The screen changed a few seconds later, and there was an assortment of plate armour displayed.
“This should all bond to the user, as Miss Ophelia will need. Now, were you fronting the credits, or did she need to take a battle credit loan?” The staff member asked.
“I will be purchasing her new armour and a weapon to match. There are also a few items we will need for our packs, which Lotus will inform you of later. Those can all go on my tab.” Karl explained.
“Alright, I will let you sort out the repayment terms on your own. It’s not like you’re hurting for money the way that you keep turning in reward materials. But speaking of which, do you have any more of the tea moss? We’re running low, and it has been in high demand since the first outing’s members began to run out.”
Karl checked Thor’s space, and then Rae’s space, where it was actually growing in abundance on the trees. He collected a few kilos of fresh moss and passed it over to the supply room clerk, along with some of the herbs that were growing within Thor’s space and beginning to spread beyond their intended area.
“Here, you can put those on my account to help offset the cost. If you need more of anything that might be growing along the border with the Frost Giants, just let me know, and I will see if I can bring any of it back when I return.”
The staffer nodded as he sorted through the various armours that were available.
“This one has a flame enchantment on it. That will be good both for hunting Frost Giants and for keeping warm in the mountains. Did you have a mobile source of heat?” The Clerk asked.
Karl smiled and activated [Flaming Body] over his hand.
The clerk nodded. “That will about do it. No need to worry about freezing when you can just set yourself on fire for fun. Alright, why don’t we have Miss Ophelia try this one on. If it bonds, she will be armoured, and then we can move on to finding a suitable weapon.
What are you using now? Will it hold up to the rigours of Commander Rank combat?”
Karl took out the two-handed blade, and the Berserker gave it a look that Karl could only describe as lust. That was definitely her preferred weapon, but the energy leech effect that it had was really pushing Karl’s beasts forward with all this fighting.
His mental spaces were almost ready to be equalized again, and that should push Thor nearly to the Commander Rank, as the spaces naturally tried to push the beasts to the same point.
The supply clerk frowned as he examined the blade. “It’s not particularly high quality, and I’m guessing that you use a skill to protect it from direct damage, but it’s not going to hold up to your increasing abilities for much longer.
The enchantment is strong, but the material quality is definitely on the lowest side of Awakened, so even as sturdy as it is against physical strikes, too much skill power being channelled through it will damage the weapon.”
Karl sighed. It was a bonded weapon, but if he was going to outgrow it, he would have to find another weapon to use in general combat, and leave it to passively draw the life force of their enemies.
He had the bow now, so he could fight at longer ranges, but depending on the fight, he might still be needed as a frontline combatant.
Possibly not, if they used Dana’s Golems with Thor, but they would have to adapt their strategies.
“I have this bow as well. But I’m more often needed to hold back the enemy, so I haven’t had a chance to use it.” Karl explained.
The clerk assessed it with a trained gaze. “That’s a good one. Low Commander Rank, infinite arrows, and it will grant your strength modifier to the arrow damage. As I recall, you had a strength ring.”
Karl nodded. “Indeed. It’s a good item, but I could likely use another sword, as the only other one I have is also getting outdated.”
It was still strapped to his pack, but he rarely used the short sword for anything, it was just an emergency spare.
The clerk went into the back and came back with a cart full of weapons.
“I don’t have much at the Commander Rank, but I have one that has a life steal ability that should be similar to the one you’re using. The rest of these are all for Miss Ophelia to choose from.”
Karl refrained from mentioning that it wasn’t exactly a life steal effect that his existing blade granted, since they only had one similar quality weapon anyhow. If he had one that healed and one that granted life force to help them grow, that was twice as good.
Karl went to pick it up to check it out, and energy sparked from his hand, forcing the weapon away and nearly knocking over the rack.
The clerk hurriedly saved the weapons cart from tipping as he cursed.
“I was afraid of that. Some equipment will interfere with others and prevent you from bonding them. It could be that the two blades are too similar, and the old one won’t let you replace it. If that’s the case, just keep a spare of some sort and use it until it shatters.” He explained.
The blade looked better than when Karl had gotten it. Much better, in fact. If he kept using it and letting it absorb energy, he might not need to replace it. It was falling behind his power level, but as long as it wasn’t so far behind that his skills broke it, the blade should be fine to keep using.
Bear chose a pair of matched axes which granted fire damage on hit, a perfect counter for Frost Giants, and suited to her fighting style. They could be used both in her normal form and in her Werebear transformation, and they bonded to her, so they could be safely stored when not in use.
Everyone else had Ascended Rank or higher armour on already, though Dana wasn’t particularly happy about her incredibly ornate mage robes from the Naga dungeon. They were good robes, though, and she wasn’t willing to give them up for an inferior option just because of the style.
“What is your front-line combat formation?” The back room clerk who brought out most of the weapons asked.
“Thor, who is near peak Ascended Rank, and two Ascended Stone Golems with the [Durable Constructs] bonus. Then we have two Commander Rank attack Golems.” Karl explained to the aging veteran.
The man considered it for a while, then nodded. “So, you count on the weaker Golems to hold the line, while the more powerful ones are able to go all out on damage? That’s not a bad plan. You’ve got four constructs with the group, after all.
I was going to recommend something to add barriers, other than your one mage.”
Karl smiled back at him. “We have a group [Refreshing Lightning] and a Circle of Protection, as well as the holy protections from the War Priestess. That should be enough to hold.”
Dana actually had a very advanced barrier that she used on her Golems, it was just that until recently when she made it to Ascended Rank, she was so far behind the group leaders that the main threats could shatter it faster than she could rebuild it. It simply wasn’t mana efficient when they had Alice’s Golem there as well.
“As long as you are sure the barriers can hold. With no Commanders to take the brunt of a charge, it could get dicey for your tanks.” He replied.
“If needed, I can join them, and the two Commander Rank spider golems can as well, but it shouldn’t be necessary most of the time. If I can stand back of the fight, I should be able to greatly increase my damage instead of spending all my time blocking strikes and keeping targets occupied.” Karl explained.
Lotus sneaked up to the counter with her wish list of supplies for the mission, which the other clerk quickly filled, then swiped Karl’s card to pay for everything.
“The supplies you provided covered three quarters of what you spent today. Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself. Good luck on your mission.” The clerk announced.
“Thanks. We will see you when we get back.”
The old man laughed. “Kind of a Commander like you to come make a pity visit to this old man. Just bring back the young ones in one piece, and we will call it even.”