Chapter 380: Testing
Kael had almost forgotten about the pants.
Almost.
Andre had not. Before Kael could begin pulling Runes out of his equipment and turning the workshop into another experimental disaster, the dwarf pointed toward his legs.
"Inspect those first."
Kael looked down. "The pants?"
"Aye. The Epic pants you spent days reinforcing."
"That sounds significantly less impressive than Epic gauntlets."
Andre stared at him until Kael sighed and focused upon the armor.
A smaller window appeared.
[ ITEM STATUS SCREEN ]
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ITEM NAME: Malachor-Reinforced Basilisk Trousers
RARITY: Epic
ITEM LEVEL: N/A
CATEGORY: Light Armor / Crafted Equipment
CREATOR: Kael Ardent
[ ARMOR PROPERTIES ]
+10% resistance to Cold.
+10% resistance to pierce damage.
+33 Resistance to Heat.
+ 5% Stamina regeneration.
[Reinforced Mobility]
Malachor mesh has been strategically integrated throughout the thighs, hips, knees, and lower legs without compromising natural movement.
Physical force received across reinforced areas is partially dispersed throughout the internal weave.
[Temperature Flux]
HEATED:
Malachor reinforcement becomes increasingly resistant to physical deformation and impact.
CHILLED:
Malachor reinforcement gains increased conductivity for Mana and Internal Energy.
[Living Memory: Partial]
Minor deformation within the Malachor reinforcement gradually returns toward its forged structure when sufficiently cooled.
[Adaptive Articulation]
Mesh density has been reduced around major joints to preserve flexibility during high-speed movement, kicking techniques, and advanced footwork.
𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
[ ITEM LORE ]
Protection means little if the wearer cannot move.
The best armor is sometimes the part nobody notices.
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Kael read through the description, then lifted one leg and bent his knee. He rotated his hip, dropped into a low stance and transitioned into one of the basic forms from the Wonderlusting Demons footwork.
The coat moved with him as he twisted sharply and kicked through empty air. Nothing tightened around his hips or pulled against his knee. Despite the metal woven through several reinforced sections, the trousers did not restrict him at all.
Kael straightened. "Okay. Those are better than I expected."
"Only better than expected?" Andre asked with a grin.
"They’re still pants."
Andre’s expression immediately soured. "Epic pants."
"Those two words do not become more impressive because you keep putting them together."
"Ungrateful bastard."
Kael laughed and finally equipped everything properly: the reinforced trousers, the fitted inner vest Andre had forced upon him, the long Malachor-Weave coat, his old helmet for now, and finally the new gauntlets.
He looked considerably different from when he had entered the workshop. More importantly, he felt different.
His previous equipment had been built gradually, with one improvement attached to another whenever he encountered a new problem. A socket had been added here, a reinforcement there, followed by a better mechanism when something broke or failed to work as intended.
This set felt unified.
It was not complete. The floating [Incomplete] beside the coat’s rarity made certain Kael remembered that. Even so, it was closer to the direction he wanted his equipment to take.
That left one question.
What Rune belonged in the coat?
Kael had already told Andre that he intended to leave the socket empty until he found something genuinely compatible.
That decision lasted less than a day.
The following morning, Kael sat cross-legged on the workshop floor with nearly every Rune he owned arranged in front of him. Andre walked past, stopped and studied the collection before looking down at Kael.
"No."
Kael glanced up. "I haven’t done anything."
"Yet. I know how this begins."
"I’m testing."
"That’s the word ya use before breaking expensive things."
"I can repair it."
Andre sighed because that was unfortunately true. Brokk’s Hammer had removed much of the consequence that normally came with experimenting on equipment, provided Kael did not completely destroy the material.
That did not mean the dwarf had to enjoy watching.
Kael started with the obvious choice.
Frost.
The Rune clicked into the socket positioned high on the back of the coat, just below the collar. Cold spread across the Malachor mesh the instant Kael activated it.
His eyes widened. "Oh. That’s much better than using Frost through the gauntlets."
The conductivity was incredible. Internal energy moved through the weave with almost no resistance, traveling across his shoulders, down his back, along his sides and into the reinforced portions surrounding his arms.
Everything connected beautifully. For approximately twenty seconds.
Then frost appeared around the bottom of the coat.
Kael frowned as a thin white layer crept along the hem. "That’s probably fine."
Andre looked over from his workbench. "No sentence beginning with that has ever ended well in this shop."
Kael ignored him and circulated another small amount of energy. More frost accumulated as moisture in the surrounding air froze against the leather, forming layer after layer around the edges.
When Kael stood, the coat suddenly felt considerably heavier. He moved one arm, and ice cracked around the shoulder.
"Okay," he said slowly. "That might be a problem."
Andre folded his arms. "Still mostly fine?"
Kael did not answer. He could feel the energy inside the mesh continuing to climb, and the reason became obvious once he focused upon the flow.
The thick Malachor wires were conducting Frost beautifully.
Too beautifully.
The original masterpiece had used strands almost as fine as spider silk. Thousands upon thousands of individual channels had been distributed throughout the coat, giving the energy countless paths through which to travel.
Kael’s version had far fewer wires, and each one was much thicker. The same amount of Runic power was being forced through a fraction of the channels the original design should have possessed.
Energy concentrated inside them instead of dispersing.
Kael’s expression changed. "Shit."
SNAP.
One wire broke somewhere near his left shoulder.
Kael immediately deactivated Frost. The Rune went dark, and he stood completely still while the last traces of cold settled through the coat.
Andre stared at him.
Kael slowly turned toward the damaged section. A tiny metallic strand had broken beneath the leather, leaving a slight ridge where the surrounding mesh had pulled out of alignment.
"Don’t."
Andre smiled. "Don’t what?"
"Say whatever you’re about to say."
"I wasn’t going to say anything."
"You absolutely were."
Andre returned to his work with an expression that said enough on its own.