The village of Backhorn – estimated population 1500 – is largely similar to many of the ‘dungeon towns’ in the Lost Angels region. The notable exception is that, unlike many similar towns, the associated dungeon is located outside the town, at the nearby Delver's Guild Academy.

  In Backhorn’s case, the Delver's Guild plays a role much like that of one of the Families, as the Academy is the single largest employer. Many of the guards, and nearly all of the Academy's staff, live in town. The remaining economy is largely agricultural. The only establishment of note in Backhorn is an outpost of A–Z Emporium, which primarily caters to the students of the Academy with a broad selection of Tier 0 and some Tier 1 equipment.

  -

  Zaire and Jayce had picked out new light armor sets, Raylan had the set of Level 5 I’d originally wanted, and I of course had the far-too-expensive commissioned armor. The orcs hadn’t found anything that would fit them, and their armor matched their current Level already, so they had only picked out a few mods each.

  I realized that none of the others, aside from Raylan, had picked out any weapons when the Knife Fighter started looking to see if they had ammunition that would fit his pistol from the dungeon. I walked over to admire the display of pistols, every one of them far more finely crafted than the junk I’d been given back in Sunland. As Arlo stepped up besides me I frowned, recalling that he’d claimed his family was responsible for giving out those cheap pistols.

  “Many of these are my family’s products,” he told me, “though I see a few cheaper imitations as well.”

  “Ha, you have a good eye young Mr. Hammersmith, as expected!” Samuel had followed us over, bumping one of his younger employees out of the way and taking his place.

  “Not everyone can afford Hammersmith quality, unfortunately, so I must cater to their needs as well!”

  Arlo nodded slightly, conceding the point, and I continued to look over the weapons. There were several sizes available, and from the tags they came in Level 1, Level 5, and Level 10 versions. When I asked Samuel about the missing Levels in between, he explained that most people didn’t upgrade their pistols regularly. They tended to buy one for a kid who had just finished the Tutorial, then upgrade occasionally when they’d outgrown the old one.

  I had to remind myself that the main customers for these weapons were probably civilians who didn’t expect to use them very often, and not Delvers.

  I looked again at the top of the display, where there were two huge pistols with oversized handgrips and trigger guards. .

  Item: HAC Gauntlet-Grip

  Type: Semi-automatic

  Capacity: 9+1

  Caliber: 50 Magnum

  Level: 5

  The Gauntlet-Grip series from Hammersmith Arms Company is the ultimate in stopping power! Featuring our most powerful pistol round, the 50 Magnum, the GG weapons are specially designed for use while wearing armor. Unlike traditional pistols, the GG is sized to be operated while wearing a gauntlet, and powerful enough to punch right through plate armor!* If you’re strong enough to handle the recoil, the Hammersmith 50 Magnum GG will take care of the rest!

  *of a similar Level

  The price tag on each read ‘15 Eagles’. Samuel saw my gaze and took one down and handed it to me.

  “Quite a beast, isn’t it? That’s the most powerful Level 5 pistol you can buy! I’m sure young Mr. Hammersmith here can tell you all about it!”

  My hand could barely wrap around the huge grip, and it was heavy. Arlo smiled, and explained that this was a new line of weapons. He’d suggested many other names to his family, but had been overruled and it was termed the ‘GG’ series over his strenuous objections. I looked over at the two huge orcs and his eyes widened.

   I called on the Comms, and soon we were all gathered around the pistol display. It turned out that the GGs were – just barely – big enough for the orcs to use comfortably, bare handed of course. With gloves on, even the enlarged trigger guards weren’t big enough for H’ruk’s thick fingers. Arlo chided the big orc for excitedly waving the gun around, then I got down to business.

  I added uncomfortably.

   Tara asked, then clarified.

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   Arlo agreed wholeheartedly.

   Raylan noted.

  “How much is the ammunition?” I asked Samuel, who was waiting patiently. I’m sure he was used to customers discussing purchases privately over Comms. “I’m worried about training, since not all of us have used firearms before.”

  “It can be quite expensive, I’m afraid, especially the 50 magnum. Those cost an eagle for a box of twenty rounds. The others are a bit less pricey. 45 magnum runs three boxes for two eagles, and the 45 ACP is only half an eagle per box. If you’re new to pistols, most of my customers tell me they picked up Level 0 in the Pistols Skill with about five to ten boxes of ammunition. It’s not exactly the same for everyone, though.”

  I winced.

   Tara agreed,

  “What does the price of the gun include?” she asked the Merchant.

  “Besides the weapon, you’ll get a belt holster, and two magazines – with ammunition – included with each gun. Oh, and, since you’re my new favorite customer, I’ll throw in a basic cleaning kit with each one!” he added with a wink.

  I asked.

   Arlo told me.

  I looked at Tara, who had a thoughtful expression.

   she said slowly,

  I couldn’t argue with that, since I’d never expected to get anything close to this much stuff today anyway. I carefully listen to the total price that Samuel quoted Tara for the armors, mods, and my new sword. He seemed mildly surprised that we weren’t trying to trade in our old gear, until Tara explained that it was up to each of us if we wanted to sell it to him.

  I slipped into one of the changing rooms and removed each of my armor components. My new armor consisted of a leather gambeson – dyed the rich purple color that was so distinctive – that was stitched in a beautiful diamond pattern. As I attached it to my baselayer, it conformed perfectly to my body, with the sleeves just reaching my wrists and the hem hanging to mid-thigh. The matching pants covered my legs from ankle to waist, leaving a double layer at the upper-leg area.

  By itself, the thick leather would provide some protection, but all the vital areas got additional armoring. There was the steel cuirass to protect my chest, with a folded-over lip in a v-shape around the neck. Samuel had told me that was to prevent an arrow from ricocheting up off the breastplate and catching me in the throat. Then there were hardened leather pauldrons, cuisses, greaves, and vambraces.

  The vambraces were interesting, as they had three half-inch wide strips of steel running lengthwise down the face, intended to prevent an edged weapon from slicing into the armor when struck at an angle. The greaves and thigh guards had a similar design. As I added each piece, I could feel how much heavier it was than my smaller, thinner Level 2 leather had been. The armor didn’t come with boots, so I kept my combat boots on, and sadly the beautiful helm wasn’t going to work well with my gun.

  It had a gleaming steel shell, with softer leather padding on the inside, and a steel face plate that looked like an ornate mask. The face plate covered the entire face with eyeholes to see out of and a series of smaller, round holes over the mouth to let me breathe. The helm came with a leather aventail, running all the way around almost like a skirt. It would offer some protection for the throat and neck, if not as much as a gorget. The metal face plate was removable, I assumed for comfort. Even without it, the butt of my gun pressed the helmet uncomfortably into my face when I tried to aim.

  I strapped on my new sword, which was a few inches longer than the old one, and significantly different in design. It was single-edged, to start, with a slightly curved blade that came to a point at a tip that was sharpened for stabbing. A single long fuller ran most of the length of the blade, reducing the weight a bit.

  The blade was blackened steel, with only the razor-sharp edge gleaming bright. Similarly, the hilt was dark, covered in a grippy material. The back of the blade was thick – noticeably thicker than my old sword, and blunt. When I’d asked Samuel why, he’d been more than eager to explain.

  “This, Azure, is a heavy cutlass – an excellent blade for a Delver, wonderful for monster-fighting! It is not intended for dueling, it’s too heavy for that. The weight makes it much more effective at chopping, and it has excellent rigidity for thrusting, though it’s primarily a slashing weapon. You can even grab it with your off hand if needed to block or deflect a heavy blow. It’s also right at the limit of length usable with the Short Blades Skill, maximizing your reach.”

  I’d decided to keep my old sword at least until I got more familiar with the new cutlass. I also wanted to keep my old composite chestplate, in case I had a chance to get something similar made in the future. Unfortunately, Samuel was only able to offer me a half-dozen talons for my old leather components, but that was better than nothing. I was coming out of the store with both more gear and more money than when I’d entered, and I didn’t even have to take a loan from Block this time!

  I asked Samuel before storing my new helmet, old breastplate, and old sword in my Inventory, knowing the store probably had an alarm. When he nodded, I vanished the items one by one, then sat down on a chair outside the changing room while Jayce went in for their turn. I removed the old kinetic dispersion mod from my armor, finding the experience much more bearable while sitting, and applied the basic camouflage in its place.

  By the time the room had stopped spinning, Jayce had emerged in their upgraded armor, which was now a matched set of dark brown leather over the purple robes of their baselayer.

  “Ahh, you two are matching! You look so cute together!"

  Just Some Guy: MC to NPC (LitRPG Action Adventure)

  Darren’s dead now. Well, probably dead. He’s not been able to confirm that yet.

  ? WHY READ THIS:

  [+] Pirates: Who doesn’t love pirates? Ninjas. Ninjas hate pirates (story may or may not also contain ninjas).

  [+] Weak to strong: Darren’ll get there. Eventually. Just gotta give him a minute (or a week or two) to warm up.

  [+] Adorable sidekick: Now with a side of unhealthy-thirst-for-world-domination.

  [+] Numbers go brrrr: Like Darren, they start slow. But trust me, when they go brrr, they go BRRRR.