Ch.9 - A Little Bit Of Knowledge

Xavier was eager to get his weapon approved by the King and get a weapon the felt right to him in his possession. As they approached the throne room again Ethan took it upon himself to enter and announce themselves to the king before the others entered. "Your highness here is my woken companion and the rest of our available squad members Devi Wisteuff, Her woken Sara Carters, The Woken Tyler Adams and my friend and fellow party member Sintarra Granstall." Xavier recognized the name and looked at Sintarra who returned his look with one of her own that told Xavier not to get into it now. "We have come to have the Woken Xavier Howell get his choice of weaponry from the reserve armoury approved." Ethan bowed in service to Lord Avric Rosewall and stepped aside giving him a full presentation of Xavier.

Xavier bowed before the king and was met with a laugh. Looking up Xavier seen the king laughing and he raised his hand to signify he needed a moment. "My apologies, please excuse my outburst my boy but Ethan has always been overly formal towards me. It is a surprise to see you acting as formal as he is towards me if you wish you may continue but I find formalities unnecessarily trivial for someone like me. Now please I know you must be eager to show the weapon to me and as long as it isn't one of the more expensive items in the collection it is yours to take." Xavier rose from the bow a bit embarrassed at being so formal now and he unsheathed the blade and held it sideways out to the king so he may see the flat of the blade and the teeth near the base of the blade.

"Ahh, I see you have chosen that. I asked for a custom weapon design from a blacksmith in the city in hopes it could give my soldiers an edge in battles against monsters and fewer desirables. Sadly the quartermaster said the blacksmith's desired design was faulty and dangerous for our men to use in practical combat. I'm glad one of the woken has chosen it as if you find success we may be able to mass-produce these as the design does have me intrigued. I approve of your choice and before you leave to shop today remember to visit the treasurer and receive your starting payments so you can afford your necessary items." Ethan bowed to the king again and everyone else waved goodbye to him and Sintarra smiled at Ethan. "Seems our leader's choice was better than we thought it would be hmm?" Ethan nodded and turned to Xavier. "Sorry for that I should have warned you people aren't that formal with the king. He received the position at a younger age and was embarrassed as a kid by formalities and growing up he didn't wanna change it."

Xavier shook his head and smiled. "It's fine I was just a bit embarrassed because I didn't expect him to be so casual. I thought he was gonna be a stern and strict man like the archbishop but he seems more relaxed than I thought he could ever be." Xavier then turned over to Sintarra and pointed to her a bit confused as to what he had heard. "You on the other hand I'm a bit curious and on the subject of the archbishop wasn't his name Granstall like yours?" She nodded and began to explain her relationship with him and how it's the reason other students at the castle don't like her. "The Archbishop is my father which is rare as most Archbishops don't have children. My father however never planned on being in such a position so he had a relationship with one of the students who graduated once he became a full bishop. My mother was several years younger but they loved each other and eventually, I came to be. Shortly after there was an attack on the King and Queen on a trip to another country and the archbishop at the time as well as my mother died that day alongside the king and queen as well as several others. My father was devastated and poured all his energy into raising me while aiming to gain magical strength. He eventually was recognized as a grand sorcerer and was appointed the new archbishop due to that level of power. Not once though has my father ever sought revenge against the monster that killed my mother that day."

Xavier and Tyler were shocked to hear that and apologized to Sintarra for having her bring that all up. "I'm sorry I didn't realize you had no mother growing up it must have been hard for you and it seems unfair that others treat you poorly for being his child. I won't ever ask you to talk about that again if you don't wanna talk about it." Sintarra smiled softly and shook her head. "It is alright my father has always loved me and cared for me. And I haven't met my mother so even though I miss her dearly I never got to know what I lost. It feels a bit empty thinking about who she is and what could have been but that's about it." Xavier hoped that she was being honest but the least he could do was believe her for now. "Well either way I'm glad you've had a father like him to support you."

The group began making their way to the Treasury to get their starting wages and Xavier was a bit surprised. When they got there he noticed everything was coins but they weren't any bills. He couldn't figure out how he knew what a bill was just that it was some kind of currency he used before he came here. Still, he was glad he could recognize currency in this world for what it was. The women who sat behind a desk smiled as they entered and greeted them. "Hello I'm the treasurer for Lord Rosewall and I will give you each your starting fees. To begin I'll explain it as simply as I can to the woken how our currency here works." The women took out three bags and emptied one onto the desk. "This here is Xinta our lowest currency and the most common you'll see to begin with." The coins were round and appeared to be made of copper and had a hollow center.

The woman then dumped out the second bag and revealed similar coins that were slightly larger than the last and were silver instead of copper. "These ones are called Yintu and a single one of these is worth one hundred Xinta. Lastly, we have Zinto which is worth ten Yintu or a thousand Xinta." The women dumped out the last bag and inside were coins made of gold with a hollow center but instead of being circular like the first two these were in the shape of a square. "Now if you all understand please let me know or if you need to hear it again I can also do that." Everyone nodded and she smiled again. "Good so now that everyone knows how these work I'll give you each your coin pouches. Each individual will get a pouch with fifty Xinta and ten Yintu. That should be enough for a weapon for each person as well as either armour or potions or a mix of the two. We advise you also to buy bedrolls before you run too low on coin as you will be sleeping away from the city fairly often after your first few weeks."

The woman then turned and unlocked a cabinet and pulled out six pouches each one jingling with the sound of metal inside. She handed them over one by one and held out a booklet with several names already written into it as well empty spaces still on the page. "We just ask you please give your names so we can keep track of who's all received their starting wages from the king." Leaving a quill beside the booklet everyone began filling in their names and once they were done the woman took it back and bowed to them. "Thank you and may her radiance protect you in your future." Ethan, Sintarra and Devi bowed back in return and said in unison. "May her radiance guide us." With that everyone left the room and began walking down the hall again.

Sintarra stepped out in front of the group and held her hands on her hips. "We have seen the king, we got our coin, can we now finally go shopping Ethan?" She pointed a finger straight into Ethan's face and he gave a defeated sigh and walked past her finger then her. " Yes we may go shopping now but please do try and behave yourself out there." The group laughed a bit as Sintarra looked a bit shocked by Ethan's response but turned around and ran in front of him to lead the way as everyone else followed behind them. After a few minutes, the group found a set of massive metal doors with detailed engravings across their surface and Ethan asked a guard to open them. "Welcome woken to I'llgard capital." The light of day was blending after walking through the flame lit halls of the castle and Xavier needed a moment to let his eyes adjust.