[h3]「Sirius」[/h3]
It was nice being clean again. Not that he didn’t expect to get dirty while killing manabeasts. But it’s certainly a relief compared to the acidic burns from earlier. His main concern though, is the fact that he nearly died a mere hour or so ago. [i]I can’t be that careless. I need to be more prepared next time.[/i] Granted, he did gather a group for the purpose of safety in numbers, but who would have thought Lysette would bail on them? He would have sacrificed himself to protect her, but she only thought of herself in that moment. He didn’t mind that Lysette ran away when she saw the thing -- it was intimidating for sure. But the fact that she didn’t help when they were fighting it? That felt like betrayal of the group. Sirius supposes that he can’t expect other people to be selfless though. Lysette also didn’t receive any of the spoils from that fight, so she already got her just punishment. All in all, the incident today did wake Sirius up to the reality of the situation. [i]I should be more careful about who I can trust. Especially when we may be put in situations of life and death.[/i] 

Sirius gathers the plate from the metal dragon lizard, a small black horn from a rabbit, a metal stinger from a scorpion, a pink crystal broken off from a bat, and a silvery leg of a spider. He needed to get the metals and crystals identified and then fashioned appropriately into an artifact. The plate is already an artifact, but Sirius figures he might as well give it a functional use too, mainly in the form of an armor piece. He slings his backpack over his shoulder and exits the orphanage, making his way to the local armorsmith. 

[hr]
The place is stuffy and Sirius could see the glow of the forges from behind the counter.

“What can I do fer ya, lad?” the gruff shopkeeper asks. 

“Can you help me identify some crystals and metals? I’d also like to put in an order for a chestplate, a vambraces, and a shield,” Sirius asks politely, displaying the orphanage crest on his Light ring.

The shopkeeper squints at the crest to confirm and replies, “What do ye have fer me then?”

Sirius places each reagent onto the counter and gingerly sets the metal plate artifact down.
The burly man pulls out a magnifying glass and inspects each one closely. After several minutes of examining and testing out the metals lightly with the hammer, he makes his verdict, “Well lad, you got yerself a glass pendant, rose quartz, obsidian horn, steel plate, aluminum chunk, and a piece of silver.”

“Can you convert the steel plate into a chest plate and make a new vambrace and shield?” Sirius queries.

“Sure can do,” the blacksmith answers, “Lemme get some measurements.”

Sirius obediently stays still while the owner measures his chest and arm. 
“So what kinda shield do ye want?” the shopkeeper questions, busy noting down numbers.

“A kite shield please,” Sirius requests. 

“Any trim wit’ yer order?”

“Gold would be nice,” Sirius concedes. 

“Alrighty, these’ll be done by tomorrow.”

“Can I pick them up in the morning then?”

“Sure, just drop by when ye need to.” 

Satisfied, Sirius scoops up the reagents and leaves the plate behind. His next order of business would be to buy some jewelry pieces to put his reagents in.

[hr]
As he opens the door to the jewelry store, a bell tinkles as a sign to his entry. Sirius is greeted by a relatively young woman, “How may I help you today?”

“Just looking around for suitable artifact vessels,” Sirius explains.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“I can find them on my own, thank you,” Sirius remarks, looking around. 

The display cases sparkle with all the gemstones and metals shimmering in the light. Sirius had a fondness for jewelry and has one of his ears pierced too. He browses the selection, settling on a simple silver ring and an onyx stud earring. 

“I’ll take these two please,” Sirius points out the two pieces he noticed earlier. 

The woman retrieves the jewelry from the display cases and puts them in a small box for him. He hands over the money and thanks the owner. 

[hr]
Sirius draws circles on the floor of his room around the horn and the earring as well as the spider leg and the ring. Sirius’s room is neatly ordered and practically spotless -- his bed is made, no clothes or dirt to speak of on the floor, books and journals are stacked on a desk tidily, and the clothes in his dresser are organized by type and color. 
His new artifacts acquired, he slips the silver ring on his middle finger and replaces his current earring with the artifact one. His ring has the ability to coat things in silver while his earring could create obsidian spikes. [i]Nothing much I can do now to train Crystal or Metal. It’ll just be a waiting game before I have a large enough mana pool to do anything.[/i]
With all of his business done for today, Sirius gets a bite to eat at the cafeteria, prepares for the night, and falls asleep in his bed.