Richard shifted uneasily, uncomfortable with both the adoration being shown and the follow-up questions. He thought it was stupid that Valerian had been sheltered from this for so long but he held his tongue. It had not been his decision to make but the magistrate's. So instead of answering the question he reverted to normal and then he diverted the conversation.

"You should understand what legacies really are. They are inheritances or endowments. The important things handed down in martial families from generation to generation. There are two types of legacies; material and blood legacies. The cultivation methods, secret arts even the fighting arts of Harry and Clude as well as legacy equipment like my armour are considered material legacies. Basically, the physical things the clan accumulates, develops or gains that are passed down.

"Blood legacies are different. They are passed down the family's bloodline itself. Only by being born into that family would a person have access to these legacies. Our Steelborn clan has two. The Steel Monolith Transformation and the StormHawk's Wings. The first I have shown you, the second however I do not possess as it only appears in those who have the innate wind attribute and at a far lower frequency than the first. We are the only clan in the viscounty to have two blood legacies".

"Wow! We are so powerful!" Valerian exclaimed.

'Only in some respects', Richard thought to himself. Outwardly though he said, "Enough about that. The daylight grows stronger and yet we have yet to truly begin".

"Here!" he said waving his hand.

Immediately a pile of metal pieces appeared on the floor. Upon closer inspection, Valerian realised they were pieces of armour. He looked up to his uncle knowing the man had used an interspatial ring to make them appear as they did. Interspatial rings were incredible artefacts. They could be blood bound preventing anyone but the owner from using them and contained an empty miniature dimension in them for storage. The sizes differed depending on the grade of the ring though.

"What are you waiting for? Put them on!" his uncle bellowed.

Springing into action Valerian reached for the pile and began to pull out the armour pieces. Greaves, sabatons, gauntlets, breastplate, tassets, pauldrons and poleyns all made from a heavy, dark metal were grabbed and put on over the leather clothes he was wearing. He struggled a lot doing so but he was aware of his uncle's trained gaze on him and so put in all his effort.

"Not bad for your first time. Nonetheless, you must remember that your armour is your lifeline. You must be able to outfit yourself without aid in as short a time as possible. Practise! You must have the process down to five minutes by the end of the week. Is that clear?" came his uncle's comment.

"Yes sir!" Valerian exclaimed. However, seeing that his uncle was about to move on he quickly asked. "Uncle Richard, I've noticed that you and elders only seem to wear certain armour pieces. Even what you've given me conforms to this. Why only these? Is it some sort of uniform? The clan's chosen style perhaps? Would it not be better to wear the full plate?"

Richard's eyebrow rose sharply. He hadn't expected the subject to come up so quickly. He knew the boy was smart, inquisitive and observant but due to not interacting with him often he was unclear on the extent of his mental prowess. Hadn't he caught on too quickly? His eyes narrowed. Just how much did he notice and how much did he know. He resolved to speak with Alfred on this. Perhaps the child's minder would shed some light on this.

"It is the clan's chosen style and for a large number of reasons. Remember this, every protection has its weak spots and full plate is no exception. A skilled opponent knows to attack the weak spots in an opponent's defence and protections. Our armour is designed with our fighting style in mind. Clude's in particular. How? I will explain shortly. Just know that we are not as exposed as we look. Remember our transformation and its defensive abilities? The armour works with that.

"Additionally it is designed to work as a reinforcing set. It possesses the ability to fortify the qi barrier that naturally surrounds tellurians and is able to spread its defensive properties all over the body using it as medium to connect all the pieces together and employ their full capabilities. Nevertheless, the true purpose of the armour is to facilitate the fighting arts of Harry and Clude.

"We'll start working on those shortly. But you should know that each set of armour is tailor-made and that they are actually essence artefacts, capable of being blood bound and requiring qi to display their full capabilities" he elaborated.

This caused Valerian to take another look at the dark metal pieces fitted over his leather outfit. Only now did he notice how well it all fit and how well the ensemble went together. 'When and how did they get my measurements?' he questioned. He was quite happy with it especially now that he knew its significance. Plus it looked very cool.

"I get an artefact. Awesome!" he yelled.

"Not yours though", Richard pointed out. "It's not an artefact. Just a set of training equipment".

"What? Why?" he complained with a pout. He stopped however when he saw his uncle smiling. It was the first time that day he had seen anything other than a frown or a stern look on the man's face. He couldn't help but wonder what caused him to smile so.

"Why? First off you will outgrow that very soon. Second if it was, you would be the only one who could control it and I wouldn't be able to do this".

At that last word, glyphs on Valerian's armour started glowing. Startled he glanced towards them not knowing what to do. Then his armour started to get heavier. It was like a crushing pressure was spreading all over his body weighing him down rather than just those pieces getting heavier. 'The reinforcing effect!' he realised. The pieces were working together just like his uncle said.

Richard looked on, smiling widely just like his own trainer did when he was on the receiving end. Now he knew how it felt to be on this end. He waited a bit for Valerian to regain his composure and then it was business as usual.

"Straighten up! It's not that heavy", he barked. He nearly chuckled when he saw the venomous look Valerian threw him.

"From now on you will do everything wearing that armour. There are other sets of leather clothes in your closet for you to change into when your current set gets dirty. Armour care however is your responsibility. So after this session, you are to go to the manor's quartermaster. He will teach you how to take care of your armour. Is that clear?"

Valerian couldn't answer, only nod.

"Good! We will go through some stretches and then I will teach you some stances".

Valerian could only groan. In his mind, he knew that this was just the beginning. Who knew what else was in store?