Having abated Claire and Garrick's questioning, Jason asked them not to tell anyone else about his level. They were a little confused why but didn't really mind keeping it a secret. Rather than head back to the village the three of them decided to sit and rest while they waited for help to arrive. It was too late for 'the help' to actually be any help, but they were tired and didn't want to move. They continued chatting away and Jason was quite happy that the three of them seemed to be getting on well.
It wasn't long until they saw people running towards them in the distance. It was hard to make them out from afar, but Jason could of course pick out his father.
"My dad's there." Claire said.
"Mine too." Garrick added.
"I think we are going to be In a huge pile of trouble." Jason gulped he wasn't looking forward to the lecture his parents would give him when he got home.
Despite those fears, Jason had a smile on his face. "I know this is going to sound strange. But despite it all, I had a good day."
"Hahahahhaha you're crazy aren't you." Garrick who was also smiling laughed.
"Maybe a little," Jason replied still grinning.
"But you know what. I think I'm a little crazy too cos I had a great time," Garrick said.
"Yeah, I can safely say that the two of you are both crazy," Claire said while shaking her head. "But strangely I had a good time too."
"Doesn't that mean you are crazy too Claire?" Jason said teasing her.
"Hmphh I'll have you know I am an elegant young lady," Claire said lifting her chin in an exaggerated manner. She was covered in dirt and her hair was a mess.
"Of course your ladyship," Jason said giving a large mocking bow causing Claire to break from her character and start to laugh. This led to them all descending into laughter again.
It was then that the three fathers arrived at the bizarre scene. Their children were sat joking and laughing as if they didn't have a care in the world despite the giant corpse of the Titanboa lying behind them. Both Claire and Garrick's fathers had their mouths wide open but couldn't come up with any words. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. They had feared the worst when they had heard their children had encountered a Titanboa. They had quickly found antidotes and come as fast as they could. The jovial scene they now saw was the opposite of what they had expected.
Garion on the other hand just shook his head with a hand on his forehead. A pose that he felt he was getting far too accustomed to.
As expected Jason received a volley of admonishment from his parents when he got home. Jason didn't try and shift the blame for what had happened. He was the leader. It was his responsibility, he would definitely learn from what had happened and he told his parents as much. All actions that Jason's parents noted and were quietly proud of. However, they did not let it show as then was not the time.
Having said their piece Jason's mother's tone at last seemed to shift. "At least you aren't hurt, you're no good for my heart you know that." his mum said sighing.
"Sorry, I'll be more careful," Jason replied.
"Yeah we will see about that." his father said but he was now smiling so it didn't feel as harsh.
He was of course banned from going out hunting for a while. There was a silver lining though Claire and Garrick were banned too. The remaining other two didn't need to be banned as they had decided that they weren't really cut out for hunting after bumping into the Titanboa. 'Who can blame them, I think they are the normal ones, I think wanting to head out again is the weird choice.' Jason had thought to himself. However, heading out again was exactly what Jason, Claire and Garrick wanted to do. They had gained a taste for adventure and it was addicting.
They decided that while they were banned from going out of the village for a while they wouldn't waste their time. Though they all used different weapons and weren't particularly helpful when it came to teaching each other, they would meet up and train together. Mostly because whenever they took a break they could chat and laugh.
Jason enjoyed this time a lot. He now had friends he could spend time with, but it didn't stop him from training and improving. In an attempt to repay the happiness his friends were giving him Jason wanted to try and use his skill to aid them. Using the opportunity of their combined training sessions he managed to touch the both of them. After this, he could use his [Vision of Rylax] skill to check their statuses in greater detail. As it turned out they were already using the weapons for which they had affinities. This came as no surprise to Jason considering how quickly they had grown. Sadly this meant he couldn't give them any significant advice to help them improve, however, thankfully it also meant he didn't have to explain his power to them just yet.
Garrick's talent for the shield was already level 5 and Claire's bow talent was level 4. Jason's progress was also very impressive he had already reached level six with his sword. The most surprising discovery was that Claire had an affinity for wind magic. However, there wasn't much to be done about it for the moment as there was no way for her to learn how to use magic. Jason had the same problem. He had the ability to use magic but there wasn't a single magician in the village. Plus hiding being a strong magician was a lot harder than hiding being a powerful swordsman.
Eventually, after two long months where the three had grown very close, their ban on hunting finally came to an end. Considering all the training and the fact that they'd already been through a fight with a monster, tracking and hunting down animals proved to be easy for them. They had a good sense of teamwork and could bring back a decent haul every time, even though it was just the three of them they were a small group. They became rather infamous around the village, while Jason might have been afraid of this before. Since they were a group he didn't have to worry about it exposing him as much.
During this time, the path to the mine was finally fully cleared. Though it was still a dangerous path and any who used it had to travel with an escort so the older villagers were still kept busy. Once again a new team arrived from the capital to start the preparations for the actual mining operations to begin. Even though Jason had been the one to find the platinum deposit he had not been back since the day he and his father had been found it. Jason did hear from his father that the surveyors had reported the mine ran deep.
At last, two years after Jason's discovery, the first pieces of platinum ore were extracted. A processing building had been built near the village to deal with the ore. It quickly became apparent that even with all the people sent from the capital they still didn't have enough manpower to run the whole operation.
Garion decided that he needed to head to the capital to ask for permission to start hiring people to move to the village. He was incredibly busy these days and even though he was not unaccustomed to working hard even he felt it was necessary to hire people to assist him.
Just before he set off a letter came from the capital.
"Look what you have done Jason, It looks like I might have to actually become a proper lord because of you." Garion laughed.
The letter was an invitation addressed to Lord Cross. It was for the Princess of the kingdom's 15th birthday ball. It wasn't just Garion who was invited but also Amelina and Jason.
"I guess it's to be expected I'm sure that the King is under quite a bit of pressure to let some of the other lords meet me," Garion said.
The family was sitting in the kitchen as they all looked at the invitation that sat on the table in front of them.
"Why is that?" Jason asked.
"Well as the operation on the mine continues to grow so will this village, soon I don't think we will be able to call it a village anymore. In fact, we might even have to give it a proper name." Garion chuckled.
"Can you take this a little more seriously Garion you are going to have to deal with all the politics of being a lord. As much as I love you I'm not sure that's your strong point." Amelina said slightly annoyed at her husband's relaxed approach to the situation. "You are going to be one of the most influential people in Ovar before too long."
"Don't worry I knew this all might happen the minute we found that cave. But I don't regret it. While we have to give some of the platinum away, we are free to do whatever we want with the rest. There are plenty of people who could be safer with it. It's a dangerous world and people are killed by monsters and bandits every day, if this platinum could save some of them, it will be worth it. That's not even thinking about how much it could help Jason." He said all this with a rare serious tone and it was clear that he had thought long and hard about this already. "I'm more worried about what you think Amelina, I know you don't want to deal with the royals and nobles. Do you want to stay here? I can go attend this alone?"
"If you are going I'm coming with you." She said calmly before adding "I don't want you to make a fool of yourself," with a smile.
And so it was decided that all three of the would go to the capital.