The Great City Turpilia

My followers and I walked out of the palace and down the paved road, towards the bustling city that was the heart of the Turpilian Empire. There were soldiers patrolling the roads, large rectangular shields covering their bodies where they held it. Compared to Julius and the other guards within the palace, these soldiers were barely wearing anything like armor. It looked more like clothing. I knew that it was still armor, but it was of a lesser quality, made cheaply and with lower grade material compared to the Centurions or the palace guards. Their armor looked more like clothing, the signs of their chainmail hanging from under their tunics. Their legs were also bare, their calves and knees exposed to the world, with their sandal straps hugging their shins.

"If I had to guess, these are newer soldiers, and they don't exactly have the funds to buy better armor of their own?" I asked, turning to Julius, who nodded in confirmation. I faced the group of soldiers once more, watching one of their sandal's straps snapped, undoing the foot covering and causing the soldier to trip, hitting the floor hard. His group slowed down, but did not stop. One of the soldiers, who was wearing more armor than the rest of the group combined, stopped the group and moved towards the fallen soldier, yelling in a language I didn't quite understand.

I decided to walk towards the two soldiers, and as I approached, the words began to sound understandable. I chocked it up to the magic and closed the distance between me and the soldiers. The fallen soldier looked away from his superior and to me, his face that showed pain quickly switching to fear as the Gauntlet Hero approached him. His officer, angry that his subordinate was ignoring him, turned to see me as well, his anger subsiding as well. He saluted, looking to his other troops and ordering them to do so as well. "O, Great Gauntlet Hero, how may I be of assistance?" The officer asked, his voice still laced with malice as his eyes focused on the soldier still on the ground. I tap my chest i reply, and kneel down, looking at the soldier's leg. He looked fine, only a scraped knee. I then look at the sandal that had caused the accident, and saw that the other straps didn't look to good either.

"How much did you pay for those sandals? They look like they've seen better days?" I asked, turning to face the fallen soldier, speaking to him in a calm and patient manner. His expression slowly lost the fear that had covered his face and soon became that of confusion, wondering why one of the heroes would bother asking him a ridiculous question.

"Uh, the pair cost me fifty quinaris." He said as he moved his leg, rubbing his shins. Quinaris must be the copper pieces, because checking my inventory, there are three letters for currency right now, and the letter Q was at zero. Expanding that open, sure enough, the coin next to Q was a copper coin. The one above that was D with a silver coin next to it, and the last was A with a gold coin. I look back to Julius, who I had asked to hold the money and opened my hand. He looked confused, but did as I asked, handing my the pouch of silvers. We had some to spare, after all.

I reached in and grabbed some coins. Pulling my hand out, I had grabbed 10 silver coins and held them out to the soldier. "You think you could buy a better pair with this?" The soldiers, as well as my party members gasped in shock. The officer stared at the coins, stammering and failing to speak. The soldier held his hand out and I gave him the coins, getting a red -10 pop up as I did so.

"Yes, I should be able to get a brand new pair. Perhaps maybe even some greaves." He stood up and bowed, limping slightly. "Thank you, Sir Gauntlet Hero." He then turned to his officer, saying he was going to go get a new pair of sandals before grabbing his broken one and running off. The officer began to protest, but five silver pieces silenced that up pretty fast. The officer having gotten five days of pay in a second, ordered his other troops to continue their patrol, leaving the area. I grinned, handing the pouch back to Julius.

"Let's go get some gear, yeah?" I said, beginning to walk town the road once more, followed by my two companions. As we made our way down, I stare in wonder at this amazing city. Toga wearing nobles, farmers and traders manning stalls up and down streets, a horse drawn wagon or two. So at least horses were a thing here. Then I saw a wagon being pulled by something that looked like a six legged camel. It turned it's head as it went by and I saw that it had large tusks protruding from its mouth. Well, it's a good deterrent at least.

As the cart past us, Julius tapped my shoulder and drew my attention to a building that looked like a home. On the wall was the sign of a hammer and anvil. Suddenly, there was a marker, indicating that this was indeed a blacksmith. I then noticed that I had a little map, just like a game, and the symbol of the blacksmith was o the building we were staring at. I nodded, giving Julius a thumbs up, and proceeded to the shop. I reached the door and grabbed the handle, swinging the door open.

The inside was packed, different shelves and racks covered with weapons, and along the main wall, different armor and shields hanging on display. Near the back of the room was the counter, a large wooden wall with an opening. The man behind the counter was a bearded man wearing a large apron. I couldn't see his arms or legs, but He waved his left hand at us, greeting us. I held the door open for Julius and Leo before closing it. They began to wander looking at some of the items, and I made my way towards the shop owner.

"Good morning, sir. I am William Cooper, or rather the Gauntlet Hero, and I'm looking to get some armor. Think you got something for me?" I asked, leaning against the counter. The man rubbed his scruffy chin, then snapped his fingers.

"I may have some gear for you, Sir William. I'll need a price range though." I look to the pouch Julius held. We already gave fifteen silvers so we had 1,485 left. I wanted to leave some for my companions in case they needed some gear, so I decided to shorten how much i would use.

"Five hundred silvers. I just need some armor though, no weapons. As far as I know..." I said, looking to my "weapon". The gauntlet seemed basic compared to the mosaics of the former hero, whose gauntlet looked like it could kill if he punched someone right. My gauntlet in comparison looked like it would hurt, but that's about it. He nodded, walking away from the counter, revealing that his legs were made of marble. I stared at his legs, hearing the stone rub against one another as he moved his legs. "Sir, your legs?"

The blacksmith looked down and laughed, tapping one of his marble knees with his hand. "Yep, are they great? Made them myself." He went to the back, his foot steps echoing on the floor. Amazed by that revelation, I turned to see my companions standing behind me now.

"You two want something?" I asked, focusing on the two. Julius shook his head, only holding the pouch of coins in his hand. "Do you want your armor repaired?" That seemed to strike a nerve because he shook his head violently at the thought. I gave Julius an uneasy look, nodding and turning to Leo. "What about you, man?"

"Well, I'm fine right now, but I did see some nice looking cloaks." He said, pointing back to a rack of assorted cloaks, similar to the one he had on now. I nodded as he lowered his hand, giving him a smile.

"When the time comes, we'll get one of them." He bowed, and I turned around when I heard the blacksmith return with a set of armor in his arms. Placing it down o the counter, a bunch of notifications popped up, revealing some info regarding the armor. All in all, this gear seemed pretty good for a beginner like myself.

I checked the price and it showed that this was worth 250 Denaris. I assumed that was silver if my HUD was to be believed. I nodded, taking the bag from Julius and pulling out the prompted amount. The blacksmith took the coinage and I got a notification that the Leather armor was in my inventory now. "Pleasure doing busiess with you, Sir William. Come back any time to Vul's Shop." The blacksmith said, putting the silvers in a bag. I nodded and grabbed the armor, checking it out. it would cover most of my body and looked like it go over the cloths I was wearing. I went ahead and put my new armor on, tightening it where it felt loose.

Once I was done, I looked at myself in a nearby mirror. Aside from my cloths from home, I looked like I fit in this world. The leather covered my chest, shoulders, upper arms and thighs, stopping at my elbows and knees. I began stretching, making sure the armor would remain on my body. Julius and Leo studies me, telling my if there was anything wrong with my new gear. Luckily, it was all good, and I gave them a thumbs up.

"Alright guys, lets head out of town." I said, moving to the door and heading for the main gate leading out to the great wide world of this new reality.