Chương 449: Chapter 432 - New Fit, New Identity

As Alonso stared at the gear laid out before him, he was not entirely sure whether to be excited or worried.

Grade 05 - Nightweave Cowl [Set] Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% Sensory acuity +15% Grade 05 - Nightweave Mantle [Set] Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% All regeneration and healing effects +150% Grade 05 - Nightweave Armguards [Set] Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% Muscle fiber density +15% Grade 05 - Nightweave Leggings [Set] Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% Cardiovascular output +15% Grade 05 - Nightweave Boots [Set] Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% Cartilage durability +15% Set Bonus (5/5): Reaction speed +49% Weave of Renewal: Consumes 7% of all current internal energy reserves to instantly restore mind and body.

Restoration scales with the amount consumed. Cooldown: 70 milliseconds. The whole set focused on internal EM conduction, the stat he valued above all others, while remaining entirely non-conductive in its material composition. Exactly what he wanted, and what suited him best. The set bonus felt like a natural step up from his current Grade 4 effect, though he would need to try it properly to know the full extent of it.

Still, a Grade 5 set had every right to be significantly better, and the passive bonus [+49% reaction speed] was remarkable in its own right. The mantle's individual affix, [all healing at +150% efficiency], paired with Weave of Renewal almost too cleanly to be coincidence. And with Path of Shards, Houston, and Darius all contributing to his internal reserves, his energy storage ran considerably higher than most and refilled 2. 4 faster to match, making the Active feel almost tailored to him.

All together, he could not have designed anything better himself even if he had tried. Which was precisely what bothered him. Either this was The Tower's hand at work, offering some sort of gift before dropping him into the pits of hell, or The Black Mantle knew considerably more about him than they had let on. The second wasn't very comfortable. For some reason, the face of Gregor surfaced in his mind. He hoped the old Guild Master was alright… though he was now more than a little uncertain about that.

Alonso grabbed the mantle and studied it briefly. The material felt like fitted leather but denser, padded in key areas, smooth and comfortable against the skin. The full set gave off a clear aesthetic, dark, close fitting, silent padding on the boots, a hood that sat low.

'Assassin in the night' was probably the most accurate description. As for the stats, well. Grade 5 gear offered two affixes per piece, one main starting at 10% and one substat whose value depended on its nature. As for sets, at Grade 4 they added a passive sub-stat bonus, like his current one which increased regeneration, while Grade 5 sets stepped up to a full main stat, as this one did with reaction speed. He had talked it over with Houston, and the conclusion was straightforward.

Internal EM conduction was the most valuable stat given the nature of Path of Shards, governing his physical acceleration directly. More conduction meant faster reaction, sharper movement, heavier impact. In RPG terms, a simultaneous boost to both Strength and Agility from a single stat. All together, on a rough estimate, this set alone probably pushed his Power Index somewhere between 20 and 25%... which was huge. He put the last piece on and straightened up, staring at the mirror.

The new face, combined with the set, gave off exactly the kind of presence he imagined a Black Mantle member was meant to project. The type you only caught a glimpse of before, well… the lights went out forever. He had never envisioned such a role for himself but here he was. If it made progress in the stage easier, he would take it. His gaze moved to the last two pieces on the table.

Grade 05 - Shadow Conduit's Gloves Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% Internal conductive loss reduction +15% Grade 05 - Twin Shrouds of the Nameless Shadow Tempering State: 5 (MAX) Physical aptitude +9% Pillar aptitude +9% Internal EM conduction +15% EM conduction of this gear +15% He put the gloves on first, then picked up the blades. Single-edged, quite long, the blade running close to a metre and a half.

The most striking detail was the metal itself, pure black, the kind that absorbed light rather than catching it, giving the edges a depth that made them look like gaps cut into the world itself. They were very dense, incredibly conductive, and significantly above his current blades in all specs. He personally loved the sub-stat. As one of the rare Fusion practitioners, for now, who relied on non-conductive armour, he only needed his blades to carry the conductivity, and these delivered exactly that.

He gave them a couple of slow swings, then faster, feeling the balance settle completely into his grip after a single sequence, like his body had always used them... a feeling he knew now was not just the Fusion pathways, but Houston and Darius tailoring the muscle memory in real time to match the change. All in all, they were excellent weapons. A full and complete upgrade. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He stared at his old ones for a long moment before setting them into his Storage Bag. They had carried him through quite some ordeals. But... it was time to move on. Unlike Darius, Alonso had never seen himself as a pure swordmaster, never felt that particular attachment to the blade as something sacred or defining. For him the blades were plainly a weapon, a tool through which to channel his power, and nothing more. His path was something broader than that...

an understanding of the flow of combat itself, and of himself within it, a road that wove his unique condition together with his dreams and with who he truly was. He let that settle for a moment, then calmly sent waves through his body to study the difference. And there was absolutely a difference. With everything accounted for, his internal EM conduction had cleared well above +100% improvement. His body offered almost no resistance at all, the signal moving through him cleanly and without loss.

At his current stats, he was fairly confident he could solo a special mid-tier boss. It also made something clear. Gear mattered more the higher the Grade climbed. Low grade pieces barely moved the needle, but from Grade 4 upward the gap between them was becoming significant. Inside The Black Mantle he would need to make finding better pieces a priority if he ever intended to compete at the peak of this stage. He looked at himself in the mirror one last time.

The person staring back was completely different, and yet from the gear alone, considerably more dangerous. He made his way out of the room where an elven lady waited, her eyes finding him briefly before she flinched almost imperceptibly and looked away. She guided him to a nearby room, offered a respectful bow at the entrance, and left without a word. Alonso stepped inside. Virgilia stood with her back to him, pulling dark gloves over her pale fingers with practiced efficiency, her hood already low.

"Well," she said, without turning.

"Shall we get going… Darius Ardighieri." He almost smiled at the name. They moved through the corridors at pace, Virgilia a half step ahead, her footfalls completely silent against the stone. The tunnels gradually angled upward, the carved passages giving way to a narrower vertical shaft, the walls close on either side, the top somewhere far above in the dark. Virgilia went first.

She didn't climb so much as flow upward, launching between the opposing walls in a series of precise contacts, each one a shadow blur that left almost no trace of where she had been before she was already somewhere else. Alonso followed. He felt his microcapacitors respond the moment he pushed off, channeling the output with almost no resistance, his body answering faster and cleaner than it ever had before.

Stride for stride he matched her pace, leaping between the walls in long controlled arcs, the shaft blurring past around them until the top opened up to a wider chamber. Two dwarves at the side worked a complex multilayered gate, several gears clicking into place in sequence, and a moment later they were out in the open tundra, the blizzard still running across the flat white expanse ahead. Virgilia was already moving across the snow toward a structure half hidden against the rock face, dark and low.

Alonso's eyes widened slightly as he registered what it was. He had wondered how the native powers of this world covered such vast distances. That question was now answered. An airship. Similar in principle to the one Lukas and the others had built, and yet immediately, obviously different. It was a reminder that while this world lagged behind Earth on the surface level, the daily life carrying a distinctly Dark Ages quality, the higher powers and their resources operated on a completely different tier.

In certain areas they had surpassed modern Earth by a large margin. He was sure Lukas would have been fascinated by this one. The craft shared the same broad principles, smooth fuselage, no rotors, no visible propulsion, the seamless hull. But where the others' ship had been impressive for what it was, this was next level.

The material carried a depth and finish that spoke to a completely different degree of refinement, and the conductive work visible along the inner edges of the entry point was so intricate it made Lukas' engineering look like a promising first draft. Alonso studied it for a moment before a door opened upward, several cloaked figures stepping out and bowing toward Virgilia without a word. He scanned their prompts quietly. All between 52 and 54%. Surprisingly high for subordinates.

Virgilia stepped in without acknowledging them. He followed. The interior was padded in deep red, the leather soft and clearly expensive, the whole space carrying an aesthetic that immediately reminded him of something he couldn't quite place before it clicked. A vampire's coffin. Probably intentional. Virgilia settled into a chair along the side and gestured to the one across from her.

A compartment wall closed smoothly between them and the cockpit, sealing them into a private chamber not unlike the rear of a very well appointed car. The sound from outside dropped to almost nothing, the acoustic insulation doing its job thoroughly.

"The trip will take a while," Virgilia said, pulling her hood back and leaning into her seat, one leg crossing over the other.

"Make yourself comfortable." Alonso looked around the cabin briefly. There wasn't much to take, really. He felt the ship's acceleration building beneath him as it angled upward, gaining altitude fast, the tundra dropping away somewhere below. He turned back to Virgilia.

"What's the destination?"

"Somewhere closer to where things actually happen," she said, with that particular teasing quality that seemed to be her default register.

"No need to keep you buried in a frozen corner of the world."

"And what's expected of me?"

"For now, very little." She tilted her head slightly.

"You will step into one of the fabricated identities we maintain for occasions like this. Foolproof background, clean history, nothing that invites questions. The Way will be watching our ranks with considerable interest after the events of Westmarch, so the priority is simple. Become Darius Ardighieri, the mysterious bastard of the Ardighieri family, fully and convincingly." A brief pause.

"From there, rise the way any member rises. On merit, results, reputation. No preference, or shortcuts whatsoever. When you have matured from a pawn to something more… valuable," she smiled softly, "we will talk about what comes next." Alonso held that for a moment, then nodded. He had a sense that pressing further on that particular point would yield very little, so he let it sit. The ship climbed steadily, its speed already past Mach 30 and still building.

"How do you know so much about me?" Alonso asked, the question he had been carrying since the moment she had spoken his name in English. Virgilia smiled, tilting her head slightly, the soft light of the cabin catching the white of her fangs.

"Some questions are better left unanswered," she said after a moment, her gaze drifting to the side with the ease of someone who had closed that door many times before and felt no need to explain it. Alonso exhaled quietly, let it go, and leaned back in his velvet seat. He closed his eyes and let the hum of the ship fill the silence.

"What do you mean he just vanished?" The Holy Knight before her gulped, doing his best to keep his hand steady as a bead of sweat traced down his collar.

"Saint Aurelia, we checked Riviera immediately after the events but… all tracks had already been cleaned," the man managed.

"The Guild Master had simply disappeared without leaving a trace."

"Immediately?" She let the word sit.

"And the others? Did you interrogate every single person? Do you have a record of every moment, every face, every sighting of him across the entire Western region?"

"I… we are operating on it." Aurelia chuckled softly, the sound carrying no warmth whatsoever.

"Operating on it? More than ten days after the events, with The Black Mantle having already scrubbed every witness clean, and you are now operating on it?"

"We—"" SILENCE" A wave extended from her and the words died in the air as if sound itself had been revoked. The Holy Knight felt it immediately, a complete and merciless absence... no voices, no ambient noise, not even the beat of his own heart. Aurelia looked at him, her green eyes steady and utterly absent of anything one could define as human emotion. And then, from that silence, her voice alone came, not through the air but directly inside his mind, clear and cold as a heavenly decree.

"You witnessed the murder of those who follow our cause, in front of your eyes, in front of the public, and your answer was to let the perpetrator walk free while the innocent witnesses paid the price for your own weakness." She stepped closer, her eyes inches from his. The Knight could not move. Could not think. Like the world itself held him completely in its grip.

"You stain our cause," she said quietly.

"And dishonor everything we carry." Her hand rose and touched his forehead gently.

"I pray you ascend in your next life. For in this one… you are unworthy." Her hand lowered. And a moment later—the Holy Knight dissolved into nothing.