Chương 28: Archwolf

Baron Huiyan led them straight to one of the shelves full of various sized armors.

"Based on your background, I'm sure you are aware of what gears were before the apocalypse."

"Of course," Kayzen replied. Armor, weapons, wards, and other such things were classified as gears. They were a significant contributor to one's power.

"Then this will make it easier. What I have in mind are those gears. I'm not sure why, but unlike what we get from the rift and what is crafted by the people, there is no such thing as a description screen for these gears. However, that doesn't mean that they are not powerful. People have been using them for ages afterall." Baron Huiyan stepped away and gestured Vasser to take a look. Being as straightforward as she was, she didn't pretend to be polite and checked out one piece of armor after another.

Some of them were made up of pure metal, while most were a blend of leather base and some metal coverings for vulnerable areas. She preferred the latter, as less weight would make her more agile.

"See anything you like?"

"They are decent, but I'll be honest, that's all they are."

"Indeed, I expected as such. Take a look at this then." Like a merchant, Baron Huiyan squatted down and took out a trunk on the bottom shelf. It was old and adorned with various engravings that were half faded, yet that didn't diminish the primal aura it exuded. Kayzen and Vasser scooted closer to take a look, and what they saw made them pause their breath. Covered by the velvety interior of trunk were two boots made up of unknown scales.

They were dark brown in color, and from a glance, it looked like there were hundreds of tiny scales used in making each of the boots. It was a fine piece of work no matter how one looked at it.

"They have been sitting around in my warehouse for a while. They don't have any fancy ability, but what they do provide is utility. Anyone can wear them as they can adjust their size. They can also work to any surface without hindering your movement speed. Swamps, marsh, desert…you won't feel your speed decrease after you wear them." Vasser picked up the boots and felt their texture.

"What's the catch then?" she asked. The Baron shrugged.

"There's no catch. Did you forget where we are right now? Who in their right mind would spend gold on bloody boots when there are other more important areas to protect? Losing a leg is better than losing your skull or heart. And any mercenary or adventurer rich enough to afford a full body armor wouldn't be buying things from me."

"Good for me then. I'll take it."

"A pleasure doing business. Choose one of the common armors as well, consider it a gift from me."

"I won't be polite then." Vasser grinned and checked out the other shelves. Baron Huiyan led Kayzen to a corner of the warehouse. Unlike other areas which were full of gears or materials, this place was a mix of random items. Scrapped tools, some broken gears, and trinkets that came in all shapes and sizes.

"Now let me see, where was it…" The Baron fiddled here and there before finally he took out a maroon bag.

"Check it out. I don't know how it's used or what its properties are, so you'll have to figure it out yourself." Kayzen took the bag and looked at the Baron with a raised brow.

"What do you mean you don't know? How come it ended up in your warehouse then?"

"Sometimes we make bulk purchases of entire caravans. As long as the price is satisfactory enough, most merchants are more than willing to dump their goods and resume their journey with less baggage. This whole section is filled with such miscellaneous items.

"I have a general idea of how much they're worth, but don't expect anything grand. If it was truly valuable then those greedy merchants wouldn't have sold it for cheap. Still, I think that one is pretty good." Kayzen nodded and opened the bag. It wasn't as if there was another chain-type weapon in the warehouse, so whatever was inside would become his new weapon. He unclasped the bag and took out the gear from within. The first thing that caught his eye was the overall structure of the chain.

It was made up of dark grey bone spikes and held together with green threads that looked to be made from a plant. A strange combination for sure, but a welcome one. Both of the materials were light which met his demands. Its length was a good ten meters as well. Shorter than he would've liked, but then again, it was better since he needed to practice before making sure of his ideas. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Kayzen moved to an emptier space and took a deep breath. Now was the time to check how much compatibility it had with Ether and his roots of perception. He gripped the hilt of the chain and activated the sigil on his chest. Ether flooded his veins and flowed into his palm, and immediately, he felt a connection with the chain. It was already lightweight, and now he could lift it with much more ease. Pleased with the result, Kayzen stretched out his roots of perception and covered the entire chain.

Most weapon users also trained in some sort of weapon arts. Be it swordsmanship, spearmanship, archery, and the like. This was a big part of someone's strength. Kayzen didn't know anything about chain arts, and it was unlikely that he would find something like this in towns. His next destination was going to be a big city where he could get such an art and other materials for research. For now, though, he could try something else.

As his roots of perception covered the entire chain, Kayzen realized that he could control the entire gear with ease. The ten-meter long chain felt like an extension of his will. He could move it as he pleased without any issues. As much as he wanted to check out more of his ideas, this wasn't the right place and time to do it. He willed the chain to coil around, and it did just that.

"Satisfied?"

"Indeed." Kayzen gave the Baron a thumbs up and placed the chain in his backpack. On the other side, Vasser was also done picking her armor. The two were ready to negotiate the price when the baron stopped them.

"Wait just a minute. There's one more thing I'd like to show you. However, as I said before, you'll have to pay me for all of these. You can either agree to help me in clearing the mining area, or give something of equivalent value." He led the two to the centermost part of the warehouse and showed them a case full of Rift artifacts. Without a doubt, the value of this alone far exceeded that of the entire town. The Baron took out an urn-like object and handed it to Kayzen.

"Here. I've heard some things about your fighting style, and I think this might be of interest to you." Kayzen and Vasser looked at the description of the artifact, and once again, they were left wide-eyed. Pandora's Pithos (Sealed) A vessel of things unknown. An artifact designed to seal away???? Some things are better left untouched Kayzen didn't hesitate and decided to purchase the urn. He knew it was dangerous, but just the possibility of what it sealed intrigued him.

It wasn't bad to add another thing to be researched on. He took out the three ability shards he had made and placed them on the case.

"I believe we will be even with them."

"Even indeed." Baron chuckled and pocketed the shards. While night vision wasn't all that tempting for Kayzen, right customers would be willing to pay a hefty sum for such an ability. Without wasting any more time, Kayzen and Vasser bid farewell and left the town's hall. Now wasn't the time to ride a carriage, and the mayor had already prepared good horses for them. With this, their stay at the Ironheart town had come to an abrupt end. …

Accompanied by the last rays of dusk, two horses galloped on the road leading to the southeast. The raging wind blew past Kayzen's face and made his white hair flutter in the wind. Vasser looked valiant as well with her new leather armor and billowing cape. The two didn't chat along the way and focused on covering as much distance as possible. The jungle here was thin so there was sufficient sunlight. Their plan was to make it to the military camp before it was too deep into the night.

By the time the stars became visible in the black sky, the two finally arrived at a signpost. Above the wooden stake was a plaque that warned them: Beware, Rift Ahead. The duo reined in their horses and finally caught a moment of rest. So far they hadn't come across anyone on the road.

"You take care of the close quarters, I'll scout." Kayzen spoke to Vasser as he gave her a bottle from his backpack. She nodded in seriousness and urged her horse to move along. Kayzen stretched his roots of perception into the forest ahead. 100 meters… 200 meters… 300 meters, so far there was no threat. He didn't choose to scout further and instead did a wide area search. Only after making sure that there was nothing dangerous did the two move on. They had to be cautious since danger could be lurking anywhere.

Affected by the cold wind and chirping of insects, the horses were getting nervous as well. Suddenly, Kayzen pulled the reins and whispered Vasser to halt. He had found the first archwolf. On a tree approximately 200 meters away he sensed the presence of the alien fiend. Despite the moon's light it was too hard to make out its features, but the duo had already learned about the creatures they would be facing. What they didn't expect was to actually find one so soon.

After gesturing Vasser to keep an eye out, Kayzen covered the creature with his perception. A fiend was no match for him now that he was a warden. The archwolf hanging on the tree didn't even notice his presence before a pentagonal hex had appeared above its body. It was too late by then.

"Is it dead?" Vasser asked as she saw Kayzen relax.

"Indeed, let's hope it wandered off." The other possibility would be that the aliens had invaded this far in. After a short minute the horses arrived at the target. Hidden beneath the canopy of trees was a white web the size of a full house. At its center was the now dead archwolf; a creature with the wolf's torso and spider like limbs. Kayzen had dissolved its brain via Phototoxin so as to prevent it from making any noise. It worked out since the corpse was still hanging in the web with dripping blood.

Not all was well though.

"We have company. Three on the left, two ahead." Kayzen spoke in a grave tone. The forest had been compromised.