CH210 Jared's Gift

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Jared maintained a façade of faint politeness and respect in front of the Colonels and Majors as he led Alex away — much to Alex's quiet relief.

As expected, the moment they were out of the officer's sight, that thin veneer vanished like an illusion as Jared reverted his usual self.

Well… it was an illusion. This was Jared, after all.

"Where are we going?" Alex asked, keeping his tone casual.

"I've prepared some gifts for you," Jared replied. "A reward for enduring my training sessions. Not many warriors have managed to last through them — and honestly, I didn't expect you, a mage, to do so."

They stopped in front of a supply room door.

"But be warned," Jared continued, his voice steady, "my gifts aren't easy to take. Whether you can claim them will depend entirely on your own ability."

Alex caught the faint undercurrent of amusement in Jared's tone. This damned sadistic Dark Knight was so adept at schooling his expression that even when he was clearly mocking someone, not a flicker of it showed on his face.

That said, Alex took his words seriously. If Jared said something was going to be difficult… it would be difficult.

Jared opened the door to reveal a supply room that was anything but ordinary. Armours lay scattered across the space in varying states of completion.

"Why aren't these in the Armoury?" Alex asked, frowning.

"They're technically failed products, so they can't be stored there," Jared explained as he led Alex to the far end of the surprisingly large room.

There, set apart from the rest, rested a striking armour set — a bronze-coloured chestplate paired with a dark brown, thick leather skirt reinforced with metal inlays.

Alex froze.

His eyes widened in surprise — no, in shock.

The piece was almost identical to the armour of a Roman legionnaire general, complete with leather pteruges hanging from the waist. The only difference was the absence of the idealised, muscular chest-shaping often seen in historical recreations.

Just the other day, he had offhandedly given his Taskforce Division a romanised name… and now here was armour that looked like it was made for the general of such a force.

A shiver ran down his spine. The coincidence felt too precise, as if he were dancing along to someone else's unseen machinations.

Jared, misreading the shift in his expression, carried on without pause.

"As you can see, this is a failed piece from a Tier III Magic Armour set," he said. "A veteran Tier III Expert Forgesmith tried to create it independently. As you can tell… it didn't quite work out.

"The result is a chestplate stronger than normal, but still falling short of the strict standards for true Magic Armour. It's yours now." He paused for a moment, then added with a faint glint in his eyes, "As long as you can wear it."

Alex was almost certain he saw the ghost of a smile there.

Not everyone could wear Magic Armour. Much like Rune Tattoos, the ability depended on one's innate physique and constitution.

Even though this was a failed set piece, it was still part of a Magic Armour — and such things did not accept just anyone.

In the end, it would be the armour itself that decided whether Alex was worthy.

Although Jared's words carried a teasing edge, he hadn't brought Alex here just for amusement. This armour had been specifically designed for mages. The creator's ambition was to craft a defence that would allow a mage to withstand a warrior's assault long enough to cast their spells.

Apparently, one of the creator's own children had been a mage, and the armour had been intended as a means of protecting them through their craft.

Unfortunately, that noble intention came with a steep cost. To bridge the gap between mage and warrior, the armour demanded harsh conditions of use. Not only was it restricted solely to mages, but the wearer had to possess an innate physique approaching — or even rivaling — that of a warrior's.

Such mages were rarer than a diamond in a sea of sand.

Jared had come across the armour by chance and, after finding that not a single mage in House Fury or its army met the stringent requirements, had stored it away. Selling it was out of the question; doing so would only risk strengthening a potential enemy.

It was only after training Alex — and seeing his performance in Dankrot — that Jared finally decided to hand it over. Over the last few days, he had even been subtly conditioning Alex's body to bear the armour's load. Now, he had done all he could. The rest would depend on Alex's fortune… and the armour's judgment.

Alex, having shaken off his earlier unease at the strange coincidence, crouched to inspect the runes etched into the piece.

Though the scripting style differed from what he was accustomed to, he could still decipher it. With the knowledge he had gathered from working alongside Master and Grandmaster Artisans in the DragonHold Enclave — and aided by his Spirit Sight — he quickly uncovered a hidden truth that even Jared seemed unaware of.

The Forgesmith used a beast core that wasn't fully purified or refined, Alex realised, likely due to the absence of an Alchemist. This allowed a remnant will to survive within the armour.

From the spiritual residue, Alex deduced the core had belonged to a beast with strong mastery over its Spiritual Force in life. Though not on the level of a Wendigo, the creature had, whether by chance or intent, infused its remnant Spiritual Force into the core before its death.

Then, without a Runesmith present, the Forgesmith failed to notice that the admittedly ingenious Enhancement component of the rune formation they came up with, wasn't just empowering the wearer… it was indavertently also empowering the remnant Spiritual Force.

Over time, that force had grown into a full-fledged remnant will. And worse — it had developed an instinctive hostility toward humans, the very species responsible for the beast's demise.

In Alex's Spirit Sight, an invisible miasmic force coiled around the armour, thick with rejection toward any human who might try to wear it. That rejection was only growing stronger with time.

'What a pity,' Alex thought with a quiet sigh. 'If the remnant will had been discovered early, it could have been refined into a true ego (an artificial mind, spirit, or intelligence for the armour), greatly increasing its potential.'

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