“Woah!! What is that?!” Arthur exclaimed in shock. His eyes stared at the new appearance the carriage took. It had suddenly doubled in size, changed its outer appearance, and turned more into a small shop than a carriage. A small shop with wheels.
“This is the creepy carriage you have been chasing,” Merry replied, making Arthur avert his eyes awkwardly. He had indeed said that this carriage was creepy and yet what he saw now was perhaps the coolest thing ever.
“Now, get on. I will show you something.” The woman said as she stepped down the stairs and walked through the open door of the armoury. Arthur nodded and followed after her quickly, eager to see the interior of the place.
Stepping inside, Arthur was met with a very odd sight. The entire place was filled with all kinds of equipment with varying designs and colors. Piles of these items filled the place to the point where Arthur almost smashed into a pile of weapons the moment he stepped inside.
“Be careful, the place is a little messy,” Merry said as she pushed a pile of weapons out of her way carelessly.
“…” Arthur nodded as he carefully navigated the narrow path to where Merry was. On the other side of the carriage was a small wooden counter where she put the breastplate.
“Now, what I have thought of are two options,” Merry said as she lifted her fingers. “You can either sell this breastplate to a pawnshop or a weapon shop and get quick money from it.”
“… Or?”
Arthur’s plan was initially to do exactly that, sell the weapon and profit from it. However, upon hearing that there was a possible second option, he was naturally curious to know what he could do better with it.
“Or, you can let me keep this breastplate, and I can fix it for you if you want.” She said. “Then, if you want to sell it, you will profit more from selling it.”
“… Wait, you can fix it?” Arthur blurted out.
“Hm, it ain’t going to be easy since this material is quite rare to find. But, nothing is impossible for me. I can definitely return it to its best state.” Merry nodded her head. “I will need some time to do that, though.”
“Of course, I would love that!”
‘Return it to its peak state? When I got the armor set, it wasn’t even in good shape. I wonder how good it will be if it gets completely fixed.’ Arthur clenched his fists in excitement. He had already known that the damaged armor was way worse than it was when it was still new but the fact that it was still very sturdy and powerful. So, if it could be restored, then Arthur was bound to have an extremely good armor set to use.
“Mhm, I figured you would want that. You seem pretty fond of this thing.” She said.
“Yes! It had helped me a lot in my journey.” Arthur nodded his head. “But, I know it had to be put to rest at some point. If you can restore it for me, I will be eternally grateful.” freewёbnoνel.com
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it, kid. Now, let’s see, what kind of armor do you want to get as a replacement?” She asked.
“Mmm, do you have anything of the exact same type as my current armor? Something that isn’t heavy but also very flexible and slick.”
Merry put her hand against her chin as she thought for a moment. Her eyes started moving around, searching through the piles of items she had. A few seconds passed before her eyes lit up.
“That!”
Then, she quickly moved out of the counter and into the piles of armor. She then started pushing them off one by one, muttering incoherent words while doing that. Arthur had to dodge several ones as he watched her curiously.
“Not this.”
“No, not this one.”
“Maybe… No…”
“Tsk! Where is it?”
‘Is she ok?’ The boy was a little confused. “What are you searching fo-”
“Here it is!”
Eventually, Merry stood up as she carried something in her hand. However, the item she picked up wasn’t an armor piece, nor even a weapon. Instead, what Arthur saw in her hand was a small, white emblem.
“This is the perfect armor for you. It is actually one of my favorite pieces but I never had the opportunity to sell it to someone.” Merry said as she threw the emblem to Arthur.
“Huh?” The boy took it confusedly. “What even is this?”
The white emblem was made out of some kind of weird, smooth material. Its shiny white color gave it a very polished appearance. However, its most important detail was by far its shape. The emblem was in the shape of a weird skull with two eyes and no mouth.
‘What the hell even is this?’
[Sharded Skull Armor Set-
Rank C
Description: The emblem of death, a sign of the tyranny of the Sharded Skull and the end of many lives. Created by an unknown blacksmith and carried across generations, it is a piece of dark history shaped in a bright, white skull.
Type: Armor
Damage Resistance Affinity: All effects
Damage Resistance: Variable
Special Ability: Infusing the emblem with mana forms a full armor around the wearer. The more mana is infused into the emblem, the stronger the armor will be.]
“Woah!” Arthur’s eyes widened when he read the description of the item itself. ‘All effects?! Does it have resistance over everything?! And that special ability… This is crazy!’
Arthur had never thought that this seamless item was a full armor set. But, what made it even more terrifying was the fact that it had no set number of damage resistance. The more mana he infuses it with, the better it becomes.
‘Wait, does that mean it will get stronger and stronger as I get stronger too?’ Realizing that possibility, Arthur looked up at Merry. “This is quite the powerful armor, Merry.”
“Of course, I only have the best of the best when it comes to goods. That one is particularly good because it is perfect for every situation and in your case, it is very light and flexible so you won’t feel it. Now, give it a try, let’s see how it looks on you.”
“Mmm, sure.” Arthur nodded as he slowly channeled his mana into his hand before he let it seep into the emblem. Almost immediately, the item reacted to the mana, absorbing it quickly.
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Then, it flashed with a bright light, almost blinding Arthur. Squinting his eyes, Arthur didn’t react immediately to the emblem suddenly changing shape in his hands, losing its shape. Like shapeless liquid, the emblem started moving Arthur’s arm like a snake, wrapping around his arm then his shoulder and quickly spreading to the rest of his body.
“Woah…”
“Don’t move, let it do its magic,” Merry said.
“…” Arthur gulped and nodded his head as he watched the liquid wrap around every inch of his body, changing and shifting with every passing second as if it had a mind of its own.
A few seconds passed before everything finally settled down and Arthur finally felt the armor harden, losing its liquid nature as quickly as it received it.
What was left was something he simply had never seen before.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3