CHRONICLES of a PC Gamer Stuck Inside an RPG (Book One: Duelist)

Chapter 53 - Armory

Once we left the Bounty Office, located at the left end of the block, Maisen took us north. The enormous size of the Watch Headquarters truly dawned on me as we kept walking up the block, walking along the same building. When we reached the middle of the block, the captain suddenly stopped walking and turned toward the building.

Distracted by my contemplation, I almost walked into the two Watchmen marching closely behind her. But somehow I managed to avoid bumping into them and embarrassing myself. Following their lead, I turned right and saw another open doorway. Unlike the bounty office, however, this place was guarded by two Watchmen wearing plate mail armor and carrying halberds. I quickly invoked my magic detection, and my suspicions were confirmed when I detected strong auras emanating from their equipment. I glanced at the ensuing pop-ups, taking note of my 200 points increase in experience, and dismissed the notifications. This place must be the armory.

When I walked inside, I saw rows upon rows of weapons, but mainly swords, hanging on the left wall. Armor pieces took up the bulk of the middle and right walls. Shields dotted the area where the floor met the wall all around the room. I saw Maisen conversing with a short man with long, fiery red hair tied into braids. He had a long, bushy red beard that would be the envy of my rural countrymen from back home. The man had forearms easily the size of my thighs. His muscular physique was very different from the gnomes that I had encountered at the bank and the bounty office. Obviously, this was a dwarf. A check of the caption above his head revealed his name as "Bis Durkgank." However, I was very surprised to see what the dwarf held in his hands—a notepad and a quill!

Maisen turned her attention from Bis and looked around the room until our eyes met. "Come over here, Lawrence!" she waved impatiently.

Since the room was surprisingly big, I decided to jog over to her and reach her position ASAP. She wasn't in the mood to be kept waiting. As I went over, I saw my other companions looking forlornly at the swords on the wall.

Once I reached her, Maisen introduced the dwarf. "This is our esteemed armorer, Bis Durkgank. He's going to take your measurement and then find the right armor for you to wear."

When Bis offered his hand, I took it purely out of habit and politeness. However, I was NOT prepared for the big squeeze as Bis gripped my hand. I immediately received a pop-up that read, "-2 Health." Ouch.

Both the dwarf and the captain grinned knowingly as Bis mercifully released my hand.

I flexed my hand into a fist and released it several times; I wanted assurance that I could still hold a sword if necessary.

"Milord, I didn't squeeze that hard," a gruff voice emerged from the dwarf's throat as he started examining me with his piercing emerald eyes. The man started circling me and stopped after two full rotations. Bis wrote something into his notepad. "Be right back," he promised and left me alone with the mischievous captain.

Sankryn and Giudot finally appeared and stood next to her.

"Who won the bet?" I asked the trio.

The tall Watchman chuckled. "Who would be foolish enough to bet on your introduction with Bis? He does that to everyone he meets for the first time."

"Apparently, it's a dwarven custom," Giudot added helpfully.

"Why is his name 'Bis?'" I asked innocently, taking the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity while the armorer was away.

Maisen looked around the room but Bis was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he had to go into the storage room to retrieve the proper size armor for Lawrence. "To be honest, Bis never really told us how he got that name," she admitted in a low voice.