All of them set their eyes at the luxurious items standing before them yet none dared to take the initiative. Noticing their indecisiveness—Jeongeun decided to break the suffocating atmosphere by allowing his 'allies' to choose their items, and discuss with his group if they wanted the same items.
Although hesitant at first, they decided to trust his words just this once and began discussing amongst themselves which items they wanted. Uschi aided the two groups by translating her friends' native language to German, which enabled Jeongeun to grasp their words. Overall, despite still being a bit hostile with one another—the items were equally splitted without any major disputes.
The assassin and Takashi both picked two daggers respectively, the mage took the ornate wand, the knight chose the slightly smaller sword, Sungah picked the katana, Uschi took the pouch and Kafil wore the steel gloves—leaving the egg, black armour, and black sword left.
"Warum hat der Ritter nicht auch die Rüstung ausgesucht? Ist die Qualität schlechter, oder was? (Why didn't the knight also choose the armor? Is the quality worse or what?)" Jeongeun asked Uschi.
Uschi questioned the knight before translating his words to Park Jeongeun.
"Er behauptet, es sei ein bisschen zu eng und zu schwer für seinen Geschmack. (He claims it's a bit too tight and too heavy for his taste.)"
"Dann, nehme ich sie mit. (Then, I'll take them with me.)" Having finished his sentence, Park Jeongeun slowly wore the armour.
Everyone looked at him with anticipation as he donned the helmet—wearing the entire set. One word was all that needed to describe his new appearance: Cold. An aura of authority and coldness radiated from his figure. The armour was neither too cramped nor too loose for his liking, just the perfect fit.
They subconsciously applaud at his new image but then, he instantaneously disappeared—leaving behind cracks on the ground he once stood proudly at. The air crackles as booming sounds suddenly emerge from seemingly thin air. Looking upwards, they managed to catch glimpses of a black entity moving through the air at such an astounding speed—the sound barrier quaked from his movements. It was only after three seconds did Park Jeongeun reappear at his initial spot.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
His helmet fell down to the dirt as he collapsed on his knees—blood gushing out of his mouth like a waterfall. His eyes bloodshot as he desperately gasped for air. Seeing his pain, the mage hurriedly cast a healing spell on him even though he had engraved an intense feeling of fear and hatred deep inside her heart.
"I'm…not putting that helmet ever again unless the situation calls for it." Jeongeun grunted. He slowly rose up from the ground as walked towards his subordinates who had a concerned look etched onto their faces.
"Sungah. Whatever you do, keep this helmet on you at all times. It can be both good and bad. Don't ever lose it." He commanded—tossing the helmet towards Sungah. One could tell it reeked of evil and blood with just a single glance.
"Just what happened when you put on the helmet, sir?" Takashi inquired.
"Insanity. When that helmet concealed my face, I saw hell. Whispers plagued my mind, telling me to kill, over and over again. Agonising pain ran rampant throughout my entire body. It was as if my joints were twisting and bending themselves.
"Even my vision was blurry with the faces of what I could only presume to be the previous owners of this monstrosity. I have a theory that such a thing will only happen once someone wears the entire set, but that's just a theory. I'm not going to test whether my hypothesis is correct or not…at least not at the moment. That shit will take too much of a burden on my mental state.
"But at the same time, I must admit, it's quite useful. Sure, I end up sacrificing my own sanity and body using it, but it allows me to express my full power. It…rather than enhancing my strength, removed the restraints on my human body, allowing me to do things that while seemingly impossible for a normal human, becomes possible because I no longer have any limitations to my body. I'll end up sacrificing my muscles and bones, sure, but I become an absolute force. So, there are cons and pros."
He then walked towards the black sword as he effortlessly lifted it with the only arm he had.
"Lighter than I expected." He commented, swinging it like a whip in the air.
"Tumna vyt jersech madrë!? (How is he doing that!?)" The knight shouted in shock—feeling sad to see a man smaller than him being able to lift such a heavy object effortlessly while he had to train for years on end just to wield his sword and acquire the physique suitable for such a daunting task.
"La sousel… (I'm so useless…)" He lamented.
"W-wye, tumna al poit yeq. Sic uito teh, tumna heteer La quel tip. (W-well, that man is simply a different breed. Don't be so dejected, I'm sure you have things he can do at your level.)" The mage comforted her comrade, but even she felt a hint of enviousness towards Park Jeongeun and disappointment for herself.
"Hm…Well, looks like we'll be eating an egg tonight." Park Jeongeun remarks.
"Eh? But, sir, couldn't the egg potentially hatch a dragon?" Kafil argued.
"Maybe, or maybe not. But even if it does, we can't feed it. Better to eat the egg first, rather than letting it eat us first. And, I'm sure most of us have been carving eggs with meat. If anyone has any complaints, voice yourself now. I'll gladly hear what you have to say, and we can argue from there on until one overpowers the others."
…