"My name is Chronos and this is Gregory. What's your name?"
He had already taken the equipment to a repair bench, but he hadn't kicked them out. Chronos assumed that meant they were free to stay.
"John Smith is what humans call me; most folk just call me Smith. This bow of yours is pretty old, the string is starting to fray. When was the last time you replaced it?" Smith said
It took Chronos a moment to remember the last time his bow had been repaired.
"Nearly 2 years ago, it was just a basic sinew string. I think most people just forget your name and call you by your job title instead." Chronos replied.
"Maybe but it never bothered me. I think I have a string braided from Dracon black ash tree bast fibers. It is much stronger than normal bow strings and can hold a blessing from a dragon priest for twice as long compared to other weapons." He said as he rummaged through one of his crates.
After restringing the bow, he separated the other weapons into three piles before looking over their armor. One pile was to be repaired, one didn't need repairs, but Chronos didn't know what the third was for.
He made small repairs to Chronos' leather armor then examined his metal gauntlets.
"Do you use your hands to block a lot of attacks?" He asked as he put the gauntlet on what looked like a prosthetic hand made of metal.
"Yes, my fighting style is fast blows while switching weapons to surprise my foe. If they attack when I am mid-switch, I use my gauntlets to deflect the attack."
"Hmm, you will need to get better gauntlets soon. These ones are almost at the end of their life." Smith said as he began the planishing process.
"Well, they are just steel gauntlets." Chronos stated while scratching his head. "Eventually I will replace them with an auric metal."
Once Smith was finished with the gauntlets he turned to Gregory. "Alright let me see your armor and don't try to say you don't have any. I can hear the links clinking together."
Seeing Smith's insistent glare Gregory relented and removed his shirt exposing a chainmail that Chronos had never seen before.
"I thought you only had that piecemeal armor without a cuirass. How long have you kept this a secret?" Chronos questioned Gregory as he removed the chainmail.
"I've had it for a few years, but nobody has ever been fast enough to hit my chest and reveal it. Smith there is dusk spider silk woven into the chain links. I hope that won't be a problem." Gregory stated as he handed over the armor.
"No problem, I'll use a magic cold flame to replace the links that have become misaligned. Also, I saw your throwing daggers earlier, they're made of good metal but need an enchantment to make them worth something in a fight. I'll put some dwarven runes on them to make them return to the sheath after they're thrown. Is there anything else you want on them?"
So that's what the third pile was for. The other runic weapons were with them too.
"I really appreciate that retrieving them in combat has always been an issue. Could you add a sharpness enchantment as well? We need to leave within an hour and a half too, will you have the work done in time?" Gregory asked.
"Long as I'm not interrupted, we'll be fine. That means you folks need to handle the idiots coming this way. They never seem to get the message." He said as he pointed at a group of men coming this way.
Looking at them Chronos saw that they were all dressed in the second orders uniforms and each of them had an arrogant expression. Even though they were carrying weapons Chronos didn't feel a sense of danger from them, until he saw one in the back of the group that is. That man felt like he was in the third rank of knight.
"We'll take care of it. Greg, watch out for the tall fellow in the back. He's in the third rank."
"Got it." Gregory said as he moved to stand slightly behind Chronos and secretly picked up a few pieces of slag.
"Hello there. What is your reason for coming to visit today?" Chronos gave them a warm greeting.
"Move aside mercenary. Our business is with the smith." One of them stated with a scowl.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. He's currently busy and not receiving guests." Chronos said with a smile.
"I said move!" He shouted as he tried to push past Chronos.
Chronos pushed his shoulder and swept his feet out from under him knocking him on his butt.
"I just told you he is busy." He said with a smirk.
"You bastard!"
"Silence!" The third rank stopped him before he could do anything else.
Stepping forward he stopped right in front of Chronos. "I believe that the business of the second paladin's order is more important than your business."
"It's against proper noble etiquette to demand something without introducing yourself first." Chronos spoke without moving.
The man stared at him crossly for a few seconds before responding. "That was rude of me. I am Roland Malric, first son of Earl Malric of the eastern plains. Now I believe you should move aside unless you wish for trouble."
Chronos' smirk grew wider. "Paladins don't have a family rank for as long as they serve. Why bother bringing up something that is useless? If you can't even remember the basics of being a paladin, you should go back to being a squire."
Glaring at Chronos he attempted to use his aura to force him to the ground. As the pressure built around them the other paladins started to sneer at Chronos who was clearly weaker than Roland. However, there was no reaction from Chronos. Becoming annoyed Roland increased the pressure more and more as his face slowly became red from anger.
After a few minutes Chronos asked "Are you going to attack or just stand there looking like you have to shit?"
Roland's face turned black.
"How dare you? Drag him to the punishment hall now!"
His men responded immediately, rushing forward to capture Chronos.
Chronos' only thought was "Is he really this stupid? He is still standing within punching distance."
Pow
All of the second orders men froze as Roland was punched squarely in the nose. Roland flew several feet before slamming heavily into the ground. His nose looked broken and blood started to cover his face. He sat up furiously just in time to see a large vicious grin spread across Chronos' face. His ears suddenly became like a grey wolves, and he sprouted a grey tail with red markings.
It was only now that Roland realized he was in serious danger. That man was an Ulv and every noble knew they were crazier than most demons.
"Draw your swords and cut him down! Stop hesitating and attack!" Roland screamed in fear.
His men hesitated for a moment as killing people within the church grounds would get them in serious trouble.
Crack
Then Chronos grabbed the heads of the two men nearest to him and slammed them together so strongly that it sounded like they were broken. In the next instant the nobles amongst them recognized him as an Ulv and knew it wouldn't matter if they drew their swords. This was going to be a hellish fight.
Chronos lunged at them, striking out at anyone who came within his reach. The first one was kicked in the gut and collapsed to the ground while puking. Another tried to cut him from the right only to have his hand caught. Shifting into a shoulder throw Chronos hurled the man into two of his friends.
"Stop fighting alone! Work in teams of three and surround him!" Roland yelled as he moved to the back.
Even if he didn't act like it, he was still one of the vice-leaders of the second order. Attacking a superior opponent on your own was stupid so he ordered them to work together but was a little too late.
Just after he moved to the back a large piece of slag hit him in the face followed by an aura impact's explosion. Once again, he fell down but this time he didn't get up.
His men didn't notice anything as they assembled into groups of three. Moving forward they tried and failed to surround Chronos. Chronos took advantage of his speed to continually escape from their encirclement while looking for weak points to attack.
Getting behind one group he used a leg sweep to kick the back of the first one's knees. Grabbing the back of the shirt he threw him into a second enemy before attacking the third. His enemy panicked and swung wildly hoping to catch Chronos off-guard only to have Chronos' fist snap out and break his wrist in just a second.
He ran once more to avoid being attacked from behind only to have them start working together properly. There were two groups on his left, one on his right and a fourth trying to get behind him.
Leaping back, he spun in the air to avoid blades from his sides. Upon landing one man tried to stab him in the back, but Chronos took half a step to the left and caught the blade under his arm. With a quick spin he broke the man's arm while throwing him at another group.
Now there were only two enemies behind him, he took advantage of that to charge at them and break the encirclement. The two men swung at him with a small gap between their blades leaving no way out. Chronos performed a flip, getting slightly cut before firmly planting his feet on the men's heads, he drove both of them into the ground.