SB: Chapter 229 – Equipment And Departure

I carefully put on my new heavy armor in the shop. The crafts dwarf took their time to watch as I strapped everything into place. Once it was on, I began to move out and go through several movements, testing that no points were catching.

“It flows smoothly. Better than my last set,” I said.

“The secret is in the riveting. Too many smiths will crimp the metal tightly for stability. But I used a slightly stronger alloy for the rivets compared to the rest.”

“Wouldn’t that wear out the surrounding metal first?” I asked.

“Not with the rivet points being impacted by durability. Enchantments tend to be less on the rivets themselves, but the surrounding metal benefits more. That’s why I can make my armor easier to move in, since I am maximizing the benefit of the durability,” the crafts dwarf said.

“Standard care?” I asked.

“If you take care of it as well as you did your last set, you will be fine.”

“I can feel the Aura of Durability slightly,” I said.

“Mana Sensing, right?” I nodded at this question. “You have trained your skill well then. It is subtle. I am afraid creating a unified set bonus that is better than durability is a bit beyond me.”

“How much damage can this set take compared to my previous one?” I asked.

“I would treat it the same. But it could be considered on part with tier 4 equipment from the beating it can take. It is strong enough to carry someone to the rank of an elite. Legend would be a bit of a struggle.” I nodded at this. It was similar to my old armor, just less easy to break, no bonuses, and easier to move in.

The last one was incredibly impressive. It wasn’t easy to make such changes, or be aware enough to make them. This dwarf was clearly pushing their skills constantly to improve as a smith and enchanter.

“Any advice on where I could requisition a better sword?” I asked.

“A tier 3 blade like that? You are looking at custom work and will need metal from the dungeon as a natural treasure. A tier 4 blade, you are talking about 20 platinum at the very least, and with what you would probably want, I would budget 100 platinum. The Adventurer’s Guild has a list of crafters at a high level.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” I said.

“I can see the bracelet on your arm, blocking experience. A bold choice. Mind if I take a look?” I didn’t mind and handed the bracelet over. “Solid work. College made, which isn’t surprising.”

“Anything that can be changed?” I asked.

“Let me see that Sun Amulet again,” he said and I handed it over. He looked at the two. “There is an option. I can add an experience block to the Sun Amulet. But it would be permanent. This Sun Amulet is quite valuable. You could pay for a new sword with it alone. Putting an experience blocker on it, would be ruining it, but I know you want to use it and the experience block at the same time,” the dwarf said.

I frowned as I considered the suggestion. “How long and how much?” I asked.

“Fifty gold and an hour. I would reshape the bracelet you have and link to the Sun Amulet. But it will be ruined.”

“Would it properly block out experience?” I asked.

“Yes. Even though the experience block would degrade, it would feed back into the fire enchantment of the Sun Amulet, since you would be in combat when you get experience. It would create a synergy in that regard. The Sun Amulet would get slightly more power to it when you are killing things, helping to bleed off the experience you would get,” the dwarf explained.

“What about at stronger monsters that give more experience?” I asked.

“Ah, you shouldn’t use it below the 20th layer of Balde’s Maw. And the Sun Amulet will be ruined. Wanting to block experience isn’t that rare, but it would lower the value of this piece of equipment.”

I considered my options. I wouldn’t be gaining more levels for a while. It was better to use the equipment that I had, rather than keeping it in reserve. “Do it,” I said and handed over the gold.

An hour later I had new piece of equipment.

Solar Amulet of Experience Blocking(T3) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level, channels excess experience into imbuing weapons with fire damage)

The sun was covered by thick silver bands. Putting on the amulet, it was heavier than I was used to. “Heavy,” I said.

“That it is. A big amulet, but you should be able to handle it. Don’t worry it won’t conflict with your other pieces of equipment.”

I drew my sword and gave it a swing. The flames were less than before. “They are less, but once you start killing monsters, they will become a lot more. It can be regulated slightly by controlling the Mana flow, but don’t try to hold back on the flames once you start killing, otherwise the Amulet could melt,” he said.

“How quickly will it heat up?” I asked.

“No way to say without testing it. You should be able to get a feel for it.”

“Does that mean I can save up Mana in the Amulet to be unleashed later?” I asked.

“It is possible, but I don’t recommend that. The Amulet isn’t designed for storing Mana. You do that it will become damaged and be less effective going forward. And after a battle, you will probably have to swing your weapon a couple of times to bleed off the excess,” he said.

“Annoying,” I replied.

“I won’t disagree. But that was the only way to make it work. A lot of compromises. But now you can get the benefits of both items,” he said.

“Hmm,” I just let out a hum and nodded. “Thank you,” I said.

“My pleasure, come back any time,” the dwarf said. I left his store with Ozy riding on my new shoulder pauldron. It was highly unlikely that I would ever be back. I hadn’t even gotten his name. That was a bit rude of me. But after realizing I hadn’t gotten it the first time, I didn’t want to ask when I came to pick up my equipment, it would have been too embarrassing.

I was already packed up as I made my way to the area of the city that handled long distance magical carriages. There was shouting as I arrived.

“You can’t do this!”

“I demand a refund and compensation!”

“Dammit!”

“What’s going on?” I asked an adventurer nearby. I could tell they were one from the armor.

“War has broken out everywhere. All routes are being canceled due to the risks. Magical carriages and fuel aren’t cheap.”

Curse my father for creating all this chaos. “What about the sea routes?” I asked.

“Even worse. The elves have mobilized several warships and are sweeping up and down along the coast, taking out any other vessel. The sea routes have been completely cut off. Now the overland ones,” the adventurer said with a shake of his head.

“You two, adventurers?” a rich looking human merchant asked us.

“Yes,” we both said.

“I am headed towards Meldon.” That was on the way to the College. “I will pay for you two to ride with my magical carriage and handle any problems,” the merchant said.

“Alright,” I replied.

“Count me in,” the other adventurer said. The merchant led us around the building to a small magical carriage, that looked like it could barely fit four people.

“Now we need a driver,” the merchant said.

“I can drive,” I replied.

“What’s your level?” he asked.

“Tier 1, level 46,” I said.

“Low. Very low, but we aren’t going to get much better. And we will save on weight and fuel. Alright. You crash, I am taking the costs out of your hide. I will ride up front with you, you ge the roof,” the merchant said.

“The roof?” the other adventurer asked in surprise.

“Yes. It is filled with goods.”

“What kind of goods?” I asked, wanting to make sure it wasn’t something illegal like Pic.

“Spices. High value. Normally I would go with a caravan, but I have deliveries I have to make. I miss those deadlines, I will lose my entire profit margin due to the penalties in the contracts.”

“If this isn’t a comfortable ride, then I want pay,” the other adventurer said. The merchant looked at me.

“I would be okay with food and hazard pay if we have to fight,” I replied.

“I can handle food and hazard pay. Ten gold per fight, up to twenty,” the merchant said. The other adventurer looked at me and I shrugged.

“That is fine,” the other adventurer said.

“Good, let me get the fuel for the trip,” he said.

“I am Chris. Gold.”

“Justin and this is Ozy,” I replied.

“Sword as well, with throwing daggers. You?”

“Spellblade,” I replied and he nodded.

“Never got the chance to learn spell skills. Anything I should watch out for?” he asked.

“Ozy uses area of effect skills to slow down targets and I prefer Lightning Beam. So, expect some noise and light,” I replied.

“You think we will make it to Meldon?” Chris asked.

“That’s what, two weeks away?” I asked.

“About. The main issue will be if the roads are blocked. Clearing debris is a huge hassle,” Chris said.

“Well we should be fine. One magical carriage, both of us, unless there is a strong force or a legend, there is no reason to have trouble,” I said.

“That’s my concern. We run into a legend or an actual army,” Chris said.

“Then we give up the magical carriage. We are adventurers, not guards. Against bandits, I don’t mind fighting, but I am not battling my way through an army or a legend,” I replied.

“Good. Some adventurers get a big head. Glad you are one of the more down to earth ones. How long have you been doing this?”

“Almost a decade, you?” I asked.

“Three decades. Came up the wrong passage here. You?”

“Trying to get back to the College,” I said, and Chris nodded at that. The merchant came back.

“You, load up the fuel, I will give directions,” he said. I began loading the fuel into the magical carriage and then stored the rest away under the driver’s seat that was outside the main carriage. One of the older models of magical carriage.

We got on with Chris sitting on the roof behind us. We then set off through Port Hammer slowly. We got some looks but no one stopped us as we left the city.

I quickly accelerated us to cruising speed once we were clear of the city. The road was stone and slightly bumpy. Each bump shook everything.

“Finally, got out of there. With a bit of luck, we will make the delivery on time,” the merchant said.

“How long do you have?” I asked.

“Just 20 days left. But there will be delays for sure. With war breaking out everywhere, there will be trouble for sure.”

“I am Justin and this is Ozy,” I introduced ourselves.

“Chris,” the adventurer said from behind us.

“Ulmer. Yes, it is a stupid name, but that’s the one my parents gave me,” the merchant said.

“Any fighting ability or spell skills?” I asked.

“No. I have focused everything on trading skills. I should probably learn driving, but I prefer being a pure merchant,” he said. Some people were like that. They didn’t like to have a lot of different skills, believing it degraded their chances at a better class and improving the skills that they had.