Hearing my words, Brenden stared absentmindedly at the camera display and nodded.
"Yeah…we won’t let that happen again, even if I have to cross the same line as you did all those years ago."
"Pfft, yeah right, little brother, the odds of you going full dark side are nil; you simply aren’t built like me; you care about too many people, far too much." Rolling my eyes, I completed the initial scanning procedures before pulling a Particle potion out of my inventory and extending it toward Brenden.
"Potion? What for?" Tearing his eyes away from the monitor, Brenden took the potion in confusion.
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"Did you forget that you don’t have access to particles yet? Sure, you could sit down and absorb them, but I don’t feel like waiting around for you to do that, so I want you to drink the potion and convert the particles." Rolling my eyes, I directed my attention back to the screens and observed all 20 at the same time, something that Brenden had no chance of pulling off, but for me and the combination of ADHD and Autism, it was a walk in the park.
It only took Brenden about a minute to convert the particles to his typing. Under my direction, he then added the particle signature to the security system, allowing me to grant him full access to Gnarnia.
With that out of the way, I tapped the center console a few times, spun on my heels, and started walking toward the double door labeled Workshop.
"Come on, I have some gear to give you,"
"Gear? How do you already have enough materials to make equipment?" Jogging to keep up with my swift walking pace, Brenden inquired.
"A good majority of it came from my instance dives and the Fae incident, but the rest have all come from Xilia; I wasn’t kidding when I said she belongs to me. According to the contract we signed, unless I explicitly allow her to, she can’t hide or keep anything she obtains, either from quests or Instances." I said without breaking my stride and placing my hand on the data pad to the right of the large automatic metal door.
"Authentication Verified,"
TSSSSSS
An AI robotic voice came from the datapad, followed by a depressurizing sound as the doors slid open.
However, what my brother wasn’t expecting was the blast of chilling air that hit us both the moment the doors opened.
"Christ, how fucking cold do you keep your workshop!" Brenden complained as I tossed a spare hoodie out from my inventory at his head.
"15 Degrees Fahrenheit. I actually raised the temp because you wouldn’t be able to handle it, but since I’m dealing with volatile materials, I generally keep it at somewhere around -20 degrees Fahrenheit."
As far as the contents of the room were concerned, the place looked more like a mad scientist’s lab than a typical workshop. Sure, there were workbenches and shelves as far as the eye could see, and since I am extremely organized and, well…OCD, of course, every item in the 50x50 square foot room was labeled, but from the dim lighting, cold room temp, and the…variety of body parts stored on the shelves, my Workshop could be easily thought of as a laboratory instead.
"…sigh, don’t you have someplace better to store mats like, say, your inventory? Why do you have everything out and on shelves…" Feeling slightly uneasy with the random body parts and jars of organs all around the room, Brenden scanned the Workshop visually.
"What do you know, maybe I ran out of space in my inventory…I don’t have a storage facility yet, so instead of everything wasting away, I’d rather have it on shelves for easy access." I retorted while walking to the far left side of the room and taking a few items off the shelf.
"Bull shit, we both know damn well how much money you blow on Inventory slots; I HIGHLY doubt that’s the reason; I’d be willing to bet it is just you tryina fill space and make your Workshop look full; that way, you can show off your wealth."
"…"
"…"
"…" Silently, the two of us stared at each other, me with my arms full of hand-crafted items I had made for him and Brenden with his arms crossed while shooting me a judgemental glare until finally, I broke first.
"…fuck you, Brenden," he caught me red-handed this time, sure I could have used the excuse that I brought him here specifically to give him some items, but even then, I could have just as easily kept them stored in my inventory, but instead, after completing the equipment I purposely left them in the Workshop for the day he came back to the past.
Basically, I wanted to show off how much I had earned since returning to the past.
Unfortunately, my ruse had been seen through; thus, I caved first and even coughed loudly in an awkward manner, earning a chuckle from my brother.
"That’s what I thought. Anyway, what do you have for me? Although it’s definitely on brand for you to show off by bringing me here to your Workshop, I doubt your narcissism is the reason this time around."
"Uh, well, I’ve got a full set of Drake Hide Armor that you can bond with, allowing it to resize to fit your current stature, although if you wish to continue using it, I will need to make adjustments after you grow to a certain point."
Motioning for Brenden to follow me, I brought him over to one of the open and clear workbenchs and began laying everything out. Vambraces, boots, pants, vest, pauldrons, it was a complete set, including a belt.
"Sigh, I hate wearing leather armor…it feels so restrictive," Brenden complained as he lifted the leather top and looked it over.
"Yeah, well, get over it because until you power up and get bigger, metal plate armor is off the table. Making something so annoyingly complex is a bit out of my wheelhouse as a jack of all trades, and I refuse to waste money or Equipment tickets to buy them from Arkadia."