The clerk gestured to the two boxes. “You just have to put on one piece of the equipment, and if you are compatible, it will bond with you. Now, keep in mind that once it does, you’ve bought it, no returns exchanges or refunds.”
Karl turned to Lotus. “I suspect that how I look matters much more to you than it does to me, so you pick which one we try first. If it works, that’s the look I will have for the foreseeable future.”
The tiny cleric sighed, then put on a serious face and turned her hair from black to a mottled brown that reminded Karl of tree bark.
“Oh, the Nature Priestess has her game face on. What’s it going to be, Sister?” The clerk asked.
“All leather first. My instincts say all leather first.” Lotus replied, before her hair changed back to blonde.
Karl wondered how long he had missed the fact that she had been changing her hair colour with her mood, so he almost didn’t notice when he picked up the helmet and set it over his head that the rest of the equipment vanished, and his hassock now had a full suit of armour underneath it.
“Well, take it off, take it off. The hassock.” Lotus demanded, upset that she had been denied the sight of her chosen armour option.
Karl laughed as he untied the belt and pulled the hassock over his head, revealing the plain flat black armour underneath, with a long sleeved green tunic shirt underneath that Karl didn’t remember being in the pile of gear.
It felt a bit strange being restricted by armour, after always being in just cloth, especially the way that the leather pants, with their stiff additional plating on the thighs and lower legs, moved against him.
Lotus circled Karl three times before she made her decision that it was good enough for her.
“I like it. The green tunic was a nice touch, thanks guys.” She congratulated the workers in the supply room.
“There was no tunic in the pile, we just assumed he was already wearing it.” The clerk replied, confused.
“I was only wearing the hassock.” Karl replied with a shrug.
The clerk shook his head. “You’ve been around the nature priests too long. Normally, visitors wear a layer underneath and don’t just free ball it.”
Karl laughed. “Well, I had no clean clothes, and this was what was in the room, so this is what I’m wearing.”
The Clerk shrugged off his concerns, and decided that it was all part of the System’s magic that added the shirt to complete the armour set. Not that there were gaps that needed covering, but it looked more natural with the tunic between layers.
“Well, it looks like I’m good on armour now. I suppose that I should see what they were planning to do to change my supplies. The Academy backpack has been pretty good to me, but it sounds like the High Priestess was planning to make some changes.” Karl added as he admired his new armour in the mirror on one wall.
Now he had not just a weapon, but a full suit of armour that could be stored in a separate space, and if he was right, the armour, like the weapon, should come out clean again when he put it on. The weapon didn’t take any blood or viscera back to the space with it, so the armour should be the same.
“Put the hassock back on before you leave the room, it’s regulation.” The clerk reminded him when Karl turned to go show off his new gear to the others.
“Right, almost forgot about that.”
He removed the helmet and set it aside, then awkwardly slid the loose fitting robe back over himself and tied the waist. Then, as a test, he dismissed just the helmet back to the separate space, and sighed with relief when he found that he could go without it and not have to put away the entire set of armour.
All that was left that wasn’t bonded were the gauntlets, and those were easy enough to transport wherever he went, as they were made of leather with steel plating on the top. Once they had resized to fit him, they could easily enough be tucked in a side pocket of his bag, or a pouch at his waist. He would say tucked in his belt, but it would never do to accidentally lose one while he was running.
“It’s a definite improvement over the silly combat suits that make everyone look like a mall security wannabe.” Lotus informed him as they left the supply room.
“That’s one way to look at them. We didn’t have a mall in the town I grew up in, so I have only seen them on television.” Karl laughed.
Lotus giggled. “You don’t even know what you’re missing out on then. You know, you’re most likely what one would call rich by now. When you get some time off, you could go out shopping in the Capital, take in the sights, learn to live a little.”
Karl raised an eyebrow at the way she directed it straight at him. “Just me? You’re not going to come along and show me what I’m missing at the shopping mall?”
The Nature Priestess just shook her head. “I would personally rather play with Rae in the forest. But I have it on excellent authority that the mall was a highlight of the childhood of those who lived near one.”
The pair joked as the Church Guard led them back to the main building, where Brother Choi was waiting for Karl to return, ready to continue their meditation practice, at the instruction of the High Priestess.
“Don’t worry, it’s all for your own benefit. If you’re going to run away tomorrow before we can finish the process, it would be best if you at least had one more afternoon of practice, so I can provide guidance on any aspects you haven’t mastered.” The Monk greeted them.
Lotus waved to Brother Choi as she kept walking. “I will make sure that your gear gets properly updated for the mission. Go and learn your focus thing, so Rae can make it to Commander Rank and take me through the trees even faster.”
“I’m glad you have your priorities in order. I will see you at dinner.” Karl called back as she headed into the building, followed by one of the two Church Guards.
The orders to follow the group around so they were available anytime they were needed were never changed, and at this point probably wouldn’t be, as they were leaving in the morning, so everyone had an escort, and there was no chance that the inquisitive mind of a Nature Priest might lead Lotus astray in the nation’s largest Cathedral.
They returned to the same meditation room as the last time, but this time, Brother Choi had more knowledge to impart.
“Since you’re going to be gone when you get to the important part, I will try to explain it now. You will finish the flame, and then you will feel stuck again. But you’re actually not. Once the flame is finished, you need to draw the aura of the flame out through the whole space, and then when it feels like it is balancing out again, rebuild the flame to a new, higher standard.
It will only go so far beyond the surrounding area before it feels complete and won’t advance, so you need to keep layering more and more power through the space from the focus. If you don’t bring it from the focus, it won’t stay or increase the potency of the space.
It’s hard to say how many times you will have to do it, but eventually, you will make it to Commander Rank.
While you were busy, I did a bit of research using the reports that the Bureau has made on you, and I think that you don’t actually need to push yourself all the way to the Commander Rank with your mental space. Once you get far enough, the beasts will naturally advance, and they should pull you up with them.
That’s something that I can’t do, but in your early reports, it was clear that the advancement of Hawk was driving you forward, so the same should remain true as you advance further.”
Karl considered that for a while. “Can I spread the aura of the focus before it’s at its maximum?”
Brother Choi nodded. “You can, but it’s not as efficient because there isn’t enough energy there to make a nice even advancement layer. Like the rings of a tree, you need it to be even all the way around for it to be perfect.”
That made sense, so Karl gave him an affirmative thumbs up and began to meditate to finish building up the three focal points. Now that he had a guaranteed way forward, it was much easier to focus on the task at hand and not worry about what he should be doing.