The pair of guards in front of the gate raise their arms to you.

Guard: "Hail, traveler! Yes, it belongs to Vranhal. Are you a soldier from Imum?"


________________________________________


You grab some of the bigger bolts, and man are they heavy. Feels like each one weighs as much as a small child.

Adele: "Need some warming up with magic? Learn a few new techniques?"


________________________________________


Byrnolf: "Here."

He materializes a simple metal knife in his hand, looking like a thick paring knife, and hands it to you.

Seems sturdy and sharp, maybe even more than your old one.


________________________________________


Monk: "Construct weapons? Are those like, magic weapons?"

You find a lidded barrel and carefully use it for exercise. Yes, this will work for a bit - a large barrel full of water is quite heavy.

while there is time, I may experiment
>Remove one of those mysterious plates of construct armor from my void pocket and see if Hexestahl can scratch it. Assess its weight, its susceptibility to bending.

A hundred barrel lifts later and your muscles are screaming!

Monk: "Well, I think this one is done."

She puts ten spoons of sugar into the kettle, stirs, and places it on a serving tray with some cups.

Monk: "I guess I'll ask for some stuff while delivering this. Do you need anything, too?"


________________________________________


Adele: "Sure, as long as there won't be any permanent harm."

She gives you a noblewoman's chuckle.

Adele: "What sort of ideas? I'm a bit curious to see more of what Captivate can do."


________________________________________


Guard: "Mercenary? Uh, hm. That'd be somethin' you'd have to talk to a Vranhal official about. Generals and such can't just up an' hire mercenaries.

Mead's not too far away if you want to stay the night in a town, head to Vran in the morning."


________________________________________


A messy cutting operation later, along with some difficult prying of the shell, and you have the core! It's not too different from the drake core, other than being a bit smoother and larger.

Byrnolf grabs the rest of the turtle and tosses it back into the river, where you guess it'll be eaten by whatever's in there.

Byrnolf: "Let's get back to shop and rig it up, I'm excited to see what it does in the doll body."


________________________________________


You summon(?) one of the armored plates, letting the massive grey slab slam into the earth.

It's larger than you, and sort of curved and rectangular. Giving it a few swings and stabs with Hexestahl damages neither items, even with your amplified strength. Trying to lift the plate, you can definitely move it but you're not heavy enough to actually lift it, not a firm enough base. The armor plate is about as heavy as solid steel, maybe, or a bit lighter. It's far too thick and stuff for you to bend, but pounding on it with your witchmetal fists gives you an impression that it has some flex to it, like a good springy heat-treat of a proper sword.

Takes impacts well and probably highly wear resistant.

Monk: "Alright, I'll ask for you."

She leaves the room while you DO 100 SQUATS WITH THE BARREL ON YOUR SHOULDERS

YOU CAN FEEL YOUR LEG MUSCLES BURN


________________________________________


YOU HEAD TOWARDS VRANHAL WITH A SPRING IN YOUR STEP AND A TWINKLE IN YOUR EYE

It's uh, gonna take a while. You see the occasional rabbit, at least.


________________________________________


Adele: "Forming the armor at a distance? Sounds like it'd be vulnerable to interception by other mages."


________________________________________


A short trip later and you're back in the shop! Just you, Byrnolf, a turtle(?)'s core, and the creepy doll thing that Byrnolf made.

He fiddles with the doll a bit before handing/sliding it over to you.

Byrnolf: "Simplified the memory stone sequence a bit to use the motors and sensors."