82: Ekavir Goes Shopping (Patreon)

Vir contemplated heading to Param’s shop, but the Brotherhood not only had more weapons and armor to choose from, with examples all across the Known World, but their quality was also better. And, unlike with the inn, Vir got a five percent discount.

Located in the same Sanctum building, the armory shop was just a short walk from his room, across the courtyard that served as the Balar rank arena.

Hundreds of weapons lined the racks of the tall, vaulted ceiling room. A long counter dominated the side wall, behind which hung several more weapons.

The expensive ones.

Vir doubted he’d have the money to afford those gorgeous blades, but it was still fun to ogle.

Only a handful of other mercenaries were present, allowing Neel to freely run around while Vir admired the sea of armaments on display. Not only were there multiple examples of most weapon types—arming swords, greatswords, talwars, shamshirs, maces, polearms, flails, and several more—but they all had different accents and styles, too.

Some were unadorned, meant to be basic, rugged implements of war. Others had intricate carvings and gold inlays. Those looked like they’d be more at home on a Sawai aristocrat’s waist than in a warrior’s hand.

There were even a couple of urumis—bizarre flexible whip-swords that looked both deadly and comical at the same time. Vir had to wonder if any martial arts incorporated such strange weapons, or if they were more for intimidation.

To Vir’s immense disappointment, there wasn’t a single seric weapon in sight. Materials ranged all the way from mid-grade iron all the way up to gleaming steel alloys, but there wasn’t a hint of seric.

Maybe they keep those in a back room? Or maybe they were so expensive that most warriors couldn’t afford them. After all, who’d stock an item that never sold? Seric blades started at one seric coin and went up from there. To afford even the cheapest seric katar, Vir would have to work over a hundred contracts for the Brotherhood. Taking living expenses into account, he’d probably have to work nonstop for an entire year to afford one.

Some day, Vir thought with a sigh, walking over to an especially strange rack of swords. Vir initially mistook them for training swords, since some were made of wood. Others were steel, but pencil-thin. They looked as though they’d snap when struck at anything harder than flesh.

That was when he noticed the spherical cavities at their hilts.

Magic weapons!?

Every weapon on this rack had at least one slot for magical orbs.

So that’s why they look like this. They’re designed to be used with magic!

Vir had heard of combat support magic, but had never really understood how it worked. Spells like Sharpen Edge, Enhance Speed, Enhance Edge Retention, and Enhance Durability could be slotted into these swords, boosting their properties.

With magic augmenting them, these swords would behave extremely differently from regular weapons. A sword with the weight of a feather could deal the damage of a greatsword.

It’d be able to strike much faster, too. He could scarcely imagine how devastating these weapons could be.

Must be nice to have a mejai along. Vir wondered whether he’d ever get to join a party with a mejai in it. Maybe he could pair up with Maiya to become an unstoppable duo one day?

Vir shook off those delusions and forced himself to think about the reason he was here. He didn’t come here to buy weapons. He needed armor.

Walking to the far wall of the room, he found an array of armor-clad straw dummies. There was less selection here, but still dozens to choose from. Gambesons in various colors and thicknesses, brigandines—both fitted and square-shaped, and full plate armor, with a half dozen helmet options.

Those he ignored. Helmets made him feel stuffy, no matter how many coifs he wore, and they robbed him of his hearing. Maybe he’d regret it one day, but his hood would suffice for now.

The same went for boots. He’d learned that any metal in his soles interfered with his ability to pull prana through the ground. He imagined it was the same for mejai, which was likely why mejai never wore gauntlets.

He’d given a great deal of thought to what kind of armor suited him best. Everyone always coveted full plate, and while it was more mobile than it looked, it wouldn’t do for Vir’s acrobatics. The Kalari arts were some of the flashiest he’d seen, regularly involving somersaults, jumps, and flips in combat.

Kalari demanded extreme mobility and speed. Moreover, Vir needed to remain quiet while executing his flips and somersaults. In fact, there was an argument to be made for not wearing any armor at all. Dexterity and mobility provided its own security—better not to be hit at all.

But that was easier said than done. What about monsters that spit venom? Or against lightning affinity magic? Lightning spells were nearly impossible to avoid.

In Vir’s case, it was the prana rats that had caused him to reconsider. A single puncture in his skin could end him, owing to the diseases they carried. Armor would protect him against such foes.

He immediately ruled out full plate, for two reasons. Even if he bought a cuirass, those armor pieces were heavier than the other options, and were usually worn over gambeson, so he’d need to buy that too. Plate was expensive, and the cost of both together exceeded his budget. The cheapest plate cuirass cost ten silvers, and he barely had five to spare.

That said, plate bracers and greaves seemed close to ideal. With his five silvers, Vir could just barely afford both, but that would leave his vitals unprotected.

Gambeson was a tempting option. Unlike the other armor types, they were a single piece of thick, heavy fabric, which brought down their cost. Cheaper to tailor too.

That was also the issue with them. They didn’t make a gambeson cuirass, unless Vir did a custom order, which he couldn’t afford. The full gambeson covered his arms and legs down to the knees. While it’d offer some cushioning, it would still impede his acrobatics, and he was unsure whether even the thick gambeson was strong enough to protect against deadly prana beast fangs. Not to mention, fabric generally fared poorly against acidic venom.

Mail was far beyond his budget and made too much noise.

Which left the third main type of armor available: Brigandine. Brigs were made of small overlapping steel plates riveted to a leather backing. They looked like studded leather armor, but had most of the penetration protection of steel plate without the cost and with slightly greater mobility.

And they were more affordable. The cheapest Brig cuirass was on sale for five silvers.

But that would leave his extremities unprotected.

Vir didn’t have enough for both.

“You look like you could use some help there, friend,” a clean shaven, bald and browless man said as he approached. Nicks and scars covered his cheeks and his nose, marring what would’ve otherwise been a striking face. Like all Sanctum employees, he wore a black robe, a black sash at his waist, and a black hood.

He looked like the kind of guy who’d seen his fair share of battles, so Vir laid out his concerns.

“I see,” the armorer said. “Classic problem. Protect yourself from a deathblow at the cost of losing a limb, or keep your limbs but risk a spear to the heart. Well, tell me about your fighting style? Hiranyan? Or Kin’jali Balarian?”

“Neither, actually,” Vir said. “My style relies on mobility and dodging. And a bit of acrobatics.”

“Bah! You’re one of the flashy ones, are you? Well in that case, I don’t recommend the brig. Sure, it won’t impede you much, but you’ll still feel it. Better to go for the plate greaves and bracers. If you use them well, you can use them to block attacks as well. Like a makeshift shield.”

Vir hadn’t considered that, but it could certainly work, if the steel was thick enough, and of high enough quality. And in fact, he could use them for offense too. A bracer strike might not do much damage on its own, but an Empowered bracer? That could hurt. Doubly true for an Empowered kick with shin greaves on.

“Alright. I’ll go for the plate bracer and greaves. I’ve got five silvers, so I’ll have to buy this most basic set.”

The armorer narrowed his eyes. “Sorry, friend, but that set won’t work for you,” he said, taking the bracer off the straw dummy. The steel bent in his hand. “They’re cheap for a reason. More for show than anything else. If you’re wanting protection, you’ll be needing at least this.”

The armorer handed Vir a bracer off another dummy that was noticeably heavier. Not so much that it’d affect his mobility, but it felt far sturdier than the other one.

“How much?” Vir asked.

“Ten for bracers and greaves. Five if you just want the bracers.”

Vir had come in here expecting to walk out with a full protection solution. Maybe not decked out in armor, but enough to offset the risks he’d face in the sewers, at least. Bracers without shin greaves wouldn’t do much for him.

“Is there anything else?” Vir asked.

“Well… I might have something. But you’re not going to like it,” the bald, hooded man said, walking over to his counter. He crouched and rummaged around behind the counter for a moment, before standing with a set of bracers and greaves.

Beautiful! Was Vir’s first reaction. Gaudy! Was his second.

Both the greaves and the bracers had intricate red and gold inlays that made the armor pieces look more like ceremonial armor than anything functional. Even the steel was polished far beyond what it ought to be.

But the most striking thing was how the greaves had both shin and thigh parts, with a separate steel knee plate.

“Alright, so this armor may be a tad more restrictive than what you were looking for, seeing as how it covers everything from your waist down. But the segmentation is actually well done. I’ve tried it on myself; it’s quite mobile.”

“Sure,” Vir replied, “but what of the cost? I can’t afford anything this fancy.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” the armorer said with a grimace. “I know the blacksmith who made this. The guy’s obsessed with decorations, but he can’t afford the real deal. This isn’t gold, friend. It’s fools gold. Doesn’t even look like the real thing! There isn’t a single Sawai who would touch this stuff. And few warriors want to wear this gaudy thing to battle. This has sat on my shelf for half a year. Can’t get rid of it.”

“And?” Vir asked cautiously. “How much do you want for it?”

“Friend, the steel in this set makes it worth ten silvers, easy. But, given its other qualities, I’ll let it go for seven.”

Vir’s face fell. “Seven is literally all the money I have. Five was stretching it, but the most I can do is six. No point having armor if I’m gonna starve. I’ve got a bandy and an Ash’va with a bum leg to look after, too.”

The armorer leaned on the counter and looked Vir up and down. “Well, y’know. You’re an Initiate, right? Five percent discount… Well, I was never all that good at my numbers. Five percent sounds like a silver off of seven to me. Sound right to you?”

Vir barely suppressed his grin. “Sounds about right to me.”

— —

He spent the next half hour getting fitted for the armor. The alteration process would take another day, so the set would only be ready for him tomorrow.

Having tried it on and worked through some moves, its weight was noticeable. He’d have to get used to fighting with it, but the armorer had been right. It wasn’t restrictive enough to compromise his acrobatics.

If he was honest, the gaudy armor had some serious disadvantages. It’d gain him attention of the kind he didn’t want. It really wasn’t ideal for stealthy operations. But then, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and this was only his first set. Maybe he could have it painted black one day. But for now, it’d protect not only his forearms and shins, but his whole leg, too.

Vir also ended up selling his old training katar. The rusted iron weapon was hardly useful in combat, and it’d fetched a pittance of thirty coppers. He used the funds to pay for having his chakrams and chakris sharpened up. He’d give those to the armorer tomorrow when he returned for the armor.

With his affairs in order, Vir retrieved Neel and set out.

He was on the clock for this contract, and if Ravin was to die by Vir’s hands, he needed to know everything about the man.

Vir left the Brotherhood Sanctum not as a villager of Brij, but as a judge and executioner.