Armaros had woken up pretty early in the morning as he has things to do. Mainly, get Fanah a bath, buy her clothes, armor and weapons to use for both of them. Then also join the Adventurers Guild under his new name to get a job and get the money he will surely need.
And so that is what he had done. He went to get Fanah as the woman was still asleep, so he woke her up. She was shaken out of her sleep by him, but she didn't seem to be angry about it and it seemed like she was used to being awoken like that.
Regardless of that fact, he brought her to the inn's bath and washed her down, fully aware that it will be difficult for her with only one arm. When he had told that to her, she obviously reacted by looking at him with narrowed eyes and telling him that if he wanted to see her naked body, then he would just have to say so, which in turn caused him to rebuke her by saying that he didn't want to waste time.
And so he gave her a bath naked, and it also allowed him to see the rest of her body. But he wasn't drawn to her feminine form, the previous experiences making him give more importance to his schedule than the beautiful naked woman in front of him. He gave her a thorough but quick bath, after which he also cleaned himself and then gave her a cloak to wear as they went to buy clothes and armor.
They first went to a clothes shop and brought some simple clothes for her to wear, after which he brought her to the shop where he had purchased the sword, without the sword in hand of course, as he didn't want to risk the man accidentally identifying him due to the sword.
He brought her armor and two one handed swords, both strapped to her left hip for easy access and he made sure that it was of good enough quality to be used in adventures. The next step was of course to join the Adventurer's Guild, but he wanted to gauge Fanah's combat capabilities before doing so.
So he brought her to the outskirts of the town and near the forest as the woman followed him while keeping her eyes on him. He turned to her as he looked at her seriously while crossing his arms.
"Bermus said that you were a strong knight before you lost your status. I want to see your skills with the blade before we register as adventurers." Armaros said to her seriously.
'He is smart at least.' Fanah thought to herself as she looked at him.
"What do you want me to do?" Fanah asked him politely.
"Take up your sword and attack me. I will gauge your strength. You will stop when I tell you to stop." Armaros said to her as her eyes widened a bit.
'He wants to test my strength himself. A bit bold.' Fanah thought to herself in slight surprise.
But that surprise faded like almost all of her emotions as she nodded to him and drew out a sword as it's blade shone in the sunlight as he glanced at it while he pulled out his own and held it, the new sword being of much better quality than the one he had before.
Fanah took a moment to observe him before she lunged forward with her blade raised above her head. She swung it down in a powerful attack as she had gotten used to fighting without her left arm a bit before she had been sold to slavery.
As she brought her sword down, he raised his own and angled it so that her blade went to the side as she narrowed her eyes as it left her open swung his sword at her. She immediately moved her body out of the way, dodging the attack narrowly as she recovered and sent another slash that he blocked.
The two blades met and thrummed from the clash as Armaros felt his arms shake from the force as he hummed to himself. Then he felt her using mana as his focus renewed as she pulled and attacked once more as he responded in kind and also used some mana to start to block and deflect her attacks.
He understood after a few blows that she is quite strong, her blows, even though she is doing them with only one arm are powerful, even without the use of mana and her training can be seen as she is able to attack him with skill despite the loss of a limb.
It became quite clear that Bermus' words about her being a very strong knight are true and he felt glad that he had decided to buy her. Her skills would be a good addition to his repertoire, but he also has to make sure that she knows her place.
Which meant that he has to defeat her without the use of the slave crest. Something which he is more than willing to do as he studied her movements and techniques as he blocked and parried her attacks for a while.
As for Fanah, she kept on attacking him as she watched how he blocked and deflected her attacks. She knew that despite only using one arm, it still had considerable power, as despite losing her matches after the loss of her left arm, she had stiff adapted to it to fight, so it did have strength.
And yet this boy, her master, is able to keep up with her and match her skills and strength, even with the use of mana, someone who is much younger than she is, which is a surprise for her as most teenagers his age would rarely be able to do things like that.
She didn't rise to her position as a knight just because she wanted to, it was because of her power and skills that she had managed to get there, to serve for her ideals and honor. And she also remembered how she had been ousted from her position and blamed for things she hadn't even done, being punished for a crime that she hadn't committed.
She felt her anger rise at the memory as she put more force into her attack, wielding a sword once again causing some of her fire to reignite, something that he picked up on as he narrowed his eyes before he decided to retaliate.
He parried her attack and striked her sword down before swinging his blade at her immediately as she leaned her body backwards to narrowly dodge the attack as she pulled her blade back, only for him to kick it to the side and give a single spin roundhouse kick to her left knee.
She grit her teeth at the unexpected move as most people don't use moves like that during a sword fight, which was also why she wasn't ready for it. But he used the small amount of contact between their legs, and put strength in his left leg and propelled himself around and landed another kick on her elbow, causing her to lose her grip on her sword until finally he slammed the guard of his sword right on her face.
Fanah cried out and fell own the ground from the attack as her sword clattered on the ground as he landed safely and looked at the downed form of the woman as he looked at her.
'Hmm, she is good despite losing an arm. Might be a bit rusty due to all that time in the cage. But she is decent.' Armaros thought to himself as he looked at her.
Fanah merely winced for a few moments before she slowly got up and sat on the ground and looked at her right hand, a mournful frown on her face as she grit her teeth.
'I lost my grip just like that? It took more than an attack like that for someone to do that. Just how weak have I become?' Fanah thought to herself as she clenched her fist in frustration and sadness.
Armaros saw her reaction but didn't say anything as he grabbed her sword and went to stand in front of her as she looked at her master.
"You did good. We can start as adventurers today." Armaros said to the woman as she nodded.
"As you wish, master." Fanah said as she stood up to her full height.
He presented her sword to her as she took it and sheathed it as she looked at him as he looked her up and down before nodding to himself.
"Alright, now what do you like to eat?" Armaros asked her as she blinked.
"Pardon?" Fanah asked in a tone of disbelief.
Fanah wondered if he was pulling her leg. She knew that as a slave she doesn't have much of a choice. She eats what her master tell hers to. Slaves don't have a choice on what they can and can't do, especially due to the slave crest inscribed on them.
Slaves are the lowest people in the hierarchy, and as far as she was concerned and had seen, people who bought slaves were scum who didn't care about them and willing to exploit those who were too weak to do anything against them.
Slaves are not given proper clothing, personal quarters, food and other things. Even in her case, the clothes and armor made sense, as he would not want his slave to walk around in rags, not when he wants to be an adventurer and they would obviously be seen by people regularly.
Slavers always make sure to have clothes for their slave so that they can show the people outside that they can take care of them. And the armor and weapons she had been given also made sense, as she is fo be his companion and she can't have equipment that is falty, as it would just be a problem for him.
So the fact that he is asking her for what she wants to eat was baffling to her as a slaver doesn't concern themselves with what their slave wants to eat, and she had seen that for a long while.
"I'm asking what you want to eat for breakfast. We're obviously eating cheap but there are different food at lower prices so it would be best if I know what you want so I can consider how much money to pay. After that we can register as adventurers and start on our quests." Armaros said to the woman as she just looked at him blankly.
Then a cynical part of her started to work as a theory formed in her mind, filling her with bitterness and spite as she looked at her master.
'He is doing this to make me lower my guard, isn't he? He wants to act like he is some good guy so that he can gain my trust. Well, that will only end will failure.' Fanah thought to herself as she looked at her master.
"I would just like to eat whatever you want, master." Fanah said with a neutral look.
"Alright then. If that's your choice then we will go with that. Now come on." Armaros said as he turned and walked towards the town with her following him.
'I won't fall for your tricks.' Fanah thought to herself as she followed her master.