Chapter 44: Chapter 42 – Ancient Arms

Though my body was battered and bloodied, and my armor all but ruined from the fight with that creature, I pushed onwards through the streets of the ancient city. Fortunately I was met with no resistance, avoiding any monsters I came across. Speaking of monsters, I decided to call that creature a Phantom. I was as of yet unsure what form of senses it had, since I was unable to test any theories, but it was capable of detecting me well enough.

In around an hour I was able to arrive at the military sector. How did I know it was military? There were warning signs on the map, an icon of a man crossed out, and a national icon on the center of the area. Assuming the crossed-out man meant no civilians, it would make sense for this to be a military zone.

Either way, I crossed a once barricaded threshold into a wide open area. Walking further in, there were several buildings that appeared to either be barracks or offices. Uninterested, I explored further, seeking out a warehouse or an armory.

Licht: "Would an armory even be so easy to find? From my experience, it isn't a place that would stand out." Licht asks, dubious of my method of searching. Of course, that is true, but...

Iris: "Perhaps, but if I could find it with just a cursory glance, it would be faster than searching through all these structures without a clue." I responded. I looked over a larger building with multiple wide gates, presumably for vehicles, and approached it. I began to open one of the gates while Licht suggested another idea.

Licht: "In that case, we could just look for a map of the base. There's probably one around, like in an office or an officer's room." That made sense, and I nodded in agreement. I swung open the door and took a look inside the building. Immediately I could see the purpose of this building, it was a motor pool for armored vehicles. 3 large vehicles sat inside the structure, each with 4 partly triangular treads.

The treads seemed like they were attached to heavy duty mechanical legs that could fold out. The body was large with angular armor, with a large turret on top armed with a pair of long, rectangular cannons.

Licht: "If only I knew how to drive these things..." He said, with so much envy and excitement that it was even affecting me a bit. 

I shook my head and explored the motor pool, seeing only tools and maintenance equipment. There was a doorway at one end with a staircase, and deciding to check out the first floor of this multi-story building, I found that it was a parts warehouse. The other floors must be similar, parts and tools for mechanized vehicles.

I left the motor pool and returned to one of the buildings that looked to be a woman's barracks. Stepping inside, there was a lounge in front that branched off in either direction, with stairs at each end. In the corridors were doors that led into the rooms of soldiers, most of which were either completely dilapidated, or in downright disrepair. In the center were two metal doors that resembled elevators, but considering circumstances... I climbed the stairs at one side.

I soon reached the top of the building, and went down the corridor towards the center. I was unfamiliar with the language and rankings, but the ranking badges under the names of each door had become more elaborate, so this must be the officer's quarters. In the center was not another lounge, but instead a set of double doors with the most elaborate badge I've seen yet. This must be a high-ranking officer's quarters, perhaps a platoon leader?

I stepped inside to a dilapidated, but perhaps once-grand office. Decorative objects covered the walls, while a grand desk was placed at the far end. I approached the desk and rifled through the contents, discovering a map of the base as I had hoped. There were also ancient documents and some sort of electronic tablet, which I decided to bring with me, but found it less than useful.

Finding nothing else of interest, I sighed and shut the last drawer I checked. Yet there was one object that caught my eye, sitting on a pedestal behind where they would sit... A katana. Unmistakably, It was a katana, one I could tell held magical power. I reached out and grasped the saya, taking it from the pedestal before slowly drawing it from its sheathe. Licht's experience came to the surface, and I could tell instantly that it was a mastercraft blade. While my magical senses told me there was something more about the blade. Though I couldn't tell what.

I sheathed the blade and held it at my waist, leaving the office with a sigh. Truthfully, I hoped to find an outfit for myself, but there was nothing like that In the office, so I settled for the next best, one of the other officer's uniforms. I searched the rooms until I found at least one, it was a white blouse, black skirt with gold hemmings, and black tailcoat with gold detailing, with the officer badge on the shoulder. The uniform also included waist-high thermal stockings and zip-up combat boots.

I put my old equipment in my dimensional bag, which had begun to get heavy, but I would bear with it for now. A quick cleaning spell, and my new outfit was looking as good as it did... However long ago it was made.

Licht: "...I guess looking nice is important to you huh?"

Iris: "A clean look promotes a clean attitude." I said with a happy tone, and began to leave the building.

Licht: "Did it need to be an officer's outfit though? Surely the other uniforms wouldn't be so different."

Iris: "I may not belong to this military, but there's no reason to pick the low-ranking uniform." I said, sensing that Licht still didn't fully understand, but I didn't bother to explain further. I took out the map upon leaving the building and studied it. There were few symbols, mostly buildings with names on them or relating to them, but I could at least tell which buildings were which. I picked out a building likely to be the armory, and walked over to it.

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Perhaps I could decipher the language used if I studied it long enough, as long as I knew which buildings were what. Thankfully this language didn't use icons like egyptian, but what I could only assume were letters. More importantly, I entered the armory building, and was met with a reception area. This must be the room where requisitions are made. A hallway branched off to the left with a pair of doors along the way, both with signs I couldn't read, and at the end was a flimsy gate.

I broke down the gate with a quick slice of mana, and began to climb the stairs beyond it. The first floor extended into a wide hallway with reinforced grated chambers on each side, each room holding racks of guns and equipment. But nothing I was looking for.

What I needed in this place was armor, weapons wouldn't save me if I was ambushed or gouged in a fight. The only reason I might still be alive right now is Illivan's armor. And so, I proceeded to the next floor up. A similar deal, there were rooms full of heavy equipment, munitions, and explosives. All potentially useful, but could just slow me down. Still... I grabbed some explosives of various kinds. Just a bit.

Next floor was sealed off by some kind of mechanical shutter door, heavily reinforced. Perhaps this is what I was looking for. But how to get in...? I slashed with a mana blade, and while I cut it, the effect was negligible. The explosives? ...Certainly not. Licht isn't that annoying. And now I could feel a stinging sensation in my head...

I stood there for some time, thinking of a way inside. Then I looked down at my arm.

Iris: "...This was a king's prosthetic, right? Perhaps it still holds their credentials?" I thought, looking at the scanner by the shutter door. If this place runs on mana for power, I could try to jumpstart this system and get it to open.

I placed my bionic arm to the door and attempted to channel mana into it forcefully, and after a moment it worked, scanning my arm and beeping positively. Then the shutter door sluggishly clanked open, about halfway when I stopped channeling my mana, feeling a splitting migraine and exhaustion. I held my head and checked my status.

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Iris - Age 15 - Female - Level 46(^3)

Body - Sp: 86/275(^22) MP 24/280(^16)

Stats - Str: 32(^2), Dex: 40(^6), Agi: 40(^4), End: 30(^5), Int: 35(^3) Luk: -

Skills - Parallel Thought {3}, Sword skill {4}, Gunsmithing {1}, Mental Resistance {3}, Disease Resistance {1}, Mana Control {5}, Dagger Skill {3}, Critical Point {2}, Dark Vision {2}, Marksmanship {2}, Pressure {4}, Appraisal {1}, Falsification {1}, Primal Enhancement {3}(^1), Cleave{1}, Magic Bolts {2}, Acting {1}, Wild Brawling{2}(^1), Mana Coating{1}, Mana Blade{1}, Detection {1} [NEW]

Title: A Sapling in Stone, Crimson Wildcat, Sky-Slayer, Cruel, Light in the Darkness

Capability: 340 (590) with Limited PE) (853) with PE)

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Detection, huh? Is that why I had the sudden sense something was wrong earlier? Should I feel lucky, or grateful I wonder. I guess my sudden fatigue is caused by a lack of mana, It sure drained a lot. I pushed away the status screen and crawled under the shutter door to investigate what secrets this place held.

And, to my pleasant surprise, it held mechanical armors. Two rows of them on each side, with a sealed reinforced glass room at the end, containing rows on rows of glowing blue cells. I hit the jackpot this time.

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