Inside, he realised the room was much bigger than he thought; it was at least three times as wide as his and was twice as deep. The back wall had three sections that he assumed had removable cabinets like in his. On each of the side walls, there was a row of shelves or hangers. In the middle of the room was a large cylindrical tube. Suspended inside it was a floating black scythe. It was half as tall as Jack and looked like it was absorbing light instead of reflecting it.
A table to the left of the cylinder was filled with an assortment of items, seemingly laid out for inspection.
“These are the items that Lord Montarg wanted you to view; he selected them himself. Again, I do not want to rush you. But I am. I have too many things to finish before this expedition starts, so feel free to begin whenever you would like,” Thalen said as he stood in front of the tube.
Try as he might, Jack found it very hard to pull his eyes away from the black floating weapon behind Thalen.
“What is that? It seems kind of special.”
Thalen rapidly blinked at Jack before letting out a loud sigh.
“Jack, I am not one of your teachers. I have told you what you need to know and what items you can inspect. Honestly, I am not sure if you were just not listening or you don’t care about the part where I said I was very busy?” Thalen replied.
Jack sensed that he might have pushed the bar as far as it should be pushed for the moment. Acknowledging the man's words, he approached the table. Looking out across it, he saw a very strange-looking assortment of gear. He did a lap of the table, leaning down to get a good look at everything as he passed.
There was what appeared to be a thick belt made of interlocking wooden plates, each one polished to a mirror sheen and scorched with faint glowing patterns. But the weapons attached to it were what caught his eye. There were four jagged rings of a deep mahogany colour that seemed to hover over the points of the belt. They spun slightly, reminding him of a puck on an air hockey table, but these seemed to be locked into place.
Past that, he saw what looked like a toy sling but much more dangerous. It had a polished bone handle that curved slightly. Attached to the bone were straps of thick, deep emerald leather, scaled and tough, that reminded him of crocodile hide. The pouch at the end of the straps was simple in appearance, the same colour as the straps, and other than the tiny white gem embedded in the centre, it appeared smooth and soft.
Next to that sat a pair of gloves that looked like they had come straight out of some druidic MMA fight club. They appeared to be made out of some strange silvery woven material that was obviously a plant. The surface was anything but smooth; sharp-looking burs appeared all over the weave, and over each knuckle, a slight barb was exposed.
These, more than the others so far, looked the most dangerous. The fact that they were made out of plant material also opened a new avenue for them to be enhanced or strengthened with abilities; Jack's mind was racing.
Looking past the gloves, he saw a very simple pouch that looked a little out of place on the table. It could have been a prop coin pouch that someone would wear when they cosplayed a medieval knight for all he knew. If it wasn't for the intricate script burned into the leather loop attached to it, he would have doubted it was Magitech at all.
The last of the items he saw was a bit out of place. He assumed he was looking at weapons, as Thalen had said it was gear that Monty wasn’t able to use anymore, but this was definitely a piece of armour. It looked like some sort of space-age chainmail; it was a vibrant red metal that shimmered. He thought it was a little see-through, but that could have simply been the gaps in the mesh. He got a very different sensation from it than the others; the feeling was strange, but he could sense something like hunger from it.
Jack was about to ask Thalen about them, but when he glanced at the man and started to open his mouth… he saw the impatient look in his posture and face and decided he would be best to just jump in. The suit and the pouch called to him the most; they seemed the most out of place and he wanted to know why. Which is exactly why he reached out for the belt first.
[Living Blade Belt]
[Master Craft] - [Reinforcement Essence x 2(30%)][Flow Essence(13%)]
This item has been merged with [Intangible Anchor Gloves] and has inherited part of its effects.
This belt contains four circular blades made from wood of the razor bark treant. They are extremely sharp and dense. Each of the blades is connected to the belt on one of the cardinal points by a thin intangible thread of mana. The wearer may channel their mana through the thread and interact with the blade as if they were in physical contact with it.
The thread is of infinite length, however it is only able to transfer mana over a 4 Meter distance.
[Enhancements]
- [Focus] - [Masterwork] : This item has been enhanced to focus on the transferable distance of mana. A moderate [30%][49.5%] increase to the physical distance mana is able to travel along the tether.
- [Anchor] - [Masterwork]: This item has been enhanced, to grant the wielder the ability to retract the blades to their tether point with a pulse of mana.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
- [Frequency Lock] - [Masterwork] : This item has been restricted. It may only be charged with mana from the Life frequency. All other effects receive a massive[65%] increase in efficiency.
Jack blinked a few times as he took in the information; this one was on a similar level to Brandt's rod. Instead of being entirely crafted, it seemed like it was an amalgamation of two items. It sounded very cool; the blades kind of looked like saw blades crossed with throwing stars now he thought of it. He reached out to try to pull one away from the belt, but it wouldn't budge. He heard a polite cough.
“You are welcome to inspect the items, but I would keep it to a visual inspection. The belt and the gloves were Lord Montarg's signature pieces while he was able to effectively utilise them,” Thalen said from in front of the floating scythe.
“Sorry.” Jack pulled his hand away.
He had only seen Monty fight when he was trying to remain stationary and protect him. He didn’t actually know what his fighting style was like, so trying to picture how this belt would fit in was hard. The belt itself seemed pretty powerful—retractable saw blades that you could probably strengthen or grow? Jack had seen Monty change the shape of wood before; what if he could throw this into a target and then change its shape? Double its size?
He heard a tapping sound of an impatient man. Jack could daydream about how things were used later, he supposed. He looked back over the table; he wanted to check the gloves next, but a petty part of him wanted to skip them to spite Thalen. He reached out towards the sling. It was closest to him, that was all.
[Sling of Growth]
[Master Craft] - [Reinforcement Essence(14%)][Flow Essence(14%)][Capacity Essence(14%)]
This item has been forged by a Master Craftsman utilising Essence from multiple riftspawn equipment.
This item is a focus for the [Growth] ability designed in the shape of a basic sling. While a projectile is loaded, the [Growth] ability may be channeled through the focus and stored in the projectile. The focus will maintain the ability until the moment of the projectile being launched at which point it will be activated.
Provides a moderate[26%] increase to the efficiency of any [Growth] ability that is activated through this focus.
[Enhancements]
- [Delay] - [Masterwork] : This item has been enhanced to allow the user to delay the activation of the [Growth] component on any projectile launched from itself. The delay can be changed as the user sees fit, once a projectile is charged it is locked.
- [Replication] - [Masterwork]: This item has been enhanced, to grant the wielder the ability to apply an item for it to absorb for use as a projectile. The item must be capable of growth. Mana may be channeled into the focus to summon a replica of the projectile that is loaded into the sling.
- [Stabilise] - [Masterwork] : This focus has been enhanced to apply a stabilisation effect to any loaded projectile. The projectile will be less likely to deviate when fired and is able to be infused with a secondary purpose in addition to the growth ability.
Jack stared wide-eyed at the green and white sling. This thing was not a child's toy at all. He was trying to order his thoughts but he couldn't help but shake the picture of the bonsai tree he had grown out of his mind. He was pretty sure, if he understood correctly, this sling could basically fling a fully grown tree at someone.
He slowed down and narrowed in on the word ‘Focus’. That was the same thing that was on his Shockwave gun; this was higher quality and had more enhancements. It looked like one of its enhancements was similar to the one on his focus—it summoned a projectile to fire. This one allowed for some customisation though, and that gave it some crazy potential.
It seemed like all of this would be pretty useless without the Delay enhancement, however. That was the one that really made this scary. Launching something that changed its size as soon as it left the pouch was less effective in almost every way, at least to Jack's mind anyway. Big things moved slower; they had to push more air out of the way. If the thing maintained its speed as it grew, then it was better to grow as close to hitting the target as possible.
Thinking about it though, Stabilise might actually help with that. Maybe the 'less likely to deviate' part would apply to speed and gravity? He was getting sidetracked. He could theory-craft later. For now, in his mind, this was the Tree Sling and he wanted one for himself.
The tap tap tap of Thalen's foot rushed him along. The dude was rude.
He glanced between the pouch and the gloves. He caved and inspected the gloves next.
[Steelroot Punch Gloves]
[Master Craft] - [Reinforcement Essence x 2(28%)][Flow Essence(15%)]
This item has been forged by a Master Craftsman utilising Essence from multiple riftspawn equipment.
These gloves are made from living fibers of the steelroot plant, when the fibers are infused with Life mana they activate. The exterior surface instantly locks into place, forming a jagged surface that is as dense as steel. The Interior fibers retain their natural elasticity, absorbing recoil and reducing feedback of strikes.
[Enhancements]
- [Knuckle Blades] - [Masterwork] : This item has been modified to include slits over each knuckle. Tiny segments of steelroot have been embedded within the weave and can be extended slightly when the gloves are activated.
- [Chain] - [Masterwork]: This item has been enhanced, to grant the wielder the ability to grow a chain made from the same fibers as the glove. The chain is fused with the palm of the glove and can be extended or retracted by channeling mana into the chain.
- [Density] - [Masterwork] : This item has been enhanced to provide a massive[67%] boost to the density and strength of any material created or associated with itself.
Staring at the barbs sticking slightly out over each knuckle, a childish smile spread across his face. These were Wolverine gloves. Obviously, it depended on the definition of ‘slightly’, but there was no way he could look at it and picture anything else.
Once he got past the knuckle blades, he tried to work out in his mind how these would be used. They seemed simple but a little disjointed as far as he could tell. He didn't understand the chain enhancement and how it fit with what he assumed were metal boxing gloves with spikes.
Tap tap tap.
Jack squeezed his eyes tight. Normally he was pretty chill, but sometimes a sound or motion just got under his skin. The tapping was starting to reach that point.
“Hey,” Jack said, trying to keep his calm.
“It’s a little hard to process all the magical information that is getting pushed into my brain with the tappity-tap-tap over there,” Jack snapped, feeling a little ashamed as soon as he said it but deciding it was best to own it for now.
Thalen tilted his head while looking at Jack, raised his eyebrows, and nodded. His foot stopped tapping. Jack returned the nod and turned back to the table; only the pouch and the armour remained. He reached forward towards the…