Saintess Summons Skeletons

A few minutes and a lot of dubious sounds later, Erredis called out to Sofia again from the depths of her workshop. “It’s done!”

“Can I come now?”

“Yes, come look at that thing.”

Sofia followed the sound of Erredis’ voice to the far corner of the room where she was working. In a worker outfit, she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a layer of fine dark blue dust. She was proudly holding Sofia’s new arm above her head.

The armor piece was meant to cover the entire right hand, arm and shoulder. It had kept the same shiny dark blue hue of the scale, and was made of tightly interlocking thick scale parts. There was some excess to give maximum coverage of the joints all the while keeping a good mobility of the arm. The gauntlet’s fingers looked like Dragon claws, finely crafted to perfectly fit Sofia’s hand without being too cumbersome. It was made from a Dragon, by a Dragon, and it honestly looked like it was also meant for a Dragon.

“I tried to copy the design of your bone armor somewhat, but I couldn’t give you an indestructible glove and not put claws on it.”

“I understand… It’s not a big issue, I’m used to having sharp hands with the demon form.”

“Right? It was a pain to adjust for that, honestly, but I did a decent job with the enchantments. This is what I was fine-tuning just now, I had forgotten to put a setting to adjust the end of the fingers if you grow your nails.”

“Wait… Enchanting? Wasn’t the scale supposed to prevent…”

Erredis turned the armor piece to show Sofia the inside from the shoulder hole. The interior was made of some kind of black leather, covered in runic patterns that Sofia recognized as a mix of regular runes and the Draconic language.

“Sweetie, I said nothing about being unable to enchant the inner lining,” Erredis said with an exaggerated wink.

So I can keep it when I transform? That’s incredible. It means the right arm’s spell will never be unavailable. [Suffering] was it? The one that does damage proportional to missing health.

Sofa tried to use [Identify], but she felt the magic being blocked. “Now, now, don’t [Identify] it yet, put it on first. Just hold out your arm straight, I’ll help you slide it in.”

“Like this? That’s a strange way to put on armor.”

“You are right, but this gives better structural integrity. Although the scale itself is tough, the smaller parts I carved out for the jointings are the weakest part of the entire arm, so doing it like this allows me to hide them inside, protected entirely by the bigger pieces. And it looks almost seamless from the outside, which is pretty neat. I have outdone myself this time!”

Finished with the exhibit, Erredis slid the armor over Sofia’s extended right arm. The inside was soft and slightly cold, it felt like putting on a long silk glove. Her fingers pushed into the leather, and as their tip touched the end, Sofia felt the magic inside the enchantments activate. The leather warped inside of the armor, taking the shape of her arm, completely locking the armor in place.

“There you are! How does it feel?”

“It’s like… Not different from wearing a long-sleeved glove? It was heavy at first but the weight disappeared when it closed on my arm. It’s not at all like wearing armor, from the inside at least. Except for the fingers being a little bit farther apart than usual.”

Sofia tried moving her arm around, especially testing the mobility of her fingers, she found it shocking. It allowed for better movement than the original bone armor used to. Erredis observed attentively.

“I expected it to be a lot more rigid. It’s incredible.”

“Ah, no need to flatter me, kid. It’s not even the best piece of armor I ever made. But it is a good piece. As you would expect from someone who has to make their armor themselves.”

Maybe it’s better not to ask why… “What is the inside made of?”

“Oh that’s just some of my skin.”

“Just some… YOUR SKIN?”

“What? I’m made of prime crafting material. Why would I hold back? I know I said scales were special but a simple healing spell can regrow that much skin in a second, so don’t worry about it. I just peeled some off of my left arm and regrew it. Besides you saw how big I am in my true form, right? This much barely counted as a scratch.”

“I guess… I also technically do make things out of my own bones now, since the armor is counted as part of my skeleton…”

“See? Perfectly normal. Don’t trust a Dragon who says they never plucked off their own horns to make a weapon out of, they’re lying.”

“A- Alright… So, uh, can I [Identify] it now?”

“Go on. I even customized the description a bit, though your scribe will be the one to decide what is actually written in there.”

[Draconic Arm Harness of the Depths] : A piece of armor by forgemaster Erredis, for the first Saintomancer, Sofia Aphenoreth.

Carved in the Scales of Thrayk, Hermit Dragon of the Depths, the remnants of his authority prevents it from being affected by magic. The inner lining is enchanted with a variety of utilities, such as self-cooling, internal cleaning, auto-fitting, and more!

This piece of armor stands as one of the toughest ever created.

(Warning: Is not fit for use by anyone but Sofia Aphenoreth, beware of dismemberment.)

“Fit to punch a God.” - Grandma Erredis

Level: 500. Grade: Draconic.

“Thank you… I don’t even know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything, kid. Don’t forget that you’re paying for it.”

“Right. I’ll remember it. Surely the Orator will show up again soon.”

“Bah, don’t curse me like that, please let him appear far away from me…”

“Well, I do not really get to decide when he shows up… The lords seem to do whatever they want whenever. Aphenoreth did quickly stop by when Saria punched into my stasis chamber. Did you not see it either? I never asked.”

“I saw nothing, and thank all the Gods above I didn’t. Some people have disappeared for less than that.”

“No one ever disappeared when I was involved. So far.”

“Sofia, your entire existence is playing with fire at this point. Even by Draconic standards, you’re too reckless,” Erredis jokingly chastised, rolling her eyes.

“I get why everyone is so scared of the Deep, don’t get me wrong. But also, I literally have their blessing and name. And if I’m being honest, they’ve been nicer to me than my actual parents. So I don’t feel all that threatened. Actually look,” Sofia said, summoning her scepter and shaking it around. “Hear that bell?”

Erredis nodded. “It does sound nice, but what are you getting at?”

“That’s a gift from Ormoncleth, the regulator. Its function is just to emit a soothing jingle. That’s it. They gifted it to me because my pet skeleton dog died. This is the Deep that everyone is scared shitless about.” Sofia explained with a shrug.

Erredis shook her head. “Girl, because they are like this to you does not mean they are to everyone else. If it was that easy, I wouldn’t have asked you to act as an intermediary. You are clearly the anomaly here. And that’s a good thing, look at the kind of equipment you can pay for with it. But only a major god or a fool would dare take these subjects as lightly as you do.”

“Sen is a fool then?”

“Sen... That human guy from the towers?” Erredis asked.

“This one, yes. Although he’s a Seraph of the system now.”

“Hmm. Sen… What did he do exactly?”

“He pronounced my full name. Multiple times, I think. Nothing happened to him, as far as I know.”

“Really? Now that is quite interesting. Does this kid know something that I don’t? The system had been investigating the four, that I know. Perhaps this led to that. I am tempted to try, truthfully, but this old lady also still values her life.”

“Your loss, Grandma Erredis. You’re wasting a precious chance of stealing some of my bragging rights. Not many can boast being able to say the names of the Deep and survive, right? I’m still grateful for the armor, anyway. I’m just getting worried now that it might truly be hard to marry if even the oldest, most powerful Dragons around freak out at the mere mention of my name…”

“Oh, that I wouldn’t be troubled by if I were you.” Erredis said as she started walking in the direction of the exit. She placed her hand on Sofia’s armored shoulder as she passed by her, and whispered, “There are plenty of fools who would try their luck at saying the name for the chance of a single night with you, I am sure. Don’t sell yourself short, sweetie.”

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