148 First to leave and Nessa's armor

In the imperial noble school of Bêtéclair, all the boys in group C were gathered in the field for practice. It was a rare occurrence these days. With the end of their school years coming closer, they barely found any occasion to all spend time together even if they wanted to.

Emp for example had to spend all the time he had training with his grandfather and studying what he had yet to learn in the many other classes. Whenever he wasn't doing one of those two things, he was following Mable somewhere to fulfill his obligations as her lord protector.

Thanks to his intensive training, he felt much more worthy of the task than when he first accepted it. Now he didn't just look the part anymore, he felt that he could also be actually useful if something serious happened.

He was far from mastering everything Aminui Muracier was trying to teach him but at the very least, he had made significant progress. In magic as well, his studies progressed smoothly, he now knew a lot of spells that might or might not ever come to any use to him. He was done with economics classes, management and geography classes, could now properly ride horses and fight from their backs without falling over and knew enough about strategy and tactics to satisfy the teacher.

The rest of the classroom was similar, they were mostly done with everything. This time around, Emp doubted that any students would remain behind for the next cycle. He heard that Heida was asked to stay there by her father even after she was allowed to leave but he didn't really care about her plans and she was the only exception.

None of the students were perfect but at this point, they knew enough to act as proper nobles should. As Blackbull would say, they knew enough to not be an embarrassment to their houses and themselves. Even Emp would soon be given her approval to leave. He could still improve a lot that was for sure but at least, he had been a better listener than Chinui and Chijou which had pleased the old teacher greatly.

Nowadays, almost all the discussions between the students were centered on their plans for what they would all do after they left and when they would do so. Today was such a day, in the training yard, all the guys had come together to spar and say goodbye to the first to leave, Nereus Forewhale.

The young man was eager to leave, having been born on Nose island in the sea south of the kingdom of Dugo, he was used to the salt and wind. He missed the ocean dearly and was tired of seeing the green sea of trees, he wanted to get the blue one back.

"My friends, all of you will be welcome on my ship whenever it pleases you. I'll have you all tastes the bounties of the ocean and witness its pure majesty."

"I think I'll stay on land, not to offend you but my armor disagrees with deep water." Frits said, pointing at his super heavy plates covered in thorns.

If he fell off the boat while wearing that, he'd sink to the bottom of the ocean right away.

"Why would you even wear that armor on a ship?" Kenneth asked with a confused frown. "It's not like you're a Muracier, you can remove it while outside, you know?"

"I'd rather not, only the gods know what could possibly be hiding under the surface of those waters."

"You're afraid of tiny fishes? Well I'm not at all, as long as there is good drinks to be had and pretty women to be seen, I will grace your ship of my mighty presence whenever." Odilon called with a smug air Oliver slapped right out of him with a smack to the back of the head.

"If it was my ship, I'd burn down the places you stepped on instead."

"Ow! Why are you guys always so mean with me?"

"Because you've been boasting nonstop for almost five years and you've never won a single spar against any of us." Ivar pointed out from high in a tree where he sat."

Odilon had always claimed that he would do great things and that he was the best but neither his words or actual strength showed any of it.

"Well it can't be helped if all of my classmates are freaks with insane strength."

That might be sort of true. Against ordinary people, Emp was pretty sure that Odilon would win, at least in a one on one.

"Except for Emp, none of us are. You're the one not putting enough efforts in your training." Cyril said with his arms crossed behind his back.

He was practicing his posture right now so he hadn't moved at all in a long while.

"There's no one here that can put as much effort in training as you or Emp." Oran said. "You're at it all the time."

Cyril being the son of a simple commoner, he worked harder than anyone here to prove he deserved his place. Honestly, he was stronger and more knightly than many in their group and others too. Emp thought he was impressive in his attitude and diligence, he was certain he would reach far.

Norval Windslow agreed with his thoughts.

"The higher you aim, the more efforts you need to put in. It's only natural that Emp and Cyril would work so hard. They have a clear goal in mind and they're willing to pay its cost. It is praiseworthy."

He might be saying that but Emp wasn't sure he truly thought so. He was the son of a duke and since he came to this school, he hadn't put in any efforts at all. He would always easily reach the targets he put for himself effortlessly. His only loss had been with Aminui's training. In his head, he seemed to think that he didn't have to put in any efforts to obtain whatever he desired as it would naturally all come to him in time.

In a way, it might have been true considering his noble rank. With his innate talent on top, he already had all he needed to succeed.

For now though, Emp agreed with his words.

"Because of those efforts I might not get any time to go sight-see in the south sea though. I think I'll be very busy for a long time even though I wish to see you again and accept your offer."

"That's fine, we'll all be busy. I'm sure we'll find the time or at least some excuse to go visit the others from time to time."

"I'm sure we can. At least even if we lack the time, you know that if you're in trouble, we'll all come to help you." Ivar said,

"That right." Emp agreed. "The safety of everyone here is very important to me."

"Aye I know. What's the point of spending five years away from the sea if I don't even make a few friends for later? Of course, you all can count on me too. I'll miss you guys but honestly, right now, I miss home more. I can't wait to smell the sea again and eat some good fish."

That day, they mostly spoke of the sea and then on the next day, the whole group C gave their farewells to Nereus as he left the school for good. He was the first of their group to leave but now that he had done so, the end of this step of their lives became much more real to the rest of them. Their time here was over.

It was sort of saddening to see him leave because Emp didn't know when he'd meet him next. At the same time, he knew this was a good event for him, he'd go back home to see family and nostalgic sights. He had done his studies and could now go back to what he knew as a better person. Plus, he had gained many friends from across the empire that would be able to assist him later as well if he ever needed them. This end was just a beginning and it made Emp feel a lot better about it all.

He still had a lot of things to do before this was over for everyone else though. First of all, he had just finished working on Nessa's new armor and needed to give it to her.

Vanessa Hasting was the last daughter of the duke of the northern grove. She wanted to inherit his lands instead of her younger brother she thought too weak for the task and this was why she had asked him for an armor. Being a classmate of his, one of the best friends of Mable and a very talented swordswoman, he had wanted to give her the very best he could possibly do for her.

He wanted her to succeed in her task not only because he thought she deserved it and showed him an amazing sword technique but also because he thought of her as a good friend. He did his best to help her and after weeks of hard work, planning and reworking the armor, he could finally show her the end result of his efforts.

Everything was thought and built with her and her royal sword dance in mind. A normal plate armor would not have done the job well and simply going with flexible materials to ease the dance would simply have been distasteful and dangerous.

That day, what he unpacked in front of her and her friends was simply his best forge work yet and he dared think, much better than what she would have gotten from any other ordinary armorsmith. Marcelia, his legendary smith of a mother, approved his work too and after a long examination had even stamped her own mark alongside his own on the inside of his work.

In some circumstances, placing a mark besides the first could be seen as trying to steal the merit from the work of another but in the case of such a renowned smith, this was a glowing endorsement instead. Anyway, as the master, it would have been her right to claim his work as her own and she had helped him a lot throughout the process.

He had carefully wrapped each pieces in cloth and stored them in boxes he opened in Nessa's room in front of her and her friends. He slowly removed each piece from their protective packaging and presented them in an orderly way, lining them up on her table. He could have just put everything in his bottomless bag but he felt that the occasion deserved a more appropriate presentation. It was such a good set or armor after all, he wanted her to have an appropriate way to carry it if she didn't wear it.

In the room with the attentive and eager Nessa, there were Aglaya Pierail, Mable, Brenia Harmaton and two unusual guests in the form of Juniper Glassart and Rica. All of them were here because they were curious about the armor Emp and his mother made for Nessa of course but also, all of them thought that Nessa was doing what she needed to do and supported her decision. Around them, their many servants including his own two, Harriett Sklavsang and Celtine Estelli, observed silently in case someone needed them.

The rest of the group was curious too about the armor but they would have to wait for her to put it on and get on the field outside were they currently waited to see the whole thing.

Emp took a long time to remove all the pieces from their packaging. It wasn't that the task itself was long but rather that each little thing he got out was examined in detail by the six ladies. They'd rub their fingers on the cloth and mail, admire the engravings and closely observe the runes carved on the inside of every pieces.

More importantly for Emp, since he was a man, he wouldn't be able to help her put on the armor without feeling awkward so he had to explain to her two servants exactly what pieces went where and in what order to tie them.

The explanation took a while but the ladies didn't mind as they were busy staring at the craftsmanship of the many pieces.

Emp didn't spare any efforts to make it not only functional and resistant but also pleasing to the eye. As a warrior, he knew that the decorations didn't serve any purpose in a fight aside from scaring the opponent but he also knew that if the mere sight of the armor inspired respect and awe, her personal objective from now on would be infinitely easier.

He had a lot to say about the function of everything and their details but he chose to keep all that explanation for after she'd have put it on. It would be easier to show what he meant then.

Once everything was unpacked and out in the open, it was clear to see that it was a giant puzzle of complex pieces. Most were already welded or tied but just putting everything on would still require some work and delicacy. If the servants didn't do their job properly and something came loose during a fight, Nessa could very well die.

He insisted on how important it was to tie everything properly and help her put it on with diligence before he sent them off with their mistress to try it on.

"If something goes wrong don't improvise, come back here with the piece and let me tell you how to fix it. We'll be patient so don't get anything wrong. I'll examine it after to make sure you did a perfect job. Just good isn't enough if the life of your master is on the line, got it?"

The two nodded nervously and started dragging all the piece in Nessa's bedroom.

"So far so good, I like it. I can't wait to see the final result." Nessa told him while her servants moved all the pieces.

"Go on then. Everything should fit perfectly since I had you try a bunch of the parts beforehand but I'm still really curious to see if it all fits you as well as I pictured in my head."

It might not be to the level of a confirmation gift but he still put all his efforts into it and tailored it to only her. The essence of this work was the same as when he worked for Calla's or Mable's gift. He wanted to see if he was right in his idea of what she was and what she needed.

"Yeah, stop wasting time, we all want to see how good it'll look on you." Juniper chimed in.

"If his mother approved the work, I'm sure it will surpass our already high expectations." Aglaya added.

Those two knew his real name as well as who Marcy was. They expected a result worthy of the bests in all of the empire. They expected to be able to say that Nessa's armor would be the most impressive in all the north of this kingdom.

This made Emp a bit nervous, he wasn't as good as Marcy, he didn't want to disappoint them. He hoped it would be enough to convince them.

Nessa left to her bedroom for a long time while her servants and herself worked out how to put everything on. There were a lot of pieces and layers after all; leather over her clothes then chain-mail, padded cloth, steel, cloth again and then steel again with the ornaments on top of it all.

The under-layer of leather was mostly there to make the chain-mail less uncomfortable so it wasn't that thick but it did extend in many places where the plates would not. It was made with the skin of an armored bear of the crags for its innate resistance but he had not added any particular enchantments to it.

Then there was the layer of chain-mail extending from her head all the way to her knees. Despite the layer of plate on top, this was the heaviest piece of the armor because no enchantments could be placed upon it.

Then there was a layer of padded cloth between the plates and chain to minimize the scraping sounds and dampen any shocks received. It also extended past the plates and exposed the colors of her house, steel blue and pale gold.

After that there were all the pieces of protective plating with more cloth in-between whenever they ended up layered over one another. That steel as well as the whole chain-mail was made of armored fairy steel. It was an alloy made of two parts of fairy-iron for three parts of turtle Iron. That combination gave the whole armor a slight teal sheen but more importantly, it gave it many interesting properties.

Armored fairy steel was lighter than most other steel types but offered comparable protection, it hardly ever rusted, produced a surprisingly high note when impacted and had some phosphorescent properties. It would melt at a lower temperature than ordinary steel but if it was hot enough to melt it, the wearer of the armor would probably end up cooked anyway.

From Emp's point of view, the phosphorescent properties was a drawback but it was a small price to pay if it made the heavy weight of the armor manageable for someone like Nessa.

His own armor was heavier than normal but the one he just finished making for her weighted about half of what it should without sacrificing any of its protective ability. Stealth would be impossible for her, even more so in the dark, but she would be as agile as ever even under all that steel.

He spoke about all of this with the others while they all waited for Nessa to reappear. Aside from Brenia, the others were more interested in what it would look like though so his speech sounded more like a monologue than a conversation.

When the door finally opened again to reveal the future duchess, everyone present cheered. She looked great in it, Emp felt very relieved that at least in looks, it seemed to be fine.

"How does it look?" She asked her friends from under her helm.

"That's amazing! You look strong and dangerous but also, you look like you're wearing a ball dress." Mable claimed.

It was true it had been his intention to make it look like a ball dress. Her technique was all about dancing, he felt she should look the part too.

"It's a battle dress? It's sort of pretty but its an armor so its supper thick, I'm confused on what to think." Rica commented with Harriett agreeing to her words with a nod.

Rica rarely spent time with them because she quickly got lonely without Frits nearby but whenever he was busy, she preferred being with Mable's group because they already knew of her circumstances. She wasn't truly a noble but the small group here still accepted her as if she was one. It made for a more comfortable atmosphere for her and the others were happy to have her there as well.

"I, for one, think that it look like a very decent armor. I can tell with just a glace that getting through it will be hard work. Anyone going against you has to be prepared for an arduous fight." Brenia said while twisting her head to look at it from other angles.

"It looks ridiculously expensive, just the weight in armored fairy steel must cost a fortune." Juniper commented. "If I were you, I wouldn't be ashamed to step in front of the king wearing that."

Aglaya approved with a nod and added her own opinion on top.

"It would be good even to meet with the emperor I think. I like how your house is perfectly represented on the armor too, your crest and colors are all in evidence, it screams Hastings. Could you turn on yourself for us?"

Emp didn't know whether it was good enough to meet with kings and emperor, he had not made it with that in mind. He simply did the best he could to improve her combat abilities.

Nessa spun on herself once to show the sides and back properly to everyone. While Emp got up to examine it from closer. Obviously, he knew what it looked like because he made it himself but he had to check if everything was placed and tied properly.

"Can I?" He said after extending a hand towards her.

"Of course."

He tugged at a few parts to check how they were all tied and asked if the weight was fine or if anything felt too tight or loose. He adjusted a few straps and pulled out a piece of cloth that was stuck under a plate but that was it, the servants did a good job for their first time.

While he was doing that, the girls presented a small silver mirror to Nessa which she used to look at herself.

"I was afraid I'd look ridiculous with a helm over my head but I don't look so bad. It fits the shape of my face. Mable is right too, I look intimidating but charming too. If it looked too strong, it wouldn't have matched me anymore but if it looked too pretty, I wouldn't have been taken seriously at all. You've made it perfect, it's much better than I imagined. I really love it, it's great work Emp."

She was beaming of joy. She clearly believed that he had been spot on when he interpreted her needs for the armor. It was a piece of equipment that needed to be representative of her, inspiring for her troops and intimidating for her enemies. Her face showed him clearly that she thought he had accomplished all of that splendidly which made him happy as well.

He accepted the pleasing compliment with a nod and stepped back again to admire his own work.

"Does it feel too heavy? Is it uncomfortable anywhere? Can you move properly?" He asked.

"I think so." She stretched her limbs a bit and moved her arms around. "It feels fine, in fact, it doesn't feel so heavy at all. Shouldn't it be way heavier than that?"

"It should but one of the three enchantments on it is helping along with the armored fairy steel. Hopefully, you can wear it for long periods of time if you need to." Emp answered.

With that done, he now had to answer the many questions of everyone on the design and purpose of its look and shape. He didn't really know where to start with it, there had been so much work that went into it.

He opted to speak about the chest piece first since it was the central piece.

It was primarily a cuirass shaped in a classical pointed way. The center of it extended far forward to drive spears and arrows to the sides more easily and giant roses with long thorny vines wrapping around the armor where engraved into it. Above those, at the height of her heart, it was the crossed swords and winged shoes of her house that were displayed.

They were usually represented with a band of cloth going over across the upper parts of the crossed blades to represent their blind founder and Emp did the same. He used an outcropping of steel to represent the band of cloth which doubled as an arrow protection. If any arrow hit her chest and deviated upward towards her face, they would hit this band of steel and be sent left or right instead.

The upper part of it was the one extending the furthest away from her chest to give her some space to breathe before it curved back over her shoulders and close to her neck.

A scale-mail was draped on top of her shoulders like a fur to cover the straps and then over it, the bulky neck piece was placed. It had a distinct wedge in front to save her from any direct trusts and extended downward over her collarbone and in between the crossed swords carved on the cuirass. The upper part of it curved outward slightly to give her head some space to turn and ended in ornamented points reminiscent of the lacework bordering dresses.

On either side of that, there were two layers of pauldrons. The upper one had a large elevated border forming a point curving up and then away from her neck, offering extra protection to it. It also extended downward along the front and back to cover the articulation properly.

The lower one was more like a spaulder tied underneath that piece and covered her shoulders and upper arms more properly along with a large extra piece of plating shaped like a small shield. That one exposed her coat of arms in a colorful way and was made to cover her armpits every time she might raise her arms up which happened a lot because of her fighting style.

Both of those shoulder pieces had nothing fancy carved on them but took the shape of puffing sleeves one might see on a dress and showed the same sort of roses as the lower end of the cuirass.

The rest of her arms were completely encased in metal with a particular attention to the underside of her arms. With how often they were raised and help up, Emp had feared that the soft underside would have been dangerously exposed so he did his best to protect it with extra pieces.

The gauntlets were fully armored as well to protect her fingers and the whole arm seemed to be connected to it thanks to the detailed engravings. He had hammered some abstract motifs on it like one would see on noble clothes and the lines linked all the pieces to one another as if they were all parts of the same sleeves.

The helm he made her was much more interesting to look at. He had made it narrow and tall with a pretty curve and an eye catching visor. The visor was once again made to look like the winged shoes and crossed swords of her house and when opened, extended out to the sides like a crowning ornament. Then center shoes were made of the same steel but the wings extending to the side were made with gold.

The winged shoes could be lowered on their own to turn the helm in a classic protective form, leaving a slit for the eyes but Emp had gone further. Knowing how the royal sword dance worked and where it would develop from here, he knew that in the later stages of it, the eyesight of the user was pointless. In that case, there was no need to leave a slit there, it was a pointless weakness he corrected. He had made a second layer to the closing part of the helm to fall down under the first, completely sealing the helm from the outside. When closed that way, it looked like a fold was placed on the part where her eyes should be, connecting the swords just like on her breastplate.

Then, the swords crossed high on the helm and pointed outward with the tip of the helm cradled in between them. For the effect, he added a bouquet of feathers there but they were easily removable. Emp himself preferred hard and intimidating steel but he heard that this sort of flair was popular in both Thronewoods and the wide majority of Artefine.

The lower half of the armor was the really unorthodox part however. Her waist was clearly shown in the shape of the armor like in most classic designs but under it, the armor flared out again at the hips. That lower part of the cuirass was separated into four independent sections, one in front, one behind and one on each side.

Those side sections where made of many superposed layers cascading down her legs almost up to her feet with cloth in between each for both convenience and aesthetic. Those were the pieces that gave the effects of a dress. The two side pieces were separated by the center piece made much shorter to let Nessa kneel or ride more easily but the back side of the steel layered skirt was almost as long as the side ones. It might make it hard to sit on anything with a backrest but Emp was confident that it was worth it. All of those panels made up for most of the weight of the armor if he excluded the chain-mail but Emp thought it was worth it for what they did and how they acted. He couldn't wait for everyone to see the special trick he prepared on those.

If Nessa was to spin, all of those pieces would rise up like the dresses in a ballroom except the centrifugal force of Nessa's spinning made them go up much higher.

Under all of that, her legs were still armored properly in the classic way. The motif on all the leg pieces were similar to those of the arms and he had made the armored boots specially for her with the tips curving up to let her get on her tiptoes if need be. All the pieces of the legs and arms were made in smooth and hard to hammer in curves, with corner and edges extended and sharpened like thorns. It all mixed the dress theme and the rose theme together.

The back of the armor was just more of the same, it was mostly there to cover all the straps of the front pieces and add layer of solid steel between her and someone behind her. That direction couldn't be neglected after all considering how much she spun on herself. Leaving it open would have been dangerous. This back piece extended down to the 'skirt' and up to the neck in order to complete the collar of the armor and its design.

The straps securing that part were mostly hidden by the pieces of the front, they were extremely hard to tie up as it had to be put on after the front part but it also made it just as hard to undo, both intentionally or otherwise.

Finally, over all of that, there were only a few more details here and there. Infused gold, lacquered inner pieced for contrast and tiny engraved lines everywhere to keep the ballroom dress theme or the rose thorn patterns.

"Why roses though? Nessa isn't particularly known for flowers." Mable asked.

"I didn't know any animal that dances and tea doesn't make for a good armor theme. I could have gone with fairies for a theme but I never saw any. Instead, I went for the thorns. They wanted her to be a flower to be gifted to someone else but if they try now, they better be careful about her thorns. That's the effect I went for."

This was the reason she requested the armor and trained so hard after all. She wanted to use it to show her father that she could handle his territory and that she would not be given off as a gift to let her brother inherit the responsibilities instead of her.

"Yes, thank you, this is exactly what I asked for. Will the skirt work as you said it would?" Nessa asked as she examined her armored self some more.

"It should but it best to test it outside rather than here." Emp answered with confident smile.

"Does it do more than just protect her leg?" Brenia asked them.

"You haven't told us if you placed any enchantments on it either." Juniper pointed out.

"It does and I did." Emp answered with a mischievous smile. "It's better if Nessa shows you though. Just telling you would spoil the surprise. Let's all go outside to check it out, I'll tell you about the enchantments on the way."

"Then's lets go! I can't wait!" Mable clapped in excitement. She looked even more jolly than Nessa.

On the way to the field, while Nessa was getting used to walking in that armor, he told the girls about the tree enchantments he painstakingly engraved into the armor.

The first was the weakest, it was a protection against magic. It wasn't all that strong because the other two took all the space in the armor.

"Its the armor weakest points. Since you should go mostly against cursed-bloods and monsters, I felt it wasn't all that necessary. Make sure you don't get hit by spells and you'll be fine."

"Got it, I won't let myself get hit." Nessa acknowledged.

The last two were those that made this whole armor possible. The first made it slightly lighter than it already was to make Nessa's life easier and the last one made the armor sharp.

"What do you mean sharp?" Rica asked curiously.

"You'll see in the field. When Emp came up with that idea, I loved it right away, I can't wait to see if it works well." Nessa said with her fist clenched in excitement.