Monk: "Sounds pretty sweet!"

Baltir: "Good, good. I will need to get your measurements."

Pulling a measuring ribbon out from his pocket, he checks your and Monk's body dimensions and writes down the numbers.

Baltir: "It will take some time putting it together, but they should be done before you leave. Feel free to browse the shop while I work on the armor."


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Adele waves her butler over, asking him to fetch a Randal or someone and sending him off.

Adele: "Were there other things you wanted to try?"


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You nod, and then walk through the large gates.

You're met with a large expanse of fields and farmland within the walls, with cottages and villages here and there. In the central region of the area is where the large, crowded city buildings stand.

An armored guard by the gate gives you a wave.

Guard: "I can lead you to the lord, or another official that can speak with you."


________________________________________


Byrnolf: "Ready."

You shift the turtle's spirit from the core into the doll.

It doesn't immediately start screaming, which is good.

The doll slowly wiggles its limbs, looks around, trying to crawl around the floor. It manages to drag itself to the edge of the room, away from you and Byrnolf.

Byrnolf: "Hey, it worked!"


________________________________________


You're, not even sure of the armor plate has a proper magic sequence, not like something you can polarity-reverse anyways.

Clearing your mind of that experiment, you practice cycling the strength of your Null Body, ramping its power to maximum and back down to "normal". Gives you a good feel of your ability, maybe you could strengthen your negation by trying to push it higher.

Adele: "Fundamentals don't sound too exciting, but I guess they're important to work out. Oh! Our anti-mage is here!"
You turn around to see Torrential armor, with Sanoa inside. She, doesn't seem too happy right now.

Adele: "There you are! The two of you are going on the same mission together, I figured it'd make sense if you showed John some anti-magic, give him an idea of what he'd go against."

Adele holds a sheepish smile, not sure why Sanoa is trying to melt you with her stare, but the noble seems very sure that she made the wrong choice of telepath.


________________________________________


Baltir: "How they're made is my job - I will be assembling the anti-magic cell around a structure so it can be worn, and armor plates will go over that. The cell is designed to operate indiscriminately against all forms of magic in a defined space, or to give exceptions to a set person or several people. Any magic artifacts will still be targeted regardless of the caster, so it works best on non-magic users. Construct weapons and armor would probably work poorly with it."

You and Monk browse the small shop while the constructor does his thing. Knives, knives, swords, knives, knives, and more knives.

They're all extremely sharp, easily shaving hairs off by lightly passing the blade over your arm. Probably made of a similar material to his bolts.


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Pushing your negation power harder, you're able to barely get it higher than you've gotten it before. You keep going at it, trying to pass your previous limits, and you think you make minor progress.

Or it might be in your head, hard to tell.

"Your friend is moving north."


________________________________________


Byrnolf: "Boom, done!"


________________________________________


You follow the guard, heading into the heart of the dense city. There are a few people moving here and there through the artificially lit streets, mostly soldiers and mages. Reaching the center of the city is a sort of paved clearing, with a large marble building in the center, heavily guarded. No one gives you an odd look as you and your escort climb the stairs and head through the doors, passing the busy halls until you reach a set of important-looking closed double doors. Six mages and six soldiers stand beside the doors, and blocking your path is... A child?

A small girl, wearing brilliantly white shining armor and wielding a matching sword, a pair of curious blue eyes analyzing you from under the helm.

Armored Girl: "State your business!"

Armored Girl: "You think your sword arm is good enough for Vranhal? Or should I say, your only arm."


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Adele gives a small curtsy and walks off with her butler.

Just you, Torrent, and Sanoa.