Chương 85: Chapter 82: Fused Hide and Soul Bonds

"We're sure you will," Pete jumped in, breaking the technical reverie.

"But we're here for armor, so let's get to the good stuff."

"Fine," Jace said, half rolling his eyes. He stepped over to a row of long assembly tables draped in heavy canvas sheets. With a fluid yank, he pulled the covers off one by one, revealing four distinct sets of matte-black scale armor and a fifth set that looked like a reinforced martial arts garment intricately woven with scales.

"Like I said," Pete explained, gesturing proudly to the tables.

"We had just enough raw material to forge five custom sets for the active dungeon team. There are a few scraps left on the cutting floor, but definitely not enough to piece together a sixth." I walked forward to inspect the specific set Pete indicated was mine. It didn't look like any historical scale or plate armor I'd ever seen in old textbooks. The silhouette definitely favored the fantasy side of design, which suited me perfectly. The craftsmanship was stunning.

Leaning in closer to examine the joints, I was shocked to find that I couldn't see a single rivet, stitch, or noticeable seam anywhere on the framework.

"How is this all put together?" I asked, tracing a finger along the smooth collar.

"We managed to unlock a utility ability called Fuse," Pete stated.

"It does exactly what the name implies. It allows us to seamlessly meld separate materials together at the contact point by directing our mana through the forge tools."

"If you look at the chest pieces," Pete continued, pointing to the structural layers, "you'll see that every individual scale has been fused directly into the underlying leather shirt." Picking up the piece he was referencing, I found it exactly as described. The base layer was a long-sleeved shirt crafted from the incredibly tough, leather-like membrane of the wyvern's wings. Despite its durability, the material felt remarkably soft and flexible against my hands.

A dense, uniform scale pattern covered what would traditionally be the cuirass portion of the armor. The scales were completely continuous with the fabric beneath, making the chest guard significantly thicker and stronger while maintaining an excellent range of movement. Moving on to the leggings, I found a pair of heavy-duty trousers reinforced with dense plating along the hips and thighs. The design also included structured protection for the rear and a solid, contoured codpiece.

The greaves, bracers, and pauldrons took on a slightly more traditional appearance, utilizing beautifully overlapped scales—with the notable exception of my left bracer. The forearm scales on that piece were entirely smooth and fused flush into the leather. Pete explained that the modification was intentional, ensuring my bowstring wouldn't snag on an overlapping edge whenever I drew back an arrow.

The helmet functioned like a fitted, hooded ninja cowl, likewise fused with protective scales but tailored to preserve full flexibility around the neck for unobstructed situational awareness. The set was completed by a pair of plain, surprisingly comfortable-looking boots, and fingerless gloves featuring scales fused across the back of the hand from the wrist down to the knuckles. A heavy-duty utility belt rounded out the kit, mounting segmented, skirt-like hip panels.

While checking the fit of that specialized left bracer, I noticed a clean line of geometric runes cleanly etched from the upper forearm down to the wrist.

"Are these more runes?" I asked.

"Noticed that, did ya?" Jace grinned, walking over.

"Yes. It's the exact same concept we're trying to integrate into the mechanical exosuit. These specific runes form a localized circuit that links every separate piece of the armor together into a unified system when worn. If you channel your mana into the circuit, the armor shifts, allowing you to move noticeably faster, jump higher, and operate with greater physical strength. You'll have to experiment with the flow to find your footing.

A small trickle of mana grants a subtle physical boost, while a heavier push yields far greater power. Just keep an eye on your status; it will drain your mana pool like a thirsty man in a desert if you overdo it."

"So, does that mean the exosuit is fully functional?" I asked hopefully, glancing back at the mechanical frame.

"No," Jace said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We're having severe issues keeping it powered. You can physically step into the frame, but the ongoing mana draw is incredibly punishing. We're theorizing it's because the primary structural chassis is made of standard steel, which has zero inherent magical conductivity. Dragon and wyvern hide, on the other hand, naturally holds a mana. That's why your armor set accepted the attunement so smoothly."

"Do you have a workaround in mind?" I asked.

"Yes and no," Jace admitted.

"We believe we can eventually configure a stable mana crystal to function as a dedicated battery to run the suit's internal circuit. It's the exact same hurdle we're facing with the vehicle motors. Linking a raw crystal core to a mechanical system is proving to be incredibly delicate, but we're closing the gap."

"I'm sure you guys will work it out."

"Well… why don't you guys try swapping out your gear?" Pete suggested. With that, we eagerly gathered our respective bundles and took turns using the workshop bathroom to change. When the five of us finally stepped back out into the main room completely outfitted in the sleek black hide, Henry stepped forward holding a tray.

"You're just missing one final component," Henry smiled.

"What's that?" I asked, adjusting the fit of my pauldrons.

"These," Henry said, handing each of us a polished metallic band.

"Another storage ring?" Joe asked, accepting his.

"Yes," Henry replied.

"But with a massive upgrade. If you check the interior band, you'll see an integrated runic script. Those runes are calibrated to link directly to the signature of your specific armor set. Once activated, it grants you the ability to instantly summon or dismiss the entire set from the ring directly to your body and vice versa. Plus, it provides a nice chunk of extra storage space. Convenient, right?" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Extremely convenient," Joe grunted, sliding the ring onto his finger.

"I feel like I'm James Bond," I laughed, admiring the sleek look of the band.

"And you guys are collectively operating as my 'Q.' You've truly done some monumental work here. All of you," I added, looking over at Pete reverently.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Henry replied with a knowing smile.

"Go ahead and channel a light pulse of mana through the armor and the ring to initialize the set configuration." I did exactly as directed, pushing a small, controlled stream of mana out through my core. The sensation was entirely familiar, akin to the steady injection we used to stabilize solutions inside the alchemy cauldrons. Given how tricky it was to maintain a flawless flow during potion creation, initializing this static circuit felt like absolute child's play.

The moment the mana connected, a profound rush of physical readiness washed over me. I felt instantly lighter on my feet, stronger, and inherently aware that my movements would be significantly more fluid. Simultaneously, a deep sensory awareness snapped into place—I could feel a solid, unbreakable bond connecting my own awareness to the armor and the ring. It was reminiscent of the initial attunement I felt when I first claimed a basic storage ring, but this connection felt infinitely deeper.

"Soul Bonded," I whispered, staring down at my hands.

"I was wondering who would be the first to catch that part," Henry beamed, his smile widening.

"Yes, the completed item sets are officially soul-bonded by the system. That's the foundational mechanic allowing the runes to physically displace and summon the components at will. Give it a test run." I focused my intent entirely on my hooded cowl, willing it to return to the ring's sub-space. In a quiet blink, the headpiece vanished. A sudden gasp and a loud, echoing "oh shit" cut through the room.

I spun around to find Joe standing in the center of the workshop floor, entirely naked except for his heavy leather combat boots. He scrambled frantically to cover himself as the entire room erupted into roaring laughter. It took him a few frantic seconds of concentration, but he finally managed to push his mana back through the ring and re-summon the full set onto his frame.

"Well… I suppose it's going to take a bit of conscious practice," Henry laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

"You guys should definitely make a habit of wearing undergarments beneath the armor for the time being. And Joe," Henry added, pointing out a detail on his chest plate, "remember that your heavy variant is far more structurally interconnected at the joints than the medium kits. If you attempt to dismiss just your greaves, the system is going to pull the entire lower leg assembly with it."

Aside from the lightly structured cloth robes worn by our new caster—Erick, I reminded myself, as I was notoriously terrible with names—Joe's armor was visually distinct from the rest of the group. As a specialized warrior class operating as our primary tank, he was the only member of the team with the proficiency required to equip heavy armor. Consequently, his kit featured a far more intricate fabrication process.

While it maintained the same overall aesthetic design as ours, the protective scales were doubled in thickness. The primary base layer of his armor was fully fused to the tough wyvern wing membrane, while a secondary layer of thick scales was layered over the top in a traditional, heavily reinforced overlapping pattern. Every major section was securely joined and articulated with custom hinges to maximize protection without entirely compromising his mobility.

He also sported a traditional, fully enclosed helm rather than the fitted cowls the rest of us wore. All in all, it looked far more like a suit of dark plate armor than a leather scale kit. I was willing to bet his defensive rating was easily double our own. They probably could have manufactured an entire secondary medium set with the sheer volume of material invested in Joe's heavy plate.

Our new paladin—Sue, I kept repeating the name internally to lock it down—and Mike wore kits that were visually identical to mine, with the exception that they retained standard overlapping scales on their left forearms and their gloves featured full fingers for melee weapon retention. Eric's light armor variant was genuinely fascinating. He essentially looked like a sleek, shadowy ninja. It was an incredibly sharp design.

As Pete had mentioned earlier, the foundation was a tailored martial arts gi crafted entirely from the flexible wyvern wing material. Pete had strategically fused hard scales only over vital target zones to mitigate the chance of a critical strike while ensuring the overall weight didn't cross the system's threshold into medium armor. If the weight crossed that line, the system would flag it as an invalid armor type for his caster class, rendering its defensive properties entirely useless to him.

I turned my focus back to my own active equipment, focusing my intent to pull up the system readout: [Equipment Inspection: Custom Wyvern Scale Attire] Classification: Medium Armor Set Quality: Exquisite | Rarity: Rare Binding: Soul Bonded Base Protection: Grants +25 Armor Class per equipped piece. Set Pieces (7/7): Hooded Cowl, Long-Sleeved Cuirass, Pauldrons, Bracers, Leggings, Greaves, Utility Belt. Set Bonus: Grants a +50% bonus to total Armor Class when the full set is worn simultaneously.

Passive Resistances: Provides 50% damage reduction against piercing and slashing attacks; provides 50% resistance against incoming spell damage. Runic Enchantment: Runespelled. Infusing mana into the circuit grants the wearer enhanced speed, physical strength, and agility. Durability: Features a passive self-repair function over time. I was absolutely blown away by the summary. The defensive stats were far beyond what I thought our settlement's current crafting facilities were capable of producing.

"How on earth did you guys manage to turn out 'Exquisite' quality gear at our current level?" I asked, looking up at Pete in awe.

"We cheated," Pete said without blinking.

"Or rather, we did what one of my younger apprentices calls 'gaming the system.' First off, we were working with high-grade, rare-ranked materials as a baseline. The skies aren't exactly swimming with apex wyverns, and using top-tier ingredients fundamentally alters the success rate of the craft. You're simply never going to hammer an epic-ranked sword out of basic pig iron, no matter how good your form is."

"That makes perfect sense," I nodded.

"But how did you game the system?"

"It came down to the exact fabrication method," Pete explained, tapping a tool against the table.

"By relying entirely on the Fuse ability, we completely eliminated the need for traditional seams, rivets, or fiber stitching. Everything is joined at a molecular level without creating weak points, tension lines, or material flaws. As long as we meticulously measured and cut the template pieces, the flawless magic of the fusion process automatically pushed the final product quality a tier higher than our actual manual skills would typically allow.

If you took an epic-ranked hide and filled it with clumsy stitch holes, tool scratches, and uneven seams, you'd ruin its potential and end up with a basic product. We just kept the material pristine."

"Well, regardless of the methodology, you guys did a phenomenal job," I said, looking at the workshop team with genuine reverence.

"Thank you all for the hard work."