As Adrian got closer their voices became audible, “.....and couldn’t you have waited till you travelled to the holy capital and took it from the church armoury? Why did you have to take my blade specifically?”

“Eh, it was the nearest place I could get my hands on a free-of-cost standard issue, hahaha. But that aside, look at this.” Aero said as he pulled out a golden hilted sword with a greenish white blade as he showed it off to the other man.

“What the.....Where the hell did you get your hands on an orichalcum mana blade of this high quality?”

“That’s not all”, Aero grinned as he continued to turn the blade to show a crest on its hilt, “Take a look at this.”

“That’s......you gotta be kidding me. No way. Is that Sir Carl’s personal crest? The Carl Mint! How in tarnation were you able to convince one of those eight old forging monsters? I thought he hated us considering how many times he has rejected our invitations.”

“Well, I have some connections. Anyways I have a good extra blade now. You can have yours back. Pity it’ll never match up to this beauty though. Hehehe”

“You never change, do you.”, the other man sighed as he took the standard issue back from Aero’s hands, “But that doesn’t mean you can just take people’s stuff without aski- oh, you need something from us boy?”

Adrian was now standing behind Aero who hadn’t noticed him during the conversation. Aero turned around to face Adrian, “Oh you are back brat. All packed up and prepared?”

“You know him Aero?”, the other man asked.

“Oh yeah, Ignis, meet Adrian. He is someone I force..........I mean, ahem.....generously choose to be my personal apprentice. Adrian, meet Ignis the fi.....”, and before he could finish his sentence, the man named Ignis interrupted Aero with a shout.

“What the hell!!. What do you mean apprentice? Didn’t you just run out of the meeting last month when you were given a list of new apprentice candidates!! What do you mean this is yo-”

“SHUT UP!”Aero shouted, stomping on Ignis's foot, “Ahem, that was in the past. You shouldn’t hold on to things you know. Sheesh, bringing up such old silly topics. Anyways, as I was saying Adrian, this is Ignis, the fire paladin.”

Adrian greeted the new paladin with a bow “It’s an honour to meet you sir.” Adrian said as Ignis returned a slight nod of acknowledgement.

Aero grumpily muttered under his breath, “You never showed me such respect. Tch.”

“But I’m honestly surprised, Aero. You are the last one any of us would have expected to take an apprentice. Countless talented individuals have arrived at your doorstep. Heirs of nobles, students of esteemed old element masters, you rejected them all. What’s so special about, sorry to say this kid, weak looking brat who looks like he’d get blown off by a Caligulas?”

“Oh Ignis, surely you underestimate my apprentice. I’ll have you know, he killed an entire earth wyrm by himself.”

Silence surrounded the atmosphere as the fire paladin just stared at Aero.

Turning back towards the inn door, Ignis called out to Hilda, “Hey Hilds, what kind of ale did you give this psychopathic friend of mine today?”

Hilda shouted back, “I don't know. Don’t ask me.”

“What do you mean by he killed an earth wyrm by himself!!” Ignis had now turned back to Aero as he spoke “Are you sure that this boy isn’t just straight up lying to you? Explain to me how you believed this weak kid with such a hazy core, when he said he has killed an earth wyrm all by himself.”

“Hey, he really did kill an earth wyrm. I know it's hard to believe, but you can take my word for it as I saw him do it. Besides, it was one in containment, if you want proof you can go to the Guardian training grounds, I'm sure they must have some pieces left after processing its corpse ” Aero retorted.

The shock and the humorous air around Ignis disappeared at these words.

“So you're telling me, you let this kid fight an earth wyrm alone while you lay at the side just watching? Aero, are you forgetting that one of your duties as a paladin is also to ensure the safety of every citizen of Elisia. Or has the fame and power of being one been getting to your head?” Ignis had started giving off an intense pressure as seriousness filled his words and expression.

Although it wasn’t directed at Adrian, he could feel his knees growing weak and his bones starting to shudder just from the killing intent that leaked off from Ignis. However Aero remained unfazed, this type of pressure was, by no means, intimidating enough for the paladin.

“Hey, hey calm down Ignis. That wasn’t the case.Two grade 3 crexes charged at me when I didn’t have any sword. That also happened to be when the earth wyrm suddenly got loose and attacked Adrian. It took time to kill them bare handed and he had finished off the wyrm by then.”

“Is that true boy?”, Ignis asked Adrian, the pressure around him slightly decreasing.

“Yes sir, it is just as was described. The earth wyrm appeared before me just as the two panther crexes attacked Aero while he was defenceless. It’s not his fault. I just suffered some minor injuries, but none were life-threatening.”

The man let out a sigh as he let go of his intent, “Ok, I’ll believe you both for now. But the others would definitely be surprised to know you got yourself an apprentice Aero. I suppose he is a wind awakener from that hazy green core of his.”

“Oh he has a unique manifestation of the wind element in his mana nature, but yeah we could say he uses the wind element.” Aero said.

Although Ignis’s face looked like he found Aero’s behaviour was suspicious, he didn’t give it much thought. “All that aside, there was a summons from the church for you Aero. You should go and report soon. It's from a Bishop.”

Adrian felt the air around Aero change. For once Aero appeared truly serious and concerned.

“I see. Nothing can be done except to go report back I guess. Well Ignis, I'll be seeing you later then. You’ll be back in the citadel by the end of this week right?”

“If the mission goes as planned, yes. But I feel it might be a bit bumpy this time. I received word from the church that the blood kin are involved in this incident somehow. Anyways, I’ll get going. Tell Hilda to put the ale on my tab for next time I visit.”

With those words, Ignis left.

“Well come on inside kid, you should say goodbye to Hilda too. She was concerned about you being away from home for too long or something.”

“Oh yeah, let’s go.”

As they were about to step into the inn, a voice called out to Adrian.

“Hey wait up. Adry!”

Adrian turned around to see Jessica running towards him with a leather pouch in her hands.

“Phew I caught you just in time huh. Carl was concerned and said you might not be able to control a sword of this calibur especially with the unstable elemental nature of mana that you have. So I made these gloves for you. They are specially made gloves that make use of mana steel powder for high conductivity so that the flow of mana from your hand to the sword is seamless. And also embedded into the fabric is Mancosium that will help make sure that the mana is stabilised as it flows to the blade, and also help maintain a strong grip. Try them on.”

Adrian was warmed by how caring and thoughtful Jessica had been. He tried the gloves on as they slid on his hands to fit perfectly.

“Aunt Jess.... Thank you. I’ll definitely use them well.” Adrian said as he looked at her with a wide smile.

Jess proceeded to pat Adrian’s head, “Just be careful out there Adry. Don’t get hurt and come back safe.”

With these words, she bid farewell and went off as she had some other errands to run too. After which Adrian and Aero went in to see Hilda in her smug mood as usual.

They kept the good byes short as Hilda seemed to be sure she’d be seeing them both soon. She still warned Adrian to stay out of too much danger and to miss her. Adrian, unsure on what she meant by that, didn't decide to push his curiosity. A few questions weren't worth ruining his last moments with someone who had been like an elder sister to him. And after all, she was right, it was not like they were never going to meet again. Unsure on how to react to the teasing, all he could muster was awkwardly smile.

After putting everything in order, it was finally time to leave.

Adrian and Aero emerged from the tavern.

“So ”, Adrian said, “how are we planning to travel and where are we going?”

“We are travelling to the Holy capital of Elisia, where the church is situated. I have some work to attend to, and we can also get some missions for you to get you started on training. You also need some armour cause these shabby clothes ain't gonna last in those hazardous assignments.”

“And as for how we are gonna travel...”, Aero gave a wide grin as he turned around, “I’m sure you will love it.”