I reincarnated in game

46 Gearing Up

It had been four days since their chance encounter with Anne in the square; Hugh had not heard anything more from her.  Over the intervening days, Hugh had reflected on her missing information in the epithet.  He wondered why someone who had just lost their job would refuse the offer of money.  All she was asking was to be taken to Sdel; and then, after he had agreed, she just said she would be in touch.  Since then, nothing!  It was very puzzling indeed. 

Whenever the weather permitted, the trio would walk downtown.  Hugh kept an eye out for Anne but she was not around, at least, not when they were in the area.  There was still a presence of both the disgruntled locals and the king’s guards about the inn, and in the square: there was no active rioting.

Hugh and Kenneth had set up a little work bench in their room at their inn.  All the parts they had purchased on the day they had bumped into Anne, were now organized on its surface.  They had discussed some ideas about enhancing Hugh’s distraction device; the one that he had first used in the confrontation with Bob and his men in Halea.  At that time, he had only had a handle of crystals with the enhanced animal growls.  His thoughts at this time, were to incorporate some wind and thunder magic into several crystals in order to have multiple distractions at his disposal.  He also wanted to be able to have the released energy be focused on a specific target. 

Between Kenneth and himself, they figured out a sorting system whereby a notched wheel could be rotated to select the desired distraction.  Each type of crystal had a notch of a different shape so Hugh would be able to reach under his cloak and rotate the gear to the desired selection by feel alone; his movements would be virtually undetected by those around him, thereby not spoiling the element of surprise.  Kenneth had suggested adding a simple release mechanism; once activated, the desired crystal would drop into his hand, ready for deployment.  With all of the improvements to the distraction machine completed, they turned to the ammunition.

Several crystals were imbued with either the wind or thunder magical elements; then each was coated on all sides with a layer of metal paint, except for the leading edge.  When the crystal dropped into Hugh’s hand, he could orient it to ensure the exposed end was pointed at his target before tossing it to a point in front of his adversary.  Once the crystal was deployed, it was designed to release all of the energy from the point of least resistance; the unpainted end.

When Kenneth had been shopping for the materials, he had been sorting through some interesting, pre-charged crystals and had noted that one boasted a lightning charge.  He had added it to their purchases and watched to see if Hugh had noticed; he did not.  Now, Kenneth had an idea.  He feigned sleepiness and excused himself early one evening while Hugh and Judi stayed behind to talk to James.  When he got back to their room, he quickly found Hugh’s short sword and disassembled the leather-wrapped, wooden handle assembly.  He was able to carve out a small hollow in the grip to allow the lightning charged crystal to fit snuggly next to the metal tang.  He ran a small wire to connect to a button which he positioned on the outside of the handle, near where the thumb would be when the weapon was gripped for combat.  He quickly put all the parts back together and conducted a little test.  When the button was pressed, a small electrical charge sparked from the handle and ran down the blade; sparks sizzled at the tip.  Perfect! 

Kenneth was still sitting on his bed, looking at his handiwork with a satisfied grin on his face when Hugh quietly entered the room.  He was surprised to see Kenneth still up when he had seemed so tired just a short while ago.

“I thought your would have been in bed and fast asleep,” he said.  It was then he noticed Kenneth was holding his sword.  “What are you doing with that?” Hugh asked; his voice filled with curiosity.

Kenneth smiled back.  “I wanted to surprise you with some improvements on your sword,” he said.  “I found a lightning crystal when we were shopping the other day and thought I would be able to install it in handle, with a trigger button, to allow you to send a small charge down the blade.  Come here and see how it works.”   When Hugh joined him, Kenneth showed him the small button in the handle, and then did another little test.  When the tip crackled with the energy, he looked to Hugh for his reaction.

“Very good, Kenneth,” Hugh said, genuinely surprised.  “That spark won’t be enough to kill someone but they would definitely feel the jolt; it may even stun them momentarily.  Sometimes that is all that is needed to sway the outcome of a fight.  Thank you for your contribution to my arsenal!”

Kenneth beamed.

Hugh had come up with another idea to create a device to reduce his vulnerability of incidental damage during a confrontation.  During one of their trips downtown, they had picked up some warm, light-weight, quilted material at a clothier’s shop.  Judy had assisted by sewing together a long vest in a style that was consistent with what the locals were wearing.  After she had finished, the three of them fabricated a fine, wire mesh lining for the new vest.  Two leads extended from the left side; these leads could be connected to either the power source for the camouflage machine or the newly improved distraction device which was now held in a leather pouch which rested at Hugh’s left hip, and attached to the belt at his waist.

Hugh walked to the fire place and added more wood to the fire, prodding it with a nearby poker.  This made the flames spark and lick up the newly added fuel; the room started getting hotter.   

“What are you doing, Hugh?” Kenneth asked, watching his friend intently,

“Well, Kenneth, I need to imbue the vest we made with some energy.  First I am going to absorb the energy from the fire into my body; then I am going to transfer it into the wire mesh lining.  I will be casting a defense spell on the garment.  With that, and the imbued heat energy, the vest should be able to create a barrier of magic which will be sufficient to repel at least one direct hit, maybe two,” Hugh explained.  “Also, if my guess is correct, any attack will cause the vest to expel light energy which could serve to temporarily blind whoever was attacking me.”   

Kenneth smiled; he had been able to understand most of what Hugh had outlined.  He was impressed at his friend’s knowledge of magic and also, how resourceful his companion was.

Kenneth and Judi watched as Hugh donned all his new devices; they wanted to see how they fit.  They needed to see whether it would be obvious there was something concealed beneath his outerwear, and whether he was able to cope with the added weight.  When he was fully geared up, Hugh moved around the room, engaging an imaginary opponent to determine if his agility was going to be compromised.  The different gadgets were spread around his body, and positioned in a way that the load was evenly distributed.  In the end, Hugh found that he was not overly encumbered; neither his speed nor his movements were impeded.  During his antics, he reflected inwardly and saw that he gained several experience points from building the magic machinery but it wasn’t yet quite enough to move him up to Level Twenty-six. 

Hugh ended his mock combat and turned to face his friends, “Now I feel I am fully prepared for a real fight, if it becomes necessary!”