Damion took Ms. Teft’s advice to heart and set out to find out how much money he needed. Sure, going to the Adventurer Association to check on missions was important. But he thought it better to have a financial goal to work towards. It would at least tell him how many missions he needed to do before he could start saving money for upgrades to whatever he bought cheap the first time around.
The first stop Damion made was to an artifact shop. Artifacts came in many forms. Almost anything could be considered an artifact, not just weapons or armor, though they were the most common since they were the most essential for adventurers. Anything with an enchantment would be considered an artifact, be it a sword, a tent or even a frying pan. The communication tablets people used to talk to one another was probably the most common artifact of all.
As Damion entered Leland’s Artifacts, a shop he had been interested in exploring for some time, he paused briefly to look at the high-grade armors on display. It took some effort, but Damion managed to move himself away before he looked at the prices, which would likely have disheartened him. One day he would be able to afford such armor, but not today.
“Ah, a young adventurer coming to get his first set of armor,” a short man said as he came over and greeted Damion.
“How did you know?” Damion asked as the man was running a measuring tape along his shoulders and arms.
“It is my job to know lad. I am Demetri Leland, at your service,” the man said with a quick bow.
Damion was taken back by Leland’s flamboyancy. The shop owner barely reached Damion’s shoulders with the top of his head, but Damion was sure no matter where this man was, he would stand out in a crowd. He wore a bright purple suit with gold buttons and had a neatly trimmed beard that was also dyed purple.
“Damion Wells,” Damion said doing the polite thing and introducing himself. “I’m here mostly to get an idea of what a piece of armor will cost me. I doubt I can afford it yet, but I want to know how much I need to be working towards.”
“Planning ahead, very good of you,” Leland said with a playful poke at Damion’s chest. “Let me get your measurements all recorded, have you stopped growing?”
“I’m just fifteen. I might have another growth spurt in me.”
“Good gracious, shouldn’t you be in school right now,” Leland said with mock seriousness.
“I graduated early.” Damion said defensively.
“Just teasing lad. Now, we have a few options to choose from, but the question one must ask is, what do you want to be protected from the most?”
“Physical damage,” Damion answered as if it was self-evident. That was after all the purpose of armor.
“Yes, yes. Any armor will naturally protect against physical blows. What I mean is, what do you want to be protected by magically.”
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“Oh. There isn’t armor that protects from all sorts of magic attacks?”
Leland let out a laugh and slapped Damion on the arm clearly amused by Damion’s comment.
“Of course, you can get armor enchanted to protect you from all types of magic, but that is going to be A Rank armor, and probably run you in the thousands of gold. Sorry to say I don’t have the expertise to make something like that.”
“Then what about protection from fire,” Damion said. After he had used his fire slash on the bandits, he was beginning to dread facing something like that himself.
“Fire is good, don’t want to burn yourself with your own sword eh.”
“How do you know about my sword?” Damion asked quickly.
“Your parents bought your sword here, didn’t they. Of course I would know about it.”
“I didn’t realize,” Damion answered.
“No matter, no matter. As a swordsman, you need armor that will stand up to blows, but also armor that allows flexible movement. Let’s see… hmmm…”
Leland seemed to be talking to himself, so Damion just stood there waiting for the man to come up with what he thought would be the best type of armor for Damion.
“Alright, I’ve got it. A D Rank armor made from the skin of a Scorch Asp. Will give you natural resistance to fire and with a little enchantment will give you a good amount of physical resistance as well, perfectly tailored to your build. Should run you, oh, no more than 10 gold.”
“10 gold,” Damion repeated. He only had a few silver coins. Saving up 10 gold would take him quite a while. Damion had no idea that just D Rank armor was so expensive. Was the sword his parents bought him that expensive as well. Damion had no idea which was more costly, weapons or armor, but at these prices it did not matter, Damion could not afford it.
“That is for a full set of armor of course,” Leland clarified when he saw the shocked look on Damion’s face. “Chest piece, arm guards, leggings, boots and helm.”
“It will take me a while to work up to earning that much,” Damion admitted. “What would an E Rank chest piece go for. Second hand is fine, I just need something to protect me while I earn the money for your quality work.”
Damion did not want to offend Leland. The man was obviously a talented artificer, which also meant he was a mage of some level, since only mages could enchant artifacts.
“Understandable. Absolutely understandable. You are just starting out. You have a quality weapon, and that is much more important right now. Here, try this,” Leland said as he snatched a leather jerkin off a mannequin.
Damion bent down as Leland shoved the jerkin on him and adjusted the fastenings to get it to fit. The small man’s hands worked faster than Damion could follow and soon the leather jerkin was feeling quite comfortable.
“Excellent,” Leland said as he examined his work. “This jerkin is made from Northern Frost Cervus. They are quite common Ferocious Beasts, but their hide is also quite durable and good for enchantments.”
“It fits quite nicely,” Damion commented. He was not sure what else to say, other than ask for the price.
“This one is second hand and the only enchantment it has is resistance to cutting and durability. The hide is naturally resistant to ice magic and water magic is largely ineffective on it as well. Not many people like the Northern Frost Cervus leather for gear in our climate since it tends to insulate you. We are too warm year-round here to be locking in the heat.”
Damion took Leland’s words to heart. He did not feel overly warm in the jerkin, in fact, he felt quite comfortable, but then maybe it was just because he was inside and not out in the sun.
“How much would this one cost me?” Damion asked even though he was sure he was still too poor to pay for it.
“I’ll tell you what, since it is something most around here wouldn’t want, I’ll let you have it for 1 silver.”
“Thank you, very much Mr. Leland,” Damion said happily. “I’ll be back for a full set of high-quality armor in the future, I promise.”
Leland let out a laugh and then grabbed Damion’s hand and began shaking. “I’ll keep you to that lad. But I expected nothing less of Helga’s student. Now, what other artifacts are you looking for?”