other smiths here, at least… 75% of his customers walk away with their pockets empty. Not great odds if you ask me." Eroland answered.
'So it is possible to win then. That's good know going in.' I nodded with determination.
"Thanks for all the advice Eroland. Hope business goes well for you today." I thanked the man, as I turned away to head back to Oak Town.
"Just a minute." Came the voice of Gildarts, which surprised me and Eroland. "I'd like to make a purchase here." Gildarts declared, as he reached into his pocket.
"Huh?! When did you plan on buying stuff here?!" I said in astonishment.
"When I saw that up there." Gildarts said as he pointed to an item on one of the shelf's. The item he pointed to was an armoured waist-guard bearing plate. "That would go perfectly with my combat gear." He explained with a smile. "How much then?"
Eroland looked happy about the idea of the purchase and took the item off the shelf and put it on the desk where the gauntlets were. "That'll be 75,000." He stated.
Gildarts then handed over the jewels, and Eroland counted them up. He then handed Gildarts the metal waist plate of which Gildarts was pleased about and Eroland looked quite chuffed with himself.
"Thank you for your purchase. I hope to see you back in my shop again sometime." Eroland said with a smile, as we then bid him farewell to head back into Oak Town to find the Forge of Fate.
While we walked there, I turned to Gildarts and asked him a question I had been wondering since he made that purchase there. "So what is this combat gear you're suddenly mentioning right now?" I asked curiously. "I'm surprised you haven't mentioned it to me yet."
"I was going to show it to you when I got everything. Now that I have this waist plate, I think I can consider it finished." Gildarts spoke with a grin.
"I have an idea. When I get my gear in this Forge of Fate shop, how about we show up to the guild the next day wearing our gear together?" I suggested.
"Well that sounds like a good idea." Gildarts nodded with eagerness at the idea. "I'm looking forward to seeing what this store has for you."
"Yeah, I'm eager to find out what might be there as well." I said, as I saw a sign that said that we had entered into the west district of Oak Town.
We continued to look around some more, head down some alleys, ended up going in circles at one point until we both agreed to do what we should have done first upon entering this district – ask someone for directions.
I asked a young man in his 20's about the location of the shop and he just gave me a rude chuckle. "You're wasting your time there kid. I tried to win a certain piece of armour there today and lost about 800,000 jewels. Nothing in there's worth it I assure you. But if you want to waste your money, it's down that alley there." The man spoke as he pointed to down an alley to his left with his thumb.
"Thanks." I thanked the man, as I went to find Gildarts to lead him to the shop. I later found the Crush Mage and brought him to the alleyway where the shop was according to the young man.
After we passed a few houses, we came to a store that had a sign hanging of a rail that labeled the name of the store.
—
-The Forge of Fate-
—
It looked relatively compact, as it was squashed in between two other buildings to its left and right. I couldn't see any doors on the buildings next to the store, but there was windows that had the curtains draped back. The actual store itself had a small door with steps that led up to it, with windows that had the curtains also draped back. What surprised me the most, was that there was no chimney on the roof of the store.
'Is this place even the store I was told about? It doesn't look anything like a smithing shop! The windows being draped back doesn't help the atmosphere that much, and the fact that there isn't a chimney for the smoke of the forge is weird.' I thought weirdly.
"You uh, sure this is the place?" Gildarts said in doubt.
"Well the sign over there definitely says so. It's just the exterior of the building I find strange." I replied back.
"I guess there's only one way to find out." Gildarts muttered with a shrug, as me and him both made our way into the door. We climbed up the small steps and I knocked on the door, after I failed to notice a knocker or doorbell.
A few seconds passed and nothing happened.
Me and Gildarts both looked at each other in confusion.
I then decided to try the door handle, just to see if the door was unlocked which would show that someone was home. To my complete surprise, the door handle turned and the door opened slowly with a creaking noise.
At this point I was now a little sceptical about entering the building, due to how strange all of this felt to me. I turned to Gildarts and then gestured to the door with my head with a nervous look. Gildarts just shrugged his shoulders at me.
'Oh what am I doing! I'm a wizard! I can protect myself just fine!' I thought in realisation and annoyance.
I then opened the door fully and stepped inside the little shop. The lights were out, but I could see that I had seemed wandered into someone's house! I could see chairs, a table, a radio on a wall shelf and a rug on the floor. There were also two doorways that were closed.
I was about to call out to the owner of the house to let them know that I was here, but before I could do so I heard a man's voice and a pair of faint footsteps. They were getting louder and were muffled meaning they were most likely behind a door.
They got louder and louder, until I saw a door ahead of me burst open, and an angry man storm out of room with a scowl. He brushed past me and Gildarts, without bothering to move around us. I turned and watched the man storm out of the house and back into the streets of Oak Town. I felt Gildarts tap me on the shoulder, him trying to get me to turn me around.
I did so and I was taken a back by what I now saw in front of me. I saw a man wearing a brown waist coat with thick dark brown gloves. He also wore ragged and baggy trousers. He had messy black hair that was straightish.
'Is this the owner of the store? He looks… a bit messer than I assumed he would be, I'll admit.'
"So sorry to not get to you earlier. I had a 'customer' that I was serving back there. I was unable to hear you ringing the doorbell from back there I'm afraid." The man greeted us in a smooth voice.
"Hello there." I greeted with a wave. "Are you the owner of this place?"
"Correct young man. My name is Cass Inio. I am the owner of this house you are in and the shop of the sign you saw outside known as the Forge of Fate." Cass stated proudly, with a welcoming tone.
"You're the man who lets his customers take anything they want from their store as long as they win in a game right And your armour is said to be the best there is?" I questioned with a bit of suspicion.
"Indeed young man. You've heard well it seems." Cass spoke with a grin, showing some shining white teeth. "Are you a potential player here, hoping to win something?" He asked with interest.
"Yeah I am." I nodded
"Very good!" Cass beamed. "Now then each game you win against me will grant you one item or a set of items. There are exceptions of course, but I will mention those if it comes to it." Cass explained to me. "Now then. A weapon or armour?"
"Armour." I spoke firmly.
"Good. Good. I have plenty of armour here if you will follow me. Your friend may come to watch as well, I do not mind as long as he does not interfere." Cass said as he made his way through a door on the right, with me and Gildarts following him closely.
We then came out onto a rather large room, which had a few dozen of mannequin stands with armour on them. There was also a few loose pieces of armour lying around on shelf's, like helmets and gauntlets. I could also see windows that were draped shut behind the mannequins. At the back of the room, there was a fancy table with two chairs on opposite sides of each other. There was also another door that presumably connected to a storage room.
I realised something rather interesting. "Hold on… this is the house that connected to your store! I saw it outside!" I blurted to Cass.
"Yes, the buildings to the left and right of this store are also owned by myself. They all come together to form a huge building for myself." Cass said smartly. "Each building represents a different sector. My living area, my weapon area and my armour area."
Cass then stopped in the middle of the room, and gestured to the armour stands around him. Now take your pick, you do not need to rush I have all day." Cass then waited for me to make a purchase.
"I heard you made armour that could fit anyone and was relatively lightweight. Could I see a set that matches that?" I requested.
Cass's eyes winded for a split second when hearing that. "Ohhhh? I do have armour like that. I would argue that it is my very best set that I have created." He remarked with a sly smile.
"Really?" Wasn't expecting that detail. "Well, then my decision had not changed. Could I still see it?"
"I shall get it now for you." Cass answered, as he went into the storage room to collect the armour.
"Wow the armour you're after is his best set! What are the odds of that!" Gildarts remarked with a small laugh.
"Yeah, I wonder if that will mean it will be harder to win then." I wondered, as I began to think of that the armour would be like.
I had many different visions of what the armour would look like, but nothing could prepare me for what I would see when Cass emerged from the side room with a mannequin that was being moved on a small wooden platform with wheels.
The armour on the mannequin was some thick leather and was equipped with gauntlets, boots, a chest piece, arm guards and leg guards. It was coloured dark maroon from head to toe. A long cape was attached to the back of the mannequin which was red on the outside while black on the inside, with a tall collar and held together with square silver brooch over the front of the shoulder.
Upon seeing the armour and taking a good look at it, two immediate thoughts came to my mind. One the armour was made out of leather, and the second was that it was far to big for me.
"This is a bit big for me don't you think? I mean the armour itself looks great, it's just that I'm not big enough to fit in it right now." I confessed with a frown. "Also why is your best set of armour made out of leather? I would have thought metal would have been a better choice."
"Ah, that is the unique thing about this armour. I hired a mage to put a particular shrink magic on this armour, that would make it to where anyone can fit into it as the armour will shrink or grow to their size." Cass explained, as he took off one of the gauntlets of the armour off the mannequin and handed it to me. "Try it."
I took the gauntlet off him, with doubt that this would work. I then fit the gauntlet onto my hand with little trouble due to the size being bigger. However, upon fitting the gauntlet on it began to shrink to a much more wearable and smaller size for me.
When it was finished, it had became the exact size I needed for a perfect fit! What was even better, was that I could still freely move my hand around without it being so heavy as the gauntlet was fairly light. I stared at the gauntlet in awe (and I think Gildarts did the same) before looking back at the armour and then to Cass.
"Are all the other pieces like this. Being this light and adaptable to the wearer?!" I asked in suspense.
"Well of course." Cass confirmed. "That is the main reason why I consider this my best armour that I have, among other things of course."
"Like what?" Asked Gildarts.
"Well, the leather is quite durable believe it or not. It's able to take the full brunt of most attacks and come out relatively unscathed." Cass said truthfully. "If it ever gets damaged that badly, then you can easily repair it. As long as a small part of the armour is intact, then the spell that changes the size of the armour will remain."
"What else does it have?" I asked.
"It also has holsters for swords." Cass explained, as he pointed to a holster for a sword on the side of the armour that I couldn't see before. "Oh and it has a cape, If you're into that sort of thing." Cass said, seemingly not caring all too much about that last part.
With all this information, I was now certainly eyeing up this armour. This did seem like it could be perfect for me. Beofre i could speak up to Cass, he spoke up to me first.
"By the way… Do you have a Requip storage young man?" He asked me, taking me by surprise.
"Hmm? No, but it's been something that I might try and learn in the future for convenience." I answered. From what I had heard Requip was almost THE number one magic that every mage tried to learn.
"Well, this armour is unique in the way that it can be instantly requiped onto you from inside your storage." Cass added with a smile. "Almost all armour cannot, yet this allows for easy convenience when working on jobs."
"W-What!?" Gildarts shouted in amazement. "Y-You're kidding me! Every mage wishes that they had armour like that!" He proclaimed.
'My god… this armour has almost everything I could ask for! It's light to wear, has holsters for swords, can change its size and it has a cape!' I thought in excitement. 'Even in the future when I learn Requip magic! I can swap into it at will!'
"I'll take it!" I declared in enthusiasm.
"Excellent!" Said Cass, as he clapped his hands in excitement. "Now then. I think it's time we began our game."
He then grabbed his waist coat with his right hand. He then flung the waist coat off to reveal a dark red waist coat, with a white undershirt beneath it. He also now wore white gloves instead of his previous brown ones. His previous messy hair was now smooth and was gelled backwards. His trousers had been replaced and were now smooth and black. His shoes were also coloured brown and were sleek smooth tie ons.
'What in the-!? Who's this picture postcard looking gentleman?' I thought in bafflement. Was this his game outfit?
Cass gave me a thin smile. "Is there an issue?" He questioned as he raised an eyebrow.
It took me a few seconds to take in what I just saw there. 'What kind of magic was that meant to be there?!'
"Huh?! Oh, er n-no problem here!" I spluttered as I tried to sound composed.
'Right… the game I'm suppose to win here… If I win I get the armour. If I lose however… I'll lose all my money meaning me and Gildarts will be walking home as we won't have money for train tickets back. Also I may lose my new favourite set of armour that I've just found.' I thought nervously, as I made my way over to the table to begin whatever game Cass had set up.
And boom! Another chapter done and dusted. Do leave a review of your thoughts if you wish.
In the next chapter, Cade will be playing whatever game Cass has set up to win the perfect set of armour for him. Yes, the next chapter will feature a game with dice that will be played by Cass and Cade. Cade will not be able to rely on his magic for this game.
I just decided to do this next part for the laughs and the "Why the hell not?" Not sure what came over me, but I enjoyed writing it nonetheless.
Also in the next chapter, we will have finally finished this arc. I know it has being going on for a good while now, but that was because this arc was about Cade getting all the things and magic that he will be using in this story.
With said and done, I hope you liked this chapter and I hope to see you all in the next chapter! See you then!