Walking towards the armory, I decide to ask Laura a couple of things that I'm curious about.
"Miss Laura, can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer if you don't feel like sharing." [Shin]
"O-Okay. What do you want to know?" [Laura]
"You were talking with your friends earlier; did you share your Titles or find out what Titles they possess? I know that she said earlier that there was an ArchMage and a Hero between them" [Shin]
"Yes, Rufina wanted to know all my Titles and begged me to reveal everything. Luckily for me, Sandra stepped in and told her to respect my privacy. It seems that the general consensus among the students and staff are to hide their Titles and skills, so she told Rufina to only ask for one at the most. Rufi then asked me to reveal my most powerful Title in exchange for her showing me hers. The others also showed me their as well in exchange for revealing my Title. Sandra is a Hero, Rufina is an ArchMage, and Linda is a Priestess." [Laura]"
{Wait, she revealed her most powerful Title?! I wonder how that went over.}
"So, what was their reaction to you being an Assassin?" [Shin]
"What do you mean, Sir Shin? I didn't reveal that Title." [Laura]
"Huh?" [Shin]
"Huh?" [Laura]
"Wait, wasn't the deal to reveal your most powerful skill? Which skill did you show them then?" [Shin]
"Well, they didn't mention how to categorize "most powerful Title" and I'm not sure which one is actually more powerful as of yet, so I showed them the Skirmisher Title instead." [Laura]
{Okay, she completely gipped her friends without them realizing and her reasoning was flawless. I'm pretty sure she is on the path to being either a loan shark or a heartless lawyer in the future.}
"Hahaha, I guess you have a point, Miss Laura." [Shin]
"Anyway, look over there Sir Shin, I think that's the armory ahead." [Laura]
Turning the corner of the keep, the armory comes into view. Being built in a dark corner and made out of dark stone, the colour seems to blend in with the shadow off of the keep. Although dark, it is by no means difficult to see. Standing 3 stories tall, around 16 meters wide and the same lengthwise, (~52.5 ft) it looks like it could house a whole arsenal of weapons. As we approach, I see that the door is ajar with a thick steel chain hanging from the handles.
{Looks like trouble has passed through here.}
Laura seems to have noticed as well as she points it out a split second after I notice.
"Sir Shin, it looks like people have broken into the armory." [Laura]
Looking into Laura's eyes and focusing onto something, I ask her a question.
"Yes, it looks like it. Could you do me a favour?" [Shin]
"O-Of course. You can rely on me to help you if anything happens." [Laura]
"Thanks, but that's not what I had in mind. I need you to conceal yourself and report if any fighting happens. Find Ms. Garcia and tell her that a fight is taking place in the armory. Use one of your concealment skills and stay close to the door and block people from going in." [Shin]
"How did you know I had concealment skills?! I never told showed you any of my skills." [Laura]
I take off my backpack and place it on the ground and open a side pocket, retrieving my combat knife, before answering her question.
"With Titles named "Assassin" and "Mistress of the Night", you should have at least one, right? Now. Please stay outside while I check out the interior. Don't worry, I'll be back Laura."
I smile at Laura before picking up my backpack and walking through the door, although not before I hear someone whisper "Be careful" behind me.
Entering the armory, the first thing I see are the multiple racks of varied weapons, placed perpendicular to the main corridor. From left to right, I can see halberds, maces, war scythes, all types of swords and rows of bows all organized categorically and placed neatly in their respective areas. The sheer number of weapons makes me pause in awe.
{At the very least, everyone in the fortress will be able to take several weapons without reducing the stock by much... why are there so many?}
Looking around, I am reminded of my father's weapon room back home. The clean metallic shine of the newly polished metal, the smells of oils and lubricants used in both the maintenance and sharpening of weapons. That room was where I spent most of my free time, just wandering around and looking at his collection of ancient and modern weapons.
{I remember being scolded for breaking into that room and for being in there unsupervised, but come on, what 8-year-old boy doesn't think about weapons at that age. Melee weapons were and are my favorite weapons. To be fair, I love all types of weapons, however I prefer the ones that are frowned upon as inferior weapons, like war scythes.}
{Now I really want to examine everything in here, but I have to deal with the zealots first.}
Unfortunately for me, they don't seem to be on the first floor, so I carefully begin to move to the stairs at the end of the hallway. Moving slowly to not create sound, I approach the staircase. When I enter the stairwell, I hear the stairs above me creak and footsteps permeate throughout the staircase. When I try to focus on the footsteps to try to count the number, I hear a somewhat muffled conversation.
"Good Weapons must…" [Unknown]
"Nothing worth…" [Unknown]
{It looks like they are looking for specific weapons rather than all of the weapons here. I'm not really sure what they are looking for, unless it's firearms. I haven't seen any gunpowder or cannons yet and there's no way that they are further up do to their weight, so I doubt that there are firearms here at all.}
While pondering the plausibility of firearms, the footsteps in the stairwell all come to a stop. After a beat, a loud banging sound reverberates throughout the stairwell which is followed by more footsteps. Assuming that they broke down the door to the third floor and entered, I wait a couple minutes for the footsteps to dissipate, then start to ascend the stairs.
Unfortunately for me, the winding staircase makes seeing if there are people ahead quite difficult. Playing it by the lack of sound, I move up to the third floor while using the balls of my feet and knees to reduce the sound of my footsteps as much as possible. Finally reaching the third floor, I can see the door straight ahead blown to bits with what look like scorch marks in their center.
{I guess they didn't think that there would be firearms otherwise they wouldn't use fire spells. Or they're idiots who don't seem to care. Personally, I lean towards the latter.}
Seeing how there don't seem to be people near the door. I step over the remains of the doors and step into the interior.