Follow the old man.

You and Niki are lead to a small smithy that he explains is a temporary place of work he and his workers rent out every year. Inside, you see various pieces of armour and parts of shields laying on tables and against the walls. The forge is roaring hot, and there are several other people all hard at work. As the two of you follow him inside, he scrambles to a nearby pile of armour pieces and heaves them up into his arms with a smile.

"First things first! You need some proper armour. We found some of your friends during the party and got an idea for what you prefer. Feel free to let us know what's right or what's wrong about it. See, we thought it would be more fun as a surprise! Try it on. It should fit like a glove." The man places the parts down on a table next to her. "There's a room in the back to get changed."

Niki lifts the pile with ease. "Wow! Thanks, old man. I'll try it on right away."

She proceeds through a door behind the rest. You hear the rustling of metal. It only takes a few moments for Niki to emerge once again, and finally, your warrior is back to her old self again. No, she's better.

Just like before, a metal breastplate covers her chest. Now two plates lay over her shoulders as well. She has the armour she had before that rests over the sides of her hips, and she has gauntlets and boots back as well. Her midriff is as wonderful as ever, and her bare legs beneath a new pair of brown shorts. Despite it looking similar to before, it's more than that. The metal is resplendently shiny and intricately decorated with symbol etchings across the edges of the metal plates. The leather of her shorts and the lining of her boots and gloves look luxurious as well.

Niki practically struts out of the back room and poses. It seems that she really likes it.

"How is it?" she asks, looking directly to you.

You look closely. There's a tiny branding on each piece of armour that reads, "Dulhin Smithing Co." It's not too noticeable, and it makes sense. The champion of the Golden Sword will be wearing his equipment, which benefits him as well. All in all, it's an awesome replacement for her old shabby armour that became a slime's snack.

"And this," the old man says, holding out a mace. "It's nothing special. Just one we had already. But it looks like you're in need of a weapon too."

Niki snags the mace and swings it around. "This is way more than I expected. Hell yeah!"

"And lastly... the actual item you requested. A shield." He lifts one up from the table behind him. It's a little larger than Niki's old buckler--more parma style. It's made of shiny metal just like the rest, though the front is beautiful.

Red, white, and pale blue crystals, though mostly the former, have been set to decorate the shield with a symbol in the center that resembles a crimson sun. He hands it over to her, and she takes it with excitement. Immediately, she slides her arm through the strap and holds it up in front of her defensively.

"Careful with that," he says with a chuckle. "It isn't an ordinary shield after all. This was a repurposed design I was attempting to craft before, but when you gave me those crystals, it was exactly what I needed to make something special. I worked together with my assistant mages, and we determined some strange properties, especially to those red ones. I won't ask where you got such kinky objects from, but--"

"Does my shield do something perverted?!" Niki blurts out.

He laughs. "Well, that depends on what you think is perverted. Focus your energy. It'll take some practice to get the hang of it, but try it now. Point it towards this lovely lady here, and focus your energy until you feel the item activate."

"Wait, what?" the lady in question says. "I don't want to be your test subject, Master Dulhin!"

Niki does as she's instructed. With her should pointed towards her, she squints her eyes and pushes. You can hear her noises of confused struggle. Meanwhile, the lady backs away, but just bumps right into an armour rack. It's too late for her to escape. Suddenly, a red light shoots out like a beacon and bathes the woman in its sparkly crimson glow.

It's just like before. The girl whimpers as she grabs herself between the legs in humiliation. She blushes as the feeling of arousal floods her body.

Immediately, Niki aims the shield away. The light fades.

"What do you mean, it depends on what you think is perverted?!" Niki shouts. "This shield--"

"Is also incredibly tough," Dulhin interrupts. "I reckon any wielder will break far before the shield will. Even if you don't like its effect, I'm certain it'll come in handy, champion."

You can't help but laugh.

"It's not funny," Niki says. "This is supposed to be my grand prize!"

"You don't like it?" you ask.

She looks down at her new armour. Her weapon. Her beautiful magic shield. Then, she sighs. "Sorry. I do like it. It's all amazing." Her gaze turns back up to the smith with a grin across her face. "I'm going to use it to kick some serious ass. Just you see."

"That's what I like to hear," the old man says.

You look the shield over. "I can't believe they managed to control the glow of those crystals to not always be active. There are some impressive craftsmen in the world. And hey, we seem to fight a lot of women. You can't say you aren't a little excited to bring someone else like Mistress Catherine to their knees with a beam of light."

Niki purses her lips. "Maybe..."

Dulhin raises his thumb. "If you come back and win next year, I'll make you something else too. And it'll be really interesting if you bring me more of those red crystals when you do."

"No way!" Niki shouts.