Having informed Sif and Lyn to wake me up when Claire gets up, we are able to tell her the plan of heading to The Theocracy first. Breakfast turns into a one sided conversation with Claire and I listening to her parents worry and remind us about little details ranging from remembering to save enough money for food and clothes to making sure to limit our spell use for that one unlucky unexpected fight. Though Claire sighs and gets in a “Yes,” some “I will be sure to”s, and the occasional smile and nod. Though Claire probably feels like her parents are nitpicking and mother-henning her, I smile as this brings back memories of when I was still allowed to see my parents. The advice continued from after breakfast to the entrance of the village. Upon reaching the gate, Claire’s parents both trap her in a long hug, “Remember, you are always welcome back here, regardless of how you fare as an adventurer. We’d rather you come back penniless than die out there. I know you are smart and have contracted powerful spirits now, but you will always be our little girl.”

Claire smiles from the heart, “Of course dad. You don’t need to worry, and I have two former caretakers coming along, so it would be hard to find a situation too dangerous for us.”

Letting Claire go, the couple surprise me by giving me the same emotional hug. Tala chuckles at me for freezing up at the unexpected action, “And all this goes towards you too. We know we only met you two nights ago, but we have accepted you into our little family. Stay safe, it would be terrible to lose the daughter we just gained.”

I fight back an urge to cry as I manage to hug them back. I don’t know if their acceptance is just because I look like I could be Claire’s twin, but I do appreciate their acceptance of me. This care for me as me, and not just a crafter. Letting go, I manage to say, “No need to worry about us. Sif is strong, and even though Lyn is a little carefree, she is also reliable.”

We set off, and before rounding the bend in the road we turn back and give one last wave. Following Claire, I ask, “So how long will we be traveling to reach a town with a guild?”

She responds, “It will take about a day to make it down the mountain safely, though I recommend making camp near the foot of the mountain. Though this high up we enjoy the protection of the spirits, the further down we go the more the chance of encountering bandits.” 

Ah, that reminds me, “Wait, can we double back to my workshop for a bit? Talking about bandits reminded me that I do not want to get stabbed again. I have some enchanted armor back at my workshop I would like to fetch.”

She raises an eyebrow, “Is this fancy, radiates ‘Divine Treasure’ sort of armor? Because that might make rogues attempt more daring deeds to get their hands on it, even in a town.”

Before I can answer, Lyn brags, “Like that would be a problem with me and Sif around, we would be able to handle any amount of thugs who wish to harm Robin!” 

Lyn grins to all of us, but Sif, with a serious expression refutes her, “No, she is right. Master died by a knife in the back, and though powerful we may be, we may not be able to stop every attack. Still, let's go look through the wares and try to find something appropriate. If not, we can try some way of hiding its aura before we leave.”

Sif waves her arm, and I see her dimly shining earth mana surround us. While hiking back up to my workshop I ask, “Sif, I see your mana surrounding us, but what's it doing?”

She smiles and replies, “Just a precaution. Since we just left it wouldn’t be good if someone spotted us walking back up into the spirit forest, so I am just altering the perception of us inside the spell. To simplify it greatly, we will seem like a normal part of the forest and blend in with the earth unless someone is specifically searching for us.”

Huh, that’s new. I guess their rank up to Spirit King and consolidating their powers for 1,000 years isn’t for nothing. Though she made that type of stealth magic sound easy, my knowledge doesn’t go beyond basic spells like invisibility and sound reduction.  Claire, interested in the spell, starts questioning Sif on the specifics, and they go deep into how to mask auras with the appropriate background and how people perceive things in general and how to trick the senses. This perception changing thing is waaay beyond me, and I stay silent all the way up to my old workshop.

Even when we descend down the hidden staircase, they keep talking. I finally interrupt, “Claire, go stand on that platform we have over there and put this on.” She takes the chain hauberk I hand her and puts it on, though she doesn’t stop questioning Sif. Summoning my gloves, I look to Lyn who merely shrugs at me. Realizing I’ll have to chant through their lesson, I begin “Ring of Steel, change at my touch, Shape Metal.” Running my hand through the links of chain, I magically unhook rows of chain and rehook the separate ends to more accurately fit Claire. Without interrupting them, I decide to just remove the first hauberk with magic. Using the adjusted one as a template, I adjust another on my tailoring table. 

Claire, her curiosity sated, comes over and asks, “So, what are you doing with the mail? Like, what were the enchantments on the one you adjusted on me, ‘cause it felt light as cloth.”

Relieved I can talk about something I actually understand, I reply, “I am just copying the adjustments I made to the one I had you try on to this one. When I am done, we both can wear these, since we are identical.” Her eyes start to shine with warry excitement. “ And don’t worry, these ones don’t have too much going for them, they only are made to be extremely light and resistant to all sorts of damage, such as bludgeoning from a mace, the slashing and stabbing of a sword, and to most types of elemental spells.”

Claire sighs, “I thought you said not much, I don’t want to be hunted down for this…”

“Don’t worry, this won’t emit waves of power or anything. I mass produced these for the king’s royal guard. Well, it may emit waves of power if you get struck by magic since the enchantments work by siphoning the elemental mana in those spells into reinforcing the defensive properties of the armor. But that will only last, er, a few hours to a week depending on how strong the spell that hit you was and how many times you were hit.” I try to reassure her.

Lyn cuts in seeing Claire’s skeptical look, “It won’t be a problem normal spells won’t be able to make this armor start emitting waves of mana. The test that Robin is remembering is one in which we spirit kings would attack the armor to make sure it was working. We were all Spirit Princes at the time, so our all out attacks had waaay more mana than any normal magic caster can handle.” 

Excited once again, Claire happily puts on the hauberk I gifted her. The genuine gratitude she gives me is so different from the nobles, who always came off as arrogant with an ‘it’s only natural that such goods be owned by me’ vibe. Unfortunately, my happiness is short lived as Claire and Sif resume their talk on mental magic. 

Lyn and I share a defeated look and let out a synchronous sigh. This is going to be a long walk down the mountain.