Obtaining Armaments

Silence.

As Theo, Liyah, and Kaycee walked out of the hall, even into the open courtyard of the Grand Palace's Outer Court, none of them said anything. They simply strode out in silence, until they finally departed from everyone else in the group.

"Sorry, Theo…" Kaycee finally broke the silence, sighing as he did so. "We couldn't stop the people on our platform from resuming their fight."

Liyah's face was also clouded with guilt as Kaycee spoke, but she remained quiet.

"There's no need to apologize. It had nothing to do with you, and there's also no reason for me to be upset… since those people don't concern me." Theo quickly answered, smiling at his two friends as a way to help them brighten up.

"That proctor just pissed me off, but I'm over it now… so it's fine."

"I-I see…" Kaycee smiled in relief.

"Looking at it objectively, it was highly doubtful that an official like him would deceive the participants about the rules of the second round, which is why people couldn't take the risk…" Liyah added with a much louder sigh than anyone else's. "We can't really blame people for acting the way they did, especially since they couldn't be sure the proctor was lying."

"He never lied."

Theo's words, deep and firm, caused both of his friends to look at him in shock.

"But you said—"

"I said there was no diminishing maximum capacity, but that doesn't necessarily mean he lied about the rules of the test."

At this point, both Kaycee and Liyah looked at Theo, confused.

"Throughout the round, I tried to find the number he was using as his constant for diminishing the platform's capacity, but I soon realized that I was looking at it all wrong. The value I was looking for was neither positive nor negative…" He sighed. "It had always been neutral."

In essence, Zero.

"Y-you mean… the figure that the maximum capacity was being reduced by every minute was zero?" Liyah's eyes widened as she asked this.

"There's no way to know for sure, but I suspect that to be the case. If it was zero, he'd be able to hide behind the rules, so even if we reported him, he'd use the figure as his defense. Regardless, none of that matters at this point."

Theo shrugged aside his previous thoughts and grievances, instead choosing to look on the bright side with his friends. "What's important is that all of us passed and we'll be taking the Combat Exams."

"Yeah! That's worth celebrating!"

"Damn straight!"

As the group laughed together, Theo spotted Arlet Bouli'jer—the boy with purple hair—enter into a R'ac from a distance away. His chest tightened, and the smile on his face evaporated within seconds.

"You guys… is there a way to get Armaments before the Evaluation Exams?"

Kaycee and Liyah's smiles vanished as soon as they heard the question, already deducing the reason Theo asked as they also shared his worries. The sheer domination of a single Armament in the second round of the Preliminaries, as well as its endorsement by their proctor, made the nature of the upcoming Combat Exams clearer to them.

Only those with Arcane Instruments would likely be able to get very far in the Recruitment Event.

"If I were to face that guy again… I'm not so sure I could win if I don't have an Armament." Theo mumbled, Arlet's face appearing in his mind. "Is there a place to purchase Armaments in the Guild? Or to get them through other means besides buying them?"

Kaycee shook his head, while Liyah responded to the question with sheer disbelief.

"What do you think Armaments are? They're freaking expensive!" She shrieked. "And you think we'd just be able to buy them?"

"W-well, I thought… since transportation and a bunch of things were subsidized here, maybe Armaments would be too." Theo grumbled, now mortified by his earlier words. "Now that I think about it, I guess Armaments would be exempt from that, since this is the Arcane Era… and everything related to Arcane Instruments is of incredible significance."

"Exactly! Besides, you need to be an active member to purchase Armaments in the Guild, and you'd still need a lot of money to register it. It's a very complicated procedure, you know?"

"I see…" He sighed.

Was there no other way they could go about this?

Liyah noticed Theo's conflicted expression, causing another look of guilt to form on her face. She slightly caressed her necklace, her lips parting as if trying to form words.

"A-actually… I might have a solution." Kaycee suddenly spoke up.

"Really?!" Everyone instantly turned their attention to him.

He slowly nodded, a more confident smile taking over his face. "I might be able to hook us up with some Armaments, and registering them shouldn't be a problem either. But first… you might have to come over to my place."

**********

"…."

Theo and Liyah glanced at each other as Kaycee awkwardly led them into his home—a mini-flat at the topmost floor of a Staff-Exclusive Apartment Complex close to his place of work. They had taken Liyah's rented R'ac, so it didn't take very long for them to arrive.

Stepping into the house was like walking into a chaotic labyrinth of discarded parts and half-finished projects. Mechanical components covered nearly every surface, leaving only narrow paths to navigate through the clutter. 

Shelves buckled under the weight of rusted gears and armament-like scraps, while stacks of papers and blueprints leaned dangerously against one another, threatening to spill at any moment. 

Though the place was packed with 'junk,' it didn't smell unpleasant—just thick with the faint scent of old parchment, metal, and residual energy. The air, however, felt heavy, almost stuffy, as if the sheer presence of so many objects left little room for it to move.

"Sorry about the mess… haha…" Kaycee laughed awkwardly, his face covered in nervous sweat.

Thankfully, he was leading the group, so neither the silent Theo or Liyah could get a glimpse into his state of mind. No one had ever visited Kaycee's place before, and he certainly never wanted his first visitors to see his house so untidy.

'How could I have forgotten about the mess I left the house in until after I spoke up?' He cried within himself. 'I guess it never came to mind because I'm used to seeing this place like this.'

He swallowed every ounce of his regret and chose to dwell on happy thoughts.

At least, he had friends that could visit him.

"You really like to collect parts, don't you? Are they special, by any means?" Theo asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"N-not particularly." Kaycee admitted. "I just get very curious, so if something piques my interest, I collect it for study. Most of the time, they turn out to be nothing special, but there are rare moments that I strike gold. Still, I find that the process and not the discovery itself is the most interesting part for me."

He went on about how experimentation was his goal, passion clearly oozing from him as he kept going on without ceasing.

"… Also, most of the time, the whole ends up being greater than the sum of its parts."

"I see." Theo nodded. "That's interesting."

His response felt natural—not forced at all. Despite it being brief, Kaycee still felt a warm feeling of satisfaction in his heart, happy he could share his passion with his friend.

"This way."

He led them beyond the disarray, through a door that barely stood out amid the clutter.

"Welcome to my workshop." He smiled, inviting them to a place that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the house. "I call it… my Tinker Room."

The moment they stepped inside, the difference was striking. This room was immaculate, brightly illuminated by both overhead lights from crystals embedded in the walls. Everything had a place, and every tool was arranged with meticulous care. A sturdy work-table stood at the center, paired with a well-worn chair that bore the marks of countless hours of labor. Neatly lined shelves held rows of finely crafted instruments, weirdly shaped devices, and neatly stacked notes filled with calculations and blueprints.

To the side of the table, a large box rested on the floor, filled to the brim with various components—some broken, some pristine, all awaiting their turn to be repurposed or studied. This did not resemble a mere workspace; it had the aesthetic of a sanctuary.

It was the one place in the house where order could be seen in all its glory. 

"I use this place to study all the materials I collect. Even though they're all junk, or badly damaged, I try to refine and repair them to see if they can become something more." Once again, Kaycee's passion became evident with every word he uttered.

Liyah's eyes widened, her fingers subconsciously touching the whistle-shaped gem at the center of her necklace. As for Theo, his irises turned bright amber and a smile of realization formed on his face.

"I get it now…" He turned to Kaycee. "You want to use these items here to make brand new Armaments for us."

"Well… it's not that simple."

Kaycee went on to explain himself to the group.

Despite his room being chock-full of scraps—a lot of which were Armaments, they were all Junk-Grade Armaments which meant they had no real value. Junk Grade Armaments could respond positively to Ne'sh, which meant they were Arcane Instruments, but they were either too damaged to be used properly, or had no special abilities to be considered valuable.

In essence, they were useless pieces of trash that nobody wanted.

"But, I've been working on these Armaments for years now—ever since my Academy days, and for the two years I've been working in the Armament Research & Repair Division—and I've found a way to put the junk to use… though it's very hard and it depends on factors like compatibility and effect synergy."

"… So what does that mean?" Theo asked with a raised brow.

"For example, most of my experiments end up compromising the Ne'sh storage capacity of the Armaments, which means that even though they could have special functions… they can't store in Ne'sh and have to receive a constant stream of energy to work. This is because I fused Armaments that already had a compromised storage capacity with ones with a good storage capacity, but due to lack of proper synergy and the dominating effect of the former, the new Armaments usually got the defective property instead. There are a lot more complex things involved with the process, but the bottom line is this…" 

Kaycee's expression was serious as he stared directly into Theo and Liyah's eyes—determination burning within them.

"The defective Armaments I have now are not good enough. I don't have as much Ne'sh as you, Theo, so using such Arcane Instruments is not sustainable for me. Plus, Liyah isn't a Vessel, so she can't constantly pour Ne'sh into the Armament, which makes it useless for her." He inhaled deeply, clearly not done with his speech.

With clenched fists and a smile on his face, he finally revealed his intentions.

"Give me some time, and I promise… I'll be able to cook something good for all of us!"

"How long?" Theo asked.

Kaycee raised one finger and broadened his resolute grin. "One week."

Both Theo and Liyah nodded excitedly.

"One week, and all of us can finally have our very own Armaments."