Chapter 371 — Suojilin's Order
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"Correct. The original version of the arcane armor had the runes carved directly onto the metal plating, but that made the runes prone to failure when the armor was struck and vibrated, and it was inconvenient for upgrades and replacements. So afterward we added a tactical lining inside the armor, made of tough leather," Nikoxidan said, casually taking an iron ingot from a nearby pile of metal castings. The metal floated between him and Suojilin and, as though liquid, rapidly changed shape in midair, within a few breaths assuming the form of the standard-issue armor of Cecil's combat soldiers—and furthermore the armor's various components separated and spread out before Suojilin. "This part here—this is where the tactical lining sits."
"The tactical lining is much like the cotton or leather armor worn beneath steel plate, but its primary function is to bear the runes, so its coverage and protective value are lower than leather armor—this is also to reduce costs," Nikoxidan continued. "At present, the runes we have integrated into the tactical lining are chiefly: a weight-reduction spell, to lighten the armor's overall burden on the soldier; weak elemental protection, to strengthen the soldier's resistance to low-tier magic; and a breeze shield, which can withstand a certain degree of incoming attack and can also be used to resist toxic environments. Beyond that, we have also set protective runes against high and low temperatures. They are all weak in effect, but sufficient to let soldiers survive longer in many extreme environments."
Suojilin looked at this suit of armor that could almost turn an ordinary person into a low-tier transcendent. While clicking his tongue in wonder, he could not resist asking curiously, "Do all these things draw their energy from the combat backpack?"
"Correct. Inside the combat backpack is a high-output mana capacitor. Besides charging the weapon crystal, all surplus energy is supplied to this suit of armor," Nikoxidan bobbed up and down. "The largest energy-consuming unit in the armor is the weight-reduction spell, but that is also the most important part—without it, the soldier's physical exertion would multiply severalfold."
Suojilin thought it over carefully, then said, "If we abandoned this layer of steel armor, or kept only lightweight plates, and at the same time reduced the amount of combat crystals carried, could we then lighten the combat backpack as well?"
"...In theory, that is correct," Nikoxidan considered. "But the protective value would drop greatly..."
"We can compensate by adding stoneskin runes to the lining. Its effect is somewhat weaker than the steel armor currently forged in the Cecil Territory, but it can still provide soldiers protection against ordinary light blades. And as a basic rune set, the stoneskin rune consumes far less energy than a formal spell like the weight-reduction spell," Suojilin explained his thinking. "According to my conception, the Steel Rangers are not a corps meant for head-on confrontation with the enemy. Even when we must assault a fortified position, we strike once and withdraw at once. So we may as well save the weight of the armor and combat backpack and spend it elsewhere."
"Understood. I will consider the proposal," Nikoxidan said, while using another metal ingot to begin "shaping" a model of the item Suojilin required. "What else?"
"Then there is the matter of weapons. Besides equipping them with arcane terminals bearing heat-ray guns and force-field shields, I hope the Steel Rangers can also have some more powerful offensive weapons..." As Suojilin spoke, his mind could not help but conjure that perilous encounter last winter on the Typhon border—the mysterious cultist of the All-Ending Doom, and the course of his own battle with the man.