Chapter 103: Custom Mods

Chapter 103: Custom Mods

Erec stared at glowing light arrayed around his Vallum Armor. The smooth plating and large pauldron on one side. Breathtaking as always, but it was due for a change. After a long day of more noble bullshit, he’d slunk off to his research center.

It’d undergone a change, with all the boxes opened up and sorted out, and even a couple of personal projects were. VAL swore by the ‘innovation’ rule, which allowed all researchers a portion of time dedicated to personal projects. Since nothing had been formally started yet, and they lacked training, the experiments were still simple.

VAL had tasked him with writing safety procedures before allowing Erec to get to his own ‘innovations.’

It’d been tedious to transcribe, but at long last, Erec was free to toy around with his Armor.

He'd already pulled apart some of the plating—mostly to poke around in the interior; and reinforce the Q.A.P a bit more. A bit of full proofing for his Armor, which would hopefully mitigate repairs on the road.

There were essential systems he didn’t want to fail on the trip. And taking his Armor apart and doing maintenance was excellent practice for the upcoming Scavenging and Armor Modification exam.

Overall, the Vallum model prioritized a modular design. Its redundant systems made it easier when going on extended outside-of-the-wall expeditions. Good starting places when facing real-world conditions, and in terms of modifications... Erec had been thinking it over for a while.

With this research center, he didn’t have the funding to purchase any custom or luxury hardware.

So, over the last couple of weeks, he turned over ideas of how he wanted to tailor the design to himself in his head. If he were honest with himself, it kept firm in his mind because it was an escape from life's pressing realities. Dealing with these merchants—they’d given three attempts so far to wrangle out of his feast... And the damn exams made his heart hammer as he worried about grades.

All he wanted was to roam the roads and be away from everything else.

The design he came up with was crude but simple. Erec took off a pauldron and began to drill into the plating—enough to secure a bolt and a spike to the other side. He repeated the process, turning the shoulder plate into another weapon.

Once that was complete, he welded spikes onto the knuckles of his gauntlets.

This was, well, what his instructor would label as a ‘beginner modification.' It was inelegant. But Goddess be damned, Erec was sure it’d be effective.

More potential weapons to use in battle—to ram things, or punch things in combat if he lost hold of his axe. With Fury, he already became a living weapon, so why not have his Armor reflect that?

As he finished the labor of love and war, he took a step back and admired his work; the menacing spikes on the shoulder and fists made for a hell of an intimidating sight. Internally, Erec turned over the idea of adding one more—right above the visor and on his forehead, but... that might look a bit goofy.

But if he headbutted a creature... The potential carnage...

[Have you ever thought about going through a Rift?] VAL’s mechanical voice buzzed in his head.

Erec’s train of thought vanished at the question. “No. It’s a bad idea, unless you’re doing it for research. And even then, no matter how stable the rift is, there’s always a chance of getting sealed on the other side.

[Has that happened before?]

“Yeah, though, the Knights in question dived in to seal the Rift—set off enough magic on either side of one, and you have the potential to collapse it. One side is often less stable than the other, so if it’s stable here, there’s a decent chance it’d be easier to collapse on the other. But you’re as good as dead if you do.” Erec let that hang in the air.

[I can’t help but wonder about those modified canines you fought not long ago, with the wires and implanted blades. It made me wonder if there are other worlds with technology that spawn those ‘monsters’ you face.]

[Lie.]

Except Erec didn’t know how to lie about it, the sudden shock of seeing his mentor here of all places when he least expected it threw him through a loop. Boldwick raised an eyebrow at him.

[Lie!]

“I—uh—Nicknamed my er, Armor. It’s a Vallum Model... So I, uh, named it VAL...”

[By Dan...]

He didn’t need to see Boldwick’s face to tell that the man scarcely believed that, not with how shaky his voice was. Nor the sudden flush creeping onto his expression. Boldwick rubbed at his eyes. “Alright. So you’re going to lie? After all this time? I heard you talking to yourself before I came in. And I don’t think you’re only cracking from the stress.”

Erec kept his lips shut. Not that he could open them and say what he wanted anyway.

“I’d suspected something was off for—does putting on Colin’s modified helmet on your Markos ring a bell? Or mysteriously finding your Armor in the sewer after my men combed it... or...” Boldwick trailed off, his eyes sweeping the lab. “...All this. Why the sudden interest in a research building? You’re capable of a lot, but I wouldn’t consider this sort of thing your natural inclination."

“You’ve been using old-world tech, haven’t you?”

“I—“

[Tell him that is confidential business information! No—don’t admit to anything! Wait, say that—]

“...That’s—Yeah,” Erec didn’t bother confusing it further, and for the moment, VAL seemed too stunned to figure out the best approach. Boldwick wasn’t surprised, but his brief flicker of disappointment hurt far more than any condemnation.

“Honestly, have you been scared of the church? Is that why? Erec, I pushed a gun on you—I can’t... It’s fine. I see it in your eyes. You don’t want to fess up to whatever you found, and that’s alright. But know that I’m not going to sit here and judge you over it; when you want to confess whatever is going on, I’ll be here waiting to listen. I’m only hurt you don’t think you can admit it to me.” Boldwick walked over to a counter, turning over one of the glass beakers in his hand.

Erec opened his mouth and then shut it. What could he say?

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I thought it might have had something to do with your Talent, but... Well, it’s obvious to me that two separate things were going on. In the shadow of that talent, I don’t think anyone else had picked up on it.” Boldwick put the glass down and sighed. “Honestly, with this whole thing—“ he gestured to the research center, “Your whole life now as a Count. I’ve been thinking of what I can do to help, but there’s a reason I’ve remained a Master Knight this long. Namely, this side of being a noble... Well, it’s not honest work, and I’ve never found a way to square it with myself.”

Boldwick took a long look at the room.

“But, I’ll help you find a way. Whatever route you choose. I am backing you, Erec. Not the Order, not the Kingdom. My students have been and always will be my priority.”

“...I don’t deserve that loyalty, but you don’t know what it means to mean.” Erec felt his throat close up, a pit of anger at himself and VAL in his chest—after lying for so long, Boldwick didn’t even take it personally.

“You’re inviting me to that feast you’re throwing. That’s an order.” With that, Boldwick stormed out of the room. Leaving Erec to devour himself with self-loathing.

And gratitude for the man that’d changed his life. He could only hope to do better by his mentor.