30 A Night of Chaos (Edited)
Ben was quite surprised by the development, but he didn't feel as if he was wronged, rather Ben felt glad that there would an increase in training as well as Tia joining.
He wanted to test his bow marksmanship skills against her own, since he hadn't found anyone that could handle the bow like her besides Roth.
Ben respected her level of skill and control, especially when he saw her testing out a newly crafted bow, she had made in her free time for herself.
The speed at which she drew the bow string back and fired her arrows before reloading for the next round of fire was a fluid action Ben struggled to understand or replicated himself.
At first, Ben thought it was sheer luck, but he quickly pushed that notion aside, when she didn't lose her composure after 50 continuous motions of movement.
Sweat was pouring off her face like a waterfall, while it was flushed bright red from over exhaustion, but her eyes never moved away from the target roughly 20 metres away.
Each shot was glued to the target, with everyone arrow buried deeply into the target.
Ben was utterly shocked, furthermore when he saw the target she set up beside a tree in the backyard of the workshop, hadn't missed a single arrow shot by Tia as they were all buried deeply into the target.
There was a nice grouping from the very centre leading outwards on the circular target.
The thing was, Ben had received training from Kage and Roth in archery, however his proficiency, which was quite good according to Roth, was absolutely meaningless in front of Tia.
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At the time, Ben really wanted to ask her to join training with him so he could possibly learn from her, if not, gaining a possible companion to travel with in the future, so he hoped she would train alongside himself.
Val, however rejected his offer at the time, mainly due to not knowing the force or people behind Ben.
He never said that to Ben since he wasn't completely sure of his disciple and his true nature at the time.
However, since Val became aware about the issues Ben faced, as his master and newest family members, he wouldn't sit by as something happened to them.
Therefore, Val suggested the increase in training for the two, hoping they could make the most out of it if they were ever stuck in a terrible situation without the others around to support them or help.
While they continued their talks, Tia and Ben started chatting between themselves to the side of the others as they weren't really involved in the other plans.
Ben wanted to stop the talks of the adults since he knew the conversation revolved around his Monarchy, however he really couldn't be bothered.
A small part of Ben thought about telling everyone that he wasn't overly fond of creating an empire, but he knew they would laugh and push it aside, treating it as a child's senseless ramblings.
So, he thought it would be best to not say anything for now and focused on his conversation with Tia.
The two of them continued discussion the weapons they were working on together, hoping they could muster up some great designs with both of them working side by side.
While discussing the armour for Drav, they both tried to factor in a better method of protection than the heavy chain mail typically worn by most adventurers.
Since its cost wasn't too expensive, due to the large number of roaming blacksmiths, it was affordable for most adventurers to purchase.
The problem was the material used to craft them wasn't of the best quality.
Since the markets were controlled by powerful nobles, they restricted the materials that could be sold to the general public.
Most roaming blacksmiths could only afford to use the worst materials, leading to the vicious cycle repeating itself nonstop, where the Adventurers would continuously have damaged armour resulting in repeated visits to the blacksmith who could repair it with bad quality materials.
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Tia had seen it herself, where the same adventurers would have just bought new armour or repaired some part of it, only to return within a short few days' time with moderate to heavy damage.
Some would get angry with her father, complaining about his shoddy work, but typically were those Adventurers who recently taken up the dangerous profession.
The ones that had been in the industry for some time knew of the issue with materials, but they also knew they couldn't do much about it other than hoping they find some quality materials in the market by sheer chance and luck.
The thing was, Drav asked for softer padding throughout the internal layering of the armour.
Drav wasn't a fan of the chain mail and wanted something else to help with the heavy attacks to guard his body.
It was the key problem they were trying to figure out.
Tia thought it would be best to focus on Drav's armour improvement since it would help with not just his own armour, but possibly everyone else's as well when time came to create armour for the other members of the Withering Roses.
Soon the discussion between the adults came to an end and everyone moved to the chilly lounge room from the dining room.
Since the fireplace wasn't lit up just yet, the room's temperature was quite a shock to everyone, as the servants rushed around to quickly start the fire and grab some warm blankets for the time being.
Agatha was managing the servants tonight instead of Alfred.
Typically, she wouldn't be left with so much to control, but both Alfred and Kage had left the manor for a few days, so she was under the pressure with so many guests at the manor.
Usually, Kage or Alfred would remain at the manor when the other would leave for work outside of the Estate, but they both had requested a few days off and Liz approved of their time off, leaving Agatha in charge.
Because of that, she forgot to notice the lounge room needed heating, since she didn't wonder around to check as she was dealing with the kitchen staff and serving while the adults were in heavy talks from time to time.
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As everyone gathered around the fireplace with drinks in their hands, they all sat around as Ben and Tia snuggled closely with a shared woolly blanket.
It was so soft and warm that Tia fell into a sleepy trance by its softness.
Her cute face snuggled up with the blanket, making Ben slightly blush, before he noticed Agatha staring at him with a mischievous smile slewed across her face.
Ben quickly shoved Tia away before pushed the blanket aside so she would remain as awake as possible from the coldness.
"Heyyy why did you take it away Benny…?!"
"Because we if you fall asleep, we won't be able to work on this.
Now come on and help me out."
"Mhmm fine…"
She begrudgingly accepted and continued to help, but she couldn't help ruffling her hands through the soft woolly blanket while annoyed with Benedict.
Tia just loved how soft the blanket felt to the touch and how durable it was compared to most blankets purchasable from the markets.
Typically, similarly types of blankets for sale at the markets would crumble apart or the smell horribly eventually from the decaying materials used to make the blankets.
"Mmmm you know… this blanket is amazing…"
"Tia!
Come on!
I'll take the blanket away, dammit!"
"Noooooooo!"
The two of them began to argue, drawing the ire of Val, who soon enough shouted at the two of them.
"Goddamnit, what are you two doing?!"
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While the two of them shouted at the same time, voicing their problem with the other, Val got up, forgetting the nature of where he was and smashed their two heads together lightly, but for the two children it felt like their heads were about to explode.
As the two rubbed their sore heads to ease the pain, Val sternly asked the two why they were arguing.
He pointed towards Tia who said that Ben was snatching the blanket away, while Ben argued he was trying to keep her awake and focused on the project.
As Val listened to the two, he asked about the project rather than focusing on the issues the children were spouting as his Smithing curiosity had been eating away at him since the dining room to find out their progress so far.
Seeing as Val had pushed the problems aside and rather asked about the project's progression, Tia felt she got her way, poking her tongue at Ben as she snatched the woolly blanket from his hands and snuggled up.
Ben wanted to kick her, but Val's question kept his mind from doing that for the time being.
When Ben explained their problem about the chain mail and Drav's request, Val was puzzled why the duo started with Drav's equipment rather than the others.
Ben explained Tia's thoughts about learning from Drav's project and implementing what they learnt during the crafting process into the other projects.
Val was surprised by their planning and initiative to try something new, but even he couldn't give them a solid answer.
In the end Val returned to his seat with the others as he joined their conversation, trying to not get lost while thinking of a possible solution to help the kids.
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Ben was glaring at Tia, his cheeks were puffed up out of anger as he went to kick her with all his might, but he stopped when he saw her adorable and cute face looking at him.
A part of Ben really wanted to kick Tia for getting their heads smashed together, but her face all snuggled up in the woolly blanket was just too adorable to disturb that he chose to rather punish her later at the workshop.
He trotted his fingers as they tapped the side tabled of the couch in an arch while Ben thought of his devious plan to torture Tia.
For a moment Ben was going to laugh in an evil doer way before he stopped.
His mind was racing around while he was trying to process his 'wild' thought.
Ben suddenly thought of using the blankets material for the inner lining with the armours, but when he rubbed his hands through the wool and tested his durability lightly it wasn't up to par and just wouldn't be possible.
Disregarding the use of the same materials used in creating the blankets, Ben thought about his ability, Transmutation, to strengthen and improve the quality of the materials.
For now, Ben had only trialled his ability with ores and some other composites but nothing ever natural and organic.
The thing was, he had used his ability mainly for ores, so he really hadn't figured out its capabilities yet.
Right now, he was thinking of using fur of a skinned beast and possibly using it for a simpler project instead of armour, but unlike the ores where he would go by the grade, he didn't know how he would be able to figure it out with beast skins.
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No part of Ben had a clue about trying the beast skins, but he wasn't going to ask with everyone nearby since it wasn't an appropriate place to discuss the Transmutation ability.
It was already made clear that the ability wasn't too be discussed with anyone, even if those who knew about it were seated together.
Ben didn't want to disturb anyone or break the rule, so he called out for his trusted servant and teacher.
"Kage, can you do me a favour?"
Ben called out in his mind, with the System's help to allow his voice to reach Kage, who soon replied to his Young Master.
"Young Master, how may I be of service?"
As Ben instructed Kage on the specifics he required, Kage respectfully replied that it would be done without delay and he would have them by the following morning at the earliest, otherwise later on in the afternoon.
Ben was quite relaxed since he talked with Kage, as he could leave his troubles with him.
He was enticed by the softness of the woolly blanket and soon found himself snuggling up closely beside Tia, while the blanket covered the two.
They slept peaceful, as the adults watched over them with loving eyes unaware of the simple favour that was about to create chaos throughout a part of the Merahs Continent and Kros Empire.
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֍ Elsewhere on the Continent of Merahs ֍
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"The Young Master has a request…"
Kage voiced reached the ears of the several figures hidden in the dark around him.
Once Kage told them of the request, they immediately moved to complete their current mission so they could fulfil the Young Masters request along with their other tasks.
"Why would he ask for such a specific request?
Similar quality of fur and beast, plus numerous numbers of each species?
What has happened to my cute innocent Benny!!"
Alfred cried as he moved beside Kage.
He tried to rub his snotty nose on Kage's robe, only to receive a strike to his jaw by a frustrated and annoyed Kage.
As he stumbled for a bit before recovered, he regained his position beside Kage as he whined about his Young Master being scarred mentally since he had left and kept blaming the cruel world about his fate.
"Alfred, quieten down… we're currently in foreign territory.
We need to move fast and get in quick without raising a sound, so stop your whining for now."
Allat's tone was firm as he moved up beside Alfred since he wouldn't stop talking.
Allat was worried about the surroundings as they zipped over the rooftops of a foreign city.
He was trying to focus completely on the mission but the continued interruption from Alfred was making him uneasy.
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"That's enough… its time."
Kage spoke, as the group came to a halt.
Perched on the rooftops, they stared out into the open plaza below them in the dark where a makeshift market with hundreds and hundreds of people were walking and talking as they shopped through the night.
"Roth, it's time for the next part of the plan."
Kage instructed, pointing towards the watch tower in the distance, past the site of the Plaza.
There were twin towers before the gate leading towards a massive palace, with soldiers posted at the top with bows, while a dozen or so were station below.
Roth rushed out, vanishing in the dark, making his way towards the twin guard towers.
"Alfred…"
"Yea Kage…"
"Are you positive Zio can - "
*Bang* The sound of something exploding in the distance echoed throughout the darkness, as shrill screams could be heard from the direction of the blast.
"I told you to trust Zio..."
"Indeed…"
Kage resigned by Alfred's words, as he admired the cloud of smoke and fire that was lighting up the nights sky, with people rushing around below, he drowned out all the sounds as he admired a comrade's work.
"It's time to go… are you ready?"
"Ready" Both Allat and Alfred replied, they both stood beside Kage, ready to make their next move.
"Then let's move…"
They moved like lightning as the flashed by the people unaware of their presence because they had to complete this mission and fulfil their Young Masters request at the same time.
Unbeknown to them, they would create a Legend that would sweep across the entire continent and Kros Empire after tonight.
It would be remembered as the first night the Legendary Death Ghosts lurked through the city streets as they moved to strike at their victims without showcasing their presence.
The legend would eventually say that the Legendary Death Ghosts couldn't fulfill their desire for blood after attacking dealing with their victims, making them clear out a portion of the forest to fulfil their desire for beast blood as subsistence.
It further ignited the legend of the Death Ghosts as supernatural beings who wouldn't allow anyone to get away once they eyes were locked onto their next prey.
