To Rebuild a Mageocracy

Seven

^^ Dark Dragon Armor (Post Enchantment) ^^

— Arcata, Dungeon Guild Hall, Anitra —

Knocking around a petulant brat was a bit like bullying a child, to be honest, even though she was closer to twenty years old and my current form was only twelve; mentally, I was a thirty-seven-year-old business owner who owned a comic store and made custom-order nerd stuff, and so she was essentially young enough to be my child, and her childish attitude didn't help. On the other hand, I didn't care how old she was, spoiled brats like that were fun to poke at like bears in gilded silver cages; I knew it was mildly sadistic and mean, but my sympathy for people like that was greatly limited. Plus, she'd proved me right when she tried to stab me in the throat with an enchanted sword during a supposedly 'non-lethal duel'.

The suit of plate armor I animated and commanded to fall off of her, plus the enchanted sword, were the perfect loot, to be honest, as I was looking for something to be my first adventuring gear, and animated armor was the best idea I'd had yet; it could guard me in my sleep, help lessen stamina expenditure by assisting movement, increase the strength of my physical attacks without me having to invest stats into strength, increasing my range of vision due to the living armor's 360° tremor sense and true sight, and so much more. On the one hand, having flashy armor when I was trying to travel the world could be bad, especially when all my awesome magical power comes from the dungeon I'm sitting on top of, and once I was out of the city that power would dwindle to a thin thread; on the other hand, I was a Paladin of Muradin, plus Champion to boot, and Paladins needed Heavy Plate Armor.

Mage Paladins, of course, needed Enchanted Heavy Armor.

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Enchantment Material detected: Mithril Heavy Plate Armor (full set)
Resultant: Enchanted Plate Armor (Mithril)
Possible Enchantments: Mage Armor, +30 others
Enchantment Methods: Fusion with Spell Card, Fusion with Skill Book, or Fusion with Magic Crystals + Runic Engraving
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The animated armor moved, suddenly, breaking my concentration as it drew its sword and pointed it at the window, and Aric spoke from behind it. "Who's the Tin Can? Pretty solid senses, but very slow. Balance your stats better, man! Pouring everything into Perception is cool and all, but now you need-... hey where's this guys body?"

"Stand down, Armor; Aric, meet your new co-worker... James? Manny? I dunno, I'll come up with a name for it later after it's enchanted fully. It's an animated armor, it's a spell; they're not very strong, but they have very sharp perception, as you've noticed. They make pretty good alarms."

Aric looked up from where he'd been trying to peer into the collar of the armor. "So it's like a golem?"

"Yes, it is exactly a golem. Just cheaper to make and thus much weaker."

"Ahhh, yes, okay... well, it fooled me into thinking it was a person, until I looked into its collar to stab it; maybe a fur mantle to cover that up and it's a perfect fake!"

"That's the idea, yes. Now, your enchantment materials? Let's get your armor made, and I can start on this one next." I held out a hand for the heavy bag hanging from his shoulder, clearly bulging with products, and sat down at the desk again, in front of his armor. "Also I enchanted your dagger already, but I'm going to alter and enhance the enchantment once you give me the material for your dagger as well. You can play with it while I do your armor, but don't ever point it in my direction; it has a length of three meters and a range according to your Int Stat." I flicked the dagger in his general direction while he placed the bag on the desk, trying not to be offended by the total ease with which he caught the blade between his fingers.