[SPIRIT GEAR]
Na: Arachknit Cuirass
Grade: Uncommon
Type: Armor (Light)
Base Effects:
• 20% Stealth (Low Light Conditions)
• 12% Physical Defense
Trait: Web-Walk
• Footsteps 50% quieter on stone/web surfaces
Durability: 94/100
SE Cost: None (Passive Effects)
[Lightweight armor woven from spider-beast carapace. Favored by scouts and those who hunt in darkness.]
Right now, I was putting on a sleek, form-fitting chestplate forged from a segnted carapace. The surface glead with a deep obsidian-purple sheen, the chitinous plates layered like the abdon of so predatory insect.
The mont I settled it against my chest, the armor seed to adjust. Not drastically, but the plates shifted subtly, finding the contours of my torso like the material rembered what bodies felt like. The interior was cool against my skin, smoother than I expected, and when I rolled my shoulders experintally, the segntation responded without resistance. It moved with rather than against .
’Spirit gear,’ I reminded myself. ’Not just equipnt.’
Intricate web-like patterns were etched across the entire surface, not decorative, but functional grooves where residual spirit silk reinforced the armor’s structure. The segntation allowed for surprising flexibility despite its rigid appearance, with articulated plates across the abdon that shifted fluidly with my movent. Three leather buckle straps secured each side, their dark tal clasps shaped like tiny spider fangs. The edges of each plate were trimd in a darker, almost black border, giving the piece an intimidating silhouette.
This was an amazing gift that Milo had managed to squeeze out for , and I wore it beneath a black coat with my Frostfang sword strapped to my waist. The cuirass being spirit gear was precisely what made appreciate it so much, though it felt considerably heavy. That weight was actually welco, considering I was already adjusting to all the weight bracelets wrapped around my arms.
Well, to be honest, I wasn’t having that hard of a ti with them anymore. Sotis it was like I forgot the bracelets existed entirely, my muscles having grown accustod to the constant drag.
Other tis, I woke up feeling them pulling at my limbs like anchors, every movent a negotiation with gravity. But those latter monts were becoming rarer by the day. My body was adapting, growing stronger in ways I couldn’t always perceive until I noticed the absence of struggle.
’Progress,’ I told myself. ’Even if it doesn’t always feel like it.’
All of us were assembled now. Three days had passed since Milo said he was going to find a gate for us to raid, and he had finally called for us this morning.
I’d suspected he had found sothing when he sent Odelia to deliver this armor to yesterday and asked if I needed a sword. While I was tempted to say yes, because it would be nice to have a blade that wasn’t a constant struggle to wield, I turned down the offer and instead chose to stay with Frostfang.
My hand drifted to the hilt now, feeling the familiar resistance even in that simple touch. The sword fought . It always fought . But that was the point, wasn’t it? Mastery ant nothing if it ca easy.
’Should be part of what dedication and discipline ans, right?’
Everyone around was donned in armor of varying kinds. Cressida wore dark silk that seed to drink the light, and she had tal gauntlets that covered her arms from her shoulders to her fingertips.
A long wooden box, at least six feet tall, was strapped to her back. It looked incredibly heavy, but she stood with her weight balanced evenly, shoulders relaxed. Either the weight was deceptive, or she’d carried that box so many tis her body no longer registered it as a burden. Probably the latter, the way she moved suggested the box was simply part of her now, an extension rather than an encumbrance.
Nisha wore light armor as well, the grey tal seeming like little more than a thin sheet molded to her form. Her body was barely covered the white clothes she wore strained against her breast and the lower piece seed to rely prevent people from seeing her private features, although, her lower thighs to knee, and waist were adorned by her armor.
Her brown skin practically glowed in the ambient light, and her locked hair was tied into a short ponytail with one lock on each side of her face dancing freely. She stood apart from the others, arms loose at her sides, watching everything and everyone with the kind of stillness that ca from knowing exactly how fast she could move if she needed to.
Ophelia and Odelia had their maid outfits on, but there were now subtle tal reinforcents around their shoulders, ankles, and knees. That was how I knew the dresses themselves were likely different from their everyday wear. Combat variants, perhaps. The twins flanked each other naturally, their positioning suggesting a familiarity with fighting as a pair. I’d noticed that about them before. They moved like two halves of the sa thought.
Then there was Milo, who wore a long coat and held a staff that coiled at the top like a serpent frozen mid-strike. I turned around, scanning the area. No sight of Levi or Tristan.
Milo had just arrived and imdiately caught looking back like I was waiting for more people. Sothing in his expression shifted, a flicker of understanding passing behind his eyes before it settled into calm assurance.
"This is everyone that will be going into the gate," he said as we gathered.
I turned around and did a ntal count. ’That’s about six of us?’
I frowned imdiately. "Six of us? Is it an E rank gate?"
Milo smiled. His smile was not amusing to look upon at this mont. I understood that if Levi and Tristan were in this party, maybe the small number wouldn’t seem so absurd. But they weren’t here.
I had been to a C rank gate before, and I knew the hell that awaited inside one despite having Kassie with at the ti. While the beasts themselves hadn’t posed the greatest threat, the environnt itself had been a nightmare. Six of us felt too few. Far too few.
’Maybe it really is different with a lower rank gate,’ I reasoned, trying to convince myself.
But then Milo spoke again. "I found us a C rank gate."
At that mont, I felt like whatever invisible force had been holding my heart in place and keeping it from plumting simply lost its grip.
The mory hit before I could stop it. Air so thick with spores that every breath felt like drowning. The ground that shifted and pulsed beneath our feet like sothing alive and hungry. Kassie’s voice cutting through the chaos, the only thing keeping oriented in a world that wanted us dead.
And that was with a full team.
"What?"
"Yayy!"
"I was a little worried we’d be starting slow."
"That’s good for a warmup, I guess."
I glanced around at all of them, looking at each one like they’d collectively lost their minds. Cressida was already adjusting the straps on her box, casual as if we’d just agreed on lunch plans. The twins exchanged a glance that seed more excited than concerned. Only Nisha was silent, her expression unchanged, so she was spared from the incredulous look I was giving everyone else.
’Am I the only sane person here?’
"A C rank gate without Tristan and Levi..." I started. "Isn’t that..."
Milo placed one hand on my shoulder before I could finish.
"Don’t think too much, Cade. We’ve done this many tis, and most importantly, we’ve learned to trust each other." He folded his arms. "Now, you need to learn to trust us. Besides, Levi never goes with us to raid. You must know this by now, but he is quite weak and vulnerable."
I stared at the man for a few monts, then blinked.
"Sorry, you said what?"
’Levi that outran a storm of beasts with his legs... that one is weak?’ My expression was showing enough disbelief that I didn’t need to voice anything. I kept waiting for the punchline, for soone to laugh and tell they were joking.
Milo laughed but the bastard didn’t say he was joking.
"True, you might have been forced to see so really cool monts of him so far, but that’s only part of who he is. Have you witnessed the pain of his bloodline ability?" Milo exhaled slowly. "As soone who cares about him first and foremost, I consider it a safer option for him to not use that cursed ability of his..."
The young man looked like he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself. Instead, he smiled and looked directly into my eyes with an intensity that felt like it reached my soul.
"There’s no need to be alard. We can take care of each other. Don’t forget, all of us here are seasoned veterans." His smile shifted, becoming sothing more knowing. "Besides, you have a villainess. I heard so interesting things about your villainess from Levi."
’What exactly did Levi you?!’
"What’s the worst that could go wrong? We have you."
The mont Milo said that, I felt like sothing twisted and wrong had just happened to and my destiny. Like the universe had taken note of his words and was already drafting its response.
There are so things you just don’t say before walking into a gate.
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