Clyde led the company around the market for a long time, giving endless pleasure to a certain little person. In the three years of their lives, children very rarely left home. Grace, who was an extrovert at heart, genuinely enjoyed the lively atmosphere of this place. Although Gray was quiet and did not leave his mother's side, he still turned his head in search of something interesting. The twins were actively looking around everywhere, as befits real children.
"Mom, buy this! Buy it! Buy it, please!" begged Grace, who noticed a beautiful hair clip on the counter.
"Of course, dear, how much does it cost? Grey, look at something for yourself," Katerina suggested, talking to the seller.
"I don't want anything. I just need my mom, my sister, and... my dad by my side," Gray replied, shyly glancing at Cassia.
"Fu-fu-fu, dear, and I see you're learning how to treat women properly," the mother laughed, pleased with her son's comment.
After concluding the deal, the five-person company continued their tour of the border town.
As they moved deeper into the shopping district, more and more neat and well-established shops appeared. They walked for a while before arriving at a large hall. The entrance looked like a medieval living room. The lamps that were used were magic circles. The floor was made of cobbled gray stone, and the goods were displayed on a wooden display case.
It didn't take long for someone to take care of the company.
"Mr. Clyde, is that...?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Ashforth. They came here in search of high-quality medicines for internal wounds." Clyde interrupted the salesman before he could say something stupid.
"I can offer you a potion of internal recovery, made by potioneer Strauss, the most famous potioneer in our area. For 30 silver lire. There are also several blood clam hearts that were recently brought straight from Nightingale. 10 silver pieces each." – the salesman suggested, with his manners he resembled a butler.
"Mister, I'm afraid you misunderstood me, I'm here to make an urgent order. I want the saliva of a wyvern, and preferably a hydra, the older the better. I need her by tomorrow morning, take her to the hotel Mr. Clyde says. I will pay 5 gold Roman denarii. If the wyvern's age exceeds my expectations, I will raise the price to 7 gold. And yes, you will receive 50 silver lire for your services anyway." – interrupting the seller, Katerina put forward her conditions, the conditions were very generous. Generous enough that the seller couldn't help but smile broadly, raising his level of politeness to sky-high heights.
"That's right, noble ma'am. Your wish is my law. Believe me, I am sincere in my words. Unfortunately, I will have to contact the military department with a similar request, and they are such knackers. They'll suck out every last copper of honest merchants. If it were up to me, I would serve a beautiful lady like you for free. And what beautiful children they are, what charm, what a sublime atmosphere, you must come from a noble family." The words poured out of the salesman's mouth like a song from the mouth of a tavern bard. If he had been allowed to continue speaking, in two minutes he would have canonized Katerina, and in five minutes he would have raised her straight to divinity.
Leaving Clyde to discuss the details and handing over the deposit to the seller, Katerina and the children left the store.
"Mommy, let's go for a walk!" her mother pulled Grace.
"Okay, we'll take another walk, honey. If you answer me, what does the wyvern's saliva do?" Katerina asked her daughter.
"Obviously, she heals internal wounds!" the girl, who had been listening attentively to her mother's conversation, immediately replied.
"That's right. But it also has the property of tempering metals that are soaked in it. Fu-fu-fu. By the way, I would say that the way adventurers extract saliva is quite funny. Since wyverns are too strong to be killed, humans have to be creative about acquiring their saliva. The most common way is to be eaten by a dragon... Don't be surprised now. They are coated with a special powder that is odorless but tastes disgusting. The wyvern doesn't want to swallow, so it just spits them out. You can guess what happens next. Although accidents do happen when a wyvern can accidentally bite an unlucky adventurer, breaking several bones or even killing him," Katerina explained in detail. It was her way of introducing the children to the world around them. Most of the things she told me were secrets and were rarely written down in books.
"Wow," the twins replied in unison this time.
"Come on, dear ones, let's take a little more walk. If you see something interesting, be sure to tell your mom. Today, Mommy will do everything to please my dear ones!" she promised.
Walking along the busy streets, the mother and children found a small cafe and settled down to have a snack on a nearby bench. Katerina bought the children some puff pastry with the most delicate curd cream, as well as strawberry soup. These famous sweets were one of the business cards of the magic empire.
After eating, the family headed towards the local tavern where they were going to spend the night. Passing by a gun store, Katerina noticed the gaze of her son, who was examining various weapons. Stopping, she asked:
"Honey, do you want a gun? Don't be silent, dear, you know that Mommy loves you and will do anything for you."
"Yes, Mom, let's see," she heard her son reply.
She was glad that her son had uttered one more sentence in a day. Her children seemed so different now. Grace was hyperactive and funny. She was laughing carelessly, talking non-stop, as if by force and with incredible tenacity getting an extra word out of her brother. Katerina understood why Gray had become like this, but there was nothing she could do.
When they entered the gun shop, they saw a wide variety of weapons. Unlike the Roman Empire, where only standard army weapons were made, weapons of various shapes and sizes were presented here.
"Dear, you know that in the Roman Empire, only three types of melee weapons and one ranged weapon are used everywhere. Every legionnaire in the army is equipped with them. The Sarisu Spear is a long striking spear for fighting in formation. The Gladio short sword is used for thrusting and slashing. The Pugio dagger is versatile and designed for emergencies. And finally, the Arcus bow is the only weapon designed for ranged combat," Katerina pointed to shelves filled with a variety of weapons as she taught her children another lesson.
"Please note, experts are one of the three elite types of troops in the Magic Empire, these wars stand alongside magicians and runic knights. Their gun culture is more focused on diversity and creativity. Every soldier is most often familiar with a single type of weapon, but he knows it perfectly. Therefore, here you can see the most original options: halberds, sabers, maces, clubs, broadswords, brass knuckles, chakrams, axes, hammers, flails, etc. All this points to the variability of the conduct of hostilities by the troops of the Magical Empire."
Although Katerina talked a lot, the children were not bored, they listened with interest to their mother's lecture, as they saw everything she said right in front of them.
"My dears, I want you to choose a weapon that will always be with you. You have to get used to it, train with it, and take care of it. I want you to always be able to protect yourself if Mom isn't around. Don't worry about the size and appearance, try to feel which weapon suits you the most," the mother said in an extremely serious voice that allowed neither questions nor objections. She wanted the children to remember this moment forever and take their choice extremely seriously.
The children nodded and began to choose weapons, moving from one item to another. The salesman present and Clyde were sweating under the murderous gaze of Cassia, who stared at them without letting a word slip. She understood from her hostess's voice that this situation was a kind of initiation ceremony for children, the atmosphere of which could not be allowed to be disturbed in any way.
The twins walked around the store from shelf to shelf, trying to follow their mother's instructions clearly. When 15 minutes had passed, they finally decided on their desires.
Grace took two chakrams. The chakram was a throwing weapon in the form of a flat ring with sharp edges and a hole in the center with a diameter of 15 cm. One ring was hollow in the center. The second was divided by a handle in the middle, creating a yin-yang symbol, if necessary, this weapon could be separated and used as two closed daggers.
"It's a very difficult weapon to use, but it's very deadly and versatile. Why did you choose him?" "What is it?" her mother asked, wanting to understand Grace's reasons.
"They suit me. They are beautiful, you can wave them, you can throw them at enemies," the girl tried to explain.
"Okay, honey, I get it. Put them aside for now, we'll order the same ones, but created specifically for your current height. To make it easier for you to use them," Katerina said, looking at her son.
Gray's choice was a ceramic granite knife with a 12 cm blade curved inwards. The knife was a combination of brass knuckles and a dagger and was intended for reverse grip.
"He called me," the boy replied simply, describing his feelings exactly.
Hearing such a statement, Katerina was taken aback for a second, trying to process the information she received. The phenomenon of the wielder being able to hear and understand his weapon was not uncommon in the world of swordsmanship and magic. However, this usually required years of training and incredible perseverance. If Gray's words were true, as his mother had no doubt, then the boy's talent for wielding knives could only be called heavenly.
Noticing out of the corner of her eye that the eyes of the seller of a small stall flashed with similar understanding, Katerina sighed. If she had known that this could happen, she would not have pushed the children to make an immediate choice.
As ridiculous as it sounded, it was a fact that in the Magic Empire, people couldn't awaken a magic core. People gained strength here in a different way. The Magic Empire is known for three types of troops, namely: Mages, Rune Knights, and Specialists. All three special units have their own special development method.
The main specialization of magicians is considered to be support. Magicians use mana to interact with the world around them. By creating magic circles with mana, they cast a wide variety of spells. From a small fireball to a huge tornado. The strength of a magician depends only on the complexity of the magic circle formed by him. The more complex and larger the magic circle, the more powerful the spell formed.
Runic knights are created by magicians. Magicians form runes on the bodies of warriors, as if drawing tattoos. These runes enhance certain aspects of the human body, granting knights super strength, super agility, improved recovery, etc. The number of available rune engraving slots depends on the vitality of the war. The most skilled magicians can create an entire rune set. In such a set, the runes can complement each other, raising the combat capability of the war even higher.
Last but not least, the division of the Magical Empire is specialists. A specialist is a person who is proficient in a certain type of weapon. When the weapon's proficiency reaches a certain standard, a specialist can use the weapon's aura. Through this aura, the specialist improves all his physical characteristics. An experienced aura user can become as fast as a person with a magical wind element core, as strong as an ogre, and as deadly as a shadow demon. However, becoming a specialist is an extremely difficult task. A specialist is brought up in countless life and death situations, and only a survivor can achieve fame.
When Gray said that the weapon was calling him, he became a candidate specialist. The seller is obliged to report his talent to higher authorities. Subsequently, the boy would have been taken away for special training. In a special institution, he must be trained by the most inhumane methods, tempering his will. Then, when the boy gets stronger, he will have to fight to the death with his classmates. Only 5% of those who were taken to an institution live to be 12 years old to become a specialist later.