Limits

I knocked on the doors to Alicia's house, and Fox opened them. "Nex! You are finally back!". We walked in, where I asked "Is Alicia back?". She shook her head, and replied "No, I haven't seen her yet. Suly is worried for her, did something happen?". I told her that everything was alright, and it must've been due to the difficulty of making a weapon from Lunite.

I then asked, "Did you make any progress with your training?". She replied a bit downcast, "Not that much. It's really difficult… But I have some good news as well. Me and Suly made a new set of armour for you". 'I almost forgot about that' I thought and replied, "Great, let me have a look then". She motioned for me to follow, and we headed downstairs to the basement. Suly was as hardworking as usual. Books littered her desk, while she read one of them.

Fox called out to her, "Hey, look who's here for a visit". Suly lifted her head up, and exclaimed "Nex!". She abandoned her books, and quickly ran up to me. I said, "Thank you again Suly. You helped me a lot. You don't even realise how much you did for me". I took out the Zenith Extract of the strongest medicine I had, and handed it to Suly. "Here take this. It might not be much, but this is really powerful medicine. I'm not sure how strong it is, but it might save your life".

She didn't want to take it, but I insisted and handed her the medicine anyway. "Right now, there are only three such medicines in the world. It's one of the most precious things I have. I want you to have it". I didn't know whether what I said was true, but as far as I was aware, there were only three such bottles in the world. Suly nodded her head, and put away the medicine.

I continued, "I heard you also created a set of armour for me". Suly replied promptly, "Oh yea! We did, let me get it". Suly ran to another room, while Fox grumbled "I could use that medicine too". I asked her in a teasing way, "Did you say something?". She replied angrily, "You heard me damn well. Your hearing is better than that of an animal...". I smiled while saying, "You don't need it. Besides, I'm taking you with me. We are going to have a small talk with Golems".

Suly came back shortly, and asked me to close my eyes. I smiled, and did as I was instructed. Suly prepared something for a while, then said "You can open them now". When I did, I heard "Ta Dah!". A new set of leather armour stood displayed in front of me. Suly used some sort of statue, to display the set. This reminded me of a shop, me and Fox saw back in Endros Imperial City.

She asked, "What do you think?". The armour looked great. Not too flashy, but had a certain design to it. I replied "It looks great. Can I try it on?". Suly nodded, and looked at Fox. Fox replied, "I would leave! I'm not some pervert, you know". They went upstairs to give me some space.

'This armour set is great. It's not just any leather, I can see and feel that the material is great. The design suits me as well' I thought. The set consists of a few things. The most prominent piece, was the chest piece. Although Suly never saw my right arm in its full glory, Fox did. The chest piece, was made in the style of scales.

It was made in a similar style, but the pieces or the "scales" were much bigger. They were also stitched horizontally. In a sense, like waves on the sea. Altogether, there were four such layers. The chest piece was black in colour mostly, but it also had grey and white elements to it as well. Especially the edges of each layer, which were grey in colour. Visually, it looked great and imposing. In the middle of chest piece, a familiar skull was embedded. I smiled when I saw it, as it looked like my mask.

Additionally to the chest piece, a grey cloak was attached. It had no designs, or insignias, but the bottom of it looked like it was ripped off. This gave it somewhat less plain look, which I liked very much. The cloak had a hood as well, which followed the same design as the bottom of it. There were no holes in the hood, but the edges looked like they were ripped.

Then there were the pants. They were also black in colour, but didn't follow the design of the chest piece. They looked more plain, and simple. 'It would be pointless anyway. I have my additional armour, so the design would be mostly hidden. If my guess is right, Fox made them plain on purpose' I thought. I didn't mind at all, plain didn't mean rubbish.

The boots were tall enough, to cover my ankles completely. They were dark grey in colour, with dark brown elements and studs. 'Fortunately, she didn't use too many studs… I'm not that interested in them' I thought. The studs were barely visible due to their location, and size. Adding in the dark brown colour, they worked very well with the overall design of the boots.

Last but not least, was the glove. I only got one, because my right hand didn't need it. The glove was black in colour, and had the same skull design as the chest piece. I took off my old clothes, and dressed up in my new set. "It's almost a perfect fit… I have no idea, how Fox was able to match it so well to my body". I even suspected she somehow took my measurement, while I was asleep.

The pants were a bit too tight for my linking, by they didn't restrict my movement. 'I should get used to it. Besides, the material should adjust better to my needs in the future' I thought. With the new set on me, I called out to Fox and Suly. Suly rushed downstairs, and took a look at me. "Wow! So cool! That Fox knows how to make clothes. Although I helped her too!". Fox came down as well, and looked at me for a while. She then replied to Suly, "Of course I know! Who do you think I'm?".

I nodded my head, and thanked them. This really was a great set of armour. I never had such high quality armour in my life. Fox looked at me from all angles, which felt a bit weird. She asked, "How do you find it? Is the fitment alright?". I replied, "Yea… a bit too alright. How did you get my measures so well?". Suly replied instead, "I knew it, she's a pervert after all!".

Fox ignored her, and said "I could do the same with that brat over there. I learned how to measure things by looking at them. This was one of the techniques Lady Mirabel told me about. Let me tell you this, it was very hard". I asked surprised "Huh? You kept contact with that Lady Mirabel?". She replied, "Of course, she never blamed us. She knew we were good people. I learned a lot from her. Even though I couldn't visit the Imperial City, she could visit the Academy".

I nodded, and raised my right arm. "I appreciate that you didn't make a sleeve for my right arm. This is a really great design. I thank you, both of you". Suly smirked while asking, "Is it my turn now? Have you forgotten about the Formations I placed on this set of armour?". 'I was impressed by the overall design, that I really forgot' I thought. Suly continued, "I placed three Formations on this set. Those were the best Formations I could place, and I'm not talking about the durability of the set!".

I listened attentively, while Suly continued. "The first Formation is a speed Formation. You'd be surprised, I didn't actually placed it on your boots. The Formation is placed on your cloak". I was surprised, and a bit confused. I asked, "How will this make me faster?". She smirked while saying, "You can test it out. I'm sure you will be even more surprised". I was intrigued to be sure. A Formation that improved my speed, but placed on my cloak.

I activated the Formation, and took a step forward. "Shoom". Although I took one step only, I appeared about a dozen steps away. "What sorcery is this?" I asked surprised. Suly answered my question. "This Formation is called Blink Formation. It is the hardest, and most complicated Formation I could place on any item. It allows you to travel a short distance, in a blink of an eye. Amazing isn't it?".

I tried it a few more times, and indeed, it was amazing. "I'm speechless. This Formation…". Suly added, "But beware, this Formation will use up your energy. The further you travel, the more energy is used. If you travel a few steps, the energy consumption should be alright. If you were to travel a bit further away, let's say twenty meters… You would feel the difference in consumption".

I said, "In other words, the further I travel, the more energy is required. What is the limit? How far can I travel, if I use for example half of my energy?". Suly replied, "As I mentioned already, it's a short distance travel Formation. If you overload the Formation, it will break. I think thirty to forty metres should be alright. Any more than that, and you will strain or break the Formation. There is another drawback too. You might've noticed already, but you can't use it continuously. A few seconds need to pass before you can use it again. The Formation needs time, in order to recharge".

I said, "Got it, what else did you place on the set?". Suly smiled, and continued "The next Formation, is something different too. Your set… or rather chest piece is different. No doubt you noticed the specific pattern of your chest piece, right?". I nodded in reply. She continued, "Your set has two Forms actually. This is the standard Form, but if you activate the Formation in your chest piece, you will see what I mean".

I did just that, and the wave like pattern tightened. Normally, my neck wasn't that well protected. But in that Form, the chest piece extended upwards, and shielded my neck like a half moon. That wasn't all, the chest piece became incredibly hard. I could guess the purpose for this Formation, it was for defence. 'Although I have a hard time moving, If I use it at the right time, it might stop a lethal attack' I thought.

I stopped the Formation, and took out my dagger. "Fox, stab me", I said while throwing my dagger at her. I wanted to test that armour with the best weapon I had, and my daggers were just that. Fox caught the dagger, and laughed? She seemed overly confident in that armour, or perhaps she really wanted to stab me that much.

She walked up to me, while I activated the Formation. "Alright, as hard as you can!" I said, and awaited the results. Fox probably used her full strength, when she stabbed my stomach. "BAM!", I moved a few steps back. I wasn't prepared for such strength, but the dagger simply stopped. It didn't even penetrate the armour. 'There is a small mark on it, but that strength, and my dagger… This defence is insane' I thought. I released the Formation, and said "This is really great. Even my weapon couldn't pierce it". I extended my hand for the dagger, but Fox just hid it in her storage item, and walked off.

I was lost for words. 'Right… You can keep it, I guess?' I thought to myself. With that demonstration taken care of, Suly said "This Formation is called Shell Formation. It can withstand a lot, but the harder the blow, the more energy it will use. Before you ask, this Formation has its limits too. If the blow is too hard, it might simply break the Formation". I nodded while asking, "So, what is the last Formation?".

She shook her hand, then replied "It's not that great. The two Formations I told you about, were the hardest and most time consuming. The third Formation is in your glove. It is special, but also not that special. From what I know, Formation Masters usually used Fire Element for attacking Formations. Your glove can do just that".

I didn't even ask, and simply extended my left hand to activate the Formation. My glove caught fire, but the fire didn't burn me. It only felt slightly warm. Suly smiled, and said "It's not much, but if you focus well and collect enough energy… You can throw a sort of ball of fire at your enemies". I laughed out loud, and replied "This is seriously good. This Formation actually gave me an idea. Thank you Suly, you did an excellent job". Suly seemed satisfied with my praises, but she deserved that, if not more.