Arwin followed the crowd as it wormed through the market and into what he could only presume to be the center of town. He hadn’t actually explored the main sections of Milten much, so it was anyone’s guess. The horde of adventurers had gathered in a square around a man standing on the top of a dying fountain. Greenish-grey water sputtered out of the stained heads of angel statues. It dribbled down their mouths like a thin stream of vomit before rejoining the stagnant pool in the fountain’s center. All the buildings around the square stood in stark contrast to the fountain. They were all well kept and looked to be targeted at the wealthy. There were none of the signs of disrepair in them that the sad water feature possessed. Arwin suspected that may have been less to do with the fact that Milten lacked the funding to replace the fountain and more to do with the woman standing on top of said fountain. She wore loose black clothing that had been tied at the ends of her arms and legs to leave her movement completely unimpeded. Her blonde hair was tied back into a bun and a porcelain owl mask obscured her face from sight. The mask had incredible detail carved into it. Even from the distance that Arwin stood at from her, he could have sworn that every single feather on its surface was rippling in the wind. People continued to pile in around Arwin, cementing his spot in the crowd whether he wanted it or not. There were a disturbing number of adventurers in the square. He was far from claustrophobic, but this was a bit much. A man elbowed Arwin in the stomach, trying to make space for himself and not looking where he was moving. He let out a pained curse as elbow connected with metal. He glared up at Arwin, but all the anger evaporated from his expression as his eyes landed on Arwin’s mask. The man hurriedly turned away and pushed through the crowd, any bitter words swallowed before they could escape his lips. Arwin shook his head and looked back to the stage. The woman was definitely part of the Secret Eye. He hadn’t had many dealings with them before, but he’d had enough. They were the ones that generally found the locations of just about every new dungeon — and that was quite a feat. Dungeons weren’t exactly easy to track. And, the moment she finished, everyone would turn and rush out. When there was something as interesting as a brand-new dungeon dangling before them, nobody was thinking about going shopping. Not unless something changed the direction of their attention. Arwin’s stomach churned as he gathered himself. He’d never loved drawing attention to himself. Getting praise for successfully saving a town had been great, but trying to advertise a business was a whole different game. The questions slowed even further. His hands tightened at his sides. He didn’t have Reya to call on here. She couldn’t take over for him. And, even if Reya had been present, she wouldn’t have been able to show herself. She had too many enemies and there were just too many people around. This was something Arwin was going to handle himself, and it didn’t look like there was ever going to be a better time. Inwardly cursing himself, Arwin drew in a deep breath. The Secret Eye representative answered one last question, then raised a hand, likely about to let everyone know she was heading off to do whatever fancy things a member of a shadow organization did. Wait. What do I say? I can’t just tell people to come shop at my wagon. I’ll look like an idiot and nobody will actually follow through. Who wants to get advertised to while they’re doing something? I need to impress — Ah. I think that might do it. “You there,” Arwin boomed, his hand slamming down on the shoulder of a man standing beside him. His voice cut through the quieting square like a knife and a huge number of people turned to glance at him, their faces displaying a range of emotion from curiosity to annoyance. Arwin ignored all of them. The only person that mattered was the adventurer at his side. The man had tarnished steel and leather armor, which suited Arwin’s purposes perfectly. “I – me?” the man stammered, glancing around nervously at all the people staring in their direction. “Yes, you,” Arwin said grandiosely. “Draw your sword, good man. You can’t be planning to head out to a dungeon without properly preparing, can you?” Arwin reached down and yanked the sword from the man’s sheath while he stumbled over his words. He wrapped the man’s hands around the weapon’s hilt and flicked him in the chest. A clang rang out and he did his best not to wince in pain. Flicking metal hurt, even with [Indomitable Bulwark]. “You need good armor if you’re going to delve into a dungeon as dangerous as this one,” Arwin said. “You need something you can trust. Would you let me run you through with this sword?” “What? Of course not,” the man said, finally gathering his wits. “What’s wrong with you?” “That’s because your armor is lacking,” Arwin said. “Stab me.” “You heard me,” Arwin said impatiently. He didn’t have long before he completely pissed off or lost the attention of the rest of the crowd. Mercifully, the Secret Eye representative wasn’t interfering. “Stab me in the chest.” And then he did a little cheating. His hand wrapped around the bracelet in his pocket and he lifted it, palm covering the metal to conceal it from view, and shoved it into his mouth before anyone could say anything. Even though they didn’t get a chance to see it, he knew exactly what it did. Chitinous Band: Rare Quality [Chitinskin]: Activating this item will turn its wearer’s body to chitin and greatly reduce their range of movement at the continuous cost of magical energy. [Chittering]: While this item is active, its wearer’s movements will make loud clicking noises. “Come on,” Arwin growled through a mouthful of metal. He shoved his hands into his pockets so nobody would see any changes to his skin. The only other open skin on his body was at his feet, and that was effectively covered by the packed crowd. His stomach heated as [The Hungering Maw] activated, consuming the detrimental trait and stopping it from activating. “You got me so bored I’m eating snacks. Stab me in the stomach. If you’ve got an ability, use it. Put some oomph into the strike. Break my armor, if you can. How many other times is someone going to ask you to stab them?” The man tilted his head to the side, then shrugged. He passed a hand over his sword and grey energy curled off the blade. The adventurer thrust his blade at Arwin’s side, avoiding any vital organs so he wouldn’t kill him when the blade cut through the metal. At least, that was likely what his plan had been. Instead, it struck Arwin’s armor, now magically enhanced by the bracelet he’d just eaten. The sword rang like a bell and bounced off, failing to do more than leave a thin scratch across Arwin’s chest. “And that’s what real armor does,” Arwin declared, his voice still echoing across the square. “Care to let me try that on you?”