Chapter 378: Complete And Incomplete
The first window opened above the gauntlets. Kael had expected them to reach Epic, considering the amount of work Andre had invested and the fact that Malachor Jade possessed that rarity before anyone touched it. Even so, seeing the classification appear widened his smile.
[ ITEM STATUS SCREEN ]
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ITEM NAME: Malachor Rune Gauntlets
RARITY: Epic
ITEM LEVEL: N/A
CATEGORY: Fist Guards / Magical Equipment / Runic Conduit
CREATORS: Kael Ardent / Andre
CONDITION OF USE:
[Kael Ardent]
[ CORE PROPERTIES ]
[Heat Control]
The gauntlets regulate and redirect extreme temperatures generated through their internal Rune channels, reducing thermal damage to the wearer and surrounding Rune mechanisms.
[Catalyst Control]
Independent catalyst systems allow opposing elemental effects to be routed through separate gauntlets with greatly reduced interference and desynchronization.
[Temperature Flux]
Malachor Jade alters its physical performance according to temperature.
Heating strengthens structural resistance and increases the physical impact transferred through the gauntlets.
Chilling significantly increases energy conductivity and reduces resistance during the transmission of Mana, Internal Energy, and Runic Effects.
[Living Memory]
The Malachor Jade remembers its completed forged state.
Physical deformation, warping, and minor structural displacement will gradually correct themselves when the material is sufficiently cooled.
Material that has been completely destroyed or removed cannot be restored.
[Runic Synchronization]
Improved channel alignment reduces energy loss when multiple compatible Runes are activated through the same gauntlet.
Conflicting Rune combinations may still destabilize the equipment.
[ ITEM LORE ]
Forged from a material that remembers catastrophe.
Built for hands that have made a habit of surviving it.
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Kael read the window twice before returning to one particular section. Heating strengthened the structural resistance and increased the physical impact transferred through the gauntlets. He slowly lowered his gaze toward his right fist.
"Does this seriously mean what I think it means?"
Andre took another drink before answering. "If ya think heating the gauntlet will make it harder and increase the force behind yer punches, then yes."
Kael activated Fire at a low intensity. Red-orange lines awakened beneath the Malachor plates, and the metal responded immediately instead of merely enduring the heat.
He felt the gauntlet become firmer around his hand without tightening or restricting his fingers. The wrist remained free to turn, yet every plate felt more substantial and less willing to move against anything except Kael himself.
When he closed his hand, the metal settled over his knuckles with a faint click. "So the hotter I make this, the harder it becomes and the more force it transfers into whatever I hit. That is completely stupid."
"Aye, but judging by yer expression, that isn’t a complaint."
"It absolutely isn’t. I love it."
Kael allowed Fire to fade before activating Frost. White spread across the dark jade plates, and the sensation changed completely. The gauntlet no longer felt denser or firmer. Instead, the channels inside it seemed to open.
He pushed a small amount of internal energy through Anchor. The current passed from his arm into the gauntlet so cleanly that he stopped and tried again with more power.
There was none of the faint internal drag he had grown accustomed to when using his previous equipment. The chilled Malachor accepted the energy and carried it into the Runic channels without any noticeable resistance.
Kael frowned at his hand. "That is a much larger improvement than I expected. I can barely feel the transition between my channels and the gauntlet."
"Cold wakes the conductivity," Andre explained. "The more evenly ya chill the Malachor, the easier it becomes for energy to pass through the structure."
Kael looked between both hands as the possibilities settled into place. "Fire improves how the gauntlets receive and deliver physical force, while Frost makes them better at transmitting energy. Those are the two Runes I use more than anything else."
"I noticed that sometime during the three days I spent designing around them," Andre replied.
"I assumed most of those three days involved drinking and hammering."
"That happened too. Unlike ya, I can accomplish several things at once."
Kael ignored the comment and focused upon the Rune chambers. His old gauntlets had worked exceptionally well for where he began. Heat Control had been one of the first features to show him that equipment could be constructed around Runes instead of having Runes forced into whatever happened to be available.
Later modifications added the independent catalyst system, separated elemental channels, improved socket placement, and allowed Anchor to function as the primary stabilizer. The Malachor gauntlets retained every successful part of those designs and improved upon them.
The reinforced Rune housings were especially useful. When Kael clicked one socket open, the mechanism moved cleanly without sticking or forcing him to fight against the lock. He could replace a Rune much faster than before, which mattered whenever a battle required him to change combinations.
More importantly, Malachor Jade did not merely surround the magical mechanisms. The material participated in every process passing through them.
Kael returned his attention to the rarity listed near the top of the screen. "They reached Epic, but the Tower didn’t classify them as Epic Unique like the old pair. I expected something stranger after everything we added."
"The previous gauntlets received an unusual classification because yer first design was unusual," Andre said. "These are better made, but the Tower understands what they are now."
Kael flexed his fingers. "Runic fist guards built specifically for me from Epic material."
"Exactly. The design is specialized, but the equipment still belongs to a category the Tower recognizes."
"That almost sounds backward. The improved version received a less unusual classification."
"It isn’t backward. Better work does not always need a stranger name."
Kael glanced toward the word Epic again. "Fair enough. Calling them only Epic would probably be insulting after everything they can do."
"Very insulting," Andre warned. "If ya want Legendary equipment, make something worthy of the classification instead of complaining that Epic isn’t impressive enough."
Kael made another fist and felt the plates settle over his knuckles. "Eventually."
"That word has caused me enough trouble since ya entered me workshop."
Kael laughed before turning toward the coat. It interested him for a different reason.
The gauntlets belonged to Andre’s craft as much as his own. Kael had shaped components, worked the material, and contributed enough for the Tower to recognize him as one of their creators, but Andre designed and completed them.
The coat was different.
Kael had created the failed mesh and discovered why it broke. He produced the successful weave, developed the replication method through Brokk’s Hammer, dismantled his old jacket, and rebuilt it around the Malachor structure. Andre offered guidance, but the result belonged to Kael.
When the second window opened, he leaned closer.
[ ITEM STATUS SCREEN ]
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ITEM NAME: Malachor-Weave Basilisk Coat
RARITY: Epic [Incomplete]
ITEM LEVEL: N/A
CATEGORY: Light Armor / Crafted Equipment / Runic Equipment
CREATOR: Kael Ardent
[ ARMOR PROPERTIES ]
+20% resistance to Cold.
+20% resistance to pierce damage.
+33 Resistance to Heat.
+ 10% Stamina regeneration.
[Layered Defense]
Overlapping Black Basilisk leather, reinforced scales, and Malachor mesh distribute physical impact across multiple defensive layers.
Highly resistant to cutting, piercing, and blunt trauma while preserving freedom of movement.
[Temperature Flux]
The Malachor mesh responds to temperature changes.
HEATED:
The metallic weave becomes increasingly resistant to deformation and improves the armor’s physical defensive capability.
𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
CHILLED:
The weave gains greatly increased energy conductivity, improving the transmission of Mana, Internal Energy, and compatible Runic Effects throughout the armor.
[Living Memory: Partial]
The Malachor mesh remembers its forged structure.
Bent, stretched, or displaced sections of the metallic weave will gradually return toward their proper configuration when sufficiently cooled.
Damage to leather, scale, or completely severed Malachor material cannot be restored through this effect.
[Energy Distribution]
Properly aligned Malachor strands distribute energy throughout the coat rather than allowing it to accumulate in isolated sections.
Energy instability is significantly reduced compared to untreated Malachor mesh.
[Runic Socket]
Available Rune Capacity: 1
A compatible Rune may be integrated directly into the armor.
WARNING:
Poor Rune synergy may create competing energy flows within the Malachor mesh, accelerating structural degradation.
[ ITEM LORE ]
A recreation born from a masterpiece the creator was not yet skilled enough to reproduce.
Instead of accepting that limitation, he found another way.
The result works.
That is not the same as being finished.
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Kael’s smile slowly disappeared as he read the rarity. Andre watched him in silence, which only made the word more irritating.
"Incomplete," Kael said at last. "I spent days on this coat, destroyed my first mesh, made the second properly, learned how the grain worked, figured out the replication process, and rebuilt my entire jacket around it. After all of that, the Tower calls it incomplete."
Andre’s beard shifted as he tried not to laugh. He failed within seconds.
Kael turned toward him. "I’m glad my suffering has improved your mood. Would you mind explaining why this is funny?"
"Because now ya understand how craftsmen feel," Andre replied. "Ya made something excellent, only for the finished piece to point out everything ya still don’t know."
The most irritating part was that the Tower was correct. Kael knew exactly why the coat remained incomplete.
The wires were too thick.
The masterpiece recorded in Andre’s ancestral book used Malachor strands so thin that they almost stopped resembling metal. Kael’s mesh came nowhere close. His weave worked, which was the real accomplishment. It carried Fire without different sections fighting each other, conducted Frost and internal energy without snapping, distributed force, remembered its proper shape, and could support a Rune.
Kael ran his fingers along the inside of the coat and felt the mesh beneath the leather. Individual strands remained noticeable when he pressed firmly enough. In the masterpiece, the metal would have been so fine that the wearer might never have known it was there.
It was still a crude recreation of the original design. An excellent recreation apparently deserved Epic, but that did not make it complete.