From what he could gather in the little bits of conversation he heard, Monty was broke. It sounded like he should be doing fairly well for himself with the title and the vessel. But every time anyone mentioned money, it seemed like there wasn't a lot to go around. Jack assumed the armoury would be pretty bare if that was the case.
“So, you said you were... Seneschal, is that the right word? What does that mean? Are you like the COO or something around here? Can I ask you some questions as we walk?” Jack asked. He knew that was technically already a question, but how were you meant to ask that?
“I have no idea what that means. I am Seneschal to Lord Montarg. When he achieved his Lordship and was granted his title by the Centre, I was assigned to support him. My role is to ensure his… vision is kept afloat and not drowned out by all of the little niggling administrative aspects of life. As such, I am partially responsible for ensuring that this vessel and its operations are running along smoothly,” Thalen replied without looking over his shoulder.
Jack nodded. He filed the comment about being assigned to support him away. It sounded as if he was somehow associated with the Centre, which was the big governmental-type entity that seemed to manage the universe. After Brandt's talk earlier, he needed to find out more about what they were and what they did.
“So, was that a no on asking you some questions?” Jack asked.
“Jack, I have been told you appreciate directness. It might be a good lesson for you to learn that sometimes no answer is an answer in itself,” Thalen said.
Jack's eyebrows raised as he pursed his lips and nodded. Thalen was right, he did prefer directness; he could also appreciate a swift conversational dodge. He felt a strange camaraderie with Thalen, so he took a chance and pushed a little bit.
“Do you mind then if I just… talk out loud? You know, just get my thoughts out there.” Thalen seemed like the type of person that would find it difficult not to correct someone if they were wrong. Before he could hear a response, he continued.
“When we were talking with Overseer Brandt, he made a comment about Lord Mont...arg not appreciating Magitech. Seeing as he can't use any, I guess the armoury will probably be pretty empty or unimpressive. He mentioned something about financial issues as well. I wouldn't want to be putting a burden on the expedition at all; I could pay for the equipment?” Jack said, hoping he had said enough to bait a response.
Thalen stopped walking and turned on his heel abruptly to face Jack. He gave Jack another appraisal, with a full temple-to-toes and back up again stare. He squinted his eyes as he shook his head.
“I am not sure what to make of you yet, Mr Davies. Your arrival here has made my life difficult. However, since your arrival, some things have changed for the better. Lord Montarg is… He seems like a slightly younger version of himself. That is a good thing.” Thalen scrunched his face up, pushing his lips to one side.
“I have been told a very vague story about your abilities. I will not pry, and rest assured I am bound to keep your information in confidence. I thank you for your assistance already; it well and truly outweighs the cost of the proposed equipment.” Thalen winked as he turned and began moving through the maze of hallways again.
“However, just to be clear. Lord Montarg may skimp on certain aspects of running a vessel of this size. One thing he takes very seriously, however, is the safety of his crew. The armoury is the most well-funded part of this whole endeavour. For the size of the crew here, it is one of the most impressive collections currently in action. Now enough, it is better to see it, and I am too tired to keep up this conversation anymore,” Thalen replied as he turned the corner.
Jack smiled to himself as he followed. That went better than he had expected. He was even more excited now that he knew there was probably some very interesting gear stored he would get to see soon. He had only seen a few pieces of Magitech in person, well, ignoring the doors, lights, and most of the vessel that was. He was excited to see more equipment-based Magitech.
They walked in silence until they turned down a hallway that was very different from the others. Instead of the normal domed metal tunnel with occasional sliding doors inset, the walls were thick, smooth, and bare metal. There was a large set of double automatic doors in front of them. They were made from the same metal as the rest of the vessel, but these were much thicker than any other door he had seen.
As Thalen approached, lights flared all around the opening. Looking like some sort of cyborg eye awakening, the door itself started to glow green. Thalen motioned for Jack to approach.
“Come along, I don't have all day, and I am sure you want to use your time inspecting the interior more than the exterior. Place your hand here.” He motioned to a section of the wall that was inset slightly; its surface ran at a forty-five-degree angle and was pulsing with red light.
Jack did as instructed. As soon as his hand made contact with the surface, he felt a familiar inky sensation flow over his hand. His eyes showed him nothing more than a flash of red light, but his senses told him more. Somehow the Origin was involved in whatever scan was happening right now; the feeling was unmistakable.
The feeling withdrew and the light turned green. Jack turned and looked over at Thalen, who just winked at him and motioned for him to step aside. He placed his hand on the same sensor and the light on the door pulsed once. The heavy doors spiraled open from the centre like a camera lens, the segments retracting into the wall with a silent, fluid grace.
Jack was impressed, but Thalen moved on. Jack hurried to follow, admiring the door and looking for engravings on it. He noticed the door was thick as well when they passed through, at least half a metre or so. Jack pulled his eyes away from the door and looked ahead of him.
They were standing in a long, wide hallway. On both sides, a slight orange glow from a panel similar to the one he had just touched sat next to doors. Jack counted ten on each side, with the last door on each wall having a larger gap between it and the others.
Right before the bigger rooms, one of the panels had a green glow. Thalen was striding towards that door.
“This is the Armoury. Each of the crew that has signed on to participate in combat-related expeditions is allocated one of these rooms. Eighteen for crew, the last two rooms are Lord Montarg's and the communal storage. At the end of the hallway is the Essence Forge. Until about six months ago we had a Journeyman crafter on our crew. The room is now empty while we fill that void.”
Nodding, Jack followed along. The forge sounded interesting, and if he ever managed to slow down a little, he would ask about it in more detail. He wanted to learn how the engravings on the Magitech machines worked, understand it to use it in his plans. Someone that understood that on the crew might be a big help to him. Turrel had said he had no knowledge other than basic information and that learning from a book would be as helpful as he could be. If it didn't directly involve using it in a skill or form part of his essential knowledge, Turrel was less enthusiastic about adding to their learning schedule.
“Are crafters hard to find?” Jack asked.
“Yes. Now, this is your compartment. Scan here.” Thalen barely answered his question and motioned to the panel beside the door. “Only you, me, and Lord Montarg are able to unlock this door now that it has been keyed to you. Each compartment is temperature controlled and is fitted with safety features in case of malfunctioning equipment.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Jack placed his hand on the panel and the door opened. The room inside lit up as a sunshine-like glow emanated from the corners of the roof. The room was a very simple two-by-two cube; the far wall had a seam in it and what looked like a handle in one section of it. Otherwise, the space was bare.
Thalen entered and walked towards the rear wall and pointed at the circular opening and handle.
“Each of these compartments is the same size, other than the last two. They all have a secure shelving section like this. You can do whatever you want with the rest of the room.” He pulled on the handle and the entire section of the wall pulled out. About half a metre wide and almost to the ceiling, it would have to be at least two and a half metres tall.
It had rows of shelves and separate sections for hanging things and all manner of hooks and holes to slot things into. The unit itself pulled fully out of the wall and took up most of the length of the room. On it, he could see two items.
One was a heavy knee-length leather coat; its deep burgundy colour shone slightly. It had long sleeves and a thick collar that was very rigid. There was a warmth emanating from it, and Jack could sense there were fire-infused mana crystals in pockets on the inside of it. There were a number of straps and loops on the right-hand side of the jacket along with two large pockets to either side. It connected in the middle with what looked like some strange magnetic clips.
The second item looked very much like some sort of space gun, almost cartoonishly so. It was made of a white metallic material and had a handle that was coated in some sort of black rubber. It was curved and shaped like a pistol, but the resemblance to an Earth gun ended there. Instead of a barrel like he had been expecting, there was a hollow tube about the thickness of his wrist. It was half the length of his forearm, and at the end there were three short, thin, needle-like points. Each point extended out from the end of the tube at about a thirty-degree angle.
There were intricate symbols all over the gun-like weapon and as he glanced over at the jacket. Occasionally he could see a slight shimmer on parts of the fabric that highlighted more shapes and lines across its surface. The rest of the cabinet was empty. Jack looked between Thalen and the equipment; the man was just staring at him with a smirk on his face.
“Well, go on then. This is yours after all. The jacket is standard issue; it is functional but very high quality. Everyone will be in similar equipment for this expedition. The focus, however…” He pointed to the handgun.
“That was a custom request by Lord Montarg. Master Turrel gave some advice on the physical design; he said it might be more familiar if it was in this configuration. It was meant to be finished before you entered a rift but… Lord Montarg was quite eager to begin. It arrived while you were on Zerra.” Thalen gestured for Jack to inspect them.
“Go on, have a look, inspect it and get acquainted with what they do,” he said as he stepped back to give Jack room. It was a tight space with the cabinet out of the wall and in the centre of the room.
Jack approached and reached out towards the items, hesitating as he struggled with which item to inspect first. He was drawn to the handgun, knowing it had been requested specifically for him was enticing. But Jack was the sort of person who ate his vegetables first and saved the steak for last; he liked finishing on a high.
He reached out to the coat and acknowledged the tingle in the back of his mind.
[Comfortable Coat of Warmth]
[Expert Craft] - [Flow Essence(11%)][Capacity Essence(15%)]
This item has been forged by an Expert Craftsman utilising Essence from multiple riftspawn equipment.
This coat, when charged with fire mana - will ensure that the users internal body temperature is maintained at the optimal level for their current physical body. This item provides resistance to change in temperature in a radius of 5cm from the user's body.
Made from the hide of a Magmasuchus, it passively provides minimal[10%] resistance to slashing and piercing. It is resistant to rapid changes in temperature.
[Enhancements]
- [Efficiency] - [Expert] : This Item has been tuned to provide a moderate[32%] reduction in mana usage to maintain its passive effect.
- [Versatile] - [Expert] : This Item has been enhanced to include four pouches on the interior of the coat. If a crystal charged with fire mana is placed into these pouches it will act as a powersource for the coat .
Jack was happy he had brushed up slightly on his Magitech knowledge after interacting with Brandt. It wasn't a lot, but he had begun studying the basics before bed last night, so a lot more of it made sense to him now.
At first glance, this seemed like a very good item, simple but effective. It provided some level of physical defence, and the wording seemed to imply that it would be as effective in a hot environment as it was in a cold one.
Being able to be charged by external sources was a big plus; he wouldn't have been able to utilise it otherwise. The item specifically stated that it would only function while charged with fire mana, so that meant he couldn't do it himself… yet anyway. One day he would solve that problem.
This seemed like the perfect standard-issue item for an expedition into an extreme temperature environment. He had no idea on the actual value of something like this, but he knew that “Expert” was only one level down from Master.
Two essences was amazing. That took him to a total of three, and looking at the handgun, it could soon increase again. He smiled and without hesitation reached out to touch the next item.
[Enhanced Shockwave Focus]
[Journeyman Craft] - [Flow Essence(12%)]
This item has been modified by a Journeyman crafter utilising a singular essence.
This focus has been modified in shape to resemble a hand held ranged weapon from the ??? solar system.
When the user activates the [Shockwave] ability and channels it through this item, the shape component of its activation will be maintained by the focus.
Provides a minimal[10%] increase to the efficiency and power of any shockwave ability that is channeled through it.
[Enhancements]
- [Projectile Creation] - [Journeyman] : This Item has been enhanced to include the ability to create a small wooden projectile. Sending mana into the focus will generate a singular dense wooden orb. The orb will be suspended in the center of the focus until it is activated.
This one was very different; he hadn't read about focuses yet. It seemed like it somehow interacted directly with his skill rather than mana. He guessed the ??? was because his world hadn't been inducted yet? It reminded him of what showed up when he looked at his Prime frequency. Curious.
Otherwise, shape was the thing that took the most of his focus when he used the ability at the moment. If he didn't have to focus on that, he guessed he could activate it quicker, especially if he could limit his mana usage slightly.
Adding a projectile was a big thing; all he could do at the moment was blast things away. Adding something to the blast so that he could get something to do damage made it an actual viable attack. Although, thinking about it, if this kept his shockwave in a tighter shape—something that resembled the barrel of the handgun—there was a chance that with the force he could manage with his overcharged shockwave, it might actually be able to inflict some damage on its own. Like a pressure jet.
Jack was excited. All he wanted to do was to try it out. He reached forward to get a feel for it but was interrupted by Thalen.
“Just a moment, Mr Davies. This room is yours to come and go as you please from now on. I do have a lot to do today and well… against my objections, Lord Montarg wanted me to show you one more area. I can’t leave you there alone… So I would very much appreciate it if you could come with me now and go through this later.”
Jack tilted his head and tore his eyes away from the handgun. It could wait… sure.
“Thank you. Please follow me to Lord Montarg's personal compartment. Just let me stress to you that I was very against this. Sharing this sort of information is an insight into much more than just someone's gear preferences… Regardless of my opinion, however, Lord Montarg seems to trust you for some reason.”
Jack waited for the but. He got the feeling that Thalen wasn't particularly fond of him.
“But I will have to insist that we keep this tour brief. He suggested you might get some information from seeing his old equipment. From before he received his body upgrade that made his weapons mostly worthless to him.”
Jack’s eyes were wide as he followed Thalen out. As much as he was still a little upset at the man seemingly not liking him, the thought of inspecting Monty's old gear was interesting. He was starting to get an idea of how skills and traits might fit together. Gear was a whole other aspect he was very much looking forward to learning about.
“Lead the way, mate. I’ll try to not take too long,” Jack said, trying to put on his friendly best impression personality.