1.19 Armor…

The next day started the same as the one before.  

Velariah was shouting my name. She wanted me to get up but my body didn't agree with her, these pillows were far too comfortable. My body craved more sleep and I ignored the elf, burying my head in pillows to drown out her shouting. After a while she had stopped. 

Perfect. 

Hmmmm, pillows. 

I must have fallen asleep again because the next moment I had a certain white-haired elf shaking me by the shoulders.  

Nope, it was far too early, we could do shopping later.  

My resolve to sleep away the hours and get up to do weapon and armor shopping had been completely shattered. I was far too comfortable to even bother doing anything. I would not let this elf take away my freedoms! 

She had managed to turn my human body and was now shaking me from my front. 

Without even opening my eyes I had pinned her down under my legs and dragged her in the pile of pillows. I would make her see the errors of her ways! 

''Goodnight.'' I had said as I grabbed a new pillow to lay my head on. 

''Fine.'' She said, completely powerless to the strength of my legs keeping her in place. 

That was easier than expected! 

------------------ 

Why was there knocking on the door?  

I opened my eyes. Velariah was still trapped in my grasp, it appeared she had fallen asleep. I knew she would see the light eventually.  

Lights? 

It appeared the lights were turned off. Had Velariah done that? 

Another knock on the door. 

''Are you two okay in there?'' Elly's voice finally made me decide to get up.  

I let the sleeping elf go and stood up. Somehow, she didn't wake up from that, interesting. It seemed she had been pushing herself to get up early. I guessed I would just let her be for now.  

I tiptoed to the door to be as silent as possible, it really wasn't hard with these silent ''toes''. I opened up one of the doors slightly and peeked around the corner to see Elly who was about to knock again. 

''Shhh, she's sleeping.'' I whispered putting a finger in front of my mouth. ''We'll join you soon.'' 

''Alright, should I prepare breakfast?'' She asked.  

Why did it feel like she was my maid all of a sudden? What happened here? 

''If you want, sure.'' I replied politely.  

She walked off and I closed the door quietly before I started looking around for my tag. It appeared I had lost it somewhere yesterday. After looking between the pillows, I finally realized what must have happened and found it under the shirt that had been carelessly tossed to the ground the night before. I deposited the silver tag into the sink before I took out the comb from the cabinet.  

Seriously, why did this water have to be so icy cold? 

Washing my face with cold water was completely new for me. I knew technically it would be better, but I always preferred warm water so I didn't have to freeze so early in the morning. Though, I wasn't quite sure if it was still morning right now.  

My hair was all messy again with dirt from the tunnels that we found ourselves in yesterday stuck everywhere in the long red strands. This adventuring thing was going to cause some terrible hair days, bah. If only there was an enchantment to protect it. Wait, maybe there actually was? 

I took a look inside one of the paper bags with clothes and tried to see what else Velariah had bought. I hadn’t taken a deeper look at what was available before but it seemed she had kept to my wishes. Most of the things were in the same style that the other shirt and bra had been in, only the colors really differed. It seemed I had worried over nothing and she had just been toying with me on the way home. I would get her back for that someday! 

Hmmm, white shirt white bra, is that going to be a good idea in this world?  

As long we didn't go out into the forest or anything, or get it wet, I reckoned it would be alright. 

'Time to struggle with those stupid straps again.' I sighed as I started to get to work.  

I tossed my old bra in the sink, as I saw no laundry basket. Was that not a thing here? This seemed mighty inconvenient. After a few minutes and a lot of staring in the mirror I seemed to be almost finished. Now, it was just a matter of getting this last one right.  

Aaalmost... 

''Looking good.'' 

Velariah's voice had startled me. A lot. I briefly lost control of my legs and fell to the floor, bashing the right side of my forehead against the sink before I could grab it. 

''Oh shit, Elania you alright?'' 

''Fuck!'' I let out. Very unladylike, I know, but that was the first thing I could actually say. 

My head was spinning... 

I clutched the part that I just had injured and closed my eyes, waiting until the worst part was over.  

''Are you alright?'' Velariah's voice came again. 

I didn't feel comfortable speaking but I answered, nonethelss. 

''I'm dizzy...''  

I hoped I didn’t suffer a concussion.  

''Elly!'' Valeriah shouted. 

Not so loud please... 

Velariah kneeled in front of me and took a look at my head still covered by my hand. She moved my arm away and assessed the damage. 

''Shit, I'm sorry Elania.'' 

Elly must have come into vision because Velariah spoke her next line to the maid. 

''Please get us a green potion Elly, minor should be alright.'' 

Minor? Also, what did green potions do? Give me one of those yellow ones! 

I rubbed my eyes and saw Velariah look at me with panic. Come on, it wasn't so bad, right? Fuck, I felt terrible, and the day had only just started.  

'That potion better do what I think it's going to do.' 

Seconds later Elly came running in with a small green vial which she handed to Velariah. The elf before me uncorked it and tilted my head backwards. 

I could do that much myself you know?  

I opened my mouth and she poured the liquid inside. It tasted like... apple? This was nothing compared to the disgusting garbage that were the yellow ones. That was at least some kind of improvement. 

The pain slowly, very slowly started to disappear and Velariah was still apologizing. Normally, I would have probably exploited this situation but a hit to the head was no laughing matter. Also, how could I fall down that easily? That didn't sit alright with me. I mean, sure I was still fairly new to this walking around on eight legs part but I could seriously injure myself if that happened again. 

I put my hand on my poor forehead again and was surprised to find no bump or anything. Elly looked at my head with an inquisitive eye before walking back out. I guess that meant it was fine? 

I stood up and took a look in the mirror. I was expecting at least something to show where I had previously received an impact but there was nothing. My perfect face was still just that, perfect. 

''Healing potion.'' I saw the elf's green and blue eyes appear in the mirror. She stood behind me and still looked rather worried. 

Okay, so she had lied to me before. She said potions tasted terrible but that wasn't terrible at all. I was a sucker for fruit after all, that included apples. The only fruit I couldn't actually stand were kiwis. I had a severe allergy for kiwis. I had later found out that kiwi allergies, at least to a certain degree, were incredibly widespread.  

Wait a second... 

I still wasn't wearing a shirt, one of my straps was still loose, she had said ''Looking good'' before I hit my head, that much I could remember.  

''Were you gawking at me?'' I turned to her to see her look away with a blush on her face. 

I knew it. 

''Maybe.'' 

At least she was honest about it. And she was still looking away in shame. Awkward, but it served her right! 

I decided to not embarrass her further and turned back to the mirror. I tried getting the last strap done again and found it easier with my lower set of hands, far easier. I should have done this before. I was truly an idiot. I put on the white shirt I had put apart earlier and finished equipping myself by donning the tag. It was time to see what was for breakfast. 

Elly had already put everything in place and after a quick breakfast that consisted of bread, cheese an egg and mediocre tea, we were on our way to adventure once more. And by adventure, I meant getting preparations done for adventure.  

Velariah told me that her father would like to see me at the alchemy workshop when I had time. I was curious what he wanted but I expected it would be for the anti-venom purposes. Come to think of it, wasn't he awfully lenient with me considering I went out doing dangerous stuff? Why would he let the lifeline that they had, wander around so freely to do things that could get one killed? I mean, I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon but the queen spider from yesterday had been a nasty surprise, I hoped I could at least prevent surprises like that in the future.  

Actually, why had I been so drawn to doing all this in the first place? This was dangerous business, after all. I couldn't quite answer that question, I guessed I had just gone with the flow so far? That flow had been Velariah and she had been dead set on becoming an adventurer.  

I kept thinking about it as the elf in question was leading the way through the village. I was absent-mindedly following her as I thought about my own decisions so far. They had made zero sense from a rational perspective. I guessed getting higher ranks would mean getting more income but if I really wanted to, I could probably do really well with the other knowledge and services I could provide. I probably would, but still. 

I really did suck at sticking to a plan. 

I did like Draco and Velariah, though. I would like to go on more adventures with them, even if that meant facing danger. Even though we almost got in trouble yesterday, the thrill of battle had me looking forward to more, as illogical as that may sound. Adrenaline was an addictive drug. At least it didn't make me drunk like alcohol. I sighed. 'Or coffee.' I added to my thoughts.  

It appeared we came to a stop in front of a wooden shop. I could tell it was a shop because of the wooden sign that hung on two chains above the entrance. The sign had a steel plate chest depicted in worn paint. I had no issues recognizing this as the armorer that Velariah was talking about earlier. The sign kind of gave it away, and if that wasn't enough, there were the sounds of a hammer on metal coming from the back of the shop.  

A small alleyway led up to where the sounds were coming from. Velariah walked up to the sound and motioned for me to follow. She must have been quite confident in her spatial insight abilities because I wasn't sure whether I'd actually fit through here. 

I started walking through the alley, my legs were not the issue, I could retract them further inwards although it made moving quite awkward, I wasn't used to walking like that. The primary issue was what came behind me. My huge abdomen appeared to somewhat fit although it scraped the walls of both buildings to the side. All in all, walking through here left me with some very uncomfortable physical sensations. 

We seemed to be reaching the source of the noise as an open area behind the armor shop came into view. Finally, I'd be able to take a breather.  

Before I simply walked into the open area like that, I had Velariah go first while I stayed behind as I peeked around the corner. I would try to be polite and not scare the literal shit out of whoever was working here by not instantly walking in with an XXXXL spider lower body.  

When I cast a glance around the corner, I could see a small forge and an anvil. Sitting next to the anvil was a short man with a beard almost as red as my hair. His short frame boasted massive muscles that had veins visible from afar. The hair on his head was short and the same color as his beard hair. Sweat was running down his face as he worked with his large hammer on a legendary piece of... Horseshoes? 

'This world is a joke.' I thought at the ridiculousness of the situation. 

I had found a dwarf, yes. He was a smith, yes. Why the hell was he working on horseshoes?  

They were supposed to be the best of the best. They were supposed to create items of unmatched quality. Here, the first dwarf I found that could fit that line of thinking was working on mundane items. Was business that bad or did the buyer of those horseshoes pay so well? I wondered. 

''Ah Lady Velariah. How are you doing on this lovely day? I've been expecting you quite frankly.'' A bass voice called out for her as he stopped hammering. 

''Greetings Dworag. I'm doing quite fine, thank you. What do you mean you have been expecting me?'' She answered both questions in quick succession. 

The dwarf threw a stare at me. I felt intimidated by his presence, even though I was probably three times his height alone. Hell, he could probably fit at least eight times in my behind. 

''You can come out lass, I've been waiting for the both of you to come and visit me.'' 

Oh, alright. It appeared he was confident in his guts. 

He spoke the elven language quite well; I could hear it was not his native tongue but couldn't really make out much of an accent. In all honesty, I found it a bit disappointing. I would have loved to have a dwarf speak with a Scottish or Irish accent. This kind of felt like a broken promise. Bummer.  

I walked out of the shadows and I swear I could see his eyes light up.  

''Oh, now that's a piece of art if I've ever seen one. can't wait to get me hands working on this beauty.'' 

Confusion rather than fluster washed over me. He had called me a piece of art and a beauty but I didn't quite get the impression he was hitting on me. Rather, I got the notion that he was looking forward to creating a piece of armor that would fit this freaky body of mine. At least he was optimistic about it. That was a huge plus to start off with.  

''Word had reached me of a half spider woman with four arms roaming around the city working together with our general's kid.'' He paused for a second. ''But seeing it with my own eyes is quite something else. I knew you'd find your way to me workshop sooner or later.'' 

''Thanks, I guess?'' I really wasn't sure what to say. 

He let out a deep laugh which made me feel even more awkward.  

"Yeah, anyways, Elania, this is Dworag, Dworag this is Elania.'' Velariah gave us a late introduction to each other. 

Thanks, Velariah. 

I lowered myself to the floor before giving the dwarf a handshake as firm as I could. Yeap, those were some strong arms. He could probably have lifted me and tossed me around were it not for certain... weight weighing me down. 

''And yes, we are looking for some armor for Elania, could you help us out?'' Velariah asked politely. 

''With certainty, miss, I've been looking forward to this.'' Dworag replied. 

The dwarf turned to me. 

''Anything you had in mind?'' 

''Well.'' I started and waited a bit to give him as complete a list of requirements I could come up with. 

''It needs to be as light as possible while still providing as much defense as possible. I'd probably only need to armor my human part, at least for now.'' 

He seemed visibly disappointed when I had mentioned the human part. This guy was a masochist, I was sure of it. He just wanted to work himself to the bone to try to equip my other parts with armor, I could feel it. 

''Don't we all?'' He replied.  

I had no idea what he meant and looked at him with an awkward stare. 

''Light and a lot of protection.'' He remarked. 

Okay, I was officially stupid. He had a point there.  

''What's your budget?'' He asked. 

''Uuuuhhhhh.'' I looked over to Velariah. 

''Three gold, twenty silver. We will have an extra ten silver once the guild has confirmed our nest extermination. that's technically six gold.'' Velariah recounted our finances. 

''Yea but I'd need a weapon too so I'd rather not spend everything here. Let's say two gold for armor and three gold for a weapon, I don't want to repeat what happened yesterday.''  

I obviously referred to my weapon not being able to inflict any significant damage on the hellspider queen that we had fought. I would have to invest in a proper weapon for sure. This would also leave me with one gold to spend on food and/or other supplies. 

''Hmm.'' The dwarf had his hand around his beard. ''It's a start.'' 

What? And here I thought I had a fortune. This was going to be worse than I expected, way worse. 

The dwarf walked inside the building and shortly after returned with what looked to be a plate chest armor piece for female knights. It didn't look at all special in any way except for some kind of hole that was positioned in between the ''breasts''. I was breaking my head over why in the world where was a hole in a piece of armor when I got some kind of explanation. 

''So, this piece is one gold and three silver. I know you said you wanted something light so I can toss in a featherlight enchant for three silver more. I'd normally ask over your two gold budget to have it refitted as well but because it is for such a pretty lady I'll toss in a friendly discount and bring it down to your two gold. 

See? This was how you were supposed to flatter a lady. Those drunk dudes back at the guild could learn from this dwarf. He had not even commented on my lower half, what a sweet guy. 

Wait, did he just say enchant? How did that work? 

I was at a loss for words when Velariah filled me in. She seemed to have to do that a lot... 

''The enchant changes some properties of the armor or weapon piece.'' 

Yeah, that much I already knew, tell me something I don't know yet. 

''You place the desired enchant stone in its socket to gain the corresponding effect on the piece you want it on. In this case that would be the featherlight enchant stone, it makes the armor it's socketed in lighter.'' She gave all the information I needed. 

That sounded like an interesting concept I wasn't familiar with yet. It kind of sounded like socketing gems for stats but in a way, it was different. These weren't simple stats we talked about; these were actual effects. I'd be very interested to see what all the effects available were and what they cost. 

''Aye. Hold on a sec, I'll grab the stone.''  

Dworag put the chest down on the anvil that still had the horse shoes on it. They had long gone cold and would need to be re-heated before they could be worked on again. He went inside and Velariah beckoned me over to the anvil.  

''Here, try lifting it.'' She told me. 

I lifted the armor piece. It was on the heavy side but I managed. This wouldn't do for me; it was far too heavy to run around in. I was curious how much this ''featherlight'' enchant would do. It sure as hell sounded like something that would make this piece weight less. I was stupid, but not that stupid. Besides, I had mentioned I would need something light. While this may be light to that overpowered dwarf, this was pretty damn heavy for me. 

The dwarf returned with a dull white gem held up between two fingers as I put the piece down again. 

''Alright, let's get this fixed for ya.''  

He held up the white gem and moved it close to the hole in the armor. When he got close enough, the gem seemed to be sucked into the hole with a click. A faint white light spread out across the armor in a ripple and returned to the gem, the entire piece of armor was briefly lit up by the same light before it vanished. It was truly a sight to behold.  

''Alright.'' Velariah said. ''Try lifting it now.'' 

I picked up the piece and found it weight far less than before. This was definitely in the area I was looking for regarding weight. It should be sturdy enough and still be light, this enchanting stuff was amazing. A thought entered my mind.  

''Wait, Vel, why don't you use these gems? Your armor must be quite heavy to run around in.'' 

I remembered lifting her chain vest when we first entered her home and while on its own it wasn't terribly heavy, she wore a lot more armor than just that...  

''First off, it's Velariah. Second, I am using those enchants on all my pieces except for the chain vest. I am using a small physical defense enchant on that one.'' 

She really didn't like me using that nickname, eh? 

What she had told me made sense to me. It also explained how she could run so much in something that looked like it would exhaust you in minutes, if not seconds, when running. The puzzle pieces of this world slowly started to fall into place.  

This also added many more variables I would have to deal with... 

''Is it to your liking?'' Dworag asked me as I put the chest plate down again. 

''It looks solid enough to start out with. Though, I do have a question with regards to those enchants.'' 

''Shoot.'' He answered. 

''Is it possible to swap out those enchants?''  

''Yes, but only at specialized craftsmen such as me and.'' He spat on the ground. ''That fool of a Coldanus.''  

I shifted my gaze to Velariah. She was looking at me with a wry smile. That didn't forebode anything good. I had an ominous feeling we would meet this Coldanus guy soon enough.  

At least I knew you could swap out enchants. That offered at least quite a bit of flexibility as it didn't force you to stick to one thing. From what Velariah had told me about her chain vest enchant, you could optimize it for the mission you would be undertaking. That was pretty neat! 

The dwarf walked up to me with measuring tape. I lowered myself again so he could actually reach where he needed to be. He took his measurements and shood us away. 

''Alright, off with ye kids, I've got work to do.'' He said as he walked back inside with the chest piece.'' 

Guess we should come back later? 

I stretched my arms and stood up again.  

''Alright, so where are we off to next?'' I asked. 

Velariah looked to the ground and I swore I saw her chest rise and fall in a sigh. 

''To Coldanus.'' 

I knew it.