372 A New Journey

"They're almost beginning to look like a proper army," Kaleesh said, a look of satisfaction on his face as he watched his troops.

The burly blacksmith and his guards had departed a quarter-hour earlier, and now, the mercenaries were testing their equipment, wielding their new weapons while clad in shiny starmetal armor.

Arran could not help but agree with the captain. Where the mercenaries had previously looked little different from a group of bandits, with their new armor they almost resembled a company of royal guardsmen.

This change wasn't lost on the mercenaries themselves, either. Although they were still getting used to the armor, there was pride in their eyes as they wore it — and no wonder, since their new equipment was precious enough to make others green with envy.

In the borderlands, it was a rare thing to see even a single starmetal weapon, and those who owned such weapons certainly weren't common mercenaries.