Chapter 64 Know What You Want

  Gilgamesh was once more sitting behind his desk as if he hadn’t just ambushed a Tarasque and bullied it to death. He was looking over some paperwork but his pen was out of reach, it seemed like whatever it was only required him to read it and nothing more. He looked up from the paper and gingerly sat it down on his desk. “Welcome back.” He told the trio and then nodded towards Klein.

  “Until next time, my friend.” Klein nodded back and vanished with a snap of his fingers.

  “I take it you already know what you want to ask of me.” Gilgamesh said and leaned back in his chair. His chair, that was nearly big enough for both Isaac and Lenna together, groaned under the casual act.

  “Armor.” Isaac replied with a nod of assurance. “We need armor. Not just any armor will do but armor that will hold up to whatever we could throw at it. Armor that could hold up to whatever our enemies throw at it.”

  Gilgamesh hummed in thought. His hum reverberated through the marble floor and Isaac could feel it in his ankles. Gilgamesh looked the duo up and down, noticing all of the damage that their armor had sustained and nodded to himself. He didn’t even spare Shamesh a glance because, as far as Gilgamesh was concerned, Shamesh was an accessory.

  “Durability will be the main requirement then?” Gilgamesh questioned them.

  “Self repair as well.” Isaac added. “Our armor has done its job so far, well, for the most part. The issue is that after it has done its job, our quarter of a million gold cost armor is practically scrap. It needs to both hold up and repair itself after it inevitably gets hit by something that it can’t hold up against.”

  “The materials must be entirely of the highest quality and the craftsmanship will have to be even better. Combined with your short lifespan, it will have to be done quickly.” Gilgamesh thought out loud.

  “I have Duke Arbencroft using his connections in order to try and get the best dwarven smiths to work with Karthen Eidi’Diasta in order to create Lenna’s armor.” Isaac explained. “The plan was for them to make an impervious and immovable suit of armor but apparently some level of Self Repair will still be necessary.”

  Gilgamesh nodded. “I can work with that. If Duke Arbencroft is already on it, I will contact him and have my assistant aid him in assembling the necessary team. I will also update him on your new requirement.” He agreed. “Now, whose favor is that? Yours or your mate’s?”

  “His.” Lenna replied. “I would not put it past him to ask for something else related to me if left to his own devices.”

  “Very well.” Gilgamesh said with a nod before Isaac could even interject. He had thought about it but was actually going to use his own wish for armor of his own. He loved the armor made with Kahtesh’s dragon scales but it was little more than extra padding against most of the things that he got hit by. It was amazing against lightning based attacks but other than that it was hardly more effective than a five hundred gold suit of common armor. “And what of your favor?”

  “Isaac, ask for something for yourself.” She told her mate in no uncertain terms.

  Isaac shook his head with a smile. “I need a new set as well.” He confirmed. “This suit has served me well, and I should be able to have it restored almost completely, but it cannot keep up with this abuse.”

  “Armor is usually a good choice for you small and vulnerable mortals.” Gilgamesh agreed. “Have you started any preparations?”

  “No.” Isaac confessed. “In fact, I don’t even know where to start. I know that it needs to be able to keep up with me while I am six times more physically powerful. It would be great if it was also immune, or heavily resistant to Lenna’s flames. Being able to operate inside of Lenna’s flames when necessary would be a great boon.”

  Gilgamesh nodded. “I get the feeling that you already have some material ideas.” He told Isaac.

  “Black dragon scales and red dragon wing webbing.” He completely unashamedly said to the dragon sitting across from him.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I take it you have no qualms with my book bound in human skin then?” Gilgamesh asked the young mage across from him.

  “Were they assholes?” Was Isaac’s instant reply.

  Gilgamesh’s booming laughter rattled the chandeliers once more. “That was a perfect answer.” He commended Isaac. “I might have to raid my trophy room for such treasures, but I believe I can get you what you want, even if all of the materials might not be exactly what you were looking for.” Gilgamesh seemed lost in thought once more. “You are the supplier of drider silk, are you not?”

  “I am.” Isaac agreed.

  “For one hundred square yards of drider silk, I will not only get you your armor, but it will be even better than you think is possible.” Gilgamesh offered him. “In addition to any drider silk that is necessary to make your armor, that is, the one hundred square yards of drider silk is for my hoard and will not be used on your armor.”

  “What about the favor?” Isaac wondered.

  “What you asked for is beyond the bounds of one normal favor. Not by a lot, but the raiding of my trophy room for the scales and webbing of fallen dragons is too much.” Gilgamesh explained. “I will let you ask for something else, an even smaller favor than before if you are going to pay for the armor with drider silk.”

  Isaac frowned in thought. If Gilgamesh could get him the armor, then it was worth paying for. The issue was how much drider silk the old dragon was asking for. That was more than enough drider silk to fulfill all of the outstanding orders of the High Altian Nobility. Literally tens of millions of gold worth of drider silk, unprocessed sure, but it was still the core component. “Fifty square yards of drider silk delivered upon receiving the armor.”

  “I can accept the delivery upon receiving your armor.” Gilgamesh conceded. “But one hundred square yards is necessary.”

  “Why?” Isaac couldn’t help but wonder.

  “Any less and it would feel incomplete. Any more and it would feel like I am giving it too much attention.” Gilgamesh replied.

  Isaac sighed. “Then at least let my actual favor request be of the same level as it should have been previously and let's call this a separate deal. And depending on how quickly the armor arrives, you might need to wait for the drider silk for a little while. I have orders to fulfill before I go commandeering the silk for personal use.”

  Gilgamesh nodded. “That is fair.” He replied and offered Isaac his massive hand across the large desk. Isaac approached and shook the dragon’s hand. Gilgamesh’s hand felt so hot that Isaac was in physical pain by the end of their shake. “A pleasure doing business with you.”

  “Likewise.” Isaac agreed.

  “Now, about your favor request, do you have anything else in mind?” Gilgamesh wondered as he let Isaac’s hand go.

  Isaac unconsciously rubbed his palm where his skin now felt raw just from how hot Gilgamesh’s paw of a hand was. “Would a word or letter to the king be within the bounds of our favor?”

  “It depends.” Gilgamesh replied. “What do you want me to ask of or advise the king about?”

  “I would like to advise the king in pulling his forces and personnel out of Outpost Charles and back into Ben’s End. I would prefer if even those forces would be pulled the entire way back to Safeharbor, but I understand how badly that would look to our neighbors. Just consolidating our underground forces would reduce the loss of life and strain on logistics lines.” Isaac explained. “I do not need the advice to come from you, but mere the fact that a letter detailing that having arrived from you directly would give legitimacy to my advice. Especially if you agree that it is a good idea.”

  Gilgamesh thought about it for a long moment. “I believe that can be arranged. I will back your advice to pull back to Ben’s End, but not any further. From there, my thoughts on the matter end.” He informed Isaac.

  “That is more than sufficient.” Isaac confirmed.

  “Then it shall be done.” Gilgamesh replied with a nod. “Will you be stopping by to have an audience with the royals while you are in Altesia?”

  Isaac shook his head. “I don’t think so. Pretty much everything that is mildly presentable that we own is at home. Anything else was destroyed along with our Bottomless Backpack.” He explained. “We will simply be heading back home now that we have new armor lined up.”

  “And what of arms?” Gilgamesh questioned the duo. “Not just for yourself, but also armor for your summon? Check out the Guild Auction on the twenty eighth. I am sure that you will find adequate gear to at least hold you over until your properly legendary items are finished.”

  Isaac frowned in thought. “I guess staying in the capital for another week should be fine… Shamesh, ask Alexander if we are needed back immediately and apprise him of our gear situation. If we aren’t absolutely needed immediately then we will stay here for the auction, and maybe have an audience with the royals, if they summon us.”

  “Good.” Gilgamesh said with a nod. “Now, I have work to do, you are dismissed.”

  Isaac wasn’t really sure how to reply to the sudden dismissal so he just shrugged and gave Gilgamesh a nod. “Thanks for showing up and taking care of the Tarasque, Guild Leader.” He told the ancient dragon.

  “I knew it would show up and I needed to stretch.” Gilgamesh replied. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Isaac smirked. “Was that even a good stretch for you?”

  Gilgamesh chuckled. “It was actually. Not for very long, but it was still nice to stretch my wings for a bit.”

  Isaac shook his head and turned to leave. “I thank you as well, Guild Leader.” Lenna said with a slight bow. She didn’t even realize that she had done it until after her bow was concluded that she had bowed just a bit more than Isaac’s head nod, just like she usually did with nobles, and suddenly hoped that she did not just make Isaac’s casual head nod look like it was a statement of irreverence. Gilgamesh just gave her an acknowledging nod which proved that she was just overthinking everything while under the pressure of being right in front of him.

  Shamesh gave the Guild Leader a deep bow and then followed Isaac out like a retainer should, and not how a fellow adventurer would. Shamesh could tell that the Guild Leader saw him as just a part of Isaac’s available power, which wasn’t entirely wrong, so he felt no reason to try and force his independence on the Guild Leader. If anything, thinking of Shamesh as being a part of Isaac gave him a layer of protection, even if Isaac could do nothing to stop the Guild Leader if the dragon decided that Shamesh was no longer allowed to exist, but the thought that Shamesh was incapable of acting truly on his own made everyone see him as less of a threat. Either way, Shamesh was ready to go back inside of Isaac’s shadow to rest for a little while. He knew that being in Isaac’s shadow made his sense of time fuzzy, but it still gave him a break from the world that few would ever be able to truly experience, a break that he felt that he truly needed.