Chapter 13 - Collateral Damage

The statues shaped like soldiers slowly made their way towards where Thomas was. Defeating the statues wasn't an option and he couldn't get to the magic generator so he could only continue to run in circles and eventually get caught or go through the place that he entered. If he went back now then it's unlikely that he'd be able to get back into this room since they'd likely block the entrance when trying to get to him. Who knew how long the magic generator would keep these statues powered?

Returning to the chamber might let him survive for longer but then he's not sure when he'd be able to get an opportunity to escape from the bandits ever again. Thomas didn't like the idea of being forced to kill and steal for the next few years but the thought of death scared him even more. His hesitation allowed the statues to get within attacking distance. The closest statue punched forward towards Thomas. If he was a little bit slower in shifting his body to the side then perhaps his head would have been completely crushed.

Thomas luckily got away with some small scratches caused by flying shrapnel ejected from the wall when the statue's fist penetrated it. Thomas figured that the statue was stuck as the fist had a weird grinding sound coming from it. However, Thomas noticed that this time it seemed like his luck had run out. The time it took for him to recover from the near hit allowed the other statues to get close.

The next closest statue's arm reached out towards Thomas's head. Thomas closed his eyes, expecting the end to come soon. Realizing that nothing happened after a short while, Thomas opened his eyes. The statue still had its arm stretched out towards him but it didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Stepping around the statue in front of him, Thomas could see that the other statues were also stopped. Not trying to figure out what happened, Thomas quickly rushed towards the exit blocked by the large statue; pausing for a short moment to make sure it didn't start moving. It took a short amount of time to crawl through the gap between the statue and the doorway but Thomas was already covered in sweat so it just felt uncomfortable. Thankfully he now had new clothes and could replace the dress that was taken from the doll named Sheila. It'd still work as a disguise if he really needed it but for now he couldn't wait to get it off him.

This entire experience with the bandits was unpleasant. Jane and Shelley seemed like nice people but their environment was the absolute worst so it was highly unlikely that they were without their own mental and emotional issues. As for Annie, her problems were more apparent; she seemed to suffer from a case of androphobia and had violent tendencies. Thomas still couldn't figure out what Susan's real personality was but he was capable of doing cruel things to further his goals so Thomas didn't want anything to do with him. Somewhere deep down, Thomas felt like he hadn't seen the last of them.

After storing the dress directly without even taking it off, Thomas pulled out a couple of the chests filled with clothes. The clothes inside were outdated and most of them were for people larger than him. Inside were simple robes but he couldn't find any underwear.

It took a while but Thomas found a robe that fit him. Its color was originally a nice deep blue but the color seemed to have faded in several places so it wasn't so nice to look at. Combined with the rock dust covering his head and the small amount of blood from his scratches it made him look like a beggar. Right now he really wanted to wash his body but he'd have to wait until reaching a city. Even if there was a place to bathe on the way to the city it wouldn't be safe since the bandits or some monsters could possibly find him.

Realizing that he might run into some enemies, Thomas decided to do some shopping as he slowly walked up the stairs to what looked to be the outdoors. {Bring up the weapons and armor that I can purchase with my current points.}

After looking through the currently available weapons and armor for a while he had come to a conclusion. A full set of platemail would be too much for the current him to carry around. For his upper-body armor he'd have to be satisfied with a chainmail vest, a small pauldron and a gauntlet for his left arm, and a helmet. His lower-body would be left mostly unprotected but as he had been barefoot this entire time he decided to purchase a set of socks and old-fashioned combat boots. As for his weapons he'd use a dagger in one hand and a buckler shield in the other. His body was too small to be wielding any larger weapons and he had to be able to move the shield even with the armor lowering his agility with his left arm so he went with a smaller shield. {System, get ready to purchase the items I've specified. Make sure to list off the prices and ask me for confirmation before purchasing anything from now on unless I specify otherwise.}

<Command Accepted>

<Default Settings Changed>

<Iron Dagger - 250 points>

<Iron Buckler - 400 points>

<Iron Helmet - 400 points>

<Iron Chainmail Vest - 600 points>

<Left Iron Gauntlet - 350 points>

<Left Iron Pauldron - 250 points>

<Leather Boots - 200 points>

<Cotton Socks - 5 points>

<Total Points Needed: 2,455>

<Current Point Balance: 11,500>

<Confirm Purchase?>

Thomas waited until he reached the top of the stairs before giving his answer. {Confirm it.}

<Order Received>

<New Point Balance: 9,045>

<Materializing items now>

The light coming from the sun seemed to dim as a dimensional rift opened up in front of Thomas. The objects that were once inside his head slowly emerged from inside of the rift. After all of the equipment left the rift it slowly disappeared, leaving behind several floating objects. With such an eye-catching appearance it seemed like this system would be unable to be used in public. This is nothing like the simple popping in and out of existence style of retrieving/storing equipment from/to a pocket dimension.

Putting on the equipment took a long time as Thomas had never worn armor before. The chainmail vest, helmet and gauntlet were simple to get on but tightening the leather strap on the pauldron with one hand was a challenge. The boots had to be completely adjusted for his size which required loosening the laces and that ended up taking him another few minutes. By the time he was done getting all of the gear on his adrenaline wore off and he could feel that his muscles were sore so he decided to take a break. If he ended up getting into a fight now then he'd definitely be defeated since he could barely move. Not bothering to take off the armor he spent a while getting on, Thomas sat down against the wall near the stairs in a position that allowed him to see the entrance and slowly drifted off to sleep.

———————————

<Hello, Master>

<Your AI has been programmed to give you a status report every night when you fall asleep>

<You have used the Advanced Arsenal one time today>

<Congratulations on your first purchase from the Advanced Arsenal>

<You have spent a total of 2,455 points in the Advanced Arsenal>

<Total Balance: 9,045>