Chapter 679 Meeting with the Skalbeck Family

A few days after Marcus’ training match with some of the top knights of the kingdom it was finally time for him to whip Alaric into shape.

The young half elf boy wanted to get strong so that he could keep up with Lilia after witnessing her unexpected strength.

Of course, it was not going to be easy to get him near Lilia’s level which had already exceeded forty at age thirteen.

‘He is going to be in for a rough time, but I will just consider this a test of his determination.’ Marcus thought as he was on his way to pick Alaric up.

For his own relationship with Mrazivý he had to do some crazy things, so if Alaric really wanted to be with his little sister, he was going to have to prove himself here and now.

When Marcus arrived, he was quickly brought into a parlor where Bianca and her husband Viscount Skalbeck were waiting with Alaric.

‘Looks like his father is pretty tense.’ Marcus observed.

It had been obvious last time that the viscount did not want to allow his oldest son to be left in the hands of Marcus to do whatever training he had in mind with no supervision from the Skalbeck family.

However, Bianca had overruled him and since it was what Alaric wanted in the first place, he was powerless to do anything but be racked with nerves.

“It is good to see all of you again. Have you been well?” Marcus asked as he sat down..

A round of customary replies about how all of them had been fine went around before they got to the matter at hand.

“Now we are going to be entrusting Alaric to you to help him train up to be stronger. He has taken time off from school like you did with Lilia years ago so I hope that you can get him to make progress just like she did.” Bianca said in between sipping her tea.

“That is the plan. Though ultimately, I cannot guarantee anything. A lot of his progress will be determined by his efforts.” Marcus said and looked towards Alaric.

Immediately the young boy who was only thirteen hopped out of his seat with a confident expression.

“I can do it Lady Irene. I am ready for anything as long as you can make me stronger. Next time something happens. I want to be the one to protect Lilia and my family instead of cowering under a table.” Alaric said with determination burning in his eyes.

‘Good, he seems motivated. As long as he can keep up his spirit, he should be able to become strong.’

After Alaric’s declaration, his father quickly berated him about how his conduct was improper, and he was being rude to their guest.

Of course, Marcus said it was fine and that he was happy to see how determined Alaric was for his training.

“Speaking of this training you are planning to do. Would you mind enlightening us as to your plan?” Viscount Skalbeck said with an intense gaze.

Naturally he wanted to know what manner of things that Marcus was going to be putting his son through.

“Hm nothing too abnormal I believe. First, I will need to assess his abilities in some training matches before coming up with a comprehensive plan, but I already have a good idea of what we are going to do.”

Marcus then began explaining what he planned on doing, but it was not long before the viscount slammed his fist against the table, and shouted, “ABSOULTY NOT! Are you planning to get our son killed!”

Upon hearing that Marcus planned on taking Alaric into a dungeon, his father became furious, believing that Marcus had lost his mind.

It was practically unthinkable to take a child into a dungeon. A place where monsters and beast roamed abound in high numbers and power, and where there were no settlements to use as shelter. One truly took their own lives into their hands inside such a place, which was something most nobles never did.

“Alaric said he wanted to be strong, so this is what is going to be necessary. Anyway, this is what I did with Lilia, and I think the results speak for themselves.”

But even after Marcus told them that this is exactly what he had done with his little sister, Alaric’s’ father was still steaming and now refusing to let Alaric go.

Unfortunately, the person in question was begging his father to allow him to go into the dungeon and train as Lilia had.

“Dear, I believe we already agreed to allow Lady Irene to do as she pleases when training Alaric. He wants this and there is no doubt it will benefit him all through his life.” Bianca said trying to calm down her husband.

Luckily this did do the trick, and he sat down grumbling and with a frown, but no longer shouting in protest.

“I promise that there is no need to worry. At the very least I will make sure that he does not die.” Marcus said with a smile.

‘Though if he happens to lose a limb or two in a fight, I cannot help that. Though if that does happen, I can just regrow them back for him.’ Marcus thought.

He had no intention of babying Alaric, and other than intervening if he was about to die, he had no intention of putting into any of his battles.

“Lady Irene is an accomplished adventurer, there is no need for us to worry about Alaric’s safety. Anyway, you saw how strong Lilia was and she is undoubtedly weaker than Lady Irene is.” Bianca said to reassure her husband.

At this he sighed; and seeing that any resistance he put up would be futile, went halfheartedly along with the rest of the conversation.

“Now to get Alaric into the dungeon though first he is going to need to become a silver rank adventurer. To that end I will need at least one of you to accompany me to give permission as his parent to sign him up.”

Nodding her head Bianca agreed to go to the guild with them and allow Alaric to sign up.

Next she began trying to discuss the matter of payment for Marcus’ services, but he waved his hand and denied her.

“No need for that. I am doing this as a personal favor to your family and for Lilia.”

“But did you not say that you would make equipment for Alaric. Surely, we cannot just allow you to do so for free. Especially since you are skilled and talented enough to be hired by the royal family to make the future ruler’s crown.” Bianca said, not wanting to allow Marcus to do all this work for free.

However, Marcus really had no want or need to be paid in this situation. Especially because they might refuse to accept certain things he planned to give to Alaric on account of how expensive they would be.

‘I doubt they want to bust out thousands upon thousands of gold coins for all the natural treasures and high tier equipment I plan on giving him. I just need to keep refusing until they relent.’

Continuing on with his stance that this was a favor, Marcus fought back and forth with Bianca for good thirty minutes about whether he would accept any money, before she finally relented and allowed Marcus to do as he pleased.

“Fine, but if you are always this kind others will start taking advantage of you.” Bianca said trying to advise Marcus.

“Oh, there is no need to worry about that. I only am like this with those that I consider close friends. For anyone else, I would be sure to charge full price.”

With that done they simply had a bit of small talk for nearly an hour before Marcus suggested that they should go to the adventurers guild and get Alaric registered now.

“Yes, I suppose that would be for the best. It will delay his training if we do not do it today while we have the time.”

Hearing this Alaric practically bounced out of his chair and looked like an engine revving up with how excited he was.

‘I wonder if he will be able to stay this way once he learns how harsh it can be to be an adventurer.’ Marcus thought, seeing the childlike reaction.

Quickly Bianca had a carriage prepared for Alaric and herself, and Marcus followed along in his own as they made their way to the main branch of the adventurers guild in the royal capital.

When they arrived both Bianca and Alaric stopped and started at the large building for a few moments, impressed by its grandeur.

“It certainly is something. There are a lot of adventurers in the capital, so they need a headquarters this large as well as dozens of branches just in this city to accommodate everyone.” Marcus explained.

Once they were finished gawking at the building, they went inside and lined up to get Alaric registered.

Of course, they attracted a lot of attention since it was clear that Bianca and Alaric were out of place here.

Their noble demeanor not to mention the guards they had made it quite obvious who they were. But what really caught everyone’s attention was Marcus standing with them.

While he had not taken any request for a long time there were still plenty of veterans that recognized him, and others that knew about him from his time fighting in the kingdom’s tournament.

Luckily no one came and bothered their group due to these two reasons, and the professional member of the guild’s staff registered Alaric without any fuss.