As soon as the man finished talking, a door appeared behind him.

"Now go. The questions are done. " The man curtly ordered.

Complying with the order, I circled the man and stepped through the door and into a room adorned with weapons. It did not take much to gather that it was an armory. I did not quite remember what exactly the old man had promised when I had arrived, but I wasn't going to harp over semantics. Free equipment was free equipment.

The armory was what I would call spacious, but I suspected that a major part of that was due to their being only 9 weapons in it. I suppose the man did not want to give me too many options.

From left to right they stood on nine marble platforms. Surrounded by a blue glow that was likely there to block me from just picking up the weapons. Perhaps the weapons were dangerous?

“Each of these weapons is a valuable treasure. The shields will prevent you from trying to sense their properties. Judge based on your instinct, not your primitive senses. I will not be aiding you in any manner, nor will any descriptions be provided.” the man’s voice bellowed from behind me.

Still giving advice, huh? Well, I had no reason not to follow…but exactly how do I know what my instincts were saying? Well, maybe I would get something after I checked the weapons out.

Okay, from left to right, first up was a staff. More accurately a golden stick. It seemed like one of those practice staffs that people used in movies. Person height and seemingly uniform, but also without any pointy bits. Nor did it seem easy to use.

I don’t know about instincts, but something was telling me that my ten-year-old self may not want to pick the staff. But then again, I would grow eventually, I did not have to use the staff right now.

But that was for later consideration, now for the next thing. A bow. Wooden and fantasy like in appearance, I had no idea what to do with it either. Or what to even look for in a bow. I only know that there was a curved part and a part that was supposed to have a thread. Well there wasn’t a thread there…maybe it was added after? In the same- ‘I don’t know much about this and will need years to learn enough to use it’- list as the staff? Seemed to match.

Well, time for number three. A sword. How typical. Now swords I knew something about. These were handy weapons that were common enough that I knew what a good sword should have. Balance, practicality, sharpness, a good grip, some hardness.

But how did a person tell if the sword was sharp, or how its balance was by looking at it? I don’t think you could. But I doubted any sword displayed here was of low quality. Hmm, it did look pretty and was small enough that I could use it soonish. One level higher than the other two.

Next up was another bow. This time with a quiver. It was also more fancy than the other one with gold trimmings and a silver quiver. But I had no idea how good it was either. Another to the first level.

The Fifth platform was occupied by a spear. Spears were another common weapon. Easy to use and easy to learn. These were the weapons of the common soldiers in the medieval era. The only major problem was that they were hard to use in close range.

The spear shaft made it so that they broke. But somehow, I doubted that this glowing green spear shaft with a blue spear point was easy to break. I did however object to that color combination.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

But I had enough common sense to know that when choosing a weapon, it was not the color that mattered but the utility of it. To level two it went. Right along with the sword.

Onto the sixth platform. There stood a pair of knuckles. Glistening like it was a computerized metal gloss color, it would stand out in any battlefield. These seemed fairly simple weapons. Just use them to punch things. Of course, there were likely some things to keep in mind. Certain postures that were best. But they were easy to use. Restricted to close quarters yes, but they would cure the immediate problem.

But I was not sure if I wanted to restrict myself so. If I ever encountered someone that was magically more proficient than me then I would be left with no recourse. And well, I suppose the bows had the opposite issue. Hard to use them in close quarters. To…level two for the knuckles.

Moving to the seventh platform, I found myself facing a very small object. A ring. A single ring with a gem on it. As I watched, the gem lit up, and the blue glow shield that prevented me from sensing its properties lit up too. A spell reinforcement item? Or a shield ring? Either was very valuable.

And then the ring did not seem to be powered…did it have its own power source? Extra power? I think this might justify its own level…even if its benefits were all assumed. At least the man had allowed some properties to show through the shield. Otherwise, I would be able to get nothing out of the ring.

And then it was the eighth platforms’ turn. There was a tiara. Visibly, the thing did nothing, but I could feel an invisible pressure emanate from within the tiara. Each of its transparent gems glistened against the snow-white color of the tiara. And occasionally a bit of snow formed around its edges. Some kind of snow queen thing? Snow princess? The same level as the ring then…vague but maybe useful.

Finally, I moved on to the last of the platforms. The ninth one. A wooden staff with a single purple gem on the top. Its shaft was shaped like it was taken from an actual branch, the twists and turns one would expect from a real branch were very visible. Then there was the top of the staff, the wood curled around the top, making a protective layer around the gem that floated within. Purple lightning crackled throughout its length, emerging anywhere.

This… was once again third level. I really did not know what it did. All I could think of was that it was a Wizard's staff.

Now I had to decide which to choose. The first level of weapons were things that would take a while to be useful. The second had obvious uses and would come in use fairly quickly. The third were magic items. Vague in description but I had a feeling that they held more power than the other ones.

The first level was eliminated from the get go. The options just fell short. Especially with the second and third levels having much better ones.

Choosing from among the other two however was much harder. Both levels had their pros and cons. The third was maybe more powerful but altogether a gamble. The second wasn't a bunch of sure shots, but they were safer bets.

But at the same time, how useful were the second level of items? Magic was my greatest strength. And seemed to be the main weaponry here. But not shoring up my weakness when I had the chance as foolish. It was very unlikely that I would ever get a chance like this again.

So the question stood. As I contemplated, my eyes went to the magic staff. Hmm… people used magic staffs as weapons sometimes, right? Staffs didn't have pointy bits… but this one had lightning. Assuming it didn't harm me, the lightning would be useful. And it boosted magic too… probably.

Granted the ring was probably more versatile magically, and the tiara might be more suited to my role as Archduchess, but the staff had its own appeal. And I did like the thought of going 'you shall not pass' while holding a staff that crackled with purple lightning.

I think I had just made my decision. I approached the platform and took the staff. The barrier didn't even crackle at the intrusion. Had a certain someone disabled it? Or had it never been working in the first place? But those were thoughts for later. Now I had a different thing to do.

As I lifted the staff in my hands I found myself transported to a hill somewhere. The sky was a dark purple, and lightning crackled around me. A single tree stood behind me, as if it were the sole guardian of nature in the area.

A funnel formed above my head as I wondered what was going on. But my body seemed to have a will of its own as it raised the staff high as the funnel transformed into a single massive bolt of lightning that crashed onto the staff with a great thundering sound.

Crack