Chapter 124 - Rigid Water
A Magic Artifact was basically an item that was made using an Elemental Qi Essence as the core. Its prime function was to emit Elemental Qi. And, depending on how it was made, the way it emitted the Elemental Qi varied.
In the armour before her, the Magic Artifact\'s function was to spread Water Qi through the armour upon activation.
"If this is made using the Punou, its quality is guaranteed." Re\'Kha nodded. When the three-headed beast—the Pranic Avatar of her master—ran through the Kuhera Forest, it had to face the Punou. The Punou had tough skin, so an armour made from them was able to withstand a lot of hits without getting damaged.
"But, the only flaw of this armour is the Magic Artifact," Ju\'Dra sighed, "It was one of the reasons I was unable to sell this armour."
"What is this flaw?"
"The concentration of the Water Qi it can emit is twice the armours I showed before. But, it can only last for 600 breaths in time before it needs to recharge. And, the recharge process is incredibly slow. If you immerse it in the rain during the Early Water Month, it needs around 2400 breaths to recharge completely." Ju\'Dra said.
"That is too slow. No wonder no one has bought it yet." Re\'Kha frowned, "Why can\'t you use a bigger Water Qi Essence fragment?"
"It is because of the design limit." Ju\'Dra sighed, "This was already the limit of what I could do using the materials I obtained. If I had obtained the corpse of the Punou Beast King, I could have made this entire armour as a Magic Artifact. It wouldn\'t have such a limitation after that."
Re\'Kha grabbed the armour, weighing it in her hands, \'The defensive strength is superior to the armour worn by the troops. Moreover, its elemental defence is also superior to the armour from before. It also has a Magic Artifact and can emit Water Qi at a faster pace.\'
She also thought of the difference between the Elemental Qi fragment and the Magic Artifact. When the Elemental Qi Essence emitted Elemental Qi, the armour had to absorb it naturally and spread it throughout itself. This took time to complete.
But, with the Magic Artifact, it would transmit Elemental Qi into the armour directly, pumping through it like blood. So, the activation would be instantaneous. Moreover, the best fact about it was that it could be recharged. So, in times of necessity, Re\'Kha could make use of the Elemental Qi Essence she possessed.
A normal person would frown due to the time it could last. But for her, it wasn\'t an issue. Moreover, it wasn\'t as if she had to keep the armour activated always. She only needed to activate it when defending against an elemental attack.
Besides, if she wore the normal—the one using the Elemental Qi Essence fragment—armour, the lingering Water Qi would hinder her Wind Qi perception. And, every time she switched elements, she had to deactivate and activate it again. In battles, that would prove fatal since it needed a lot of time to spread the Water Qi through the armour.
The armour with the Magic Artifact was more suited for her. As it would be expensive, Re\'Kha behaved as if she was thinking, disliking the armour, "It cannot even last for the duration of a battle. How much does this cost?"
"580 RuQi, my lady," Ju\'Dra replied.
"Even though it\'s almost useless?" Re\'Kha frowned, "I\'ll pay 260 RuQi, sell it to me."
After some time arguing, Re\'Kha bought it for 340 RuQi. Ju\'Dra didn\'t seem angry to be honest. Rather, his eyes shone with the cunning of a merchant. When Re\'Kha was weighing the armour, she had adjusted her hood. In that short instant, Ju\'Dra managed to glance at the gem on her Tikka jewellery.
It was a blue radiance that he had only seen once in the Burfuna Re Clan. Just that alone was enough for him to know that Re\'Kha was someone with tremendous talent. As long as she didn\'t die, she would become a powerful figure.
Moreover, as long as she used his armour, it meant as a source of advertisement for him. When people hear about her and know about where she had bought her armour, they would learn of his shop and come to buy it.
As long as people witness something in action, they would become interested in it. So, even though he made a small loss in the cost price of the armour, he was getting a better deal. So, Ju\'Dra wasn\'t disappointed.
"Since this armour is fitted with a Magic Artifact, have you given it a name?" Re\'Kha felt around the armour, liking it more and more as she sensed the smooth flow of Water Qi in it when she activated its Magic Artifact.
"I named it Rigid Water," Ju\'Dra replied with a smile.
The dress resembled the Ju Clan\'s style of dressing, as it had to cover the body of the user it was protecting. But still, it followed some basic style of the Re Clan\'s so that a water Harmoniser can still wear it without disliking the design.
"I don\'t carry enough money with me. Please sent this armour to my house address and collect the payment there." Re\'Kha said.
"It would be my pleasure," Ju\'Dra smiled.
The servant from before returned with a large, dusty box, opening it to reveal two elemental weapons resembling Harpen Waves. Re\'Kha touched them, inspected them with her Water Qi perception to see they were still in good condition.
"How much are they?" Re\'Kha asked.
"The one with a shorter chain costs 60 RuQi while the one with a longer chain costs 70 RuQi," Ju\'Dra replied.
"I\'ll take them both," Re\'Kha said as she called Ki\'Nua, telling her about the armours.
"I\'ll have to consult my mother about that. I don\'t have enough money to spend on it." Ki\'Nua said. Once they were finished with buying all their weapons, Re\'Kha and Ki\'Nua continued to shop around as they bought some clothes, hair accessories, etc.
It was nighttime when they parted ways and returned to their respective homes. Re\'Kha then noticed the servant Suu looking anxious as she waited at the entrance.