Staring at the duchess who had just offered to recruit him as her family's personal forgemaster, Marcus was about to deny her offer when the duchess noticing the apprehension on his face said, "Now before you refuse, at least allow to go over the finer details of what this arrangent would entail."
Nodding his head, Marcus put on a plastered smile realizing he had started frowning earlier and the last thing he wanted was to upset the duchess and make an enemy out of her.
"Very good, then first off, we would not want to severe your relationship with the Blazegram Forge and even if you worked for us, you would still be able to sell items up to a certain quality at the forge's shop. Of course, if you wished to make more than basic enchanted mithril items you would need to receive the permission from the family, since we would not want you making high grade items for our rivals. Ah but if you just wanted to make sothing for yourself or family mbers you would not need our permission. And we would also want you to make weapons, armor, and other items for us when asked for as well as perform maintenance. In return for these conditions, we will supply you with a fully functioning workshop with the best tools and a staff at your disposal. You will also be provided with any materials that would be needed in the forging of any items the family requires, as well as a steady supply of materials and money for your own personal use. These materials of course would include any possible tals you could use, even adamantine. Please consider this offer for a bit, I promise it is quite good and many forgemasters would jump at the chance to be backed by a powerful family such as ours."
After the duchess had given her pitch Marcus was actually tempted to agree. Getting materials was becoming increasingly hard as he got more advanced with forging, and from what he heard from Gurrom getting adamantine was next to impossible. Very little of it would ever even make it to the market and it was always sold at exorbitant prices.
'Unfortunately, I have no intention of being tied down to one place and as much as I enjoy forging, I also plan to explore this world thoroughly. Damn but I really do want that adamantine. No there are other ways to obtain materials, and even if it takes more ti, that is one thing I have plenty of.'
Toiling with his possibilities for a bit, Marcus soon concluded that there was no way he could ever tie himself down.
However, he did want to know one thing before he refused the duchess' offer and asked, "If it is not too rude, could I know why you want , surely as one of the four ducal houses you could get any number of forgemasters."
"Yes of course there are a number of forgemasters we have been considering, but while so of them may have more experience than you, none are as promising. At the age of twenty you already rank in the top of forgemasters, aning you have the highest potential to reach levels above the others. And of course, you already have a relationship with my son Wade and my Grandmother Aria, so your character is assured. And the reason for the sudden offer is that our current forgemaster is getting old and retiring. In fact, I believe you were eyeing his work earlier, Sir Dru would you mind showing Lady Irene your sword."
The knight standing behind the duchess as her protector hesitated for a mont not wanting to relinquish his weapon, but after a stern look from the duchess took out his sword and handed it over to her.
The duchess then handed the sword over to Marcus, and he slowly slid the blade out of its sheath to examined it.
'I have not had much opportunity to examine adamantine, but it seems to be pretty high quality. Unfortunately, their forgemaster either does not know how to use celestial platinum or choose not to on this weapon. However, the enchantnts are still top notch and this weapon just by being made of adamantine is better than anything I could make.'
Looking over the sword for a good ten minutes, Marcus wanted even more to get his hands on so adamantine. Nevertheless, even if he did have adamantine, his current skill level did not allow him to work with it.
Once he had fully examined the adamantine sword, Marcus slid it back into its sheath and handed it back to the duchess who returned it to Sir Dru.
"So, have you made up your mind."
"Yes, I have. As much as I am humbled by your offer, at my core I am an adventure. I want to go out and see what the world has to offer and that would not be possible if I was contracted to your family. I hope you understand my decision and there are no hard feelings."
Her smile falling from her face, the duchess looked at Marcus with determination and said, "Are you sure. If you wish we can allow for you to take extend tours around the kingdom to see the sites and explore. You would not be chained to an anvil forced to work day in and day out like a slave, you would still have your freedom. In fact, we would even be willing to send guards along with you as is normal for a traveling noble. There are also places that you could not access right now but with our political influence you could go to even those areas that are most protected. There are any number of benefits to aligning yourself to us and all we ask for in return is a bit of your ti and expertise."
The duchess waiting for Marcus' response had a confident smile returning to her face as she waited for Marcus reply.
"As amazing as that sounds, there will likely co a ti when I will leave the Kingdom of Borealia for years if not decades to traverse other countries and even continents. Of course, I will always think of this place as my ho and will co back from ti to ti, but I do not plan to be anchored here. This world is too big for to stay in one place my whole life."
After hearing Marcus spirited rejection, the duchess let out a long sigh as her shoulders slumped down and she said, "Well I suppose that this was to be expected but I was still hoping to entice you. Well, if you ever get bored with adventuring feel free to co back and the offer will still stand."
Nodding his head, Marcus thanked the duchess for her ti and offer and said, "Should I ever want to settle down I will be sure to co back to accept your offer, and as long as I am in the capital, I would be more than happy to work on commissions for you."
The duchess simply nodded at Marcus saying she may have sothing for him to work on in the future.
With the primary reason for their eting over, Marcus and the duchess made small talk for a few more minutes, mostly talking about Wade and Aria, until Marcus decided it was ti to take his leave.
However, as he was on his way out the duchess said to him.
"Make sure to be careful, we are not the only ones who have taken notice of your talents. You are likely to receive other offers now that you are Thabon's apprentice, and your skills are becoming widely known."
With that last warning the duchess left Marcus heading into the depths of the palace along with her guardian Sir Dru.
The eting now over, Marcus was led by a maid to the exit of the palace where Amy was already waiting with the carriage.
Entering inside Marcus and his maids began making the drive back ho.
Arriving back ho, Marcus saw off both Clara and Amy who had accompanied him to see the duchess and went to his room where he planned to rest for the day.
'That was exhausting. Dealing with nobles really takes it out of especially when they are that high ranking. I am just glad that I was able to leave amicably since if a high-ranking noble wanted to make my life hell, they certainly could. Of course, I can always just leave without much problem, but Lilia has just gotten settled in. I suppose I should bring her with to go training for the upcoming tournant. Right now, I am still not confident that she would be able to completely take care of herself. Okay after the eting with her friend's parents she can take a bit off ti off of school to co with .'
With the thought of making Lilia stronger, Marcus began adjusting his original training plan to include her and ca to the conclusion that their was only one place to go.
'It is a bit far away but if I want to level Lilia up fast and get stronger myself, there is nowhere better in the kingdom, The Cordelia Depths Dungeon.'
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