Chapter 64 – Equipment

Sal sighed as he surveyed the area. Brophy had come back from his scouting unscathed and delivered a report on everything he didn’t find, in a clear effort to highlight that he knew what to be wary of. There had been no signs of animal or demonic activity for some time, and it looked defensible from above.

Prestige gave a nod of approval at Brophy’s report before turning to the rest of the team expectantly. “Now that you’ve found a place to camp that you’ve confirmed as defensible and secure, what are your next steps?” Her eyes flitted over each member of the team, making each one of them unsure whether it was them who needed to step forward.

Sal was lucky in the fact that he just needed to look at Brophy to see what was expected of them. The man was actively giving them as many hints as possible with facial expressions and miming. When Sal looked in his direction, Brophy stared at him meaningfully. It was time for Sal to step up. Brophy gripped his bag and looked at the other bags before making a gesture of opening it up.

“Erika, I think we should check on our rations and resources to see what we got earlier,” Sal said after a moment of hesitation.

Brophy gave an imperceptible nod, and Sal knew that he was on the right track. With a rotation of his wrist, Brophy indicated that he should continue. Sal was not a fan of this piecemeal information but tried to push past the discomfort.

“When we know what we’re lacking, it’ll give us time to look around for resources?”

Brophy winced, and Sal guessed that he had made a mistake. Thankfully, Prestige wasn’t there just to punish them, but apparently to teach them as they went.

“Good start, Mr. Argento. Seeing what your pack contains is the best route forward, but foraging in this sort of territory isn’t likely to yield anything of value. You should be able to discern that from looking at your surroundings. The trees are dead, likely as a result of the destructive essence used in the battles that took place here.” Prestige smiled as she gestured at the duffel bags. “If Miss Clifton has no objections, I’d recommend that you get started.”

Sal took a knee and placed his metal case on the ground before placing the duffel bag in front of him. Unzipping it, he was met with a series of smaller containers that had labels written on them. He picked out the first-aid kit and placed it beside his knee. There was a much larger roll of cloth material underneath the top layer of containers. His visor confirmed that it was a low-grade sleeping bag, which came as a massive relief. He didn’t particularly want to lay on a rock in the hopes of getting sleep later. The heaviest bag contained rations, which was a series of sealed bags of meat, fruits, and vegetables. They had assigned days on their labels to highlight how much should be consumed and when.

“Now, where did you get that?” Prestige asked with an amused smile as she walked over to Ioseph and Erika.

When Sal glanced over, he could see a small stove had been placed on the ground, as well as an expensive-looking metal coil. He activated his Appraisal just to get the basic details of what he was looking at.

Name	Campfire Stove
Origin	Crafted
Age	8 years
Grade	Uncommon (Low)
Dimensions	25” Diameter Tray
Materials	Cast Iron | Magma Shard
Attributes	Warmth: Can continually convert atmospheric essence into heat. Grill: Can maintain temperatures required for cooking low to mid-grade foods.
Abilities	Warmth | Grill
Power Source	Internal Core 70% | External Essence 30%
Evolution	No
Quality	Average
Condition	62%
Value	Est. $400.00 – $600.00

The stove looked useful, and Sal was pleased at the prospect of them having some cooked meals throughout their stay in the Reclaimed Zone. Having warmth meant that he didn’t need to go out and get firewood, which was another relief. His eyes moved to the coil to see what use it was going to be.

Name	Ishka’s Essence Converter
Origin	Crafted
Age	3 years
Grade	Rare (Low)
Dimensions	30” x 2” Cylinder | 20” Diameter Basin | 4” Faucet
Materials	Infused Pearl | Copper | Refined Elementalist Essence
Attributes	Condense: Can continually convert atmospheric essence into water. Purify: All water will be purified and suitable for consumption. Cleanse: Converter will clean itself using the absorbed essence.
Abilities	Condense | Purify | Cleanse
Power Source	Internal Core 35% | External Essence 65%
Evolution	No
Quality	Excellent
Condition	86%
Value	Est. $4,500.00 – $8,000.00

“Oh, thank fuck.” Sal groaned in relief.

Their biggest obstacle had been overcome, and his words caused a bit of a stir in the camp as Prestige turned around to look at him with a smile.

“I forgot, we have an Appraiser in our midst. Care to explain what we’re looking at here?” Prestige gestured at the equipment.

“Converters. One for cooking and warmth.” Sal pointed at the stove before moving his hand to the coil. “And a converter for clean water. Both use atmospheric essence.”

He smiled genuinely at how lucky they were to have Erika’s ability on hand. There was no way that she didn’t pull the information from Chatfield’s head and prepared in advance. Sal’s only issue was that she kept that information to herself rather than telling the team. If it was Divinity, she would have told them everything the minute she found out. Erika was definitely not like Divinity.

Prestige clapped. “Excellent. Which means that two of your basic needs have been met. What is next?”

Erika looked around the area before her gaze went up to the sky. “Shelter. We need to avoid getting soaked if it rains.” She was so certain of her decision that she didn’t even glance at Prestige for confirmation. Erika’s gaze fell instead to Sal, who was still sorting through his duffel bag.

“Do you know how to craft tents?”

Sal frowned at her still relatively full bag. It was the one that Ioseph had been carrying. Sal was certain that she had brought a tent for herself, which meant that she was asking for the rest of the team.

“I’d need to see one to know how to replicate it, and even then, I’d need materials to be able to craft one.”

Prestige’s lips curled into a smile. “So, I take it that you did bring some tools with you?” She moved closer to Sal’s bag and took a knee beside him. “Show me what you brought.”

Her eyes fell onto the metal case, and Sal obliged by opening it and turning it around for her to see. Whatever she had expected, a revolver wasn’t it.

Prestige frowned as she looked at the gun. “So, that’s what felt incomplete. You’ve synergized the essence between the gun and your visor?”

With a shake of her head, she got to her feet and looked down at the still kneeling Sal. “I’m not an Appraiser, but I can tell that those items aren’t fit for use, Mr. Argento. I’d suggest that you pack them away and avoid using them until a professional can fix them.”

“They work perfectly,” Sal answered back, not caring about how harsh his tone sounded.

He couldn’t believe her audacity in claiming his equipment wasn’t fit for use. Whatever curiosity he had about finding out her reasoning, his defensiveness flared up at the suggestion that he had somehow built them wrong. If it was Upgrade telling him this, then he’d likely listen, but this woman didn’t seem to know much about Crafting.

Prestige sighed as she gestured at the visor on his head. “If you keep wearing that, you’ll eventually suffer from dregs. You’re likely unaware, but that set of equipment is absorbing atmospheric essence at a very high rate. I’m honestly surprised that you haven’t felt the effects, but I’m not willing to risk your life over your pride.”

Sal tilted his head and picked up the revolver by the barrel, so Prestige wouldn’t think he was choosing a violent route. He held it up to her and pointed at the evolutionary rune.

“It’s designed to absorb external essence, and not my own. It needs it to recharge the bullets, as well as helping it achieve the next level of growth.”

Prestige chuckled. “Clearly a poor imitation of an evolutionary rune.” She looked at Sal’s defiant face before her expression darkened. “Would you be willing to bet your gun and your visor on the fact that those runes work?”

Sal nodded. “Absolutely.”

Prestige paused as though debating on her next steps. She continued to hold Sal’s gaze. “Place your visor and gun back in the case for a moment. If you’re correct, then we should see something very interesting. If I’m correct, let’s hope that you can salvage some of those materials after we’re done.”

Sal unclipped the visor and placed it into the case beside the revolver. He looked at Prestige with a level expression. “If you destroy them, you should know that their value is over a quarter of a million as a set. Are you prepared to pay that?”

Prestige chuckled as she gestured for Sal to step away from the case. “That’s not how a wager works, Mr. Argento. You should know that.”

Sal shook his head. “A wager is when I have something to gain from this. Everything seems to be in your favor at the moment, so there’s no incentive for me to go along with a bet.”

Prestige’s smile widened. “My experiment is your incentive. If your equipment is capable of evolving, then they’ll absorb the essence I’m about to flood into them. If they can’t handle it…” She left the sentence hanging and looked at Sal meaningfully.

Sal got to his feet and stepped away, which seemed to surprise Prestige. “Give it your best shot.”

Brophy, Erika, and Rochelle watched on in curiosity, while Ioseph stood beside the towering spikes of stone. Sal glanced over at him and frowned when he saw that he was tracing a fingertip along the edges of the stone. It was quite odd to see him doing something proactively, and Sal wanted to check out his stats. That wasn’t going to be possible until Prestige had her curiosities settled.

Prestige was still smiling at him. Her confidence was really starting to irritate him now.

Sal pinched the bridge of his nose and clenched his eyes closed. Was she picking on him because he had high-grade equipment, or was it because she couldn’t identify his essence? Even if she was concerned for his safety, she waited hours to say anything about it. Sal couldn’t determine whether she had his best interests at heart, or whether she was just trying to make an example of him in front of the others. Taking a breath, he decided to throw another curveball at her to see where it landed.

“Is it all right if I monitor your ability while you do this? Just want to ensure you don’t use Catalyst to forcibly destroy my equipment when your essence flood tactic doesn’t work.”

Sal activated his Skill Master ability and stared at her. The result was instantaneous as Prestige picked up on a completely different essence coming from Sal. Mythcrafter and Skill Master were separate abilities, and if she knew all essence, there was a very good chance that she recognized what he was doing.

“Skill essence, too?” Prestige scoffed as she placed a hand on her hip. “I can count on one hand how many Heroes I’ve come across with dual abilities. Did you get an implant?”

Her eyes searched his face for some form of deception, but there was none to be found. Just as Sal was sure she was going to say something else, her head whipped around to stare at Ioseph in surprise. “I guess this is on me for giving Mr. Argento too much of my time.”

Prestige marveled as she looked at the barrier taking shape around their campsite.

Ioseph had managed to erect a shimmering barrier of essence between the gaps of the stone fingers on one side of their camp. He barely acknowledged Prestige’s comment as he drew more runes on the ground with his thumb.

Prestige shook her head at the nonchalance from Ioseph. “I’ve wasted too much time on this already. You have my assurance that I won’t be playing tricks on you. As a guardian and a member of the board in the Hunter Bureau, I’ll be testing the suitability of your equipment. If you don’t agree with my terms, you can pack your equipment and use it after gaining certification from a reliable Appraiser. Shouldn’t be hard to find one of those.”

Sal sighed as he looked at the sky in frustration. “Would an Appraiser working for the Reavers Guild be sufficient? Silver token holder?”

Prestige thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Those terms would be sufficient. I’m glad that you’ve decided to choose reason in—”

Sal pulled out his silver token from the Reavers Guild and presented it to her. “As the Appraiser for the Reavers Guild, selected by Vice-Guildmaster Villa, I’m telling you that the appraisal of this equipment has been completed. Those evolutionary runes are functioning perfectly.”

Brophy’s whisper of “Holy shit…” managed to carry through the silent campsite.

Prestige’s jaw tightened as she raised a hand over her head.

Sal took a step back from her and started to panic. Had he pushed her too far? She didn’t come across as the type who would hit a student who disagreed with her. A heavy atmosphere swelled around him, and not in the figurative sense. Sal felt the very nature of the air changing and it was suddenly bearing down on him. When he looked over at the others, he could see they were struggling too, except for Ioseph, who looked bored and continued to mark his runes.

An erratic flash of red drew Sal’s attention to his visor, which looked to be overloading. The revolver beside it had started to glow as though it had been heated in a searing fire. A lurch of dread welled within Sal as Prestige focused her entire attention on his new set. He wanted to interrupt, but there was nothing he could say that was likely to stop her.

Time passed achingly slow as Sal bit his lip in anticipation. He had built them to the best of his ability, but their current low grade might not be enough to withstand the number eight in the Hunter rankings. Sal tried to believe in the materials he used and his own essence, but something about watching the set getting battered by foreign essence made him feel incredibly vulnerable.

“My mistake,” Prestige said as the atmosphere returned to normal. She didn’t look at any of them, as her eyes were locked onto the set in the case. “You crafted these?”

Sal rushed to the case to check on his visor, but it was still glowing with a very familiar effect. It was the same glow that appeared whenever the sniper rifle was evolving into its Legendary form. It was an evolution, but Sal knew it was nowhere near the Legendary grade yet. She had just powered up his equipment.

“I asked if you crafted them, Mr. Argento.” Prestige’s voice was unreadable, and Sal was too grateful to harbor any hostility.

She could have easily destroyed them with a snap of her fingers, but instead kept her word and tested the evolutionary runes.

“Yes. I did,” Sal answered with a grin.

Prestige’s unreadable expression melted away as a smile appeared. “Then I imagine a few tents should be no issue for you.”