“My lord? A Master Marin is asking for you.”

  “Please lead him to the green sitting room. I’ll be with him shortly,” I ask the servant. He bows and closes the door. I sigh, gazing ruefully at my companion. “Sorry, duty calls, it seems.”

  It’s fine, River replies, though she sounds a bit regretful too as she begins collecting together the potions she was showing me into a spatially-expanded pouch that I gave her. Still, I can’t help but feel some excitement as well – if Master Marin has come here, that must mean that he’s completed the set of armour I ordered.

  I’ve been waiting for this for what feels like ages even if it’s only been a tenday and a half since I placed the order. My intermittent visits to his workshop to feed my magic into the material as it’s being treated have only whetted my appetite for the final product. The visits have also been interesting in and of themselves – I’ve been able to learn a lot just from observing how a real Classer leatherworker treats the material.

  It’s far more complicated than I ever imagined – and I thought tanning in the first place had been pretty complex. Every time I visited, I found the leather soaking in a different solution – obvious by the differences in colour, smell, and even magical saturation.

  And each time I could feel how my magic had mingled with something else that added another layer to the internal structure, saturating the fibres of the material and binding with them. I doubt that the finished product will be at all affected by my Inventory, not if what I’ve seen so far is anything to go by.

  I say farewell to River – regretful that our time together was disrupted. I’m not the only one busy – she’s been spending most of her time with a Master Alchemist who’s signed onto the trip with us. He’s relatively new to his mastery and is keen on exploring new options on the Lost Continent. Hopefully he’ll get on well with Sera Kerst – the other alchemist who will be coming with us and River’s official teacher.

  And the others have been just as busy. Frankly, if I didn’t sleep in the same room as most of my Bonded, I’d hardly have seen them over the last fourteen days.

  The other two Pathwalkers have also been getting some training – ever since the Master Enchanter finished their voice projection tattoos, they’ve been eager to satiate their need for knowledge. Happy managed to find a smith in the city who was willing to teach her – for some silver – and she and Aingeal have been there a good portion of every day. With guards, of course – she might now be capable of communication, but that doesn’t guarantee her safety.

  As for Hunter, she’s been working closely with Master Mirena and has actually been allowed to be involved in some of the simpler tattoos on our companions. I was a bit worried about that, but the Master Enchanter assured me that she kept close supervision to ensure that no errors were introduced into the process.

  I can only hope that Master Mirena is seriously considering accompanying us – we’re only about halfway through all the tattoos I want my Bonded to have, and the day of our departure for Whalehost and then the Lost Continent is rapidly approaching.

  Maxen’s little squad of fighters is really starting to take shape, and even the non-combatants are now at least able to stick an enemy with the pointy end of the knife if necessary. As for the rest of my non-human Bound, their combat abilities have come on in leaps and bounds as they’ve continued practising with Nicholas’ Bonded.

  Where once they were stymied by a single Classer protecting the members of a squad of armoured men, now they can take on a force consisting of more Classers than non-Classers. The tattoos have made a big difference – every one of my Bonded has at least one tattoo and the ability for them to create a shield to deflect a blow or attack with something that doesn’t use any of their resources is a game-changer. It’s also something else that they have to get used to – as is my new ability to shelter them on my own skin.

  The work on my tattoo took a whole night and both the enchanter and I were exhausted by the end of it – for all that she was doing the work, it seemed to suck something from me during the process. I’d thought before that it was art, and it really was – she painted the design on me, taking hours over the intricate runework, and then put it all to the test when she pressed the paint into my skin and forced my internal matrix to accept it.

  She suggested strongly that I give it a couple of days to sink in, and I agreed – my internal matrix seemed almost inflamed in that area. I didn’t try to activate it until my Energy channels had returned to normal. But when I did, I realised how much of a game-changer it could be.

  Not only does it make inter-battle transportation so much easier, but it offers significant strategic options too. When I join my Bonded in their mock battles, I’m able to swoop in close to an injured teammate and remove them from danger in a fraction of a second. Even better, being inside a space tied to my soul allows me to heal them as if I’m in contact with them physically. In that way it’s even better than the tattoos that Nicholas has – while his beasts are on his skin, he can’t affect them with his Skills, though they can recuperate naturally.

  Even with healthy teammates, I can make them vanish from one side of the battlefield and appear on another. With my Stealth, speed enhancement tattoo, and access to wings, I’m pretty mobile. And with this storage space, all of my Bonded are just as able to reach different places, both in and out of a battle. If I could round out my Skillset with a short-range teleport, that would be awesome. Even for the heir of a Great House, that kind of Skill stone is as rare as hens’ teeth, however, so I might just have to dream – or try to develop one for myself.

  Fighting together and learning new strategies with the tattoos we all have has been a challenge, but a good one. Mathis, of course, hasn’t let me slack too much on my own weapons’ training either, and I recognise the value of it. And the practice has paid off too – all of those Skills have increased, even the ones already in Journeyman. My magical Skills haven’t increased much, but I reckon that Air-Shaping and Water-Shaping in particular will get plenty of practice on the journey ahead so I’m not worried.

  When I haven’t been on the training field, I’ve been working with Sarran or Nicholas to learn more about how to run an expedition. And when I haven’t been doing that, I’ve been meeting potential recruits and amassing a force of both combatants and non-combatants to come with us. I haven’t had much luck with recruiting mages, but my other positions are pretty much all full now. I’ve done so much management-related work that my Management Skill has gone up to Journeyman eight.

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  But now it’s time to see my first piece of enchanted equipment on this world that’s been custom-built for me and I’m beyond excited about it as I approach the sitting room. If my hopes prove true, this will be as impactful for me personally as the tattoos – and by extension, my companions who depend on my continued health.

  If I’m even half as satisfied as I expect to be, I’ll commission the samurans’ armour today – given how much of an amateur leatherworker I am, anything would be an upgrade on what they already have.

  In the longer term, I also want to get armour made for several of my other companions. The human combatants under my direction will need it too, but that’s a much bigger job. We may not have time for it before we leave.

  “Lord Markus,” the leatherworker greets me as I come in, standing up from his seat and bowing. I notice with curiosity that he’s brought Loran’s brother with him. The young man also leaps up and bows deeply, looking more nervous than usual.

  “Master Marin,” I greet, nodding in return. “Have you got good news for me?”

  The leatherworker gives a grin that knocks ten years off his face.

  “Indeed I have. Behold!” Out of his own storage space, he pulls a beautiful set of armour, laying it over the cushions on the closest sofa. It honestly takes my breath away and I reach forward to brush it with admiring fingers.

  It’s a full set of armour in several pieces: a jacket that buttons up at the front with an overlapping panel, a pair of trousers, a pair of boots, a pair of gloves, and a deep hood. The armour definitely looks form-fitting, something like a leather body-suit, but thicker. It’s a mottled dusky red, deeper in colour than the original material and far smoother. Only faint traces of the original scales remain, looking more like decoration than an intrinsic part of it. The surface is matte, reflecting little light. I can tell that it will work very well with my Fade and Stealth Skills. And if I can somehow learn Lathani’s Shadow-Shaping from her, I have no doubt that this armour will help with those too.

  “It’s not the most decorative of armours, I’m aware,” Master Marin acknowledges, sounding a touch anxious, “but I thought you’d prefer function over form.”

  “I do,” I reassure him, “but honestly, I don’t know how you can say it’s not decorative. Look at that pattern!”

  The Master Leatherworker looks relieved – given that my patronage hinges on his efforts here, he has reason to be concerned. But if he thinks that this armour focuses far more on function than form, then I don’t think he needs to be worried.

  Inspect Item

  I don’t really know what I’m looking at – to my amateur eyes, it looks good. But there’s no harm in getting a second opinion.

  I mentally ‘knock’ on the Bond I had with Nicholas – we haven’t talked about it but he hasn’t broken it from his side so nor have I. We tend to keep it locked down unless we’re actively talking to each other – for privacy’s sake.

  Nicholas, are you busy?

  Not too much to speak briefly. Do you have a problem?

  Not at all. It’s just…I don’t know enough about armour to know whether these stats are good or not.

  I send him the description. It only takes a moment for him to process.

  Not bad, not bad at all, he comments, sounding a touch admiring. To have maintained the Tier in two categories and exceeded it in one more is impressive, even if it comes at the cost of one category downgrading. I would guess your leatherworker is relatively new to his mastery, but he has clearly well-earned his title. There are perhaps only one or two other Masters in this city who might have been able to offer a better set, but even then it’s not guaranteed – especially if you were contributing magic. It takes a deft hand to set magic that’s not one’s own into enchantments – and those are well-chosen from what I can see. I’ll keep note of his name – I look forward to seeing what he is capable of after another few decades.

  Alright, thanks, I tell Nicholas gratefully and then return my attention to Master Marin whose expression is still set in anxious lines.

  “It looks amazing,” I tell him honestly. His chest moves in a silent sigh of relief. “Can you explain its features?”

  “Of course, my lord,” he hurries to agree. “While I do, would you like to try it on?”

  “Sure,” I agree happily. “On top of my clothes?”

  “That’s probably best for now,” the leatherworker agrees, “though its Growth enchantment means that whether you put it on over or under clothes – or even over another set of armour – it will fit perfectly.”

  “Handy,” I comment, wondering briefly how layers of armour work with enchantments in the mix. I reach for the armour. Its texture is just as buttery-smooth and flexible as it appears. And it’s warm – due to the fire affinity?

  When I first try to put the armour on, it’s a little tight, but the Growth enchantment kicks in after only a moment of struggle and it expands enough for me to slip it on easily. Once it’s settled, it tightens slightly, becoming skin-tight over my clothes.

  “Won’t these be vulnerabilities?” I question, indicating the spaces between where my gloves end and my jacket begins. Although the jacket overlaps my trousers and my trousers tuck into my boots, there’s another gap between my hood and jacket. Master Marin gives me the hint of a grin.

  “Touch the magic within the gear with your own,” he instructs. I do and almost gasp at what I feel. It’s different from when I used to touch my armour, even when it was filled with my own magic. That just felt like an extension of myself. This…it is an extension of myself, but, at the same time, not. Like it’s an extension of myself that’s gone to the gym and practised magic at the same time, it’s better. The magic moves more quickly through the armour than in my own channels, and I need to use less of it to get the same effect.

  I get distracted and start reShaping the armour, making spikes grow out of it, thickening it, thinning it, making sections longer or shorter…. It responds like a dream, as though every possibility is already encoded and all I have to do is think the right command at it. And then, when I’m satisfied, all it takes is thinking of it returning to its original form and it does.

  I do notice that the mana within the armour is a little depleted, so its pool clearly isn’t limitless, but I’m able to fill it up easily enough with my own mana.

  As I brush my hand admiringly over the armour, a sobering thought occurs to me: my reality has changed enough that, exciting as it is, I didn’t buy it for a frivolous reason. Preparation of this kind of quality is no longer optional with my plans and enemies.

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