Soon, the item behind the cloth was revealed, and in the student's hand, appeared a new pair of gauntlets. The first pair of King Tier gauntlets that Ray had ever seen or set his eyes on. Moving forward, Ray decided to take a closer look, and slowly a smile appeared on his face.

  "I like it," Ray said, "I like it a lot."

  The Gauntlets were made mainly of three different colours, gold, red and black. The base of the colour was in not too shiny gold, almost looking a little bit of silver. Then between the joints and the palm of the gauntlets, he could see a black underline. Finally, to finish off all, the trimmings were done in a fiery red colour.

  The design pleased Ray, as well as spiral patterns of flames, could be seen engraved throughout, filled with the black colour, and the outline of red on either side. Then where the gauntlets ended, just by the elbow, it would slightly extend producing several wavy patterns as if they were spitting out fire like a dragon.

  Just looking at them, Ray could feel that it was a King Tier weapon. Picking them up and putting them on, he almost wanted to try them on instantly.

  "Are they powerful?" Ray asked as he started to put on the first pair.

  "If you are talking about sheer attack power, they're actually the same as your previous gauntlets," Randin said.

  Hearing those words had caused Ray to freeze slightly before he had even put on the second pair.

  "I knew you might not be happy about this, but let me explain," Randin said. "You see, Gauntlets aren't originally a striking weapon and mainly used for defence. Punching your enemy rather than cutting them has always been a last resort. So when making a pair out of the crystals you gave me, I had to naturally forge them the way the weapons were meant to be. Otherwise, it would have produced lackl.u.s.ter results……

  "Now, although the attack is the same, its durability and defence are top-notch. In the tournament you will be facing the best of every Kingdom, it will come as no surprise if they have King Tier weapons, perhaps even better. With these gauntlets on, a King Tier sword wouldn't even be able to put a scratch, it will even be able to withstand attacks from a Tier above." He continued to explain.

  "As for an active skill, I'm sure it has one, well, not one that I could activate. Perhaps it is the same as Martha's bow, and it's powered by magic, either way, I'm sure you will know how to use them."

  It was a shame that the gauntlets weren't able to add to his current strength, but at least this way, he would never have to worry about them breaking if he was to be in a fight. It also just went to show that perhaps, Ray should also start working on his swordsmanship in the future. Although Dragons no longer existed, there were still beasts that he remembered fighting with that were worthy opponents. Their scales and hides were as tough as anything. So just punching them would no longer work, he would need a sword.

  He had the Raven sword and had been practising swordsmanship with Sir K, but still, the weight and balance just didn't feel quite right for Ray, so, for now, he would continue to use his martial arts mainly. Perhaps he would try defeating his opponents with the sword first as a form of practice, and if it didn't work out, he would switch to the gauntlets later.

  After he was done thinking about everything, he quickly put on the other pair of gauntlets, and just like with the bow, a system message appeared.

  [Please input elemental mana to create a shield]

  "Oh, now this is interesting." Ray thought.

  First, Ray started to concentrate and activated his fire attribute. Instead of his gauntlets being covered in flames like they usually would, something else seemed to happen. From the side of his forearms, strange red energy started to appear. On both sides, they formed a large semi-circle, which soon turned a circle.

  When looking at him, it looked as if Ray had a disk of energy coming out from his forearm. This was the same for both sides of his arm.

  Randin picked up a clump of dirt and threw it towards Ray. Knowing what he was trying to do, Ray decided to block it with the red circle part. As the dirt hit it immediately went up in flames.

  "A shield of flames, interesting. Try that again." Ray said.

  This time, Randin did the same, throwing another clump of dirt. Seeing how thin the circle was, he had an idea. Using the edge of the circle, he swung his arm, slashing the stone, and it was smoothly cut in half.

  It was hard to tell how well it would work against different types of armour, but it had managed to cut the clump of dirt just like any other sword. Perhaps the stronger his magical attribute was, the stronger the shield and the edges would be.

  As he tried a different attribute, Ray was able to do the same, changing the shield from a fire one into an ice one, then changing it to one made of lighting that seemed to spark and attack objects that came within a certain distance…… although the lighting attack appeared weak, it just added to Ray's theory from earlier.

  It seemed like depending on his elemental attribute he would put into the gauntlets, it would create a small shield using that element. There were slight differences between what the shield would do and the strength of the shield itself, depending on how many attribute points he had in each one.

  This would be a perfect tool to use when fighting against certain elemental beasts. If he was to fight different types, he could change his shield on the go, giving him an advantage. The same could be said when going against magic users as well. However, what got him a bit down was the fact the active skill required mana to be used. Which meant this skill would be seen as a magic ability, so it wouldn't be allowed to be used in the all kingdom tournament.

  It was the same for Ray's ten newly acquired skills, from saving the slaves. Since Ray's powers in the past focused on magic, all of the new ones he gained were based on that as well. Such as a lightning bolt, and a healing ability he learnt recently. It was too bad he wouldn't be able to use them, but at the same time, this was good for him.

  He didn't want to be the type of human to just relied on his own magic in the first place.

  "You did a good job Randin. I look forward to seeing what you create in the future as well, including what you will do with the yellow armour." Ray said, complimenting him.

  "Yes, I'm still looking into the book you gave me. It's certainly interesting but it will take some time before anything is done. There is a certain material that I have never heard before. I have requested a team to go back to the strange town of yours to see if they can find anything out about it. On a separate note. Will you be leaving tomorrow? Who will be going with you?" He asked.

  "I won't know till morning, I will be waiting by the gate, and I have left it all up to Slyvia to decide who will be travelling with me." Ray replied.

  "She's a good girl that one, make sure you keep her by your side, always." When saying this, Randin was thinking along the lines of a queen, or perhaps a good wife. She had not only treated him well, but even in the short amount of time Randin was here, he could tell there was another thing that was driving her to do all this.

  And it went beyond just doing a favour for a friend.

  But Ray thought he was just talking about her as a companion.

  "Indeed, she has done more for this city than I could have ever wished.

  After delivering Jack his new weapon, Ray decided to head back to get a good night's rest. He didn't bother to explain to Jack how the hammer worked; it was best for someone like him to figure it out himself anyway. Besides, Jack looked more pleased than ever, mainly due to its size. The weight was perfect for him, as well.

  The next day had arrived, and Ray headed toward the carriage in his usual disguise, making sure not to attract attention. He had planned to enter the Empire like this as well. The tournament was yet to start, but Ray wanted to enter the Empire a little earlier hoping he could find some beasts that would help him level up. Because of this, he would keep the disguise but actually fight as his usual self during the tournament.

  When Ray arrived at the Front Gate, Harry was already there waiting. There was then Martha and Kyle.

  "Is this everyone?" Ray asked, thinking that this really was a small group being sent to the Empire. However, he didn't mind this. The group of people in front of him were those that he had first met when coming to Avrion. He trusted them the most and it took him back to when he first came to Avrion. If only Monk, Gary, and Ian were here as well, he thought.

  "No that's not everyone." A familiar female voice was heard, and when Ray turned around, he could see Slyvia, there with a bag and a trusty sword and shield on her back. It was something Ray hadn't seen in a long time.

  "What? Am I not allowed to come?" Slyvia said, looking at the strange look that appeared on Ray's face.

  ****

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