Chapter 37: Armoured Up!
The pickpocket boy continues to try and pry his arm out of Michael's grip... It was honestly most difficult to hold onto him than Michael expected, but he put this down to the kid's experience rather than his own weakness...
The surrounding people just keep a wide birth from the duo as they go about their day, deciding to stay out of their business.
Michael glares down at the now teary-eyed boy and scowls, "If you don't want to go with the guards and sit in a prison for however long they keep thieves, you'll tell me why you targeted me... I've only been in this city for a couple hours, I refuse to believe this is just a coincidence." he states, tightening his grip on the boy's arm.
...
"I-I'll tell you! I'll tell you!... The Orphaner! He decides who we go for... N-now please, let me go!" the boy exclaims.
...
"Orphaner?" Michael questions, already knowing that whoever they were had to be evil... Why else would you be called 'Orphaner'? "Who is the Orphaner?"
"I-I can't say, sir! L-Let me go!" the boy shouts, giving one final tug as Michael lets go, causing him to fall to the cobbled road below, scraping his arm and knee before running off into one of the many alleyways.
Michael furrows his brow and decides his first target in this city. The Orphaner had already targeted him, so he'd consider it both payback and public service.
For now though, Michael continues his way to the weapon shop, arriving at the nice-looking building that had many weapons displayed on the walls and on racks set out across the room.
The weapons came in a huge variety, some that Michael hadn't ever seen before, even in the many games he'd played back on Earth. There was some he could recognise though, rapiers, tanto's, claymores, daggers, bastard swords, spears.
They came in every shape and size you could possibly desire, as well as many unique configurations like kris', karambits, sword breakers, spiked bucklers, spiked gauntlets...
There were so many that Michael had no idea what he actually wanted to pick. His Gandalfr runes would make him proficient in any weapon he held, but he knew he could improve his skills further... After all, the runes only improved his proficiency rank by two levels, which means any skills he personally learned would drastically increase how powerful the runes were.
An easy way to look at it would be this... In Skyrim the weakest magic is Novice, but with Gandalfr runes, your Novice level would increase to Adept. But, if you were at Adept anyway, your level would become Master, the highest-ranked magic... Obviously, Gandalfr runes only affected martial abilities, but the concept is the same.
Thus, Michael needed to become proficient with a single weapon to take full advantage of his runes... Considering he was looking to use Derflinger in the future, his best option was to pick a bastard sword-type of weapon.
Bastard swords differed from single and two-handed swords due to the fact you could use it either one-handed or two-handed. Its length was slightly smaller than a typical two-handed sword, but its handle was long enough to comfortably allow you to use two hands.
There were a few swords that matched these requirements, but most of them were far, far out of his price range. There were only five that he could buy and still purchase some kind of armour as well.
A long straight bastard sword, the typical thing you'd see a medieval knight wielding... (Bastard sword : shorturl.at/afsMO)
A single edge curved sabre that seemed well suited to be used by cavalry... (Two handed sabre : shorturl.at/yDFP0)
A shorter double edge, reversed curve-type blade. It was longer than your typical kukri, and looked as if it'd been made from a scythe blade. (Falx : shorturl.at/egxLU)
And a long heavy-looking falchion that seems to have had better days... It was slightly rusty in certain parts, but the owner of the store had scrubbed most of it away, leaving the weather, yet still functional blade. (Two-handed heavy falchion : shorturl.at/aizCJ)
In the end, Michael ends up picking the second option, a two-handed sabre, as it most closely resembled what Derflinger looked like from his memory of the anime. Plus the fact it was cheaper than all but the Falx, only costing two hundred gold... This still brought his total to one hundred and twenty, but at the very least he'd now be able to defend himself.
After giving thanks to the store owner, he straps the weapon to his waist and leaves, heading to the nearest stall selling armour. He'd wanted to try and get some plate mail, or maybe some chainmail, but seeing how little gold he had left, he doubted he'd even be able to buy a gauntlet, let alone a whole suit.
Unfortunately, his suspicions had proven correct, with almost every sturdy-looking piece of armour ranging from five hundred gold to twenty thousand...
Even the leather armour they had for sale was just out of his price range... Forcing him to look at the cheaper options... Upon seeing Michael's despairing expression, the merchant actually offered him a deal, half price on a sleeveless gambeson that'd proven very unpopular among his clientele.
Only fifty gold for it, and while it was missing the rather important padded arms, some armour was better than no armour. The gambeson itself was brown and opened up at the front, with man clasps securing it. (Gambeson : shorturl.at/nzAS0)
With it, Michael also bought some grey padded trousers that might be able to stop a medium level-sword strike. He also purchased some leather boots, as his trainers were started to get a bit frayed due to all the stress they'd been put under. (Padded trousers : shorturl.at/qzJPV), (Leather boots : shorturl.at/uG159)
Michael also wanted to see about enchanted items, but upon asking around, he found out that they were mostly restricted to nobles... And even then, they were far too expensive for him to consider buying... An enchanted ring that provided minimal protection against magical attacks would cost around thirty thousand gold, almost double the price of the most expensive plate armour he'd previously seen.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
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Chapter 38: Shitty Situation
Once was done with his shopping, he was left with around twenty gold, not enough for any armour or weapons, but more than enough to live off of for a year or so if he spent it slowly. He walks off and finds an inn room nearby the stable he'd left Milky in and brings all of his new stuff to his room, afterwards slowly and awkwardly putting it on.
He'd made sure all of it was fitted to him, but even so, the padded trousers and boots were a pain to actually put on... The gambeson was alright, as it only required the front latches to be clipped, but if every piece of armour was going to be this annoying to equip, Michael was tempted to just go buck naked...
Regardless, he was now equipped with the brown sleeveless gambeson over a thin white shirt that had frills at the end of its sleeves. His grey padded trousers had to be put over the thin rag-like trousers he'd already been wearing, as the armour left his crotch bare... He really would be going naked if he only wore the padded ones...
Plus his brown leather boots were surprisingly comfortable... The shop had, fortunately, had his size in stock, so he hadn't needed to get some tailored... Unbeknownst to Michael, his current boots were actually sized for females, but the seller would never announce that...
With the brown hooded cloak over his shoulders, dagger at his waist, and two-handed sabre on his hip, he felt like he was properly dressed for this new world... Though, the outfit reminded him more of a thief than a warrior, but beggars can't be choosers.
After checking himself in the bucket of water's reflection for more time than he'd admit, he sits atop his bed and begins waiting for night to come. His body was still sore from the ride to the city, so he wanted to be in optimal condition before he starts searching for 'The Orphaner'.
He knew where the slums in the city were, as they were fairly close to where the market is situated. From what he'd seen, the guards only patrolled the market, and never dared set foot into the dark alleyway's where the criminals dwelled.
While Michael was resting, he begin thinking about his methods of getting stronger, and actually found a couple of things that might become obstacles... First of all, was the fact that he couldn't practise his swordsmanship without accidentally using the Gandalfr runes... Just touching a weapon made them active, so he'd be at a disadvantage when trying to learn... After all, it'd be impossible to tell what skills were his own, and what was granted by the runes.
Fortunately, he'd found a way around this by modifying a brush that'd been left in the corner of the room. Cutting the brush from the handle and making it around the same length as his sabre.
After that, he was able to flail around like a complete novice... He knew nothing, but at least the runes wouldn't interfere with his training...
His weapon proficiency wasn't the only thing on his mind however, his stats were also a cause for concern... They hadn't increased at all since journeying to Antomiers. He thought that riding Milky would increase his Agility like it had the first time, but that didn't seem to be the case.
He'd have to try some basic exercises to see if they'd increase his stats at all... If not, he'd be at a loss on how to increase his stats further.
Many hours later, after eating the meal provided by the inn owner, a friendly guy called Damien of Kladenan, Michael left the safety of his room and wandered into the now twilight city. The sky ranged from oranges and purple, and with the pink and blue moons sitting prominently overhead, it was quite the sight to behold.
Michael didn't let himself become too enamoured with it however, instead focuses his attention on the dark alleyway he was about to enter. He rests his hand on the pommel of his sword, allowing the runes to activate as he steps inside...
His runes would've lit up the place like a torch, had he not covered them via wrapping leather strips around his hand. His runes would eventually become his most easily identifiable feature, so it was better to keep them concealed at this point in time.
The one thing Michael noticed as soon as he starts walking through the alleyways, was the disgusting smell of sewage and refuse. The squelching under his feet made him all too aware of what he was stepping on, but the darkness made it difficult to notice the minefield of shit, so he'd just have to grit his teeth and bear it for now.
The alleyways were far larger than he'd actually expected, when he exits out into a clearing, he didn't see the expected city road, but instead, an area walled in by buildings that had a small fire in its centre... There was a makeshift tripod standing atop it with some meats slowly cooking away, the fat dripping into the flame and causing sizzling sounds to occasionally occur.
Strangely, despite how recently this all had been placed, no one was actually around... Michael suspected that they'd hidden away as they heard him approach, but he wasn't certain. If there were people, they hadn't made any noise upon their retreat.
"Well, if no one's going to eat this." he loudly mutters, walking over to the fire and taking some slightly burned meat and eating it. "Mmm, damn this shit's good!" he says, obviously baiting whoever had been here. If they were living in these slums, they obviously couldn't allow someone to eat all their food.
*Squelch*
Michael's ears twitch as he hears something get thrown... In a flash, he draws his sword and turns around while smacking the rock aside with the flat of his blade, afterwards glaring at the ragged-looking teenager who'd thrown it.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
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