Chapter 13: Equip Tech

He wasn't wrong. The bread was a forgotten memory by the time Hugh finished exploring the pages. The Pet page also unlocked the Bestiary in the Appendices. It came with a Companion stone that, when touched to a wild animal, tamed it into a domestic companion. It appeared he'd also be able to potentially make a pet into a mount, using the page's lasso tool to train it.

Page eleven was dedicated to crafting and the system had kindly left him blueprints for a plethora of basic tools. It showed the blueprint for 'wooden spear' had been queued for construction by 'Engineer Macro'. Dex explained how the page would show when his NPCs built things, too.

The following page was for blueprint development. Through it, he could designate items to be researched, leading to the discovery of new or improved blueprints. Dex claimed he'd also be able to assign NPCs to work together to merge their crafting skills in the development of completely new crafts and items.

"More micromanaging," Hugh commented dismissively.

Page thirteen was where things grew interesting with the grand title of 'Equip Tech'. The page was filled with a character equipment diagram with eight empty boxes for him to fill with accessories—head, neck, torso, belt, arms, hands, legs and shoes. A ninth slot was off to the side, atop an image of his Book of Life.

He was surprised to find three items already equipped. When he pressed the image, a help tip appeared, telling him they were an 'Enhanced Money Belt' capable of thwarting thieves, his Robes of Affluence with its 'Comfort Plus Lining', and Leather Boots of Infamy which provided a bonus to his stealth rating.

When he pressed on the empty slots, he discovered were items available for him to equip from his inventory—a levitation attachment for his Book, a scanner implant for his hands, and a memory module necklace.

He equipped the levitation attachment first. His book immediately lifted off his legs to hover midair like a drone. It moved easily when he nudged it and stayed in place when he let go.

"Nice," he commented. "That'll help out a lot. Now I just need to get a leash for it."

Dex chuckled and replied, "I think they gave out Levitation Tech as starter gear because of how many beta-testers accidentally added a lot of weight to their inventory while they had the damn things sitting in their laps. I know there were several broken fingers and toes caused by it. Take a look at the help tip. There. It looks like the weight limit for this Tech is around fifty pounds. Anything more and it'll drop like a stone, but at least it won't be in your lap when it happens."

Hugh grimaced. Now he was glad he hadn't tried to dismantle the treasure chest when he'd initially tested out his inventory wand. The idea had only flitted through his mind for a moment, but he'd ignored the impulse because he still hadn't gone through everything inside. If he'd tried it, his legs would have been crushed.

"Stop me if I'm ever about to do something that stupid," he said. Adjusting the Book so it hovered between them again, Hugh pointed at the other two gadgets. "What are these? And while we're at it, why are these here and not in my main inventory?"

"You can have eight Tech equipped and eight stashed here as alternates. You can switch between them by saying 'Tech Switch Arms' or 'Tech Switch Legs'. That kind of thing. As for those two starter items, if you use the scanner implant, you'll get the ability to scan items and see their help tips in the open world. When used in conjunction with an equipped memory module, you also get the ability to scan for a chance at learning items' blueprints. If you succeed, the blueprint gets saved in your module and then gets uploaded to your book when you save."

"Speaking of memory modules, where's mine with all the stuff I scanned in the real world?"

"This is it," Dex replied, pointing at the necklace icon on the page. "Once you equip it, I'll be able to spawn ten items from it a day. That's the limit to keep people from using it to get too much of an advantage over other players."

"And if I lose it or break it?"

"You'll either have to craft a new one or buy one in Nexus. Saved information is linked to your Book, not on the memory module itself. The necklace is just temporary storage for use between saves."

"One more question. Do I have to equip a gadget to make it work? Will I have to equip a cell phone if Nexus has those or will it work anyway?"

"Equipped items are meant for use in battle and adventuring. You can potentially use as many gadgets as you can carry, but Equipped Tech is different because you can switch it out without fumbling through your inventory."

That was all Hugh needed to know. He equipped the scanner implant first. A cold spot instantly formed in his palms and spread out to encompass his hands in a pair of invisible, icy gloves. Black circuitry rose up on his fingers. It spread across his hands, down his wrists, and finally slowed to a stop on his forearms. The pattern faded as his flesh warmed up, leaving behind a faint impression of a digital tattoo.

"There's a place in Nexus where you can change the style and coloring," Dex said. "To scan something, just hold a hand up at it and say 'scan'."

Hugh nodded in acceptance and equipped the necklace next. It appeared without fanfare, much like the bread had, and didn't seem to be anything special. It was just a crystal pendant on a braided string. With a shrug, he let it fall against his chest as he returned to the Table of Contents so he could check out the next page—'Equip Magic'.

Finally, it was the page he'd been waiting for.