Chapter 37: New Claws

Karl made his way to the stack of boxes, where Sergeant Rita was organizing everyone into a single file line to get through the stack more efficiently. She handed him a large box, and he stepped aside, trying to decipher how to open a box with no visible latches. The answer turned out to be a fingerprint scanner in the middle of one side, hidden beneath the paint. To students who grew up in the city, it was obvious, but the small towns didn't have any need for such high-tech security in their daily lives, they just taped the boxes closed and called it secure. Inside the box was a new set of gauntlets, similar to the ones that he already had, at least in external appearance, but they were lighter than the training units, and the claws on the fingers seemed to be made from some sort of actual monster claw, instead of alloy. What sort of difference that was supposed to make to his [Rend] attack was a mystery, but there might be something else hidden under the nondescript black metal upper glove that covered his arm nearly to the elbow which would help with mana channelling, or serve as some sort of amplifier for his skills. The only way to know was to test them, so Karl stepped away from the crowd, where the warriors were happily beginning to wave their new swords around, and gave them a flex to send a claw attack into the air. The power activation feels much more natural, even than when he is doing it barehanded. The gauntlets weren't strictly necessary for the skill, unlike a sword skill. He had fingernails of his own that would do the job, but with these new gauntlets on his hands, the power seemed to flow to the monster claws and form much more smoothly than he could manage on his own. It didn't feel like it was more powerful than usual, and the energy he put in was the same, but his recovery felt like it was faster than usual, as if the weapon was returning some of the expended energy to him. With these gauntlets, Karl was certain that he could fight all morning with ease, and not have to take nearly as many breaks during the defensive training with the mages. It would certainly drive his classmates insane to have that many more skills coming up to block their attacks, but they were getting better anyhow, so it could be good for them. It only took a few minutes to get all the weapons handed out, and for chaos to spread through the field where they had gathered. There were sword attacks and spells flying all around, a large stone golem standing to one side, and the ground was trembling from someone's magic. It was insanity, but the teachers were content to wait until the students had all begun to calm down before they said anything else. "Alright, calm down, everyone. You know what's coming next. But this time there is a twist. This week, we will be putting you in pairs. There are two of each number in the bag, pick one paper and find your partner for today's exercise. You will all be working individually in a large region, so don't expect backup if there are issues." Sergeant Rita explained, while the two mages looked excessively pleased with their ingenuity. The device that the University had made for the mages varied from person to person, but mostly, they were in the form of a small rectangular frame full of crystals and tubes that could be hung from the user's belt. Aesthetically, they were a strange choice, but better than the hooded coat with the wires running all down the inside that one of the mages was wearing. Dana had one of the boxes, a flatter one that was a little larger than a paperback novel. That gave Karl a great idea. If they were allowed to keep these prototypes, he could suggest putting a regular book cover over some of them so that they blended in with the academy's usual apparel a bit better. That should also protect them from damage and dirt, which clearly wasn't a concern for the design team working on magician enhancing tools. "Sergeant Rita, what are these gauntlets made of? Do you know?" Karl asked as she approached him with the bag of numbers. "Just various monster parts combined, as far as I know. It's supposed to be something about combining the aspects of magical beasts to create magic items." She replied with a shrug. Karl took a number from the bag, and waited for the rest of the students to choose. He had drawn number seventeen, but the look on the teachers' faces said that simply shouting your number to find your partner would not be tolerated. Or at least not before the numbers were all passed out. So, Karl decided to wander and check numbers with the others who had received their cards. He was at the edge of the group to begin with, and his path simply followed the Sergeant through the crowd. The others were doing the same, but in an organized manner. They were beginning to line up based on the number of their paper, with number one moving over toward where Karl had been standing in the beginning. Karl caught on quickly and moved to roughly where he thought pair seventeen should be, and found himself standing next to Dana, who was holding a card identical to his. "Well, that makes it easier. We already know each other's basic skills, and they should work well together. You take the lead, Hawk scouts, and I will deal damage from the back." She informed him with a smile. "That works for me. How is your new tool? Is that mass of stuff really better than what you were using earlier?" Karl asked. "It seems to be, but we will find out once we actually have to use them. The box is a focusing device, and you use it when you're casting the spell to intensify the effects. It's a bit difficult to use properly at first, but with some practice, it should increase my magic power by quite a bit." Dana replied. "Now, we just need to find out what we're going to test it on."