After an intense hour of enjoying the distraction of shopping in the more expensive sections of the main floor, Pax felt like they had found a lot of needed supplies. However, it was clear even Jacoby’s effort couldn’t keep the inventory as well-stocked as usual in the current climate.

Pax had purchased a new shield so he had something to swap out with the one Tyrodon had added his mirror to. He also made a mental note to drag Amil to a private practice field to hit his shield with some flame spells until Pax figured out exactly how its abilities worked.

Pax had also bought a beautiful, new set of clubs, made from a dark, almost black monster bone. They had a perfectly balanced weight. Slots for air cores in the handles powered runes for speed of movement without impacting how hard their solid bone would strike.

A bit of searching in the blade section of the store had turned up just what Pax needed for an idea that had been bouncing around in his mind for a while. The set of small blades of fine steel with only tangs, no handles, had been perfect.

After seeing how well Tyrodon had merged the mirror with his shield, he hoped his crafting friend could do the same with the knives on the end of his new clubs. If it worked out well, he wouldn't need to worry about using his Water Blades where others could see any more.

When they all finished checking out and moved over to the space cleared for customers to load up inventory boxes, Pax craned his head and tried to find Crafter Jacoby. The older man noticed his gaze and gave him a quick wave before motioning toward the hallway leading to the consultation rooms.

"Hurry up. Jacoby is taking a break to chat with us." Pax leaned down to finish loading his own box while waving at his friends to go faster. He whispered to Dahni. "Run out and tell Tasar to head to the side door so he and the pets can join us."

It didn't take them long to finish up and join up with Tasar and their pets to step into a back room. Jacoby gave rapid-fire orders to a crew of three clerks. He gave their pets an appreciative look before motioning for them to have a seat and give him a moment while he finished.

When the three clerks had received their instructions and left the room, he turned to Pax's group with a smile. "I am so glad you could make it here quickly. I'm afraid if you'd waited until tomorrow, I wouldn't have been able to help you much."

"Help us?" Pax smiled in anticipation of what Jacoby had in store for them. He'd been helping them out since they were brand new students not very long ago.

"I'm sure all the students are growing frustrated with the inability to spend their war points while being unable to earn any more academy points to spend on the upper floors. So, I'll share what I know, with the usual agreement that you keep this to yourselves."

Everyone leaned in a little closer and nodded while giving him their complete attention.

"The information I have will go out to all the academies tomorrow morning. They just needed to give me advance notice so I could have my clerks prepare. They instructed us to go through the upper floors and gather items that would be of benefit to students accompanying and assisting the army"—he held up one finger—"but not fighting."

Pax saw Rin frown, and next to him, Amil opened his mouth to ask something. A glance from Jacoby stopped him. "The military is reserving the right to confiscate the scrolls, armor and weapons of the academy in case the worst happens. They have tentative plans to distribute them as they see fit to provide the empire with the greatest number of trained fighters as possible."

"They can't do that." Dahni’s tone was full of shock and outrage.

Jacoby raised one eyebrow. "You know they can if they want. The first floor is now being converted to a war point shop for all students. Even though the remaining items are mostly support ones, there are a few that students will snap up quickly. And I wanted to make sure my favorite crew had a way to stay safe in the coming chaos. So, between all of you, do you have 500 war points available?"

Pax gulped before looking at his friends. "I have 99. What about the rest of you?"

The others checked their menus and rattled off numbers while Rin tallied them. “605.” She looked up as she told them the total, but she seemed reluctant to spend everything they’d worked so hard for all at once.

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Crafter Jacoby gave them a pleased nod. "Then may I present your first, and possibly only, purchase from the war games shop?" He pulled out an ornate box from his inventory. It was about a yard long and a foot and a half wide and tall. "This is a 10-person-sized automatic shelter device. Ten is a conservative estimate and based on arrogant aristocrats. You and your companions should all fit fine if you don’t mind sharing some personal space." He flipped the latch and opened up the lid, pulling out what looked like a bundle of fancy metal rods, about the diameter of wooden sticks someone might gather for kindling and firewood when making camp.

"It is mostly powered by Earth cores, but also needs a water core as well as two air cores to be fully functional. It comes with all the cores it needs as well as a full spare set. That is one reason for the hefty price tag." He had everyone's attention now as they leaned in to examine the interesting device.

Tyrodon bounced in his chair, unable to contain his interest and excitement.

"You'll see that each of these metal arms is made from a thin and lightweight metal with multiple layers to disguise the intricate runes that make everything work. There are slots clearly marked by mana type, so you know exactly where to insert the cores to power the shelter. And look here to see how each of these arms is connected to its neighbor by sturdy hinges."

Jacobi began unfolding the contraption, motioning for the others to get up and help. They had to spread out almost to the walls of the medium-sized room to open the entire thing into a large hexagonal shape.

Pax looked down at the arm he was holding, intrigued by the complex crafting and runes. He wanted to take the thing apart and see what he could learn from it. He tamped down that urge, knowing how expensive the device was.

"You can see that the hinges allow for the final shape of the shelter to be flexible, depending on the terrain you’re setting it up in."

"Can we activate it now?" Pax was excited to see what they would purchase with all of their hard-earned points. He used his free hand to pull one of his small boxes of cores out of his inventory and flipped open the lid. "I've got plenty of low-level cores."

Sudden horror filled Jacoby's eyes. "No. Absolutely not. Put those cores away. Everyone, help me fold this back up, put it into the box, and then I will explain how it works."

Pax exchanged a chagrined look with the others as they followed Jacoby’s instructions.

“While it’s reported to have protections against activation inside a building or intact structure, there is no reason to tempt Vitur and risk the foundation of the store.” Jacoby aimed a censuring look at Pax, who flushed.

When they finished putting it away, Jacoby pulled out a small folder and began laying out parchments with diagrams and detailed drawings on them. Everyone leaned in close to examine them.

According to the instructions, once set up, the device would excavate an underground room directly beneath the shape formed by the metal arms. It had sleeping quarters for ten people to fit comfortably for a night, along with a nook for cooking and one for necessaries.

There was also a slot for a water core that powered two spigots on separate arms that came down from the underside of the mechanism. One went to the small kitchen, while the other supplied the privy.

Finally, the two air cores powered the final process after the device had set up the bulk of the shelter. Together with some of the earth mana being deployed, it gathered nearby rock and dirt to spread over the top of the completed structure, camouflaging and hiding its presence.

"You won't find any of these for sale in the capital anymore,” Jacoby said. “The vanguard teams have snapped them all up. Thankfully, the long-standing rules that have always kept the Upper Floor items exclusively for students allowed me to keep the shelters I had on hand.

"I'm very glad that you had enough points to purchase one, because these will be gone in the first hour the war games shop is open. Crafters who can build them are being offered huge sums to drop the rest of their work and make them for those with more coin than sense."

"Thank you very much," Rin said, her eyes on the box with appreciation. The others joined in thanking the Crafter, the boys still looking eager to try it out. “Everyone but Tasar, transfer all your war points to Crafter Jacoby. Since Tasar is our current treasurer, he can keep the extra points in case we’re able to spend them in the future.”

Jacoby gave them a happy nod before shaking a finger at them. "Now, I better not hear about a big rectangle of missing grass on one of the campus lawns, understand?"

Pax did his best to pretend he hadn't just been thinking about doing that.

“The device does have a mechanism for replacing the excavating material once you deactivate it. But it's not a perfect method, mainly a way to prevent leaving large holes along your path. I would recommend spending a little mana from the earth and air mages among you to clean up the area more the next day."

Jacoby hesitated before continuing. "The shelter would normally not be necessary fighting against beasts. But that's not the kind of war we are in right now. Please keep yourselves safe. I know you're not likely to stay in the capital much longer. Once you leave though, would you please ease an old man's worry and send me an occasional update about how you're all doing?"

They nodded their agreement as they stood to leave. Pax moved forward to take the shelter box, only to have Tyrodon get there first. The smaller boy had lost all of his usual shyness. "I'm the best person to keep track of this, and you know it. I'll make sure it keeps working. Plus, I'm a lot less likely than you to be killed or captured, right?"

Pax glanced around to see the others nodding along with Tyrodon’s arguments. "Fine, but if any of us need to do a solo mission while the others are in a safe location, then we can take it. Deal?"

Tyrodon grinned happily as he made the box disappear, only to lean in and whisper. "Let's test this tonight. Somewhere underground where no one will notice disrupted ground."

That got smiles from everyone.