As far as complications go, this was both unexpected and inconvenient. Every other item he had encountered responded immediately. He could feel the item and had been able to “inhabit” it as though he still had a body. Why were these gauntlets so different? What was it that prevented his from inhabiting this pair? He tried the pair next on the table, another well-made example, if not to the exceptional standard of the “King’s” pair. Again, he felt nothing. Fighting back panic, he picked up the Heavy Gauntlets from the Essence responding to the presence of a Magical item.
“requires the item to be Magical, idiot.” He winced internally. Luckily no-one was here to see his display of stupidity. He slotted his left vambrace into the Heavy Gauntlet, and felt it to integrate into his armour and mesh with his He activated his and had an almost pins-and-needles like sensation as his filled the glove. He flexed his fingers and rolled his wrist. It felt stiffer than his other gauntlet, but also he could feel it was heavier. He sat there, debating with himself as to whether he should keep the gauntlet from the Grand Hall armour, or swap for the matching set of Soldier’s Gauntlets. The Soldier’s Armour was thicker, heavier and more robust. He could tell that his grip was stronger while wearing them. However, the Grand Hall Gauntlets were lighter, with smoother articulation and better range of motion. He knew, whichever way he went, he wanted a matching set. Finally, he figured that he should go back to the Grand Hall and find a replacement. Dexterity in the hands was always superior. He considered briefly trying to wrestle the pauldrons from the Soldier Armour into place. They were larger, heavier, with a haute plate, and if his sense regarding the gauntlets was correct, would confer a
He wondered why more people didn’t grab armour pieces from the various Writ of Revelation for an exorbitant price, you could never be sure exactly what your Magic item did. It had come as a surprise to Reinhardt to learn about the and the - to his mind - insane price placed upon them. Anyone could take their items to church and have the Cleric perform the for free. However, you could also buy , that you could use yourself. Being one of the poorest people in the realm, Reinhardt had wondered why you would ever pay for a service you can receive for free. Otto had shrunk it down for him: “For a low-Blue grade Magical item, it doesn’t really matter, but consider: you have a , or find the Magical Villeton, but still.” He looked down at his , imagining the reaction if he presented at the church and there was anyone else present. Probably a similar reaction to his . That spurred him to action. He would head back to the Grand Hall and get a replacement gauntlet. He needed a scabbard for his Writ of Revelation.
Reinhardt walked to the back of the Armoury, past the racks of swords. There were dozens of different styles and makes. He ignored them all, instead he sought out the sets hanging on dummies. He passed up on the first couple, with longer swords in the style of an estoque, until he found one with a fairly plain belt, sword and scabbard that looked to be the right style and size. It was a decent fit. He slid his DungeonWe already found what I was looking for.” Even in his head, the thought was sullen. Given his revelations regarding how his functioned, he regretted letting Otto retrieve it more than ever. Depending on the Enchantment, he could have immediately jumped into Why did Otto grab it? He would never have been able to use it. I would likely still be alive had I had the shield.”
With an effort, Reinhardt dragged his mind back. He had alternated between anger, resentment, fear and even acceptance during his time as a “ghost.” No need to retread old paths.
That heater shield was almost ideal in size and shape, but then, Reinhardt had used a round shield throughout school. During training, they had used deliberately unbalanced equipment, shields with thick chains hanging from various points, shields tied to heavy weights, shields that were tied to their body, their head or their leg. Everything designed to add adversity while their Combat Drills instructor yelled at them that “the shield stays up, the shield stays between you and the opponent, you keep moving behind the shield
The shields in the Armoury started down at bucklers barely bigger than a dinner plate, through to targes and rondaches, and right on up to kite shields large even for Reinhardt, and tower shields that would have covered Magdi with half a foot to spare. There were also oddities. There was a steel pavise where the top quarter was made from mesh, a metal heater shield with an odd cut-out on the leading edge. A medium sized square had a canvas curtain hanging from the bottom. There was a large scutum with a three quarter moon cut-out - this one, Reinhardt was able to determine, was designed for use with a spear. He couldn’t see himself with one of the weird shields. Something large, sturdy and familiar would serve him far better than a specialised piece of equipment. So the oddities were out, as were the bucklers, targes and rondaches. He eliminated the pavises and tower shields too, they would be too cumbersome. That left a still rather large selection of rounds, heaters, kites and scutums. He thought back to the sword drills that he had seared into his brain. Not a scutum then. He liked the rounded bottom edge of rounds, heaters, and kite shields. He was just getting down to the merits of round vs heater when he spied the perfect shield.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It was a style heater shield, slightly larger than a heater would usually be. Two and a half feet at its widest point, and just under four feet tall, from tip to crown. The top edge diverged from a standard heater design by having a “point,” that rose a handspan above the “top line” across the shoulders of the shield. The physical top swept up to this point in gentle curves. It felt like a form of hard wood, edged in a thick, dull grey metal. The face was painted of and and in the of a large placed was rendered in and . “,” he chuckled drily to himself. He grabbed the shield from its resting place propped up against the right hand wall, and checked the enarmes and grip riveted to the reverse. As he handled it, he ardently wished it was the unhappy because the item was “only” a mundane
Shaking his head, he turned to fix his attention to the various spears scattered throughout the room. He continued the turn to complete a full 360. He wasn’t sure why he had, the thought running through his head could have been thought while looking at anything. “ item, but does it to be?” He scowled as he worked through it. He would have to go back tomorrow and check if another piece of the Armament Composition had become Magical. Then, he had to replace the shield, and see if that remained there through a . Actually, he could do both today. If it did, and if it did, could he continue removing items until the shield became Magical? He didn’t want to lose this shield now he had found it, but a Magic shield is a Magical shield. This would be a bit of a process. Unfortunately, that meant leaving it here for now, and making sure it remained through the cycle. He hoped that it would, it was only a mundane item used as “background setting,” even if it was a perfectly serviceable item. Sighing internally, he set the shield down where he had found it. He would have to swap the Grand Hall shield with one from here, and then wait for the process, make sure this shield was still here, then make sure that another item in the Armament Composition was Enchanted, and that the replacement shield remained. If that all happened, he’d have to do it again the next day, with shield. He grimaced. “” he thought in resignation. “s worth of , providing I don’t sustain an injury. Maybe even three.”
Heartened by that thought, he grabbed a distinctive round shield - buff brown with a red dragon - and walked from the Armoury. As he jogged up through the Officer’s Quarters, he remembered the situation in the Grand Hall - A zweihander, a shield wielder and a damaged halberdier remained, all down near the main doors. If he entered through the West Side Passage, he could get to the downed halberdier and finish it before the others could interrupt. Then he could use the shield wielder to disrupt the zweihander’s ability to swing, ending with a duel with the zweihander. He knew decapitation was the only sure way to kill the
Reinhardt clapped his visor down and dashed forward to reach the halberdier before the others had managed to make it half way. It tried to brace itself on its knees and swing the poleaxe as he approached, but Reinhardt simply jumped back and across the arc of the swing, coming in behind the long haft of the halberd. The Spirit-form also like butter? As the head fell in an eerie facsimile of his own decapitation, he shook himself - now was not the time for such thoughts, he’d have a full day tomorrow to examine that concept. The shield wielder now approached him, shield forward, sword held in a variation of ready to attack. Reinhardt matched the stance and circled away from the defeated Essence flooded into Reinhardt. With no lingering injuries requiring attention, his SoulSoulEssence, crossing the threshold for
He grinned to himself. If he could defeat these two with no major injuries, he would reach
He waded in.
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