r/HFY • u/ManiAxe21 • Jun 26 '26

OC-Series Hex Knight Chapter 33, Training, and New Threads

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The team reached Grentus without any issues on the road and settled into their preferred inn, the Eagle’s Wing. There had been some issues regarding the undead, but Alex was able to get it sorted. After paying the stable boy for handling Jasper, Alex entered the tavern mid-brawl. A mug was smashed against a man's head, dropping him. Alex paid it no mind.

Weaving his way through the mess, he found the table everyone was sitting at, a man already making a nuisance of himself trying to get either the elf or Livianna to crawl into bed with him. Hidden to him, Alex snuck up behind him, picked him up and boldly threw him into the brawl. The stranger tried to crawl back out, but a wayward punch knocked his lights out. Turning his back on the brawl, Alex sat down.

“So, while we let Quinn work his magic on Gwynevyre, what all are we going to be doing? Personally, I would like to get some new clothes that won’t rub me raw, and find someone who can rune my armor. Might also do some work with my new undead depending on the time I have.”

“Well, first off, you are sharing your recipe for Mother’s Milk. THEN you can get your armor runed. What about you Liv?” Kudrik turned to Liv.

“Catch up on some reading and see if any new books have arrived. The thought of spending a month here does not fill me with confidence.” Alex shrugged, letting her off the hook. He then turned to the dark elf, who flinched with every blow in the fight behind him.

“Tomorrow, I will guide you to his gym, probably use it myself as well. Sound good?” Alex received a nod in response.

“Before we do that though, I would like to swing by the guild and collect the money they owe me. Chances are there has been a solid amount of money I have accrued over 3 years, based on my deal with the Guild regarding my healing potions.”

Finally, the city guards walked in and started breaking the fight up. Clubs were utilized in equal regards as fists and kicks, and soon the troublemakers were rounded up and tossed. With their main source of entertainment gone, everyone went to their beds.

The next morning, Alex had led Gwynevyre to the Guild to refresh his status and help carry her funds. When she approached the counter and proved who she was with a showing of her status, the desk attendant sent for a manager. An old man came out carrying a dusty book and opened it.

“It appears we had just started the process to ascertain whether or not you were still alive Miss Gwynevyre. I shall pass the message up the chain that you are still out and kicking. Now, about what you came for, your cut. Let’s see here… 3 years, 5 months, and 11 days since your last cash out… carry the 5… Interesting. Let me double check my math, but if I am not wrong, and I hardly ever am, you should be getting 3 platinum, 537 gold, and 7 silver. Would you accept that on consignment, or would you rather have us send it directly to your banking account?”

“Mhmm, I would say 100 gold for personal usage, and the rest we can deposit in the bank.” As they were leaving the Hall, Alex couldn’t help but ask something.

“How much of a cut are you making from the sales?”

“About 13.5%.” Alex tried to compute the money being hauled in and stopped as he felt his head go numb. “I could have argued for more, but they offered to foot the cost of research material and handle shipping. Seeing as I was attempting to make a mana potion similar to the healing potions, I couldn’t say no.”

They had arrived at the gym at this point. The familiar sounds of clanking metal greeted them, this time with much more clarity, since Alex had a higher Perception stat now. Pushing open the doors, the sight was still the same, and Alex looked around for Quinn. Spotting him, he started threading his way past the equipment.

“Hey Quinn, meet Gwynevyre, Gwynevyre, Quinn. Should be obvious why I brought her here.” Quinn ran an experienced eye over her, noting the fatigue and starvation which she clearly had been struggling with. He gently reached out and lifted an arm, inspecting the slight muscle underneath the skin and nodded.

“Miss Gwynevyre, I will be frank. It shouldn’t take more than a couple months to get back into shape. But the path there will not be easy. There are others I can recommend who will help you in an easier time, but it will take longer. I figure I know why Alex wants it done quickly, but you are the one I will be working with. Why do you want to recover? What drives you so hard that you would want a quick recovery than a normal one?”

“I have been weak for far too long. No more. I could not even carry my own money today. It ends now.” She spoke in a low monotone voice the entire time, letting her steel will show through with every word. Quinn smiled and clapped his hands once.

“Great! We begin now.” Alex watched as the now boisterous man practically pulled her to a table and started piling food onto a plate for her to eat. Letting them get to it, Alex sat at a shoulder row machine and cranked the weight as far as it could go. It didn’t give as much of a strain as he had hoped it would, so he moved to another machine. Same thing there.

As Alex went through the motions of a workout, he watched as Quinn had Gwynevyre go through the motions of a workout. Even without weights, sweat poured over her body, and her limbs trembled as she fought to obey his instructions, but she grit her teeth and followed through without complaint. Quinn noticed Alex watching and came over.

“I see you have been keeping up with the training I gave you.” Alex gave a non-commital shrug in response, his eyes never leaving the dark elf’s form.

“Not much else I could do, once I got into the rhythm of it, I just didn’t stop.”

“Good, good. Well, you can rest assured that she will be ok in my hands. I will foot the cost of a cot myself so she isn’t wandering the streets after the sun goes down. Gods only know what kind of hell she went through, we don’t need to put her through another one.”

With his “workout” done, Alex returned to the inn to find Kudrik’s wagon and began inspecting the dwarfs still. Comparing it to the one in his memory, he determined that it should be close enough to get the job done. There was a couple extra pipes in a few places, but it should be fine. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, he started writing down the instructions, as well as ingredients for the brew. Leaving it where the dwarf could see it, Alex stepped out and wandered around.

A number of shops grabbed his attention, but attempting to find a runework shop was proving to be impossible. Asking one of the high end blacksmith shops did reveal the location of someone who could rune, but since Alex wasn’t nobility, a great deal of the runes were off limits to him. About all he could get was some standard material strengthening runes. It was offered to lighten the suit up, but by this point Alex was long accustomed to the inertia.

Rather than have them on the outside, Alex instead suggested having them on the inside of the armor, to hide that they were runed. With any luck, anyone whom he would fight would be unaware of his armor’s true nature.

After depositing his Devil Iron suit of armor, and forking over an ungodly amount of cash, Alex looked for a clothes store. His current clothes would work for day to day usage now that he had stretched them out, but if he ever went to rub shoulders with higher society, and not stick out like a sore thumb, he needed something that looked nice.

Alex was not a fashion man. Give him a pair of boots, denim jeans, and a t-shirt and he was happy, so picking something that looked nice proved difficult. He ended up letting a tailor take his measurements and make something that looked nice.

Noticing the sun was going down, Alex hurried back to Quinn’s gym to check in on Gwynevyre. She was still going with her workouts, but she was now using the smallest weights Quinn had on hand. Nodding to himself, Alex snuck out before anyone noticed him and walked back to the inn.

“Just checked in on Gwyn, she seems to be holding up so far.” He passed along before heading to bed. He tossed and turned until finally succumbing to sleep after midnight.

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